1 Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2014 INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC (MOUTHS) MUSIC CONTINUES CHEERING, WHISTLING MAN: Mary Fisher kicking hard in the centre of the lane. Now, Fisher seemed to come out of the turn like a train there. SPLASH! CHEERING, WHISTLING Got into the final rank second and, you know, to win it ` just so cool to see all sweat, blood, tears totally pay off. You're not seeing any of the people, but when they stand for the national anthem, there's 17,000 seats, um, all flicking up at one time. But that's probably my... my favourite sound of the last couple of years. CHEERING GENTLE MUSIC On the streets of Wellington, NZ, Mary Fisher walks with a new confidence. In pursuing her Paralympic dream, she pushed herself well out of her comfort zone. The biggest change that's happened is that I've gotten more confident in my abilities ` not just sporting or anything like that, but just in the practical and social aspects of life, that, oh, it's OK to be blind, have a disability. BRAKES HISS Hi. Um, number three? Hi. Um, number three? Yes, number three. Hi. Um, number three? Yes, number three. Great. Mary is completely blind, the result of a genetic disorder. The eye condition that, uh, caused my vision loss is called aniridia. So pretty much that just means no iris, and so the blue or brown or green, hazel ` whatever other colours they come in ` um, part of my eye just didn't develop. The loss of an iris pretty much just means that there's nothing blocking out sunlight. BUS BRAKES HISS GENTLE MUSIC Growing up, I had about, yeah, 10% of, uh, normal vision. I could not do some of the things which the other kids could. Like, walk on a beam I found really difficult; or I had no depth perception, so I couldn't see, like, stairs or if the ground was wet, where the puddles were. Hi! GENTLE MUSIC But I could read print when it was large, and I could, you know, see colours and shapes which were close to me. And then I guess when I was 15, I just kind of gradually lost the rest of my sight. Now I can see, kind of, light and dark. GENTLE MUSIC INDISTINCT CHATTER SPLASH! As her sight deteriorated, her swimming career took off. SPLASH! I'd been swimming for four years with the Upper Hutt Swimming Club, and I went to some race nights, and I was always the slowest person, kind of, yeah. And, like, just with the club, and, yeah, then I just started swimming with all Wellington, kind of, meets. Yeah. WATER SPLASHES I thought that I should get faster, I guess, and all my friends were getting faster. I'd like to be one of the best people there, and I just, like, practise hard to get there. Just six years after she began, she took to the pool in her first major event ` the London 2012 Paralympic Games. DRAMATIC MUSIC CHEERING MUSIC CONTINUES BUZZ! Leading into the games, Mary was a rank outsider. INDISTINCT PA COMMENTARY WHISTLING DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES Selected because she showed promise, she was a surprise performer. WHISTLING MUSIC CONTINUES As she powers down the final length, she has everyone on their feet. CHEERING < MAN: Wow. World record, gold medal. Oh, uh... Crazy! I don't know what to say. Um, the final went to plan as much as it could've. You know, um, oh, I'm just really really happy with the swim. So expectations coming in, has this exceeded expectations? Where do you sit? Um, absolutely exceeded my expectations. I came to, um, pretty much experience, um, the Paralympic atmosphere and do my best, and, um, I'm just really really happy that my best has got me into finals, and, um, I've never, ever heard a crowd before when I've been swimming. And, um, I could hear it all the way through a 400. It was crazy. MAN: Gold medallist representing NZ, Mary Fisher! MAN: Gold medallist representing NZ, Mary Fisher! CHEERING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC CHEERING, APPLAUSE INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT I never really thought of myself, before London, as someone that would come away with four medals, a world record, and I really want to keep swimming and to stay in that place and, uh, improve and advance. I guess my swimming career is gonna be tricky but exciting. INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC It's a new year and a new campaign. The upcoming world champs in Canada are a chance to prove that her performance in London wasn't a fluke. And to add to the pressure there, she has a new coach. Remember what we talked about in relation to streamlining? OK? So those push-offs are really important. Make sure that turn's spot on as well. OK? Especially the streamlining out of it. OK? Don't snatch the breaststroke either. Two, one, go. WATER SPLASHES We certainly need to be looking at 10, 11 sessions a week; we certainly need to be looking as those at being two-hour sessions; um, so there is a lot of work to be done. Mary swims in the totally blind classification