WORDS
Michael McVeigh
PHOTO Beth Doherty
Patrick Murphy has his sights set on the Commonwealth Games.
An average international 100-metre freestyle race goes for less than 50 seconds. The body tenses, the gun sounds, the swimmers dive into the water, and in just a few moments it's over. In that short space, swimmers need to push their bodies' limits. The margin between winning and losing is measured in fractions of a second. You can't afford to leave anything behind.
In July 2005, Patrick Murphy anchored the Australian 4x100m relay team at the World Championships in Montreal. His swim brought the team up from fifth place to third, and got them a spot on the podium. He's hoping to do the same again at the Commonwealth Games, but he knows that in sprint swimming it comes down to getting as much as you can out of those fractions of seconds.
'That's why Australian swimming is so good—the selection criteria are so tough, you have to be on-song on the day', he says. 'It's the same when you have major events like the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics—you have to perform on the day, and if you don't, it's your problem.'
The race itself might be a sprint, but the preparation is a marathon. Swimming is a solitary pursuit, demanding time and dedication. Preparing the body for those 40-something seconds of swimming requires many hours of work.
'Unfortunately it's probably one of the worst sports you can choose training-wise, in that you're just up and down a black line, and I'm probably doing about 50km a week. It does get fairly boring in that way, but that's what you've got to do, you've got to do the laps', he says.
It's a far from glamorous life. Few swimmers earn enough to make a living off the sport. Most rely on parents to support them, or grants, or try taking on a day job. But when you're training 30 to 40 hours a week, there's not much time for anything else.
'I question myself sometimes—a lot of times—why do I do this sport?' Patrick admits. 'It is one of the hardest sports to train for, and to compete in. It's not like you're in a team sport and you can push each other along. It's all in your mind. And you have to look deep within at what you can do.'
Each time he begins to doubt himself, Patrick remembers the other things he's experienced thanks to swimming and says they are worth the work.
The journey for him began at an early age. He was born in Albury, but his family moved to Fiji when he was four. It was there that his love of swimming was born.
'I guess it was a combination of the hot weather and always being around water', he says. 'You just always ended up being in the pool—well, I did.'
When he started high school, he came back to Melbourne and enrolled in Xavier College as a boarder. That was also where he first tried out competitive swimming, and when the early morning starts became a habit, sneaking quietly out of the dormitories at 5am to practise before school started.
Those teenage years were also when he first began realising the sacrifices that had to be made if he wanted to be an elite swimmer.
'I did do a bit of footy and team sports at school, where while individually you try and do the best you can, at the end of the day you can still win even if you don't do your best. At the end of the day in swimming, if you're going out partying and doing everything you want to do, you're not going to get the results', he says.
It's that effort to be just a fraction better each time that drives him. He knows that he is missing out on some things that other young people take for granted, but he also knows that he won't ever get the chance to do this again. Just as swimming is about getting as much as you can out of your body in a race, having a swimming career is also about seizing the moment.
'You can always go back to uni, you can always party, you can always go out with your mates later in life', he says. 'Everyone looks up to someone who's trying to be their best. Everyone looks up to Thorpe and Hackett and those guys, but you've got to make sacrifices along the way.'
It was back at school when he first found how much strength he could gain from being part of the Catholic community. He says he found solace in church when his parents separated, and continues to find comfort in knowing that there is always someone there believing in him.
'You know that there's always someone there supporting you', he says. 'It doesn't matter how you're going or what you are, they'll always be there to support you and do anything for you.'
Dedicating most of his life to swimming has meant he's had little time to spend the same time with friends as most young men do. So it has been his family that has been the strongest source of strength in his life.
Patrick says his older brother is pretty much his best mate. 'We just enjoy each other's company. He knows what I go through, and I know what he goes through. It's great just having someone to support you along the way.'
So far, the journey has taken him to Athens and Montreal. Now he's hoping it takes him to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. First, he needs to qualify for the Australian team at the trials at the beginning of February. He's chosen to try out for the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, as well as going for the 100m and 200m freestyle relay squad again.
'Our trials are probably one of the strongest meets in the world. That's the challenge, and you have to look forward to it', he says
Making the team, and winning in Melbourne, will mean getting the most out of his body in those fractions of seconds. While others are doing the same thing, all Patrick can do is concentrate on making the best of himself.
'That's the beauty about swimming, you can't control your opponent's career. If they train harder than you, or they perform better on the day. There's no outside factors, it's all yourself.'
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