The way in which Para athlete Aimee Fisher responded to learning she’d been selected for the Australian Commonwealth Games team that will compete in Glasgow this July, says volumes for her dedication and professional requirement to live in the ‘now.’

Fisher, who’’ll represent Australia in the Women’s 400m T54 at the Scotstoun Stadium, received the email announcing she’d fulfilled her lifelong dream to wear Australia’s green and gold battle colours while at work as a sonographer, or someone who takes ultrasounds.

To do her job, Fisher must maintain an extremely high, intense level of focus because she’s not only responsible for the quality of the patient’s image, but sonographers need to be vigilant enough to observe even the most minute abnormalities in tissue or bone development.

However, the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder from Newcastle admitted to taking time out from those demands to celebrate when the email she’d been waiting a lifetime for finally dropped into her laptop’s inbox.

“I saw the email pop up and I held my breath because I’ve been through it a few times over the last couple of years . . .  world championship teams, Paralympics . . . but to open it this time; scroll through all this stuff about qualification criteria, and to see bolded ‘congratulations, we’re nominating you . . .  an invitation to’ . . . I just cried. I cried because I was so excited.

“I called my parents, I texted Lou [coach Louise Sauvage] and she was sending messages. We had a chat later when I drove home. The whole thing was just an incredible feeling.

However, when her next patient turned up, Fisher wiped her eyes clear of the tears of joy and resumed her laser-precise focus.

“You need to switch back ‘on’,” the 24-year-old explained. “But, as I said, it was very exciting.”

While Fisher is grateful for her parent’s support over the years, she made a special mention of Sauvage – an Australian sporting great who won a total of 13 Paralympic Games medals (nine gold), 11 World Para Athletic Championship gold medals, and a silver 2002 Commonwealth Games medal – for guiding her into the sport eight years ago.

“Lou was the first person who got me into wheelchair racing,” she said. “When I was in rehab [after a fall which left Fisher paralysed from the waist down] Lou got me into the [race] chair and invited at a ‘Come and Try’ clinic that was part of the Summer Down Under Series and I can remember going around the track with Kurt Fearnley and Jess Frotten, a Canadian athlete who has since retired.

“Lou has been there since day one, and while I returned home to Newcastle and trained with ‘Dawsey’ [Australian coach Andrew Dawes] I’m very proud to share this with Lou.

“But there’s a long list of people I can thank for their influence over the years, even pre-Para sport. it’s a whole lifetime of sport and family and all the different support networks.”

Fisher admitted her mind has been a whirlpool of thoughts, hopes and emotions since gaining her selection.

“I’ve been trying to take it in, but it hasn’t sunk in yet, “she said. “And I don’t think it will until I put that uniform on and go out into that stadium.

“I think it all comes back to that little kid who had a dream, she knew she was going . . . at that point . . . to an Olympics or Commonwealth Games one day. It was always that dream as a kid, to put on the green and gold.”

“It’s taken me a minute to step back and have that perspective you get because I’ve been caught up in the world of high performance sport now: go overseas, work hard on your journey. But [I took time] to step back and think about reaching that goal to debut on my first Aussie team and getting that uniform. It was important to step back and think ‘I’ve done it’ and to recall the journey to make it to this point.

“It’s such an honour. I’m very excited. I’m just trying to take in everything that’s happening really. I want to go out there and enjoy the experience. It’s such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because not too many people get to say they’ve represented Australia – pulled on the green and gold and gone to a Commonwealth Games.

“And why I’ll enjoy being there I’ll give my best. We always aim for a personal best – always do – but I want to enjoy it and take it all in.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS

Photos: Rachel Tingey, NSWIS

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