Triathletes to gain boost from PhD research
As the world’s best triathletes compete for Olympic glory in Beijing next week, University of the Sunshine Coast PhD student Katie Sutter will be watching with much more interest than most in how they perform.
Katie, 25, of Mountain Creek is not so concerned about who wins the medals but with how the athletes cope with fatigue over the gruelling 1.5km swim, 40km ride and 10km run course.
Katie recently gained a three-year scholarship with the Centre of Excellence for Applied Sport Science Research (CoE) at the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) to research the effects of fatigue on the physiological and biomechanical parameters of those competing in Olympic distance triathlons.
She hopes her research will provide coaches and athletes with a better understanding of the complex relationships between intensity and technique in triathlon, as well as in the individual sports of swimming, cycling and running.
After completing a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at USC, Katie went on to receive First Class Honours in 2007 before gaining this scholarship as part of her PhD studies.
A triathlete herself, Katie said she had initially wanted to become a physical education teacher, but soon realised there were strong career prospects available to her in sports science at organisations like the QAS and the Australian Institute of Sport.
“Being based at USC is ideal, as there is no shortage of potential subjects here and every athlete wants improve their performance,” she said.
“I’m here because I love it and this is what I want to do,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a better place to be based than at USC.”
Katie said her lecturers had encouraged and supported her endeavours to research performance enhancement.
“I doubt I would have gone down this path if not for the way my lecturers delivered subjects like exercise physiology and biomechanics,” she said. “They got me even more hooked.”
USC senior lecturer in exercise physiology Dr Chris Askew, who is one of Katie’s PhD supervisors, said Katie had developed excellent laboratory skills and was relishing using state-of-the-art equipment at the Queensland Academy of Sport and at the University.
“Our testing facilities are world-class, particularly our motion analysis lab, human performance lab and athletics track where much of Katie’s research will be conducted,” he said.
— Kerry Brown