Paralympics, dementia, spinal injury... and tea!

00:00
This is a Vision Australia Radio podcast.

00:06 S1

Hi, I'm Dana Cruise. I've just won bronze at the Paris Paralympic Games and you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia radio network. (MUSIC)

00:40 S2

It's just gone 5:00 as we prepare to say a fond au voir to the Paralympic Games and a huge merci beaucoup to Paris and France and a warm welcome to leisure link here on Vision Australia Radio 1190 7 a.m. in Adelaide via radio or online via Radio Digital in Adelaide via Radio Digital in Darwin through the TuneIn radio app. Look for Vision Australia, Radio Adelaide. Maybe try the Community Radio Pass app. Your favourite podcast or streaming service will also find us, and you'll find us if you're listening on 103.9 Hope FM and Esperance in Western Australia. Peter Greco saying tremendous to be here. Thank you so much for joining us. And we haven't finished with France just yet, so stay tuned. We'll tell you about that in just a second. This program comes to you from Kaurna Land. 

We'll very shortly be off to Paris and catch up with Dayna Crees, who's just won a bronze medal. Also speak judoka with Taylor Gosens, and Bridget Murphy will join us, who's about to compete in equestrian or that's ahead of us. David Mitchell will give us some good information regarding stress and how it can impact on our memory, and some things to overcome it as well. Belinda Hellier from Brew by Belinda will join us. The brew that is true. Belinda is going to talk about French. Oh, great. Alrighty. Getting into the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, Ryan Scott has done a great job hosting the games on Channel nine, particularly in the area of wheelchair rugby, we'll chat to Ryan about that. Tom McLean will join us all the way from Darwin, wrapping up the NT Blind and Low Vision Tennis Championships. Will also catch up with Doctor Clare Buswell Rice, who will tell us about some interesting research going on as far as spinal cord injury goes - and you or someone you know may be able to take part in it. (MUSIC)

Well, I'd speak to you were a bronze medallist. Hot off the press. Dayna Crees has just won bronze in Paris. And we're going to go to Paris and catch up with Dayna. Dayna, welcome and congratulations.

02:47 S1

Thank you so much. So happy to be here.

02:49 S2

I bet you are. Has it all been, this must kind of top it all off by winning a bronze medal? 

02:56 S1

Yeah. It's so surreal. My first games, I'm 22. Um, I was lucky enough to be selected in both the javelin and the shot put. And, um, lucky for me, my throwing order went my way. I liked to throw towards the end of the order and I was second last going into the event. I was actually ranked sort of sixth or seventh coming into it, and by the time it came around to me, I was lucky that some other people didn't throw the best that they could. And it my first throw put me into bronze medal position. I smashed my PB and I broke the Australian Oceania record and just couldn't wipe the smile off my face. It was just honestly just amazing.

03:31 S2

That's an interesting approach though, isn't it, that you wait? Because I guess, you know, if they'd thrown well, there'd be extra pressure on you. I guess if they don't throw quite as well, maybe you could be a bit more relaxed. So it's a bit of a calculated risk in a sense.

03:43 S1

Yeah, definitely. And I think I, I didn't want to look at anyone else's results. So I actually turned myself away from the scoreboard. I didn't want to see what anyone else threw, because I just wanted to go in and do my best and whatever happens happened. And when I got in my chair and I started throwing and it came up with a first measure. And at the top it had the rank and it was number three. I just looked around and I just couldn't believe it. I had this, like the biggest smile on my face. I started getting very emotional. I looked back at my coach and all my family. My family are in the stands, and I think that was just so special to have them all there with me and seeing the rank number three pop up straight away was just amazing.

04:21 S2

Tremendous. Well, thank you for explaining that. There's still a little bit of emotion in your voice now, Dayna, which is kind of nice as well.

04:26 S1

Yeah, I, it's been a long few days, I think I still haven't come down from all the adrenaline. I sleep with my medal next to me on my pillow, and I just wake up every day just so happy, like, just proud. And I just, yeah, haven't stopped smiling since I've been here, so it's awesome.

04:43 S2

Oh that's fantastic. Tell us about the medal. I believe it's got a little bit of the Eiffel Tower in it. Has it?

04:48 S1

Yeah it does. So we're very lucky that all the metal shavings throughout the years, once they've done all their renovations and stuff from the Eiffel Tower, they've saved them and they've put them inside of the medals. And it's. It's so cool. Like, I mean, this is like, Paris is such an awesome place to be able to compete, but then, let alone having a piece of the Eiffel Tower with the medal is just something else. It's just it's so cool.

05:12 S2

Yeah. I believe the medal is also got a bit of Braille on it. Is that right?

05:15 S1

Yes it does, it does. It's really cool. And the posters we get as well, from winning a medal, have got Braille on them, which I think is so cool. And I like the mascots, how they're representing an amputee. And depending on what medal you come the the prosthetic leg is in the either bronze, silver or gold, which I think is just so cool as well.

05:34 S2

Oh, fantastic. Very inclusive. Dayna, I know you talked about your coach and your folks being at the games, which is fantastic. What about the person who puts you into doing a bit of physiotherapy when you were 12? Have you kept in touch with them?

05:50 S1

I have, and I've also been in contact with my childhood doctor as well. Who? Both of them suggested I get into athletics and make that transition. I was still fit and healthy, like, back when I was 12, and I've just continued on and we still keep in contact with my doctor, Dr Michael Fahey, he's based out in Melbourne, and he's just been such a big support. When he found out I made the team, he was emotional. Thanked me for, you know, still keeping him in contact. And once I won the medal, we let him know as well. And it's just so good to have that amazing support still behind me ten years later. I think without their help getting me into the sport, I wouldn't be in this position. I wouldn't be in Paris with a bronze medal around my neck. Like, it's just it's so awesome to have that amazing support behind me.

06:37 S2

It's a special relationship, isn't it? To have that with your doctor?

06:40 S1

Definitely. For sure.

06:41 S2

What about the physiotherapist? Because that right at 12, a physiotherapist also suggested you do athletics to kind of help you.

06:48 S1

Yeah, yeah. So they worked hand in hand together at Monash Children's Hospital and her name was Kylie, and we don't talk as much as what we used to before. We don't really have that relationship. As I've gotten older, we sort of just grew apart. But I'll always be thankful for her, for getting me into the sport. Um, I really and truly owe it all to everyone back at Monash Children's Hospital. They've been such a great support throughout all my years. And not only just my athletics, but my general disability, getting me all the help that I need, all the testing that we had to get... the, you know, the referrals we had to make sure that I was still able to use my gate and everything like that, make sure all that was still working fine. You know, there was talk about Botox and all that. So without their support in making sure that I was still able to be mobile is just... yeah, I owe it all to them.

07:37 S2

You happy to talk a little bit about your disability?

07:40 S1

Yeah of course. So I'm diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia. So my dad has it and my dad's dad had it. And it's basically just a weakness in the muscle. I have a limp when I walk. It's not affected in my upper body. It's just in my lower body from my hips down. And it. Yeah, just basically just a weakness in the muscle. I lose my balance quite often and yeah, have a limp when I walk. That's pretty much just the overall of my disability.

08:08 S2

You talked about athletics. What throwing events in particular. Did you like them or did they like you?

08:14 S1

I think a little bit of both. I think that, yeah, I just enjoy it and it's my happy place. I want if I've had a bad day at work or home or whatever, letting me be able to do what I can do just relieves all my stress and worries and everything. It's just honestly, yeah, my happy place. And I'm thankful and grateful that I found throwing, and I get to be happy when I do it and get to travel around the world. It's yeah, pretty special.

08:43 S2

Because you kind of burst onto the scene in a sense. Haven't you? Like this is your first games? It's been a, it hasn't been a hugely long sort of run up, pardon the pun, but you've kind of, you know, sort of just come into the scene pretty quickly.

08:54 S1

Yeah. I don't think many people sort of would expected me to have medalled. I think reading some of the articles, I was definitely not a medal chance or a favourite to win anything. So like last year, I made my debut at the World Championships and I come fourth in Paris. I missed out on a bronze medal there by six centimetres, and I think it fuelled me to want that bronze medal here. And I think coming in, like I said, I was ranked seventh coming in due to my, like season's best of my personal best compared to the other competitors. And then I feel like I was an underdog, like I wasn't really expected to do well. So to, you know, come away with a bronze medal at my first Olympics at only 22, like some of the athletes in my event, are double my age. And I feel like that. It's just so cool that I'm so young and I've only like I've just won my first medal. Like, I feel like one day, hopefully I can take home the gold medal. That's what I want to strive for.

09:45 S2

Well, no pressure, of course, but 2028? Of course, in... America and then of course, in Brisbane in 2032 with... just the right age.

09:56 S1

Oh, definitely. I'm so excited.

09:58 S3

But I won't. Yeah, we won't.

10:00 S2

Put any any more pressure on you than we need to. And you've kind of got a life away from, uh, the Athletics as well. So you kind of obviously a very good manager of time. 