S11. Each swimmer has blacked-out goggles in case some have light perception. Vision-impaired swimmers rely on a tapper to warn them that the end of the pool is a body length away. When I feel the tap, I know it's about a stroke and a half that, um, on the next arm stroke, usually I'll be turning. Sometimes swimming, for me, is a contact sport because the tapper's either distracted or they just missed for some reason and you don't feel the tap. And, yeah, there's been a couple of chipped teeth and, um, a few sore heads, um, in my, um, experience. But all in all, it's a pretty good system. WATER SPLASHES So we've come in there at about 3.30. OK? So I want you to hold on to that pace. All right? Just be very mindful of the backstroke ` we're not switching off. All right? Lengthen those arms, and nice leg kick. All right? You've got five seconds. Well, obviously, swimming's very very visual. Uh, we're obviously on the back foot there straight away. So it's her understanding that we're wanting distance for stroke. I'm finding it at the moment that both, uh, breaststroke and certainly the freestyle, we're only actually pulling half the amount of water we could be doing. First is that we've gotta really be mindful that whenever we're doing the stroke, we're getting plenty of distance. What we're tending to do currently is we're tending to swim at this point here. All right? Now, that's quite nice for strengthening. All right? What you've gotta do is once you've entered the water, extend it through to that position. So you're actually pulling more water from here to here, as opposed to that bit, you only pull that much. And the breaststroke ` so the breaststroke, we're tending to swim at that point there. Whereas we need to be coming through here so we're pulling the same amount of water each time. I'd like you there, which again is nice and long, OK? And then through and in. All right? < Two, one, go. WATER SPLASHES GENTLE MUSIC SPLASH! MUSIC CONTINUES You know, I feel really lucky to live in NZ. You know, so many countries, if you're blind or if you're a woman or, um, you know... so many things can... not allow you to do this. GENTLE MUSIC Mary's reviewed her own life plan and is looking at her career after swimming. I'm quite interested in doing speech language therapy, just because the way that I navigate life is through language. And I think it'd be something very cool, to be able to have a positive impact on someone. A top student, she's realised the reality is she cannot study full-time like her peers. Yeah, everyone does talk about sacrifice for your sport ` for me, it's the not feeling, like, academically equal to my peers, I guess. Just the whole, kind of, socialising and, uh, being a regular young person in NZ ` a lot of those things just go out the window. GENTLE MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES At the end of 2011 I wanted to go flatting because I'd been travelling into Wellington City from Upper Hutt. You know, it was a six-hour round trip pretty much every day to train. That is a little bit tedious and just seemed like something that could be changed. GENTLE MUSIC This is all, kind of, open, so some of the... you know, the previous flatmates were a bit worried about, 'Ooh, what's gonna happen with the stairs?' But, um... So I just pretty much stick to this side and, you know, take care. There's 20 stairs, so I just remember two, 13 and five. So, there's seven of us in the flat and four upstairs here. We've got Hannah, Louisa, and then our token guy, Cam, and I'm at the back. So it works well. Got a sweet view (!) (CHUCKLES) So, the most difficult things about flatting, for me, are we're all a group of young people, I guess ` 20 to 29 years old ` and we have quite thin walls, and just, I guess, the noise. Sometimes I'll have to get up in the morning or have to pack. Also, just the whole logistics of having eight people's stuff in one house can be a bit tricky. But, in saying that, it's great. Everyone has taken on board living with a person who's blind or vision-impaired. And so, yeah, we've got quite a fun thing going on and just following some of those, 'Hi, Mary. It's Louisa in the lounge.' Which is just kind of totally over the top, but, um, it is just good fun. Yay. Cool. Cool. Um, do you know where the baking powder is? Yep. It's just in one of my drawers. So, we've all got lots of drawers. OK. So, this is the one we use more, so I'm guessing this is baking powder. Baking powder, soda? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Powder. Cool. What I try and tell people is I definitely don't have, like, supersonic hearing ` I can't hear really high like a bat or anything ` but I think I just have to, you know... I have to pay attention to the little details that are going on around me. And, um... Yeah, I think it's just being more observant of your world in different ways than everyone else. Get this... Keep that open, and then... Getting it in without burning yourself is a lot of practice. And I remember a time at home where I was trying to pick something up and I, like, let the tea towel trail, and it... and the bottom caught fire. (CHUCKLES) But it didn't, you know, come to anything. It was a good learning experience. 