Aerobics champion on top of the world
by Charlotte Knottenbelt
It
was a magic moment in the usually low-key world of competitive aerobics
in Australia: In front of a home-town crowd of 3,000 cheering
spectators, Kylie Halliday leaped, kicked and one-armed-push-upped her
way to claim the senior women’s individual silver medal at the 2004
World Aerobic Championships.
For Kylie, a UniSA human movement student who holds the current national aerobics title, it was an affirmation of years of hard work.
“To be placed in the top two was great,“ she says. “I’m not at all disappointed on coming second, I’m 23 and still have a long way to go in the sport.“
Urged on by aerobics champion Patsy Tierney, Kylie took up the sport six years ago after an injury forced her to retire from gymnastics.
“I met Patsy when I was doing gymnastics at the Institute of Sport, and she suggested aerobics would be much easier on my body,“ says Kylie. “She started up a squad and I’ve been doing it ever since.“
Fitting in the demands of elite-level sport with study has not always been easy, but Kylie says it’s been made easier thanks to supportive lecturers – and she’s even planning to go on to postgraduate study.
“I want to finish my degree by the end of next year, and then do a two-year postgrad program in nutrition – eventually I’d love to work in children’s health,“ she says.
As for sporting goals, it’s now a countdown to October when Kylie will defend her national title, and beyond that she’s looking to the 2005 world championships.
Although appreciative of the sponsorship she’s received on a local level, Kylie dreams of a day when Australia’s aerobics champions enjoy the kind of sponsorship enjoyed by some of their European counterparts.
“The thing that’s frustrating is that three of the last four women’s world champions have been from Australia, but despite our dominance it’s still a relatively unknown sport compared to Europe, where competitions are televised – and the top competitors don’t need day jobs.
“Here we’re doing it purely for the love of the sport – there’s no money involved,“ she says. “I’ll continue doing it for as long as I enjoy it.“