10:09 S1

Yeah, I'm working in childcare, so I'm, unfortunately had to leave my job... before I came over here, the company I was working for, couldn't let me take my time off to come over here. They couldn't let me take my six weeks that I needed. So I had to leave my job, which was pretty hard. But before that, I was loving it. I've just started working in childcare. It's amazing. I love it so much. And yeah, I just can't wait to get back to working with all the children again and, you know, get to hopefully show them my medal and all that. Like, I think it's really cool.

10:41 S2

Yeah, I reckon the kids might love you too. Dayna, I know, and as you say they have a very infectious personality. 

10:46 S1

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I love making all the bonds with all the children. I still keep in contact with some of the families, from my previous centre. And I've shown the kids I say this time, some of them the other day, and I showed them and they were so happy. So it's good that I've been able to create those bonds. And when I get back home, we've already made little catch-ups at play centres so I can show them my mask and my medal. I think it's, yeah.

11:09 S2

So that's magnificent. I do,  without wishing to put too much of a negative on this very positive story. You've been through some tough times too. You sort of had to deal with bullying.

11:19 S1

Yeah. I was bullied all throughout my school journey. It started when I went to high school, people picking on me because of the way I walked. They didn't want to be my friend. It was, yeah, got to the point, it was quite bad that I ended up having to be on antidepressants and go and see regular psychiatrists for about three and a half years. I also had to make the decision to leave school just for my own mental health. It was just struggling too much being in that environment, so it was hard. I really enjoyed school. I loved the learning aspect of things, but I just couldn't take the bullying anymore. 

And in the end I think my mental health came first and that's what I had to do, which, you know, hurt at the time. But I look at it now like my favorite quote is everything happens for a reason. And I needed to get bullied to be where I am. I needed to, you know, leave school, do what I had to do, focus all my training and everything to get where I am. And yeah, I think that it's all worked out really well for me in the end. I mean...

12:14 S2

[In] This is the most respectful way... has it kind of made you a better person in a way? You've certainly got a great attitude towards other people. I mean, they probably didn't show that towards you when they were bullying, but you kind of seem to have been very forgiving and kind of got on with your life.

12:28 S1

Yeah, definitely. I think that I don't want to dwell too much on the past. So I think I everything, you know, people can change. Like, I mean, not everyone, but a lot of the people that I talked to were my bullies. Like, I'm friends with some of the people that bullied me now. And I think that as the years go like, go on, I think we all just grow up and mature. I think schools are very like people can be very immature at school and they feed off other people. And I feel like that's why I'm so forgiving, because I know some intentions aren't the way that they may come across, like some people do have pure intentions for other people. And I think just that school environment just feels the bad in people. 

So I just have to, yeah, forgive everyone. There's no point holding grudges like it, only it affects you more than it affects them if you hold on to grudges. So I've just learned just to. Yeah. Move on. Get on with it. You know, live the best life that you can. You only get this life once. So to live it the way that you want to live it, if that's forgiving people for them, harming you or doing you wrong, then so be it.

13:25 S2

A great message. And I guess it's the sort of message, you know, when you go back to childcare or indeed just any walk of life. Well, it's a good message you could spread, but it's a good message that we can take on board for all our lives. As far as going forward goes, you know, we can become better people for it. And, you know, without being too philosophical, the world becomes a better place for it as well.

13:44 S1

Oh, 100%. Absolutely. Definitely.

13:47 S2

Dayna, well, let's get back to the celebrations. What did you do to celebrate? Was there one thing in particular that you did to kind of top it all off?

13:54 S1

I had the famous chocolate muffin in the village.

13:59 S3

What about that?

14:00 S1

I saved it for after comp, and I went and got a chocolate muffin and it was the best celebration. And yeah, seeing my family, obviously that was pretty special. But once I came back into the village, it was the first thing that I went and did. I had a bowl of pasta, followed by, yeah, a chocolate muffin, which was awesome.

14:18 S2

Dayna, we've loved chatting to you. Congratulations once again, and I've got a feeling this won't be the last time we speak.

14:24 S1

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you guys having me on.

14:27 S2

That's Dayna Crees there - bronze medallist and certainly a very engaging, entertaining and effervescent character. And I think we'll hear a lot more about Dayna in the future, maybe on and off the track. 

Well the games are drawing to an end, and one of our guests hasn't actually started to compete yet, but about to get into it. Tayler Gosens, one of only two women to represent Australia in the sport of judoka. And to tell us on the line. Taylor, welcome. Thank you for your time.

14:58 S3

All right. Thank you so much for having me. 

15:00 S2

How do I ay that as a judoka? Judoka? How do you say it?

15:02 S3

Oh, judoka. Terrific.

15:04 S2

Well, what made you get into that particular sport?

15:07 S3

So I went, I was playing jujitsu, so I was doing jitsu while studying, keep fit and lose the weight and just keep busy. And at a competition, I had one of the other girls there that was competing. She reckon me coming to a jiu jitsu gym, which also had some judo, and I had gone to a Saturday class and I just started doing a judo class, and I loved it. So I just kind of stayed and kept, I'm doing it now.

15:35 S2

I guess for those of us that kind of don't know the intricacies of it, so that not not every martial art is created equal, there's obviously differences between them.

15:44 S3

Yeah, yeah.

15:46 S2

And what kind of appealed to you more about judo than, say, jiu jitsu, for example?

15:50 S3

I would say the feeling that you get when someone is going over your hip or you're throwing them, it's a really great feeling. I can't explain it. It is like a drug, really. It's just, it's just such a great feeling. And yeah, it's just fun. It's just that aspect of it. As well as starring in jiu jitsu, a lot of them do start from the ground, so I didn't get as much opportunities. In fact, I would say that I originally kept going with judo just so I could I could work on my takedowns for jiu jitsu. And then one day I found myself just not showing up to as many jiu jitsu classes.

16:26 S2

So yeah, you atlked about, uh, great feeling throwing people over your hip. What about when someone throws you over their hip?

16:33 S3

Yeah, that's probably the worst feeling you get. It's not fun. Luckily, we do learn to break for certain quite as much, but it's also hurt a little. Yeah, it's just part of the sport, I guess.

16:45 S2

Have you had many injuries?

16:46 S3

I have, yeah. My very first one was a shoulder injury that I had right before my first nationals. So I was taken out of that that year. And then I had my ACL in 2022. And I had to get a complete reconstruction. And then that let me get back on the mat internationally for the first time in 2023.

17:07 S2

And here you are, September 2020.

17:09 S3

Here I am representing Australia.

17:12 S2

And the second woman to represent Australia. Does that mean anything to you?

17:16 S3

Oh, it's a really big honour. I'm excited to, I guess I'm excited to represent the females in judo, because there's not a lot of us, and I guess to inspire more girls, especially the girls and, you know, even girls who look up back to his games from judo to give it a go because it looks scary. But I think when you get on the mats and you have such amazing people that are around you constantly helping you, you know, they don't treat you any differently. They're super supportive. It's a great sport. You need great friends and it's just a lot of fun. So that's all I want to do. I just want to get more girls on the mats, get more representation for us...

17:57 S2

Get a few more people throwing over here. 

17:59 S3

So yes, exactly.

18:01 S2

Taylor, I believe that music was kind of your first love, though, was it?

18:05 S3

It was. Yeah. I started with sound engineering and now I moved to Sydney to study entertainment management, and I was studying that when I started judo. Just, yeah, just judo was more of my love. I was playing drums, but yeah, judo just took up all my time, fortunately. But I still love music, so music is still a big part of my life.

18:28 S2

So when you're 60 or 70 or 80, you can always come back to music, you think maybe. 

S3

I don't know, maybe not so much then. 

S2

Or maybe it'll keep you fit and healthy for a long time anyway.

18:37 S3

Yeah. Hopefully. Hopefully.

18:39 S2

Now, I interviewed Anthony Clark a number of years ago, who you may know has won gold at Paralympic level. And one of the points he made, particularly if he competed against sighted athletes, was the fact that because it's all about kind of tactile in a sense, there's no disadvantage having a visual impairment. What do you think about that?

18:57 S3

Yeah, I would say I agree. I find that when you're when you're fighting mainstream is actually especially when, when you're in training, that it is a bit more beneficial only because they are going to beat you to the grant because they can see where you are. They can see, you know, the distance where they are, so they can grab it a lot quicker. And some might see that as a Spanish, but for us it means that we're instantly learning how to get out of those situations and defend those plays, dominand grips and then go into my own dominant grip. So it is... beneficial.

19:31 S2

So, do you think maybe your intuition or your ESP or whatever it might be, is kind of heightened because you've got to kind of rely on that more than, you know, an opposition might be relying on their sight and seeing you?

19:44 S3

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's all about that. It's all about muscle memory. It's the sport that is really based on what, a feeling.

19:52 S2

Now you're competing soon. We're nearly at the end of the games. What's that like? I mean you kind of moved into the village a little bit later than most of the team. What's that kind of hanging around been like?

