Many Australian athletes, including swimming sesation Ian Thorpe and track star Cathy Freeman, gained their first real taste of international competition at a Pacific School Games.

 

Well-known Australians who have competed at past Pacific School Games before progressing onto the world stage, are:

Athlete	Year	Sport	Event
Kathy Watt (Vic)	1982	Athletics	17+ yrs 800m
Nicole Boegman (NSW)	1982	Athletics	15 yrs 100 & 200m, Long Jump
Adrian Faccioni (ACT)	1982	Athletics	17 yrs 110m Hurdles
Duncan Armstrong (Qld)	1982	Swimming	14yrs 50m Free, Backstroke, Butterfly
Deahnne McIntyre (ACT)	1984 & 1988	Athletics	13 & 17 yrs 100, 200, 1,500m, Discus, Javelin
Cathy Freeman (Qld)	1984	Athletics	12 yrs 100m, 200m; 1988 Athletics 16 yrs 100m, 200m, 400m
Kyle Vander-Kuyp (Vic)	1984	Athletics	14 yrs 100m 90m Hurdles; 1988 Athletics 17+ yrs 110m Hurdles
Dean Puller (Vic)	1984	Diving	16 yrs Springboard
Jodie Rogers (Vic)	1984	Diving	16 yrs Platform & Springboard
Damien Marsh (Qld)	1988	Athletics	17+ yrs 100m, 200m
Melinda Gainsford (NSW)	1988	Athletics	17+ yrs 100m, 200m
Joanna Stone (Qld)	1988	Athletics	16 yrs Javelin
Andrew Currey (NSW)	1988	Athletics	17+ yrs Javelin
Linley Frame (Vic)	1988	Swimming	17+ yrs 200 IM, 50/100m Breaststroke
Stephen Dewick (NSW)	1988	Swimming	12 yrs 100m Breaststroke & Backstroke
Rebecca Brown (Qld)	1988	Swimming	11 yrs 50m Breaststroke
Susie O'Neill (Qld)	1988	Swimming	16 yrs 50m & 100m Butterfly
Samantha Riley (Qld)	1988	Swimming	17+ yrs 50m & 100m Breaststroke
Nicole Livingstone (Vic)	1988	Swimming	17+ yrs 100m Backstroke
Scott Miller (NSW)	1988	Swimming	14 yrs 100m Backstroke
Ellie Overton (NSW)	1988	Swimming	14 yrs 100m Backstroke, 200 IM
Johanna Griggs (NSW)	1988	Swimming	16 yrs 100m Backstroke
Chris Fydler (NSW)	1988	Swimming	16 yrs 50m Breaststroke
April Adams (Qld)	1988	Diving	16 yrs Platform & Springboard
Michael Murphy (Qld)	1988 & 1992	Diving	16 yrs Platform & Springboard
Adam Pine (NSW)	1988 & 1992	Swimming	12 & 16 yrs 50m & 100m Butterfly, 50m & 100m Freestyle
Peta Gallagher (ACT)	1992	Athletics	11 & 15 yrs 800, 400, 4m x 400 Relay
Ian Thorpe (NSW)	1992	Swimming	10 yrs 50m Butterfly, Freestyle
Richard Upton (NSW)	1992	Swimming	17+ yrs 50, 100 & 200m Freestyle
Natasha Bowron (NSW)	1996	Swimming	10 yrs 50/100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly
John Jakeman (ACT)	2000	Athletics	12 yrs 100, 200, 4 x 100m Relay
Melissa Rollinson (Qld)	2000	Athletics	16-17 yrs Steeplechase
Jana Pittman (NSW)	2000	Athletics	18-19 yrs 400, 400m Hurdles
Ronnie Buckley (Vic)	2000	Athletics	14-15 yrs Hammer, Discus
Steve Hooker (Vic)	2000	Athletics	18-19 yrs Pole Vault
Brenton Rickard (Qld)	2000	Swimming	16-17 yrs 50, 100 & 200m Breaststroke
Fran Adcock (SA)	2000	Swimming	16-17 yrs 50m & 100m Backstroke
Felicity Galvez (NSW)	2000	Swimming	14-15 yrs 100m Butterfly
Jessica Abbot (NSW)	2000	Swimming	13-15 yrs 200m IM, 50m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 50 &100m Freestyle

 

For the Record

Cathy Freeman set two records at the 1984 Pacific School Games in Melbourne.  In the 11 years high jump she set the record at 1.53 and in the 200m she ran a record breaking 26.80.  The high jump record was not broken until 1996 and the 200m record was only broken in 2005 by .06 of a second.

 

Melinda Gainsford-Taylor shares the 13 years 100m record with a time of 12.57 which she set in 1984 in Melbourne. She shares the record with Fiona Ferguson from Queensland who ran in the first PSG in Brisbane in 1982.

 

Jana Pittman still holds two PSG records, one for the 400m hurdles and the other for the 400m.  As an 18 year old in 2000 in Sydney she ran 58.94 for the 400m hurdles and 52.31 for the 400m.

 

Daniel Batman set the 16 years 400m record in Perth in 1996 with a time of 48.86.  The record still stands.

 

Nicole Boegman still holds three records that she set as a 15 year old at the 1982 PSG in Brisbane. Nicole set a time of 11.91 for the 100m, a time of 23.20 for the 200m and a distance of 6.14m for the long jump.

 

Where Are They Now

Simon Foxhill competed for the ACT at both the 1988 and 1992 Pacific School Games in Athletics.  At the 1988 Sydney PSG Simon competed in the 10 years 800m finishing fourth in the final. Simon remembers hurdling over two runners who fell in front of him on the final bend. In Darwin in 1992 he made the finals of both the 1,500m and the 3,000m.  Simon, who completed a teaching Degree in Physical Education at the University of Canberra, is currently a Physical Education teacher at Belconnen High School in Canberra.

1988 - A Watershed Year

The 1988 Pacific School Games in Sydney saw the emergence of some of Australia's best known sporting stars:

 

Last updated on: 17 August 2007