Intense gym work paints picture for Zagame's Olympic preparations
Each week between now and the beginning of the 2012 Olympic Games, AWPI's Road to London series will profile a member of the Aussie Stingers or Aussie Sharks team. This is your chance to get to know the stars of the show a little better.
Zagame in action against Uzbekistan earlier in the year at the World Championships
It is common for athletes to seek shelter from the daily circus of elite sport by turning to a special talent or hidden interest that keeps them motivated and internally driven.
Many resort to study and the pursuit of a career to fill that void. Others find time to relax and just read a good book.
For Kirrawee’s Aussie Stingers water polo star Nicola Zagame, the world of paints and paintbrushes has been her escape.
A seven-week art class, including three hours of watercolour lessons a week has been the ideal way to break down the stresses of an Olympic campaign.
“I’ve always loved art, and I pushed back my university study to concentrate on training, so I decided to do the painting course to give me something to do,” the 21-year-old Zagame revealed.
“I did art for year 12 in the HSC and my major work was displayed in a local exhibition, and I’ve now continued the love as it is a good way to relax and get away from everything.”
With the Stingers attempting to create a more physical outfit, Zagame’s training has begun to involve more weights and underwater leg drills.
Talking from her residency at the AIS in Canberra, Zagame concedes the peaceful confines of the art room may soon become a distant memory.
“The coaching staff have introduced a new style where there is less swimming and more gliding, jumping and sliding on the surface of the water, so we are spending heaps of time in the pool practicing these movements and in the gym doing hard sessions of chin ups, push ups and weights,” she said.
“This type of training is harder and probably not the most enjoyable, but we definitely see the benefits and hopefully it will work come the Olympics in August next year.”
While Zagame intends to return to her University degree where she was studying a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science - Diagnostic Radiography, she believes the decision to take the time off has been a necessary step to reaching her Olympic dream.
“Water polo has played a pretty big role in my life over the past few years. Recently it has definitely become even more of a main focus and I am now always putting training and rehab first and am willing to do what ever it takes over the next 10 months to make sure the Stingers come back with gold,” she said.
“To represent Australia at an Olympic Games has always been my dream and I would be over the moon if it was to happen.”
Zagame’s next step in her quest for London selection begins with another Stingers training camp followed by the Canada Cup in December and Pan Pacific tournament in Melbourne in January.