1 DRUM MUSIC The NZ national swim champs is an integrated event with both Olympic and Paralympic athletes. It's a chance to see how Mary is tracking towards Canada. Just make sure your stroke rate's good. Plus make sure that we've got length in those arms. All right? Watch this drifting. You must be pulling the same amount of water from both arms. No ping-pong. No ping-pong. No ping-pong. No ping-pong. No ping-pong. Yep. Enjoy it. All right? INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS The, kind of, half hour before a major race, for me, is just trying to find, kind of, me time and thinking about one or two things that I'm gonna concentrate on during the race, and hopefully that sinks in somewhere. He's not even swearing at the moment. He's not even swearing at the moment. LAUGHTER I think the thing that makes me nervous is, will all the work I put in beforehand pay off? Can I really push myself to that absolute limit, and just wanting to, like, forego any of your fears of letting yourself down or your coach or your family. WHISTLE BLOWS MAN: And at your marks. MAN: And at your marks. DING! WOMAN: Go! Mary has few competitors in NZ. Mostly, she's racing the clock. Come on! Come on! CHEERING Come on! Come on! Mary has just smashed the world record by two seconds. APPLAUSE Cos, you know, it's very exciting to have that WR next to your name. To hold that top-in-the-world spot is something, you know, I only ever dreamed of, and it's really exciting to see it all come to fruition and hopefully continue. INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC CONGREGATION SING GOSPEL MUSIC INDISTINCT CONVERSATION CONGREGATION SING GOSPEL MUSIC When you're training full-time and everything, you do really... you can get a bit, like, flat, maybe, so just to have a couple of things outside of training, for me, is really helpful. CONGREGATION SING GOSPEL MUSIC Music, for me, is something where people can communicate. Or if I'm playing, I can, you know, do it for myself or for others. And, yeah, there's doesn't have to be one meaning behind it ` you can interpret it a lot of different ways. CONGREGATION SING GOSPEL MUSIC APPLAUSE INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS Really to the bottom, and keep your core switched on. All right. Training is ramping up. The world's in Canada are just around the corner. The team around Mary is honing in on the improvement she needs to make to defend her world record. Knees right up. There you go. Swimmers, they train an exceptional amount. So you've got people that are training twice a day, in some cases, for five days a week. And then they might do one session on a Saturday, so you've got a huge amount of swimming. Although you're doing quite a specific movement, you still need to strengthen up that movement. Um, and that's where, I suppose, we come in. Down nice and slow. Release. Keep that core turned on. Through the heels. Bang. Good. Oh, I try not to be too specific, um, in terms of her alignment. What I do see is if she's squatting, um, she may favour her left or right leg. Um, I'm constantly telling her, um, you know, what it looks like ` um, 'You're tilting.' Nice, Mary. So just trying to build that kayak so you're going through the water nice and strong. Maybe it's not having the visual cues, just it gives you more of, like, a sensual feeling. Rather than I feel really dominant or a bit wobbly in your core, then, for me, it's probably not swimming as straight as I should and so swimming further, which takes longer. OK, here, chest out. Don't arch the back too much. Like that? Yep. And squeeze it right up so that this leg is parallel with your stomach. When I go to Canada, racing against the top people, maybe some of them will be looking at me, but I just need to know that I've done everything I possibly could to swim as fast as I can. CLICKING So, this is a Perkins Brailler, and it's pretty ancient, but it's very durable. Just made a list for Montreal. So I've got, you know, uniform; passport; laptop; um, protein powder; Canadian notes. So, this is some Canadian notes, and, I guess, just sorting through them before we go away. So, when I'm in NZ, I just, uh, fold any notes that I have... (CHUCKLES) um, once if it's a $10; twice if it's a $5... or just keep them flat it it's a $20. But we've just found that on one of the corners there's a little... I guess it's a little bit like a braille cell. There's six dots. And I've just gone through them with someone that can see, and so they told me this is a $5 ` this is a good system by the Canadian government ` and this one has two, which means it's a $10. And this one has three, so it's a $20. INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC