Hi there…
The beginning of my journey in Australia was very special (with enormous amounts of challenges and a bit of luck), here I just want to share a little bit of my experience in Australia related to my sport.
Before traveling, I was at the top of my game in underwater hockey, which is the sport that I practice. I was young, talented, energetic, and representing Colombia on the national team. As Australia is very developed in water sports, I had the fortune to keep playing underwater hockey right after I arrived, with zero knowledge of the culture and its dialect I dove in for the sport even more. My only limitation was working and paying the heavy pool entries 4-5 times a week and keeping training but when you are starting from zero in a foreign country, for some reason you find ways to manage these things.
I met Frey at one training session when we were playing underwater rugby and he kinda knew the struggle I was going through at the time, quickly he suggested me to apply for a job at the swim school where he was working and teaching. I was very excited about this opportunity from the first moment and fortunately I handed my resume to him and he was able to directly have me for an interview at the Rackley Swimming School. Thankfully I passed and days later I was getting trained for the job and the best of all (at least for me) I was getting access to a gym and a beautiful pool for free!
The help from Fre and being able to work as a swimming teacher and use the pool for free was a game changer for me, thanks to that I was able to train hard and get myself a spot in the Australian underwater hockey team and represented the country twice in the Hobart 2017 and Sheffield 2019 world cups.
Today, I’m really loving what I’m doing, passing on my knowledge to the next generation, coaching at the same pool, playing and training hard.
Thanks Frey and the Monkeys team for all your support and friendship over the last few years, I wish you the best in guiding new migrants and athletes arriving in Australia.
Abrazos,
Andres Londoño.