20:03 S4

It's it's been a bit interesting. There are some goals, yeah, we have already met. They've already competed. So now we're doing all the fun stuff. So they're getting together I love it, I'm really keen to do it. It's been good, but it's it's been a little bit overwhelming because there's so much we have to get done. There's a lot to see around here. It's been such an incredible experience. Be able to experience the village and meet new people. I do wish we were here a little bit earlier, but we it was important for us to have our training plans beforehand and make sure that we got that done and not planning to.

20:40 S2

You know, just that's kind of the advantage, the disadvantage. And you probably knew for a long time. Yeah, that was going to be so you could kind of plan for it.

20:46 S3

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And I mean, luckily we still have one more day. Um, we have the eight. So we're going to go do some other stuff after that.

20:55 S2

I think you're allowed to do that, Taylor.

20:56 S3

Yeah.

20:59 S2

But no, Taylor. Is there a lot of people might think, Oh, well, we know that last name, but you happy to talk a bit about that? Because I'm conscious of the fact that you you are your own person. I mean, yes. So, you know, you Jared's daughter, but obviously I'm assuming he's been a great influence on your career.

21:14 S3

Yeah, yeah, I'd say. I'd say it's a bit funny because I did want to stay away from doing the exact same thing as him. So I, you know, that's why I went into the music industry and I was pretty hell bent on wanting to excel in that industry. But I do feel a little bit lucky that I obviously know someone very close to me who's gone through these experiences multiple times and has excelled in them as well, and that I'm able to get advice from him and confide in him and whatnot. So yeah, it's been really good.

21:46 S2

Would you like to go on Dancing with the Stars one day?

21:50 S3

Probably not.

21:52 S2

Well, you're good at music. You'd be a natural.

21:53 S3

Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. One day, maybe one day.

21:59 S2

All right. One... one day at a time.

22:01 S3

Yeah, exactly.

22:03 S2

Taylor, I know you're really busy. Thank you so much for speaking to us. We wish you well right at the end of the game. Let's hope that for you and Australia, the games finish on a high note. I mean, they've been wonderful for Australian athletes have done us proud. I'm sure you'll continue that tradition. So thank you again for speaking to us.

22:20 S3

Thank you [?Sarah Theodore}. It's been a joy.

22:22 S2

Taylor Gosens there. Why don't you write to the [?end kit]? Compete in the sport of judoka. And we wish Taylor well. And like all our athletes, I'm sure they'll be representing us very, very proudly.

22:34 S4

G'day. I'm Brad Dubberley, head coach of the Australian Steelers wheelchair rugby team. You're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on Vision Australia radio network.

22:46 S2

What's been such fun? Getting to France, Paris and speaking to some of our athletes. Speak to equestrian athlete Bridget Murphy. Bridget, great to meet you and thank you for your time.

22:56 S5

Thank you for having me.

22:58 S2

Now you're competing in the equestrian. Are you a little bit out of Paris? Are you not actually in Paris itself for your competition?

23:04 S5

I'm actually in the village, but my horse is out at Versailles, so I'm travelling back and forth each day.

23:10 S2

And what's that like?

23:12 S5

It's actually been really good. There's a bus directly, and we get to go in the fast lane, but it's about an hour each way, so it's not too bad.

23:24 S2

Terrific. Now your horse, Macy, tell us about Macy.

23:27 S5

Macy? She's my little pocket rocket. She's a sitting one in a horse, which is about 130cm tall. She's by far the smallest one out there. She's seven years old, and she's been with me for the last four years. So we have a pretty special relationship. And I'm just glad that the world gets to see that now.

23:51 S2

How did you and Macy meet? How did you get together?

23:54 S5

It was actually during one of Melbourne's many Covid lockdowns. I was looking for a horse that I could step straight into high performance competition with, and I was putting the word around and Roseanne Mason rang me up and she's like, I have a little horse at the breakers that I think you should come and look at. And I'm like, Oh, that's not exactly what I'm looking for. Well, you know, I had nothing else to do. So I went up and I rode it in about five minutes. I'm in love with it. And then, Roseanne offered me part ownership in it. So I'm very grateful for that. And here we are now. Wow.

24:34 S2

Is it one of those things that's probably hard to put into words just how, how and why you hit it off?

24:39 S5

Yeah, I'm starting a lot of horses and I've loved them all. But there was something about it. For being so young and so new to being writing. Um, she just accepted me and asked, like, I asked the question and she answered it straight away. Like I just knew she was very smart and she felt very safe. And that was the main thing I looked for. So yes, I'm very, very lucky.

25:06 S2

It's a seven year old. So you met her when she was three. I mean, um, for equestrian horses. That is very young, isn't it? Because they can go well into their, uh, double figures, can't they? As far as competition goes?

25:17 S5

Yes. Most don't go up to high performance levels or until they're like 9 or 10 and they stay in it up until 17 or 18. So to be where she's at seven is... quite special. [?Richard].

25:29 S2

Why equestrian? Why? You talked about how you met Macy. What about the sport itself? How did the sport meet you or you meet it?

25:37 S5

I was just born, my racehorse, [?Mad Kids], and it was no option not to for me. I kept nagging and nagging until I got to riding, and I haven't stopped. So another unexplainable thing.

25:51 S2

Yeah, well, sometimes some things are just meant to be. What about that kind of relationship then? Obviously the love of it is important. But then, you know you can love a horse, but then to be good enough to be selected for Australia at the Paralympic Games. That's that's another level.

26:07 S5

Yeah, I think so. And me doing it on such a young horse, it just kind of proves the trust that we have in each other. I'm never going to put her in a situation I don't think she can handle, and she's never questioned any situation I've put her in. So we've just taken it step by step to get her each each day, each ride, each competition. And yeah, she's just been amazing.

26:32 S2

And when we speak to athletes, we talk about the fact that, you know, they might have gone to a talent ID day or come and try a day or someone said, Oh gee, you seem like you can run fast or swim fast. What sort of things would people look for, to be... representing Australia at the equestrian event?

26:50 S5

Obviously they've got to have a love of horses, because it's a hard road if you don't love them. But, you know, the passion and determination to get up each day and work hard. Um, a big part of it is finding the right horses. So we're always looking for anyone that has a horse. They might make a good horse to reach out to Australia and they can hook you up with potential writers. But yeah, any rider that thinks they want to have this long-term goal of reaching the Paralympics, it's, yeah, you just got to stick to it and work hard and yeah, you might you might end up lucky for...

27:34 S2

Do you do anything away from riding your horse to prepare? It's probably a silly question, but I guess what I'm saying is, what other training do you do? What other things do you do to keep fit to to get ready to compete? Apart from training with Macy? Yeah.

27:47 S5

Well, training the horses keeps it pretty fit. But I also do... like, physio and resistance training as well, so yeah, try and look after myself just as much as I look after her. 

28:01 S2

Now, when you're on Macy, do you talk to her always?

28:03 S5

Constantly.

28:05 S2

What sort of things do you say? Is it mainly encouraging? Is, you know, like some people with pets, they have to be a bit stern. You have to be like that at all, or there's no taking the picture...

28:14 S5

Never stern, but she's actually, I've trained her to respond to voicing. So I have different clicks or noises that I make that mean different things. So yeah, but also I just say nice things to her to make her feel good.

28:32 S2

Is that something you worked out for yourself? I'm thinking in terms of the... you know, communicating that you talked about.

28:40 S5

I think it's something I've always done. And with her, because I got her so young, I made a really big effort to really enforce those voice aids. So on days where my legs are tired or I don't have enough energy, I can just use my voice and she'll understand what I'm trying to ask her a little bit more. So yeah. Oh, a different, you know, different noise or different click. And she gets, she knows what she's supposed to do.

29:05 S2

It sounds like he's been using Siri on your iPhone?

29:08 S5

Yeah, a little bit.

29:10 S2

What about getting Macy to to France? How difficult was that?

29:14 S5

It was a long trip, but the company that [?flew] them were amazing. We dropped her off at the depot, and then they loaded them up that night and a couple of stops overnight, and then they landed in Europe, and they, all three horses that flew just, yeah, landed in perfect condition. And they had a couple of days rest at our training camp, and then it was straight back into training. So yeah, a very big, big adventure. But it all went well.

29:43 S2

Yeah. And I guess the same sort of procedure going home.

29:47 S5

Yeah. So from here they actually going to Germany for quarantine for two weeks, and then they fly back and then do another two weeks quarantine at home. So it's a little while until I get to see her again. I'm not... thinking about that.

30:02 S2

But I was going to say you... she'll probably miss you more than you'll miss her. Sorry, Bridget.

30:06 S5

I don't know.

30:09 S2

That's just a bit about the competition. So you compete as an individual and also Australia competes as a team?

30:15 S5

Yes. I have my individual test already and I got seventh in that. Which means I'm through to the freestyle component as well. And then Australia will pick three riders from the four of us to compete in the team event.

30:31 S2

And are you hopeful?

30:33 S5

I am quietly confident. You know it's up to them and I think they were announced that day, so that would be exciting.

30:41 S2

Well, selectors are really smart. They know who to pick. So I'm sure your name will be amongst those that will be chosen and the whole experience. So we had a quick chat off air. You said it's all a bit of a whirlwind. I can imagine it would be, because there's so much happening, so much to take in, and then you've got to be preparing to compete.

