A Day in the Life of Petria Thomas

By Wayne Goldsmith | In Case Studies

Tough, Talented and Tenacious - Petria Thomas has proven herself to be one of Australia’s most outstanding swimmers of the 1990s. Commonwealth Games Gold Medals in 1994 and 1998, two finals at the 1994 World Championships, a Silver Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a brilliant performance at the 1998 World Championships winning two Silver and two Bronze medals: Petria is a big time performer of the highest order.

Petria was born in August 1975 in the Northern N.S.W. town of Mullumbimby. After learning to swim at age four, Petria enjoyed playing many sports and did her swim training in an outdoor 33 yard pool until she was 14. In 1990 she came under the watchful eye of Coach Stan Tilley of the Ballina Indoor Club, with whom she trained for four years, often making a 140 km round trip from home to training and back twice a day.

Petria moved to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in 1993 and the A.I.S. is still home in six years later.

The Petria Thomas story is an inspiring one. From a town of less than 3000 people, she worked hard, committed herself to a dream and overcame a series of difficulties that would have seen a lesser person give up and quit.

One year to the day before her triumph in the 1998 World Championships, Petria could be seen walking around the A.I.S. with her arm in a cast and brace recovering from major shoulder surgery.

Not only did she recover from the surgery and endure months of painful rehabilitation she returned to form to record personal bests in Perth 1998 a year later. She did all this without a major sponsor or significant financial assistance. This is one special athlete.

Says Petria, “I owe a great deal to so many people. My mother who has supported me through everything, my Grandma, Stan Tilley and my friends, coaches, team mates and support staff at the AIS. Without so many friends I guess I wouldn’t be here still swimming.”

I had the pleasure of spending a day with Petria to watch and learn how an above average athlete gets through an average day.

At the end of the day I could only think of the phrase:

“It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

6:00 a.m. The alarm goes off in Petria’s Canberra unit which she shares with two other top female athletes. After a quick snack of fruit and toast, it’s off to the AIS for a swimming workout with Coach Mark Regan.

6:15 a.m. Petria meets up with team mates at the pool for a short stretching session. The session includes a few body weight exercises like push-ups, sit ups and dips to get warmed up and ready to swim.

6:30 a.m. Swim workout starts. Coach Regan explains the key points of the session. This morning the team is going around 4.5 kilometers and there is a lot of variety in the workout: swim, kick, pull, fin work, paddles, turns work, drills and fitness sets.

The main set this morning is:

*500 Freestyle / Backstroke (alternate each 50) with paddles on 7:30
400 Pull as Freestyle or Backstroke or I.M. on 5:30 / 6:00 / 6:30 (time depending on ability or individual goal)
300 Freestyle / Backstroke (alternate each 50) with paddles on 4:30
200 Pull as Freestyle or Backstroke or I.M. on 2:45 / 3:00 / 3:15 (time depending on ability or individual goal)
100 Freestyle / Backstroke (alternate each 50) with paddles on 1:30

The emphasis of the session is very much one of skills and technique and Coach Regan spends a lot of time working with swimmers on their individual drill routines.

8:23 a.m. Workout finishes and after a quick stretch and shower it’s off to breakfast at the A.I.S. dining hall.

8:41 a.m. Petria sits down with team mates for a breakfast of toast, some cereal and some juice. Talk over breakfast is about the movie everyone saw last night and how much blood and gore there is in “Alien Resurrection”.

9:15 a.m. Off to the University of Canberra for lectures. Petria is studying for a Bachelor of Applied Science in Sports Coaching.

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. The lecture this morning is on Neuroanatomy and looks at basic learning processes and how people learn new things.

10:45 a.m. A quick bite on a banana muffin and it’s back to the A.I.S. for training.

11:00 a.m. Petria meets her coach and team mates in the A.I.S. gym for a weights workout. After a solid stretching session, Coach Mark Regan explains the goal of the workout and the swimmers start a tough circuit routine which continues for the next 30 minutes.

The exercises are very swimming specific and are aimed to develop abdominal, back and shoulder stability. Exercises include push-ups, sit ups, skipping and rotator cuff work. At the end of the workout, the team gets together for another gut - busting abdominal routine which has me hurting just watching.

