Shirley Strickland

I was only 8 years old in 1956 when the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne.  It was the era of the “Golden Girls” in Australian athletics and Shirley Strickland was one of them.  As I walked along St George’s Terrace in the city today I noticed this plaque dedicated to Shirley.  There are several of them dotted along the Terrace and I believe they were put there as part of the 150 year celebration of the founding of the colony.  
Shirley has a very special place in my heart as I can honestly attribute my success in squash in 1978/79 to Shirley.  It was with her guidance and support that I was able to add a very important dimension to my game and I remember feeling so honoured that she agreed to work with me.
When we were down at the athletic field and Shirley took off across the oval to chat to someone, she would break into a run and it was like watching the most graceful creature in flight, poetry in motion.
The best advice she gave me was the mantra - “You can gain stamina by doing lots of sprint training but you will never gain speed on the court by doing long distance work”.  So Shirley had me doing 50 metre sprints in sets of 8.  I would end up running the equivalent of around 4 to 5 kilometres but in short bursts.  These days it’s knows as HIT - High Intensity Training.
I was told once that they didn’t need a stop watch to time me but a calendar!!!  A bit cruel I thought at the time.  Shirley helped me turn that around :).