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It has been a big week in the sporting world for Australian athletes.
The Commonwealth Games have started in Glasgow with the Aussie swim team in fine form.
I was very impressed with the womens 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay.
They won the gold medal which is fantastic but I was more excited about the time.
They broke a world record that was set in 2009.
That was the era of the super suit where world records were being smashed at every meet.
This particular record was looked at as the Holy Grail of records and was not expected to be broken in the next 10 years.
It was a fantastic swim and one I will remember for a while.
The Games snuck up on me a bit as I didn’t see a lot of advertising leading in to them.
I thought maybe the interest had gone from them a little bit but everyone I talk to is really enjoying them.
You can see how much it means to the athletes when they win.
Images like Michael Shelley, arms raised triumphantly over his head as he claimed gold in the marathon, and Taylor McKeown and her family embracing and crying tears of joy after she won the 200 metre breastroke.
SEE MICHAEL SHELLEY WINNING GOLD BELOW
Then there is the image I saw of Melanie Schlanger in the stands after being left out of the 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay.
Melanie was trying her best to hold her emotions while cheering and applauding the Aussie girls who won.
She had swum the third fastest 200 metre freestyle time by an Australian this year (six weeks ago) and all indications pointed to Melanie deserving to be on the relay team.
She has an Olympic gold medal from the Beijing Games as part of the 200 metre relay and won gold at the London Olympics after anchoring the 4 x 100 metre relay.
She was a major contributor to the record breaking 4 x 100 team at these games too.
One look at her face in the stands showed how much it hurt her not to be a part of the 4 x 200 metre team.
While it doesn’t have the fanfare of the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games are proving to still be an exciting competition and spectacle.
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Parkes hockey continues to churn out representative after representative with even some Australian reps.
They are also enjoying increased junior numbers this season.
Whatever they are doing at the hockey, they seem to be doing it right.
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I was still awake in the early hours of Monday morning after sitting up to watch the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix.
It was well worth it.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo made two awesome overtaking moves in the final three laps to go from third to first and win the race.
The race started under wet conditions as Mercedes’ championship leader Nico Rosberg pulled out a 10 second gap and looked to leave everyone in his spray.
A couple of accidents, a safety car and a round of pit stops saw Ricciardo and Jenson Button move to the front.
Button’s Mclaren team fitted the wrong type of tyres to his car with the thought it was going to rain again.
They lasted three laps before he was forced to pit again with Ricciardo inheriting the lead.
From there the young Aussie looked in control of the race.
As the track dried out, many pundits (including me) thought the Mercedes would quickly hunt down the rest of the cars as it is by far the superior car this season.
It was not the case.
After Daniel’s last stop with 15 laps remaining, he was behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who were both trying to make their tyres last for in excess of 30 laps.
The move worked for Daniel as he first overtook Hamilton and then Alonso a lap later with very gutsy moves.
In his first season racing for Red Bull, Ricciardo continues to outperform his reigning four-time World Champion team mate Sebastien Vettel - something compatriot Mark Webber could never do.
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I am always interested to watch how teams perform, especially under pressure.
You can see if a team has bought into a coach’s philosophy if they continue to stick to their game plan when the pressure is on.
The teams that start doing things differently obviously don’t believe in their coach.
That is not a good situation for anyone.
I was surprised to read that Wests Tigers star Robbie Farrar is an issue for the club.
From reports, Farrah doesn’t rate coach Mick Potter despite the Tigers sitting just outside the top four.
Farrah has a lot of influence over the younger players at Wests and it is believed he is using this against Potter.
While I am not a Tigers fan, I can see Potter is doing a pretty good job.
He is building a talented young team with a number of promising players looking to be future stars.
No team is going to win a tough premiership when everyone - players, coaches and administrators - all have different agendas and beliefs.
I can’t believe the Wests board held a meeting after Sunday’s loss with the thought of sacking Potter.
It is only the lateness of the season that stopped them replacing him.
Their short-sightedness is astounding.