Coach Regan works with the team as a whole and then spends time with each individual swimmer on a specific area of weakness.

For Petria, this means sitting up with a straight back, knees bent and feet off the floor while Coach Regan throws a medicine ball at her. Maintaining great abdominal control, Petria has to catch the ball over her head, catch it on one side of her body then the other, catch it chest high and knee high, (each time throwing it back to her coach) one hundred and eighty times!!!

A brief team talk, then everyone is off to the pool for a light easy swim.

12:00 noon. Lunch. Petria has a few moments to snack and talk with friends over a chicken and salad roll, two Poppers and a Muffin.

This is the first chance I have all day to talk with her. My first question was an obvious one. “ Why do you swim? Why do you go through all this hard work when you have already achieved so much?”. Answer: “ Because I love it. I think that the times swimming has seemed really tough for me was when I stopped enjoying it. Swimming is about fun, enjoying time with team mates and setting goals. I think Perth worked out well for me because I really had a great time over there. I had worked really hard, the team really worked well together and it was a really great experience. I guess I just enjoy it”.

12:40 p.m. A chance for a few minutes reading in the sun and to catch up on a few phone calls.

1:15 p.m. In the car for the drive to University. Crowded House is playing on the tape player in the car.

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Another University lecture. This afternoon is Biomechanics and the lecture covers the concept of velocity and speed of movement - something Petria knows a thing or two about.

2:45 p.m. Back in the car for the drive back to the A.I.S. Crowded House is still playing.

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. A tough physiotherapy session with National Team physiotherapist Peter Blanch. Peter worked closely with Petria in her rehabilitation from her 1997 shoulder surgery and is recognized as a genius in this area. From my angle, this session looks like the toughest of the day so far.

Peter talks about the importance of stretching and strengthening for swimmers. “If swimmers spent just a few minutes each day doing the correct stretching and strengthening exercises they would really cut down on their injuries”. Petria agrees, “ Prevention is a lot better than a cure let me tell you”. After a few jokes about basketball and my haircut, it’s off to the pool.

3:45 p.m. Petria and team mates spend a few minutes stretching, then they step outside to shoot a few baskets to warm up for the pool session.

4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The pool session tonight is around 4.5 kilometers and involves some easy aerobic type work with a little speed, some fast turns work, a few drills, some distance per stroke work on the swimmers’ main stroke, some medley and kick. Again, lots of variety.

The main set is:

*2 x (300 Choice Pull on 4:30 and 3 x 100 Choice Pull on 1:30)

6:19 p.m. We leave the pool to drive home. On the way Petria realizes that there is not much in the fridge for dinner, so we stop at a local supermarket to pick up supplies. Crowded House is still playing in the car.

6:55 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. It’s time to see if Petria can cook as good as she can swim. A small steak, some vegies and half a loaf of bread later I’m convinced she can. While I get stuck with washing up, Petria returns a few calls, goes through the mail and settles down for an hour or two of television.

8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Petria’s favorite shows are the Nanny and the Xfiles. Neither are on tonight, but we watch a bit of tennis and then I get the hint that it’s time to leave.

I couldn’t resist one last question.

“Petria, what is the secret to swimming success?” A tough question, considering the time of day and how tired she is.

“There are so many things. Technique, skills, setting goals, a positive attitude, diet, keeping healthy. I don’t know. I guess if I had to pick one thing it would be the swimmer’s own attitude to training. I think that the times that I have done really well are those times when I had worked really hard in training. For me, this means setting goals for myself every training session. You know, like working hard on kick during one session, really working turns during another session, stuff like that. Success comes from inside. From believing in yourself and demanding more of yourself than anyone else can. And like I said earlier, enjoy it!”.

As I left Petria so she could enjoy a well earned sleep, I couldn’t help thinking how tired I was just following her around all day and just how tired she must have been. Even more amazing was knowing that when I was having a bit of a sleep in the next morning, she would be up and at it all over again. Just like the thousands of swimmers across Australia, her day is one of tight deadlines, precise time management, strict routine and hundreds and hundreds of laps.

Petria, like all of you training in pools around the world is indeed a remarkable person: you all are.

Wayne Goldsmith

December 27, 2007

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