And so these are my NZ shirts, which we'll be wearing in Canada. Um, and just cos we all the same kind of stuff, it can get a bit tricky with knowing whose is whose. So my mum's just chucked a couple of pom-poms on the label. And this one's a white one, cos it just has, like, one set, and all the black stuff ` um, this is a singlet that has one on each end. INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC To keep up the top in the world, you have to want it enough. You just, kind of, go in with the attitude of doing your best and not worrying about what anyone else is gonna do. INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC CONTINUES 1 MAN SPEAKS FRENCH The world champs is the biggest para swimming event outside the Paralympics. There'll be 500 athletes from 60 countries vying for the medals. Move over, Mary! > Move over, Mary! > Can you move over? So, listen. The first one there was 19s, and you came home on 22, two 25s. All right? Back end's too slow. OK? Ready? Two,... one! Off! So the main thing for me, really, has been, over the last few days, is just to emphasise that we need to be swimming in a straight line; we need to be confident that we're pulling the same amount of water off both arms; um, being confident that we're gonna hit the wall nice and square, push off it square, and then carry on, you know, down that same line. Even before the races begin, athletes try to get the psychological edge over each other. At a competition, there's a lot of macho guys, like, doing their whole slappy, slappy things and just generally, you know, trying to, uh, psyche everyone out at marshalling or in warm-up. So I guess I'm pretty lucky I don't see any of that stuff. And then also, uh, when some people say, 'Oh, it looks so far down the pool,' and I'm, like, 'Oh, you know, it doesn't matter. The hill's not there ` I can't see it.' Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the pool deck the competitors for the final event ` number 20... This is Mary's first final ` 100m backstroke. For this event in London, Mary took home bronze. MAN SPEAKS FRENCH MAN: For Olympic champion... in 200 medley, Mary Fisher from NZ. Mary Fisher now. Mary Fisher now. WHISTLE BLOWS SPLASH! INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC BUZZ! MAN: A look at backstroke. Really difficult to navigate yourself round the pool here, especially if you get caught on the lane ropes. Again, a lot of pressure on the tappers there. A long tapping stick for Daniela Schulte. And Fisher probably got the better turn there, came out strongly. And Fisher probably got the better turn there, came out strongly. ALL: Go, Mary! Daniela Schulte coming back strongly here. Mary Fisher just with the edge. But there's not much in it at all. And Mary Fisher now coming up for NZ. Can it be a gold medal for NZ here? Schulte trying very hard to get back on terms. On with the touch there. And Fisher gets it. 1:20.31. Just by 0.3 of a second. The first 50 felt great, and the second 50 I should have gotten my turn in a little bit tighter, and I could just feel, um, Daniela just coming at me on the last 5m cos we were right by the same lane rope. Um, really exciting. It was such a close finish. CHEERING BUZZ! GENTLE PIANO MUSIC CHEERING WHISTLING When you're in a competition, the hustle-bustle of the pool and, like, whistling on the breaststrokers, and it just can be a pretty draining environment. So I find it really useful just to have a bit of a rest, um, between sessions and having a bit of quiet time. GENTLE MUSIC When I lie down, I would just, you know, think about a couple of good things that happened this morning, and then think of a couple of things I really want to work on tonight. MAN: Appearing at the pool and representing NZ, Mary Fisher. Mary is competing in five events over seven days. PA: Take your marks. PA: Take your marks. BUZZ! PA: Take your marks. BUZZ! MAN: Oh, it's a clean start. And fastest away ` Martinez ` 71/100ths of a second. But into the lead, Mary Fisher of NZ. She's 2.5 seconds ahead. But there's no doubt about who's gonna win this gold medal. Mary Fisher! The swimmer from NZ ` uh, you can't see the rest here as she comes in and set the world record. I didn't breathe for the last, uh, probably about nine strokes and thought the wall was gonna be a little bit closer than it was, but made it in the end, so that's what counts. BUZZ! INDISTINCT PA ANNOUNCEMENT, CHEERING MAN: But Mary Fisher, just being over to the right now, she's gonna take it! Mary Fisher, she was strong. She brings home four golds, one silver and two Oceania records. Looking forward, I guess... the motivation is to try and stay at the top and to kind of better myself as a person and hopefully bring some younger kids into the sport, because it's done a whole lot for me in a positive way. MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, your world-championship medallist. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2014