How BREWYD's program got me to the Olympics

Over the last couple of years, my career as a professional athlete has had its ups and downs – at one point last year I actually thought it could be time to call it quits.

I wasn’t performing to the level I knew I could, I was struggling physically with ongoing, yet random illnesses and I knew that my chances of achieving my lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian were diminishing.

I also lost my funding.  It hurt.

I’ve worked alongside my coach Warwick Dalziel my whole career and in 2022 I also began working with BREWYD on a number of different elements of my training and performance.  Things like my purpose, communication, health and wellness and understanding my training and performance data better.

BREWYD’s guidance alongside Warwick has been transformational for me in the last 9 months.  Through the BREWYD program I identified my purpose and the values that guide me every day – the things that get me out of bed an inspire me to be the best in the world.  Having this clear set of values helps me with decision making, ensuring what I choose reflects who I am so I’m continually proud of what I do – and why I do it.

They say communication is key and I fully agree. My communication skills with my broader team have improved greatly, allowing my team and I to push the limits of my ability and also stay on top of fatigue.  We’re setting clear objectives for me to strive towards which has had the added benefit of improving my focus in training because I know how small things fit into the bigger picture.

A key skill I’ve developed thanks to BREWYD is time management.  I now know how to stay on top of admin (like writing this for you) and all the other non-training related activities that come with being a professional athlete.  Having this structure and the discipline to stick to it like I would my training, has given me more time for training, recovery, friends, family and fun.  And I know that when I’m competing, I can tune out the noise and focus on what’s in front of me. 

This structure around time management is reinforced with how Warwick and I engage.  He analyses my training data, then translates it into clear and concise messaging so I know where I need to focus and how to improve.  BREWYD’s Datafit methodology is great for this – focus on measuring the important things, focus on improving and when you get there - then move on to the next.

All of these things are instrumentally important in getting the most out of me on race day.  When I’m lacking in one of these key areas, it’s reflected in my training – and in the data!  And at the end of the day BREWYD helps me remember what’s important, they call it their High-Performance Framework:  Health, Family and Business.  I know that if I prioritise each of these things – in this order – dreams can come true.

Thanks to all of this support and development, I made it to the Olympics.  Now, I’m on to making my next dream a reality… LA 2028.