30:58 S5

Yes, yeah, there's a lot of moving parts and it's just it's all been fantastic. But yeah, it's so much to take in and try and process and then stay composition focused on top of that. But it's just been awesome. So I'm sure I'll get to reflect back once it's all done and actually realise just how great it's actually been.

31:18 S2

Pretty cool that you go in the fast lane to and from Versailles to... see that. That's... a nice little gesture, isn't it? Bit of a VIP treatment.

31:26 S5

Yeah. I'm not sure how happy the locals are about it, but I'm loving it.

31:32 S2

Well, we're out there for a short time. They can have Paris back or France back in a... week or so time.

31:39 S5

That's it.

31:40 S2

Bridget, great to catch up. There's so much more we'd like to have covered. But I know you've got plenty on, so we'll let you go. But thank you for speaking to us. We wish you well for the remainder of the games. And you and Macey have a great time. And thanks for giving us a while, putting a smile on our face. I'm sure that anyone that hears you speak would be delighted to hear you. So... finish well.

32:00 S5

Oh, thank you so much.

32:01 S2

That's Bridget Murphy there, along with Macy and three other Australians in the Australian equestrian team competing in France and concluding this weekend. We wish them all the very best. You're in elite company listening to Leisure Link here on Vision Australia Radio, VA radio, digital VA radio, dot org and through the TuneIn radio app. As always, fantastic catching up with our health commentator, our health expert, David Mitchell. David, welcome.

32:44 S6

Hello, Peter. Hello, everyone.

32:45 S2

Now, David, the last couple of sessions you've been talking about the hippocampus and memory, etcetera, and you've come across some research that is of great interest as well that might be helpful for us. It is.

32:57 S6

Indeed. Last time we spoke about how the hippocampus, which is about which holds working memory, the memory of what's happening in the moment. Like right now. It says that I'm sitting in Pam's office. It's a beautiful room. The air conditioner is on, and I can see the lights are on, and I could and I could, I can see Peter and I can hear Peter. All of that's being stored in this little, little spot on the two parts of the brain called the hippocampus on the right side. It's taking in the visual on the left side is taking in the the sound and emotions. And it then gathers that all together, makes, makes a program or plot or even a map of what is being said and what you're experiencing. And then it stores it in a way, a stored memory, and it can retrieve from stored memory, add to the new memory, and then add it back out again to memory. 

Now, for both myself and I'm sure Pam and many of your other speakers that come on to Peter Greco's great show, have talked about stress and about how important it is to be able to control it. And so people have talked about the more traditional approaches of meditation or media meditation or going for a walk or going for a drive or deep breathing, or taking up a hobby, or doing something good or bad or fantastic. All of those sorts of things are great. But the great thing recently is that is the neuroscience has finally worked out that, in fact, stress generates the stress hormone cortisol, and it's the excess of cortisol because of repeated stress or pronounced stress that actually damages the hippocampus and damages the brain. That leads to the degeneration of the shrinkage of the brain such that that's then called dementia. Or the worst case scenario is Alzheimer's, or loss of memory, or lack of memory or lack of retrieval. All of that is actually due to excess cortisol. 

So lo and behold, we have to think about all the things that we can do. But as we get older, it is harder to do the sort of things that people talk about. So going for a jog, going for a run is, is harder and harder as we get older. Even sitting down and meditating, it's just harder to focus and concentrate. But what they've discovered is that if you can control the release of cortisol in other ways, then you can actually not only stave off Alzheimer's, but actually have a better, sharper brain and a brain that actually continues to grow. Because remember that hippocampus is where new brain cells grow. They arrive there. And if you're doing something new or different, difficult, stimulating, then the brain cells grow and they go out to the various parts of the brain where they're needed. 

What, because of the activity or the thoughts or ideas that you're doing? And the brain not so healthy, but Bill obviously maintains a growth pattern rather than shrinking because of the the cells are dying in the hippocampus. And the thing to thing to do there is that there is this amazing, um, Ayurvedic Indian based herb called ashwagandha as swag and DHEA, and it has been around for centuries and was brought back to England in the 1700s from the East India Company. And it's been used forever as something that that helps you stay peaceful, helps you not get so excited, not get stressed up for want of a better word, and that if it's taken too long enough, we can actually retrain the brain of the body not to be so stressed and not to react to stress as much. 

It's one of the the most scientifically analysed and checked and tested herb in the world. Ashwagandha. And it's completely successful and completely safe. It has virtually no side effects, which is absolutely wonderful. And, uh, by peppermint, I take it. And we we tend to do it, and... I've often told my people that I see or speak about is that you take it to 3 to 6 months to train the body to stop reacting so much to the stress because it's reducing the release of cortisol. But that doesn't make you into a into a mutant or into someone stupid or someone dumb or, you know, that just has none of those things. It just stops you getting so stressed out without any side effects. 

So you take it as a as a tablet or a capsule. You can have it as a powder, but it tastes awful. So I'm not suggesting to go down that route. So the same with the drops that they aren't last long enough and they taste awful. But the capsules and the tablets are beautiful. They don't have any funny side effects and that tastes funny and you swallow them. And generally you tend to just need to take them once a day. The dosage is seems to be ridiculous because depending on which part of the plant will depend on whether it's it's a 500 or 1000 or a 7000 or something ridiculous like that, it seems to me to pick a middle range and pick a brand, if you like, and use that one in particular. 

Now it's available in good health food stores at, you know, the big chemists that give us this day our daily chemist amounts, they will often have it. You can also get it from overseas with the trouble now with I might add it buying herbs from overseas is the postage is just getting ridiculous, you know, sometimes 20 or $30 just for postage to one bottle. So unless you buy a lot of things or you're buying at a group buy with mates and they all sit around and have a cup of coffee and have our ashwagandha at the same time, you could save money that way and it's the way to go. 

However, the big reason for talking about it today is not only to remind people that this is how you go and get a sharper brain, a better brain, and the brain that will last as long as you want it to last. Like when you when you hit the 90s and the hundreds, that it should still be working and doing good. Is that ashwagandha gummies? Gummies? They're little chewing gum, not chewing gums rather than they're like... the old fashioned jujubes. So you just chew it away, you don't swallow. It chewed away so it's absorbed through the mouth, because the mouth has some great sensors and great receptors and great... carriers of stuff into the bloodstream without having to go through the liver or through the bowel, which means it's straight in your system, in the, with these gummies, usually in a minute or two or 3 or 5, you're already calmer and starting to get through the day better just from that alone. 

The tablets and capsules are obviously stronger and last longer, but if you if you're going somewhere, if you're going to a meeting or going to the meet the, the, the, the new love of your life or whatever, then you bung one of those in your mouth and two, it tastes quite nice and you're a cool dude by the time you get there. Yeah, it's fantastic. And I still do that, because I'm dreadful at meetings. I tell people that the spade is, it's a shovel, or more and don't really get elected because of the volatile people, and truth does hurt other people sometimes. But it means that I can get through a meeting more easily. Still, don't get elected.

40:55 S2

But someone will say, but you take it better.

40:59 S6

Yeah, everyone says all that. You're pretty good tonight, though.

41:03 S2

Yeah, yeah.

41:05 S6

Some of them actually have the cheek to say and say something wrong. You didn't say much. Well, I was not offended by what you said tonight. And the thing about it, too, is, is that here I am carrying on like a pork chop and saying how good it is. And it is. But some people, me included, don't really notice that we're calmer. It's other people have to tell us. Mhm. Because what we're doing is we're functioning at a normal rate without realizing it. Whereas normally we would be getting stressed and you may notice the stress or not notice the stress, but that we would be getting stressed and the cortisol levels would be going up, and we would we would just say, well, that's that's normal. It's normal to get nervous or it normal to get nervous or whatever. 

But when you take ashwagandha, your body just functions at a cooler. Calmer, right. And the only way I used to know that it was really working was the man would be smiling with me as I'm speaking to her, or as I'm leaving, and I'm not rushing out of the door. I'm just sort of casually walking out of the door on the way to a meeting or some sort of case. So that that's a, I guess, a provider or an extra reminder that people are getting excited about what what David Mitchell was speaking about. And I hope that happens occasionally listeners. Um, so that's do you need to be aware that someone else may have to tell you that, yeah, you're more normal than usual, as people say, less offensive. 

But that's... the actual beauty of it. It is not going to do any harm. And you can... take the gummies once, once or twice a day, if you think you need it. Whereas if you're looking realistically at the long-term issue, you're actually putting yourself on a course of tablets or capsules for 3 to 6 months. Now, gummies vary in price. Even Woolies. But Woolies prices them over about $10 dearer than some of the the super chemists. And there is a, at the moment the cheapest one that's going that does work is Bioglan, Bioglan brand. I want to talk about the brand names because it is important, and they are less than 20 bucks for a 60 or so of them. Which is going to last you for a couple of months if you're not living too precarious a life or too vicarious a life. It really works. 

