No Need to Use the Nails

Australian Olympian Matilda ‘Tilly’ Kearns reveals in the latest installment of NSWIS Lights Up that being able to brag to her schoolfriends that her father sang the national anthem on television while playing for the Wallabies was the catalyst for her wanting to one day represent Australia in sport. 

Kearns, whose father Phil Kearns AM captained the Australian rugby team and played an integral role in two World Cup triumphs, has fulfilled her childhood dream by representing Australia at water polo. Among her crowning moments was competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where, just like her father, she belted out the national anthem on television. 

“Seeing photos of him arm in arm with his teammates was a triggering point for me, definitely. I wanted to be up there, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I remember bragging at school to my friends that my dad got to sing the national anthem, he was on TV, and that’s exactly what I wanted. 

“[Now] I am doing it, and it is so special. The vision I had as a little kid, I lived up to that. It’s something you can’t describe . . .” 

Kearns made it clear that she never felt pressured to excel at sport because of her father’s legacy. 

“Me and my siblings, I don’t think we felt pressure to live up to what my dad had done in his career, although I do think Dad played a huge role in my career,” said Kearns. 

“I would look up to him, and I’ve watched his highlights, and I’ve watched him interacting with all of his Wallabies friends and things like that. But it was more him just doing what he does, and me wanting to be like that rather than me wanting to live up to the name and live up to all of that pressure. 

Indeed, she credited her entire family for her ascent as one of the nation’s most respected Water Polo players. However, she paid special tribute to her mother. 

“My family has played a huge role in installing values within me that have helped me become the athlete that I am,” she said. “Hard work was one of them, and also achieving quietly . . .   hitting your goals and working hard for your goals, but once you get them being humble about it and going about your own stuff and achieving quietly.  

“Mum’s my support figure. She never played water polo but she’s so passionate about it. To have someone who cares so much about my sport is unreal. They both fly across the world to watch me play when they can and they’re there when I’m home from training and they’re helping me to get up early.” 

Kearns, who said joining the University of Southern California took her game to a new dimension, provided incredible insights into her approach to the sport when she spoke about how she thrived amid the physicality and pressure of elite water polo. 

“To prepare for the physicality of water polo, I think it’s both a mental game and it’s as much as what you do in the pool as what you tell yourself outside of the pool,” she said.  

“I personally love the pressure, and I love the physicality. It’s different for everyone, some people will do meditation, they’ll visualize, they’ll write in their notebooks and things like that. But I think the more pressure on me the better – I love it!  

“I like to put myself in those situations where I build up pressure in my head. It’s when you’re under pressure that you go into this euphoric feeling, and it’s almost like an out of body experience when you’re playing a big game, and you just get to this level where you just do things. You don’t think twice, you just do them. It’s a euphoria, and it’s really cool and I think that’s when I play my best games.” 

While Kearns explained water polo’s action is “20 percent above water and 80 percent under” she said in a sport that needs players to put their bodies on the line, there was much more to it than kicking and scratching. 

“There is this idea it is claws and kicking and scratching and that’s a part of water polo, but it’s not the whole sport. If you have the skills and knowledge you don’t need to bring out the nails and everything. I do think it is a slight misconception, but it is a very physical sport.” 

Tilly Kearns features in the NSWIS Lights Up athlete documentary series.