Interview with Paralympian Timothy Hodge
Appearing at his second Paralympic games in Tokyo, former St Bernadette's Lalor Park and Patrician Brothers Blacktown student, Timothy Hodge took home an outstanding 2 silver medals and a bronze medal from the games.
CSNSW Sport had the fantastic opportunity to speak to Tim about his sporting career and how the CSNSW pathway played a role;
CSNSW Sport: Tell me about yourself and how you were involved in CSNSW Sport.
Timothy Hodge: I started competitive swimming when I was in Year 4, competing in the school swimming system, making it to PSSA state championships in my first year, and School Sports Australia the year after. From then until Year 10, I competed in school swimming every year, qualifying for Nationals each year. In 2015 and 2017 I was lucky enough to be named male multiclass athlete of the meet at Pacific school games held those years. I was also lucky enough to be named the male Vince Villa award recipient for 2018 at the NSWCCC awards night.
CSNSW Sport: Did this school pathway have an impact on your professional sporting career?
Timothy Hodge: The school pathway was where I first experienced competitive swimming, and showed me that I really enjoyed it. Without this start, I don't think I would have had the same motivation to train and compete that would push me to try and make the Australian Paralympic team.
CSNSW Sport: What is your most memorable sporting moment?
Timothy Hodge: My most memorable moment would have to be competing in Rio 2016 as part of the 4x100 medley relay final, in front of a crowd of 10,000 screaming Brazilians. The whole experience of a relay final was amazing, and despite coming 4th to Brazil's 3rd by 0.5 seconds, I had a great experience, and the head coach said to us afterwards that we'd given it our best, and that the only reason they won on the day was home crowd advantage.
CSNSW Sport: Do you have any advice to give future Olympians coming through our pathway?
Timothy Hodge: The advice I would have for future Olympians would be to make every day count, and to always try and get the most out of every training session, and a 4 year cycle can go surprisingly quick, and it won't be long until your standing on the blocks or at the starting line at Olympic trials about to take your chance at making an Olympic team, and you need to be confident in that moment that you have made every day count.
CSNSW Sport: What are your plans next?
Timothy Hodge: My plans at the moment are to start preparing for World Champs and Commonwealth Games next year, and beyond that to Paris 2024