And that that would be a way that that you do it. So you could take the two at the same time basically, or within the same time zone. So take me, take me a tablet and you're getting probably the thousand or 2000 or even 3000mg of the stuff. You're taking one of those a day. Then you're doing that for 3 to 6 months, and you go off it, and then you come back to it. If you think that things are starting to stress or you are starting to stress out again, it won't do you any harm. But I look at it as a training program to see that rather than a lifetime of taking it under. You're looking at training things, and you may notice as part of taking the capsule, the training that happens internally leads you to behave and feel and do things differently than you did when you were stressed. And they too become a part of the positive, positive feedback into the body. But yeah.

44:30 S2

We might leave it there. Yeah, I think my my sides are nearly splitting and hopefully, people have enjoyed the this session as well, and also benefit from the information regarding ashwagandha. Will catch up again next month. You're elected for next month as well with us anyway.

44:48 S6

That's right, I appreciate that. Thank you. I'm not offended at all. Thank you very much.

44:53 S2

By the way, there he goes. That's it. David Mitchell joins round about this time each month. If there's a topic you'd like David to cover, get in touch and we'll see if David can cover it for us. 

Oh, that's music to my ears. Hearing Polly put the kettle on and my taste buds start to dance a little bit as well, because it's time to talk about tea with Belinda Hellyer from Brewed by Belinda, the brew that is true. Belinda, good to catch up again.

45:34 S7

Hi, Peter. Lovely to chat. Now it's spring.

45:36 S2

Yes, it's certainly changed a bit. The weather, which is nice. And actually, I should have actually introduced you properly. The award winning Belinda Hellyer. This isn't it. Aha.

45:47 S7

Yes. Thank you Peter. Nice. A lovely, some lovely news recently. Just about the Sydney Fine Food Festival.

45:53 S2 

That sounds very, very classy.

45:58 S7

Yeah. That's right. So every year there's the Sydney Fine Food Show. And yes, you can enter into the sort of specialty foods section is what we enter. And there's a beverage section. And we chose two of our teas to enter this year. And they both got a silver medal. So that's really lovely to, you know, just get that nice feedback from, you know, fine food lovers in... Sydney, that they are loving our blend.

46:32 S2

Yeah. Well, it's kind of, very affirming, I would say, because you probably think, Oh, you know, I like what I do. I think I do a good job and our customers obviously do too. But when you get kind of somewhat independent at an organisation or an event like that sort of saying it, that must be, as I say, very reassuring.

46:50 S7

Exactly right. I think, you know, I've always created tea and done this because I really love it. But to have that sort of industry nod just to say you're on the right track, you're, you know, you're doing the right thing, does feel really affirming. And just give the little, you know, confidence boost, I guess, when, yeah, when within sort of the greater industry, you know, the team that I'm making, that we're making, you know, a theme to be delicious and high quality, which is what is really important to us that we are making, you know, healthy, high quality tea.

47:27 S2

We've certainly learned from the few months that we've been speaking about, you know, your love of the planet and you're wanting to do the right thing with the ingredients that you use. Which two teas came through?

47:38 S7

So we entered our two blends. One is called Opening Night Nerves in our range, and it's like a calming herbal blend that's great for soothing the nervous and digestive system. And the other tea that we entered was our Escape the Limelight blend, which is kind of a really uplifting citrus based blend with lime segments and lemon myrtle, spearmint, calendula and Murray River pink salt. So yeah, they do have each sort of tea competition or awards program have different criteria. And with Sydney, the blends that you enter have to have have to be made up of like mostly Australian ingredients, which means that actual tea blends with the Camellia sinensis leaf, actual tea Actuality that comes from, you know, tea growing regions like India and China and things like that. They can't be entered. 

So we choose a couple of our herbal tisanes where we know we have that high percentage of Australian ingredients. Yeah. So those were the two blends and they both got silver in the past. They've both got gold. So you know every year is different because you have different judges and different sort of teas that you um up against. But it's just really important for us to, you know, just make sure that we're, you know, standing up in the industry with, with our blends. So yeah, it's just lovely... affirmation, as you say.

49:06 S2

I guess the fact that you can't kind of choose conventional tea kind of test the imagination as well. And as we've learnt from the past, you have a bit of a bent, if you like, towards the the arts, don't you?

49:17 S7

That's right. I just love, you know, being creative with ingredients and um, yeah, I think that's kind of our point of difference is, you know, just kind of using our intuition and being a little bit creative with what we put together. And yeah, we're we love those two blends. I'm drinking Escape the Limelight today. I've got a full pot with me. So you know that we love and drink all the time. So we're glad other people are enjoying them too.

49:45 S2

Terrific. And now, Brenda, of course, last month we had the Olympic Games on the Paralympics on at the moment they conclude this weekend. I've been to cafes and they talk about or they have on the list, French Earl grey. We're having a bit of a chat during the week, and you tell me an interesting story about that.

50:02 S7

Yeah. So I've never been to France. I've never, never had a cup of tea there... but yeah, they are. You know, a lot of people are sort of familiar with a particular blend of black tea called French Earl Grey. And. Yeah, I think what is interesting about this is that it's kind of like a take on a traditional Earl Grey, which is a black tea flavoured with bergamot oil. But French Earl Grey is known to sort of add a floral component. But what's interesting is that everybody's got a bit of a different idea of what that is. So often it's said to be rose petals that's added to that blend, or blue cornflower petals, but there's lots and lots of different versions of it on the market which have things like, you know, hibiscus and... bits of citrus peel and things through. 

So it kind of seems like there's no real strict rules around French Earl Grey, but that it's... you know, usually a floral twist on an Earl Grey. Yeah. And what's interesting is, you know, from my sort of understanding, black tea, you know, kind of dominated French tea drinking until the kind of 1970s when flavoured teas and sort of herbal teas became really popular. So in a way, the French have sort of, you know, are said to have a sort of less formal sort of approach to tea than than the English... in that they, yeah, really sort of headed to enjoy these flavoured and herbal blends. Often they are blends that don't have milk. And often they drink out of, like, little handleless cups, like almost bowls as opposed to, you know,  tea cups and saucers. So that's just interesting. 

But also with my... reading, I found that, you know, the trend actually, now and since, you know, the beginning of the 21st century is that they have really returned to this trend towards drinking, you know, green teas and very natural and healthy teas. I think we're all sort of, you know, in this sort of period of kind of wellness, having a wellness focus. And, yeah, I understand that the French are in that space too, enjoying green and herbal and natural brews.

52:26 S2

Well, that's a lovely little. I kind of outline of what French grey is, a bit like you're saying to Linda. It kind of depends on how people want to create them. There's a bit of, um, flexibility, uh, sort of in the recipe, if I can put it that way.

52:40 S3

That's right, that's right.

52:42 S7

You have, you know, you have some quite famous brands. There's a very famous French gourmet tea company called Marriage Frere, and they have been around since 1854. They do, you know, they have a sort of quite a sophisticated brand. And their... French Earl Grey is a black salon tea with bergamot oil and blue cornflowers. But then you have, you know, Twinings, who've kind of done their French Earl Grey with some vanilla and rose and lavender. So even the big brands, there's no rules. Everyone's just sort of, you know, doing their own little... spin. So it's interesting.

53:24 S2

Yeah, I think that's the one I've had, the one with vanilla in it, that was the one that I had at a cafe for a little while ago, Belinda. Wonderful. Now, if people want to come and see you or find out more about your award winning touch of brilliance, how can we do that?

53:39 S7

So you can find us at our studio during the week at 97a Old Fort Road in Queenstown. Otherwise, our website is brewedbybelinda.com.au - and yeah, always happy to chat on the phone or answer any questions. 0419 839 702. Terrific.

54:00 S2

Well, good luck to all our Paralympians as they finish off this weekend. And thanks for giving us a little bit of a snapshot about French Earl Grey. I'm sure we'll talk about other countries and some of their traditions and teas in future episodes, but great to catch up with you again today and once again. And seriously, congratulations on the awards. That's a lovely recognition for the work that you do so well.

54:20 S7

Done. Thanks, Peter. I really appreciate that.

54:22 S2

Hello there from Brewed by Belinda, the brew that is true. Write to Belinda. Join us next month if there's something you'd like to talk to Belinda about. Or get to Belinda to talk on the radio about, please get in touch with us and... we'll put Belinda to work.

54:38 S8

Hi, I'm Louise Savage, Paralympic medallist, and you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia Radio network.

54:48 S2

Well, it's been a tremendous coverage of the Paralympic Games on Channel 9. Of course, the closing ceremony the last weekend is happening as we speak. Let's chat about it with Ryan Scott, who's been doing a tremendous job as part of the team. Ryan, great to catch up. South Australia's, one of South Australia's best exports, yeah.

55:04 S9

Thanks, mate. Yeah, it's been a while since I've been in there. Say. But, yeah. Still South Australian. Proud for sure.

55:11 S2

Fantastic. What about Aussie Steelers' pride, steel, that definitely...

