USC graduate is a silver medallist
Winning a silver medal at the recent Paralympic Games in Beijing brought both joy and relief to University of the Sunshine Coast graduate Marayke Jonkers.
Marayke, 27, clinched the medal in her only event at the Games – the 150m individual medley – adding to the two bronze medals she won in Athens in 2004.
She said her success vindicated her decision to persevere with training for the Games after learning earlier this year that two of her three events, the 150m butterfly and the 50m breaststroke, had been removed from the Paralympics schedule.
“It was a wonderful feeling to have something to show for all that hard work I put into training for these Games over the past four years,” she said. “To win a medal that was better than those I won in Athens was more than I could ever have hoped for.”
Marayke said training for Beijing also had been at the expense of pursuing a career after graduating from USC with a Bachelor of Social Science (Community Work) in 2004 and a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) in 2006.
However, she said her studies of both journalism and public relations as part of her Communication degree had paid dividends.
“As an athlete, I am constantly dealing with the media,” she said. “Having studied both PR and journalism as part of my degree, I understand what the media wants and it doesn’t stress me at all. Basically, I’ve been my own media manager.”
Marayke said her training for the Games was boosted by USC’s Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE) which developed special weight scales that she could access while remaining in her wheelchair.
She said these scales enabled her to accurately assess her important power-to-weight ratio in the lead-up to Beijing.
Marayke also praised the work of CHASE director Associate Professor Brendan Burkett who was the Sports Science Coordinator for the Paralympic swim team.
“Brendan is such an integral part of the team,” she said. “He carries the whole team’s history from being a competitor himself to becoming the Sports Science Coordinator.
“He was the Paralympian on the Coast when I was growing up. He was my idol and I looked up to him.
“Brendan also was the first person I saw after I finished the final in Beijing, and it makes that memory even more special that my childhood idol was there when I won my silver medal,” she said.
Marayke’s success in the pool and her untiring efforts to help others with disabilities makes it likely that she will take over Dr Burkett’s mantle as the role model and inspiration for others with sporting ambitions.
She recently established the Sporting Dreams foundation which will soon distribute its first round of grants to local athletes with disabilities.
— Terry Walsh