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SPORT
Baked beans might help, says Laurie, but Tracv didn't need them
By MARGARET McDONALD
Behind the grandstands at the
Australian Institute of Sport at the
weekend, leading swim coach Laurie
Lawrence was talking to a'special
girl called Tracey.
The two were huddled together,
deep in conversation, which eventu
ally ended in riotous laughter.
But it wasn't former world free
style record holder Tracey Wickham
and LawTence wasn't standing up -
he was down on his haunches.
.He was sharing a joke with 17
year-old Sydney schoolgirl Tracey
Barrell who has no legs and no right
arm. She wheeled her way around
the AIS pool on a skateboard for
her events in the disabled national
titles, run in conjunction with the
able-bodied championships.
Barrell clocked 2min 22.52sec in
the heats of the multi-disability
100m freestyle on Saturday - her
personal best time by more than
four seconds.
When she touched the wall with
her left arm, more than 20 seconds
behind the others in her heat, the
crowd exploded in cheering and ap
plause.
She didn't hear it because she was
too busy trying to see her time on
the scoreboard. "I couldn't have
been happier to see that 2:22 flash
up there," she said
So what words of encouragement
did Lawrence offer?
"He's a fun guy and we were just
joking before the race," Barrel] said.
"I was talking to Greg Hodge
[coach] too and asking him what
tactics I should use.
"He said 'How about you work
yonr arms like crazy?' and I said 'I
suppose you want me to use my legs
as well'.
"And then Laurie piped in and
said 'It would help if you farted too'.
But I told him I hadn't eaten any
baked beans this morning so that
might be hard."
Barrel! was born with one arm
and no !egs and says doctors to this
day don't know what went wrong.
She has two older sisters who have
all four limbs.
"It's congenital! In a way I'm glad
I was bom with it as I could never
have coped with having my lees
chopped off."
Barrelj, a student at St Patrick's
College in Sutherland, began com
petitive swimming at 14.
m
"I used to swim for recreation in
my backyard pool and I enjoyed it
so much, I thought 'Why not?""
She has been named in the Aus
tralian team for the Paralympics,
which are also being held in Barce
lona in July.
Barrell said she had learnt to
cope' with her disability and she's
trying to help others to do the same.
"People who don't know me, don't
know how to approach me because
they don't know what to say.
"But I get around fine on my
skateboard and it's not hard at all to
move through the water."
Barrcll wheels up to the starting
blocks, hops off the skateboard and
on to the starting pad and then
throws herself into the water when
she hears the starter's gun.
She said stairs presented no prob
lem because she was able to move
her hips enough to manoeuvre up
them.
Although she loves the water, she
hates rain.
"I wear these denim pants but
when it's wet and I have to go up
stairs, they get soaked and I stay
wet all day."
She said her school friends picked
her up at weekends and she had a
normal social life. Government-fund
ed transport took her to school each
morning.
UI hope to be able to drive myself
one day and give mum a break, be
cause there are cars I can use now."
But perhaps one of the most
amazing things about Barrell's ap
pearance at the weekend national
titles was that she only had her ap
pendix out three weeks ago.
Then again, Hodge said, nothing
stops her. "She goes abseiling and
canoeing as well you know."
- AAP
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