55:15 S9

No, I... It's hard watching as a as a spectator for sure. And I feel, yeah, definitely, you feel even more prouder when you're watching them. I guess it's, you know, when you're an athlete, you feel like you're in control and, well, you're partly in control of your own destiny. But, you know, as a as a spectator, you see how hard it is and you know what they go through. So especially when results don't always go their way, it's you look at it and you feel really proud about how resilient they are and what they've achieved. 

55:45 S2

It's a pretty fine margin, isn't it? You know, between kind of pleasure and pain.

55:48 S9

Yeah, it definitely is. And as we discussed, it's the competition is just so close now. Like I think before there was probably, you know, three, possibly four teams that you would, you would say had a chance of winning gold. But now it's, you know, you're talking six teams and that's it's unbelievable when you're going out there. And a game could go either way.

56:08 S2

How has that happened or why has that happened? I mean, I guess, uh, you know, I mean, even, you know, with Sydney, a lot of money was put into Paralympic sport to make the Australian team do well. Home ground and I guess it's kind of continued on in places like Japan and London have kind of followed suit as far as putting funding into sport. Is that part of the reason?

56:28 S9

I think so, funding. And then you see also media coverage, now for because it is being covered, so much more people at home are actually seeing it and wanting to be involved in it. So you only got to look at, say, Graham was the first female athlete to compete at a Paralympics in Tokyo, and now, um, other girls are all just coming on board. They they see it and they want to be a part of it. They may have not even known that they were eligible, like to play or in a mixed team. So, yeah, I think media coverage and is and obviously the funding and support, um, helps out a lot, but my opinion is definitely the media coverage. People are seeing it and becoming a lot more aware of it. So it's definitely helped.

57:10 S2

And wheelchair rugby is kind of a good sport for media coverage, isn't it? Because it's kind of quick. It's very entertaining. A little bit rough, you know. Kind of appeals to many parts of the audience.

57:22 S9

Definitely. You look at our top sports here in in Australia and you know, Aussie Rules, you know NRL and union even netball. You know it's supposed to be non-contact. But you know how physical the girls get out of there on the court. So yeah it's it's definitely entertaining. Like you said fast paced high scoring and full contact. So there's not much more you can ask for in a sport.

57:44 S2

I guess skills are kind of part of it. But the other thing is, I think from a sports lover's point of view, it's when it's a competition where it's a tight finish. I mean, even if the skills aren't up to it and sometimes it's just because of the pressure a close finish gets you in, doesn't it? 

57:58 S9

It does. It's it's become so tactical now that the difference between the top teams is, is so minimal that it comes down to little things like clock management, you know, making sure that you're scoring the last goals of your quarter, winning the tip off. You know, you may only get one one turnover in a game, but if you can manage all those other finer details, you could win a game with one turnover or no turnovers. In fact, like if you just if everything lines up and you manage clock, uh, the clock. Well it's it's incredible. It's but it was it'd be really interesting to see how the sport even evolves from here because I think they, you know, something's going to happen. And, and I'm really looking forward to what the coaches come up with next.

58:38 S2

Right. Just before the games got underway, channel nine screened a fantastic documentary. I'm not sure if you saw it.

58:45 S9

I did see it. Right. It was... very well done. You know, like, as Paralympics have come in the past and they've always done something about athletes, whether it's their stories, their training and... you get a sense of knowing the athletes and their background story. But this, this one was the first time I've ever seen one done on just the whole team. And it... was... unbelievable that the... team felt pretty sure Tim Mannion was a big part of it. Who put it together and, yeah, it was it was amazing. It was so well done.

59:19 S2

Well, we kind of like to identify with athletes or identify with individuals, and that kind of set it off, didn't it? All of a sudden we kind of knew the players. And I want to find out a bit more. And I'm sure like social media interest would have risen. But also when the games are on, I remember seeing that or I remember hearing about that, you know, let's... see what happens now.

59:38 S9

Yeah. I think, you know, like people got to see their stories and, you know, you see what what they've been through and how hard they've had to work to overcome. And... the questions they had, you know, I think Chris mentioned it, that he didn't know what his life was going to look like anymore. And then to be on the biggest stage representing your country is... huge. And you can see that family members and support they had and how proud they must have felt to see their them at their loved ones at the games. And then I think the people at home started to feel that as well.

1:00:11 S2

Ryan, what about overall, how would you sum up particularly the wheelchair rugby at the games? I mean, a fantastic final. Australia wasn't there, but a fantastic final as far as the finish goes, as we touched on a bit, you know the the close finishes really get you in.

1:00:25 S9

Yeah definitely. And you know there's going to be mixed feelings amongst the team. I think they're they're going to be really proud of how they overcome some bad results. And then you've got the younger players who are going to be extremely proud of getting on the podium. They've set such a high example for the standard for themselves with, you know, Riley, Chris, Andrew Edmundson, players that are experienced and have won gold medals that they they'll be a little bit of disappointment for them as well. So definitely mixed emotions I think throughout the team. But it was I was really happy to see Japan win. They've such a honest, genuine team and you know they're they're very well respected amongst the rugby community. 

And to be honest, on paper they're probably the best team and have been on paper for a while. We all know rugby is not played on paper, but yeah, in terms of depth and quality, they've. They, yeah, they've been the best team for quite a while. So it was really good. It was, yeah. It was great to see them win.

1:01:18 S2

What about the kind of washup if you like. I mean, I guess, you know, a few were... well I was going to say sleepless nights, but a few nights of replaying moments, I guess that's kind of quote unquote normal for a sports person, I think.

1:01:31 S9

So I think there's going to be players reliving that in their head for quite a while. There's not a lot you can do about it, and as an athlete you just have to move on. It's it's a weird feeling, Paralympics - because I remember, I, it was similar to Raleigh. I noticed Raleigh didn't leave the court for quite some time. And I remember in London I did the same because I was aware that once you leave the court, it's almost over. You know, that that moment is is gone now and people start preparing for the next one. They, you know, I'm sure coaches and their committees will be starting to already once the games are finished thinking about, you know, LA. And that's just the way it is. So, you know, once you leave that court, it's done. 

And yeah, it's bizarre, but in their in their minds they'll be... thinking about it. So it's quite a while I think. But you know, that's sport and that's, that's how it really should be. It should be competitive all the way through. And yeah, one point games are exciting for everybody.

1:02:28 S2

So it's maybe the losers, but I guess that's one of the losers that comes second. Here on, what are you... doing with yourself? You grew up in South Australia, moved to Queensland, didn't you? A little while ago?

1:02:39 S9

Yeah, I've been up here for a little while now, and when I retired, I just, I moved into a development coaching role, and, but just, my body got a little bit, yeah, it was a bit beaten up with all the rugby and probably didn't look after it as well as I should have. So it took some time off, to repair that. And I've been a family man now for a little while and yeah, my youngest daughter is going to be probably going a few more days to school next year. And so, yeah, it's time for me to start thinking about what I'm going to do again. But at the moment I'm just enjoying enjoying it as much as I can. 

And I've been lucky enough to, I went to the nationals to coach the Western Australian team, just got asked by chance, and then, got to do this commentary commentary job. So, yeah, just little things have been keeping me occupied and I'm enjoying what I'm doing at the moment.

1:03:33 S2

How much do you enjoy the the stuff on channel 9? I mean, we talk... to, off air. They've done a fantastic job and I'm sure they'll finish well this weekend. But, it's kind of great to get someone's insights that's been there, done that, as it were.

1:03:45 S9

Yeah. But on a personal note, I was yeah, I was definitely nervous. I'd never done it before. And... but my co-host Sean Maloney was, was great and he... just prompted me at the right times and... you know, got me in a position where I was answering questions that was just on experience or my knowledge of the game. So it made it really easy. And once I got that first game out of the way, I just really enjoyed it. It was... I, to be honest, I was more worried that I was, you know, I enjoyed it more than I probably thought I was going to. Because I...

1:04:17 S2

Enjoyed it more than you should have.

1:04:19 S9

I was... scared that I was going to just be so nervous that I wouldn't enjoy it. So yeah, it was great to to be able to relax and enjoy it. It was good. It was nice.

1:04:28 S2

Terrific. What are you and Sean and Sean overall? You've done a great job with the rugby and as I say this weekend, I'm sure to finish off on a very high note. Great to catch up again, Ryan, I remember fondly speaking to you back in the early days. It's good to know you're still going strong. We wish you well and I look forward to the next time we catch up.

1:04:44 S9

Thanks a lot, Peter. Great to hear from you again.

1:04:46 S2

It's Ryan Scott there, former champion Australian wheelchair rugby league player. Now talking about the... Channel 9's coverage of the games finished this weekend. And congratulations to all. They certainly get a gold medal, as far as their coverage goes.

1:05:04 UU (THEME)

Welcome aboard the Leisure Lift. Please select your floor.

1:05:16 S2

The inaugural tennis championships for athletes who are blind or have low vision took part in Darwin last weekend. On the spot for Vision Australia Radio was Tom McLean - and Tom is there from our Darwin bureau. Tom, great to catch up, thanks to you. Tom.

1:05:30 S14

Thanks, Peter.

1:05:31 S2

What do you think of it? Was it you first time seeing blind tennis? Yeah, it.

