Dr. Lee Stoner, our Director of Academic Affairs writes:
I have just returned from spending eight days at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Australia. I was there for the first week of our new Exercise Physiology program. I had not been to Canberra before, so I was excited about the visit, but what excited me most was the specific location – the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The 65-hectare AIS site is Australia’s premier sports training institute. The campus offers two arenas, an indoor swimming centre, a gymnastics hall, soccer and hockey fields, multi-purpose indoor training facilities and a sport science building.
As an undergraduate I learned why Australia went from a minor to a major player in the Olympics. The AIS was opened in 1981, the impetus being Australia’s performance at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976 – only one silver medal and four bronze medals were won. Come the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the benefits of AIS were obvious – AIS athletes won seven of the 12 swimming medals, gymnastics recorded a best-ever performance and three track and field athletes finished in the top six in their events.
The Institute began with eight sports, but now offers 34 sport programs in 26 sports, with a varying number of scholarships offered annually to Australia’s finest sportsmen and sportswomen. According to their website, “Outstanding athlete results combined with skilled coaches, world-class facilities and cutting-edge sports science sports medicine services have given the AIS its international reputation as a world’s best practice model for high performance athlete development.” No argument here!
AUIP, in conjunction with the University of California San Diego, currently has a group of 28 students residing at AIS for a five-week program. Running the course if none other than Professor Peter Wagner, a legend in the field of physiology. So these students are getting to learn from one at the world’s best physiologists, at what is arguably the world’s best sports science institute. Wow!
Make sure you read this space next week for another blog from Canberra.
