Abbie Taddeo is an elite athlete and current student of ours. Earlier this year she competed at the NSW State Championships held at Sydney Olympic Park. We had the opportunity to sit down and chat to Abbie about her most recent athletic achievements, her goals for 2019/20, as well as what studying at ACPE was like while also pursuing her athletic career.
At the NSW State Championships Abbie came 3rd in the 100m, 2nd in the 100m hurdles and also achieved a new Personal Best of 13.29 seconds! She was a student of our Elite Athlete Program successfully graduating with a Bachelor of Sports Coaching Management in 2018.
Tell us about the NSW State Championships, what’s involved in qualifying?
The NSW State Championships is open to everyone in the state; you apply through submitting a form via your athletics club.
Abbie had the opportunity to compete against major names in the sport such as Michelle Jenneke! One of the best reasons to compete in the NSW State Championships is to indicate where you are leading into Nationals. Abbie admitted she did not compete at her peak, as she was carrying a few niggles into the competition. All the more reason to compete now, so she knows what needs to be done in preparation for Nationals.
What happens now?
On March 23-24 Abbie competed in the QLD Track Classic Competition. This competition only takes the eight fastest girls in Australia, so her work was certainly cut out for her.
She treated this as another form of preparation for Nationals which takes place April 4th – 7th.
This is Abbie’s opportunity to fight for a spot in both the World University Games, which will take place in Italy (July 3-14 2019), as well as the Oceana Games (June 25-28th 2019).
How has it been for you studying at ACPE while pursuing an athletic career at an elite level?
Abbie insisted that she couldn’t thank enough people, however, here are but a few who were integral to her studies and athletic career.
The Head of Department, Sports Performance and Sport Business, Dr Trevor Clark and Director of Student Services and Campus Wellbeing Maureen Rocha who heads up the Elite Athlete program at ACPE as a part of her role.
ACPE allowed Abbie to have complete flexibility while studying, allowing her to fit her study around her training. For example, if there were two tutorials for a subject, she was able to bounce between the two depending on her training schedule.
Naturally, Abbie’s coach ACPE Sports Performance Lecturer David Boyle was also played a critical role in both her athletic and academic pursuits. Between the three ACPE staff members; they have mentored her and assisted her throughout, not only her course but her athletic endeavours as well.
What are your goals for 2019/20
Abbie would love to stand on the podium at Nationals, to qualify for the World University Games placing in the top 6, and walk away with another Personal Best on one of the biggest stages.
Of course, the end goal is to represent Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. That really is the dream.