1:05:34 S10

Was my first time seeing blind tennis, and I thought it was terrific. I think it's incredible what these people can do with in the blind and low vision community. A lot of these players come from other backgrounds, too, in other sports. So I think it's incredible to be able to see what these people can do. And yeah, I had a blast at the event.

1:05:52 S2

Did you have any sort of preconceived ideas of what it might be like?

1:05:56 S10

Oh, I come from a bit of a blind cricket background, so I kind of assumed it was going to be something similar to that. So when I got there and the, you know, rallies back and forth and these really powerful serves, I was thinking, Wow, this is so much different than what I was thinking it was going to be like. So yeah, absolutely. I went in with some preconceived views, but I came out there thinking, Wow, these people would be, would beat me in tennis. Absolutely.

1:06:20 S2

So what about the different side categories? I guess if you've got a bit of an idea about black cricket, you'd be aware of the the different categories. That can sometimes be a bit confusing for people.

1:06:29 S10

Yeah. So here at the... Blind Tennis Championships, they had four divisions. There was the B1 division, which is completely blind. They play on with blindfolds and they can have up to three bounces and a fourth. It's a point. Then there's the B2 which is also three bounces. But they have a little bit more vision than the B1. B3, they have two bounces... and B4 is one bounce. So yeah, it was a bit confusing to, especially because it was an open tournament. So a lot of the people were playing against each other, like we'd have a B3 playing against a B2. 

So as a spectator it's a bit confusing when you know the B3 player can have three bounces and then you're watching the B2 player not allowed three bounces. So yeah, I think it's a little bit confusing, but it's also makes the game a lot more entertaining and I guess a bit... more relevant as well.

1:07:18 S2

Like the sight categories compensated in a sense by how many times the ball can bounce, for example.

1:07:24 S10

Yeah, exactly.

1:07:25 S2

What about for the referee? That'd probably be a bit of a job as well, wouldn't it, to kind of keep on top of that, you know, counting the bounces and you know, sort of having in your mind that person's a B2 or a B3 or B1, etc...

1:07:37 S10

Yeah. I spoke to Nicholas Bradley, the national head coach, about it, and he said it's definitely really confusing when, especially him when he was umpiring most of the games here, he found it a little bit challenging being able to see, you know, the different divisions playing against each other. But he said it makes it really... interesting tactically as well. So yeah, I think while it's confusing, especially from a referee standpoint, I think from a spectator perspective and a coaching perspective, it's really interesting to see what tactics people can come up with and...

1:08:08 S2

The players blow up top at the ref, you know, been unhappy about any of the calls?

1:08:12 S10

No, no, no blowing up. But there were a few unhappy players at times. So no.

1:08:18 S2

No, you did some interviews on court with the players. But what sort of things did you ask and what what what kind of feeling did you get about how much they love the sport? 

1:08:26 S14

Yeah. So I got a few interviews from the different divisions. They were sort of just general questions about how they're finding the territory. A lot of them think that it's good preparation for Italy. Apparently, Italy's meant to be a little bit hot this time of the year, same as Darwin. So they were really keen to play tennis here in the NT. They were really proud and honoured to be able to play in the NT, because this is the inaugural World Championships here in the Northern Territory, so they definitely loved the sport.

1:08:54 S2

Tommy talked about going to Italy. Were you a bit surprised about how much opportunity there are for players to play internationally? I mean, I know we've got the Paralympics on at the moment and tennis isn't a sport in there, but the opportunities internationally for players, that's a pretty exciting thing. 

1:09:07 S10

Yeah, I think it was. I didn't know anything about blind championships globally at least. And then when I was at the event, I found out that they held events in Poland and other countries around the world and around different states in Australia. So to hear that they're going to Italy, I was pretty impressed. And I'm almost a little bit jealous that they get to go away to Italy.

1:09:27 S2

So you start school, you start school time, you got to get to education first, then you can go and play sport.

1:09:34 S10

Yeah.

1:09:35 S2

What about the... territory itself? I mean, this time of the year, particularly those coming from the southern states, which I think most of the players did, would have maybe found them out to sort of humidity and temperature-wise.

1:09:46 S10

Yeah, definitely. That was an overwhelming vibe, that it was a bit hot. Everyone was dripping with sweat, even myself. I've been a local here for 18 years and I was dripping with sweat. So definitely a hot, hot time of the year, but I think they still loved it.

1:10:00 S2

Regardless, it will probably be good to thaw out for a little bit after the southern winter. And what about yourself, Tom? A couple of minutes on you. So you're still at school, but you're hoping to get into journalism?

1:10:11 S10

Yeah. So I've done a few work experiences with the ABC and things like that. Obviously volunteering here at Vision Australia now as a reporter. Next year I'm hoping to go to university to study journalism, whether that's in an arts course or anything like that. I've also applied for some cadetships in local newspapers like the NT News or even bigger publications like the ABC, so I'm hoping to hear back from them soon. But yeah, that's... a bit about me.

1:10:39 S2

What's it like in the NT as far as media opportunities go? You've got the ABC, is there a television channel commercial? And also there's the NT news, which I don't know if it still does, but in the old days, Tom, the NT news used to get a lot of headlines about their headlines.

1:10:54 S10

Yes, there's a lot of headlines, a lot of funny ones that go around the news, that's for sure. There are definitely a better known local newspaper compared to maybe the ones around Australia just because of their funny headlines. But, in terms of television presence there, there is 9 News here. I'm aware of that. They're a bit of a smaller... knit group. There's only rarely or only ever really see a few of them on the telly. But yeah, there's there's not a huge amount of opportunities here in the NT. We've got like about three established papers or publications really. So it might be a little bit hard to get into. But I also think you get what you put in. So, you know, if you put in a lot of effort then you're going to find those opportunities, especially here in a small place where, you know, the community is small, so you have a lot of room to learn and a lot of room to improve.

1:11:46 S2

So yeah, if there be opportunities in other towns like maybe Alice or Katherine, perhaps as well.

1:11:52 S10

Yeah, definitely. Alice and Katherine both have... ABC bureaus and they have... correspondents for the NT News and stuff like that, and there as well. So, yeah.

1:12:01 S2

If, I'm not sure if you can say, but that was the inaugural NT Championships. Are there plans for next year? Do you know, at this stage?

1:12:08 S10

From speaking to Ben Zhou, the event's organizer, he reckons that they'll be coming back next year, and he really wants to. Yeah, and he really wants to be able to see some more local talent shine through, because this year we had 11 players, I believe. And none of them are from the NT. But he's really hoping that this was sort of the message sender. And then next year when they come back, we can have more local talent representing the NT here.

1:12:33 S2

Tom, great to talk. I'm sure we'll speak again. Appreciate your report. Excellent.

1:12:37 S10

Thanks, Peter. 

1:12:37 S2

That's McLean there. Our, well, our man, our person, our reporter in Darwin reporting on the inaugural NT Blind and Low Vision Tennis Championships. Did a great job and he might have a career in the medium. We gave him a bit of a start. But Spinal Cure Awareness week. A message of support all year round. Let's talk about some rather interesting research that's going on with Doctor Claire Buswell-Rice. Claire. Lovely to meet you. And thank you for your time.

1:13:09 S11

Thank you Peter.

1:13:10 S2

Now, this does sound like some very exciting research. You want to tell us a bit about it? Is that the, called the eWalk 2?

1:13:15 S11

It is called eWalk 2. And we're really super excited about it, primarily because it's part of a conglomerate of projects all under the title Project Spark, which has been supported by Spinal Cure Australia. And this is the third trial that we're setting up under this Project Spark title.

1:13:35 S2

Now, for us mere mortals who are not sort of medically inclined or educated. What's the kind of basics behind it?

1:13:43 S11

The three trials that come under Project Spark are all using neuro-stimulation therapy for people with spinal cord injury, and this neural stimulation is looking at sending electrical impulses right through the spinal cord, using what we call transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation. And transcutaneous is just a fancy word for over the skin. So we're applying electrical impulses over the skin that go directly through the spinal cord to try and enhance different abilities. So in eWalk, it was walking ability for people who had very poor walking ability. In the Get a grip trial it's looking at hand function and breathing function and it's over the the cervical or the neck area that we're stimulating. And in eWalk 2, we've got a much more comprehensive group of participants of all different walking abilities, and we're applying this stimulation over the lumbar spine area to try and enhance that walking ability.

1:14:46 S2

We'll come back to the participants in a moment. How's that? Well, how's the first couple of trials gone in terms of results? And so, because of the method that you used, is it fair to say it's kind of non-invasive? Is that right?

1:14:58 S11

It's definitely non-invasive being over the surface of the skin, but it does go through the body. It's sort of a like a little tingling sensation for some people. And some people don't feel it at all. And some people feel a strong impulse, but it doesn't actually require any surgery to have it applied. And that makes it more transferable for the general population and potentially have less complications which surgery can bring in. So it is definitely non-invasive, which is is a great thing.

1:15:33 S2

So do you have it at home or do you have to have it sort of under The supervised guidance. How does that work?

