May 2022

Last month I hinted that maybe age is starting to catch up with me and that my time as an elite athlete may be coming to an end over the next few years (or decades). Now as much as you may find this a bit disheartening and each reader maybe becoming a bit distressed with this news – I do think it is time when I must start facing the fact that I may find it difficult to compete in swimming as well as athletics (along with the decathlon and the marathon) in the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. I feel it is nearly time for me to only centre on one form of sport – the only question I am struggling with is – which one?

I sat down with my family (including our animals as we are all seen as equal in our family group – mainly because my wife feels the animals are more intelligent than I am, and she has a tendency to listen to them rather than me – but that is another story for another newsletter) and discussed this with them. I knew by their reactions that they were upset with the news – my wife became hysterical and started to roll on the floor whilst laughing, my son sat there in a state of shock and kept mumbling to himself something along the lines of “Bloody idiot”, the cat just yawned and went back to sleep but this is normal for our cat – the world could be exploding and this cat would just sleep, the different dogs had different reactions – one just started licking himself in unspeakable areas, one rolled over and passed wind, one nuzzled my wife to see if she was OK while rolling around the floor and one decided that the cat had the right idea and curled up with the cat and went to sleep.

As you can realise – there was not a lot of support from the family group so I am still trying to decide which sport I should concentrate on – difficult due to my many sporting talents. At the moment I have decided to concentrate on all different sports and then over the next few years I am hoping that nature will play a major role and help me decide on the sporting event I will be participating in 2032.

In the meantime, I encourage all clients of our business to let me know which sport they feel I should centre on. My wife has mentioned dry land synchronised swimming, blindfold egg and spoon race, tiddlywinks, flatulence with fire throwing, post prandial burping competition, snoring resonance, time trial from eating to being fully asleep in lounge chair competition.

So, there you have it readers – my dilemma and the decision I must make as time marches on. Luckily, I still have my full athletic ability at the moment and I still have some Frequent Flyer Points for free flights by the Flying Doctor to the local hospital (if mishaps occur – which they seem to do on a regular basis).

But I know that I cannot put my head in the sand and hope that I can maintain my high standards of fitness and ability over the next 10 years. Let me know if you have any ideas – the search continues.

Till next month, Davo