1:15:38 S11

At the moment it's under supervised guidance, being part of a randomised clinical trial. So people attend one of the clinics and they have it applied by a physiotherapist or a physiologist, and then they participate in the trial under guidance. And part of that trial, depending on which trial that people are in. But if we're talking specifically about eWalk 2 and they come to one of the centres and they attend three times a week for 12 weeks, and they have the neurostimulation, along with walking and exercise therapy targeted at improving people's walking ability.

1:16:18 S2

Okay. Do they get sort of homework to do as well? Sort of away from the treatments?

1:16:22 S11

Certainly people can do homework. Absolutely. We don't mind as long as they're not participating in any other research trials or that they're not starting something in the middle of the trial that they wouldn't be normally doing. So if somebody actually walks around as part of their normal daily activities, then we encourage people to continue doing that. If they're doing some sort of other exercise therapy, please continue doing that. But then the specifics of the exercise therapy with the neuro stimulation, that is just at the trial  site.

1:16:55 S2

And what about who you're looking for or who's taking part? I'm thinking in terms of how long they've had, their sort of injury or their "complaint" (in quotes).

1:17:04 S11

Yeah, absolutely. So for this trial, people have to have had their spinal cord injury for at least one year. We've chosen this because that's where somebody is... relatively stable in terms of their neurological progression. So they're not in that immediate medical care situation. And because we're looking at changes in people's walking ability and muscle strength and spasticity, then we want people to be relatively stable. so that that's a point that they they need to be at. And ideally, you know, this is, I guess, a randomised controlled trial. It's a new trial that hasn't been explored before. 

So doing it in when a time when people are more medically unstable just after they've had their injury. And there's a few more risks associated with that. So we want to try and minimise the risks when we're doing research trials like this.

1:17:59 S2

Of course that makes perfect sense. And how are you going as far as, I was going to say, guinea pigs, but you know what I mean?

1:18:08 S11

Well, we're just coming up to... the conclusion of our first trial, and we get a grip trial. We're about halfway through that, but for walk two, we are literally just launching it this coming month. So it ties in really nicely with Spinal Cord Awareness Week. So yeah, we're we're hopefully going to, um, be launching it differently here at Neuroscience Research Australia in Warwick. We're in September and then... we'll start rolling it out into our other community gyms around Australia and in New Zealand as well, sort of over the next couple of months. And all throughout next year. And it will run for another 3 to 4 years.

1:18:55 S2

Okay. Wow, I guess these things... they need the kind of... benefit of time to kind of assess, don't they? You can't just sort of, there's no overnight sensation, as it were.

1:19:05 S11

No, unfortunately, there is no overnight sensation, Peter, you know, and we'd love, love to be able to snap our fingers and say, Yes, you know, we've got the ultimate cure right here, right now. But they do take time to roll out. And it's a big process getting someone ready and involved to be part of the research trial. But it's so nice that we can actually partner with Spartak To Australia and with spinal cord injuries, Australia utilising their gyms around Australia. So we'll be setting up in Perth and in Canberra and in Adelaide we'll have a site in Melbourne as well, along with Swinburne University. 

And so yeah, just to be able to, I guess, spread the love around so that we can actually have more people be able to access this... randomised control trial would be really exciting. Just the the beauty of having done a trial already that is similar is that we've been able to refine our processes, and now we know how it works and also how we can try and include more people who we wouldn't have originally included in our first trial being, which was the very first randomised trial in the world. So it's exciting to be able to actually provide this Neurostimulation therapy to more people.

1:20:29 S2

Just to clarify, the trials have kind of stimulated different parts of the spine as you've gone along. Is that right?

1:20:36 S11

Well, I guess as we've gone along, we initially started stimulating the the lumbar spine. And this is where there is a what we call a locomotion center within the spinal cord. And it's about an automated center, but it can also be tapped in to try and enhance people's abilities to, to walk or to move. And in our Get a Grip trial where we've actually stimulating the the cervical spine, and that's where all the nerves to the upper limbs and, and the breathing muscles tend to come from. And so if we target those areas that we're trying to actually target the specific function that we want to improve. So in eWalk 2 we're back down in the lumbar spine where we're stimulating that. 

But even though we're stimulating that area, the people who can participate in the trial don't need to have a lumbar or thoracic injury. They can also, they could have a cervical injury. So an injury at the neck which has reduced their ability to walk. So it's it's been a bit of a progression in terms of thinking of who we include in a trial, depending on, I guess, their walking ability or how safe we think they will be walking or how many steps that they could take initially when they actually join in the trial.

1:21:57 S2

Are people pretty kind of on board to get involved with trials like this, or do you have to kind of, you know, plead your case?

1:22:05 S11

Generally, I mean, the [?thing up] to regain the function of walking is pretty, pretty [?sexy] out there, I think. So people are quite keen to be involved. Some people like to be involved for their own personal gain and ability. Some people are happy to be involved if they don't have any changes themselves, that it might actually progress the research and be able to provide, some, I guess, good outcomes for other people. And so, yeah, so sometimes it's hard to get people to be involved. And that might be more because of the distance that people need to travel or the cost of travel in the... loss of income for themselves when they can't travel like this. So that there there's some of the challenges, I think, that we've found over the last couple of years. 

But generally people are really keen and happy to be involved, because it's it's exciting to have something like this in Australia, where we do have a small population, but we have lots of people who have a spinal cord injury, and the burden of that spinal cord injury is quite high. So to be able to even improve even small amounts can actually reduce that burden, you know, being able to be able to stand up and do something or to be able to to move people's, their own people's own arms in a way that might be able to enable them to do something that they couldn't do in the past. So just even small changes can make a real big difference to, to people's lives and, and their daily activities. 

And I think that's that's what really drives us more than being the Wow, wouldn't it be amazing if we could help people to walk? That'd be great. But even just to improve people's function, just even minutely, fantastic. That's very, very powerful.

1:23:55 S2

If people do want to find out more, if... you're in that sort of position or indeed, you know, someone that might be able to take part in this sort of research, how can we find out more or where do we go?

1:24:04 S11

Certainly go into the Spinal Cure Australia website or going to the Neuroscience Research Australia website, neuro.edu.au ... they then people can find out more about that or even by sending us an email, in any of those ways, through any of those links.

1:24:23 S2

We'll put those details up on our Facebook page as well. And people can always call us if they've missed any of that. Claire. Good luck. That'll be lovely to keep in touch with you on this. And she. Wouldn't it be great if, uh. Well, even those little breakthroughs, that'll be certainly well worth reporting on. And I'm sure we'll really excite the the team that are working on it.

1:24:39 S11

Yeah, absolutely. Peter. And we'd love to keep in contact and... let people know what's happening.

1:24:45 S2

So that's very exciting. That's Doctor Claire Buswell-Rice there from Neuroscience Research Australia talking about Spinal Awareness Week, Spinal Injury Awareness Week in that research going on. And we'll put those details up in our Facebook page. And if you miss it, you can always give us a call at the radio station, 1300 847 466. 

Well, it's been an enormous privilege catching up with their athletes and some of our parents all the way from Paris and France in the last couple of weeks. Really appreciate that should say a huge thanks to Margie, Danielle, Alexandra and also Ashley for making that happen. Really appreciate that. It's been very, very much appreciated. And also a huge thanks to the athletes today who spoke to us not long before competing, Dayna, also Taylor and Bridget. So a special thanks to them. Thank you for listening in as well. Of course. All right. A couple of quotes before we go. One from Marie. Marie says... You can fail many times, but it's only failure when you stop trying. So thanks, Marie, for sending that through. And Raymond has sent one through. Raymond says, I always found that people would find more pleasure in their routine if they sang a song at a significant time. So thanks to Raymond for your quote. 

Now, some birthdays before we go, I should say a very big happy birthday, how's this? We've had a couple of these time in, Kenton Smith having a birthday, a Paralympian athlete and archer during the Paralympic Games, and also a very big happy birthday to you, Simon. I'll try and catch up with time. And when he gets back, he's certainly been rocking some rather interesting outfits and hairdos during his competition in the sport of archery. So happy birthday to Simon! Also Jonathan Craig, very much involved with art and advocacy. So happy birthday to you Jonathan. Rachel Henderson having a birthday. Rachel, of course, has represented Australia at the Paralympic Games, one of the Barossa Valley's finest exports. So happy birthday to you Rachel, and Kieran Meads having a birthday worked at Vision Australia Radio and RPA Adelaide for many, many years. A wonderful asset to the station. So Kira. Happy birthday to you. I think you might be back in Australia. Might chase that up. So happy birthday to you. Kira Meads. 

That's it for the program. Sam Rickard, thanks so much for your help. Ann Green, thanks so much for yours, reminding you that Leisure Link is available on your favorite podcast platform. If you like the show, tell your friends about it, please. There's always room for one more listener. Be kind to yourselves. Be thoughtful of others. All being well. Leisure Link back at the same time next week. Hold the ticket. Vicki Cousins is here with some French champagne. Pop the corks. The games are about to finish and Australian Geographics is about to start. This is Vision Australia Radio.