Most of you are reading this on a public holiday. How good is that.

As I press send on today’s edition, Collingwood and Melbourne are facing off at the MCG amidst a sea of blue beanies worn to mark the 10th edition of The Big Freeze, the annual fundraiser dedicated to research into Motor Neurone Disease.

In Sydney, it’s all about the NRL, with Canterbury and Parramatta battling it out in the last match of Round 14.

Earlier today, the Vixens beat the Mavericks in the Super Netball Melbourne derby. It’s all happening!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

1935
The last year the Sydney Swans won 11 of their first 12 games of a VFL/AFL season. It was 89 years ago that South Melbourne (the Swans' previous location before they relocated to Sydney in 1982) matched the team’s current form. The Swans beat Geelong by 30 points in Sydney yesterday despite being behind by as much as 35 points in the second quarter. 

Quote of the day

“It gives you something to work for. That’s a dream, hopefully one day I can be there.” American basketball star Caitlin Clark after it was announced that she was left off the U.S. Olympic team. The decision has attracted much criticism, with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy "the dumbest thing I've ever heard".

Random fact of the day

Netball was invented in 1895, only four years after basketball. It was designed by a PE teacher at a school in New Orleans and originally coined ‘women’s basketball’. It arrived in Australia in 1897, and the first professional competition was held in August 1927 (the ‘All Australia Women’s Basket Ball Association’). 

I’ve got 1 minute

The Australian Swimming Trials have kicked off, marking the start of a crucial week for the nation’s top swimmers, who are trying to qualify for the Olympic and Paralympic team heading to Paris in a few weeks.

The trials, held at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, will last five days and culminate in the official announcement of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic swimming team (coined ‘The Dolphins’).

Qualification

For a swimmer to qualify for the Olympic team, they must finish in the top two spots in the final of their discipline. They must also meet the qualification time set by Swimming Australia for that event - meaning a swimmer could potentially finish second in their final, but be too slow for Swimming Australia’s benchmark and fail to qualify.

For the Paralympic team, swimmers must finish in the top three of their class and meet Swimming Australia’s qualification time.

The Paralympic team announcement will be at 9:24pm on Friday night, and the Olympic team announcement will be at 9:04pm on Saturday night.

How to watch: the trials will be broadcast on the Nine Network or streamed on 9Now.

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I’ve got 2 minutes

Iga Świątek and Carlos Alcaraz have won the women’s and men’s French Open championships respectively, bringing to a close the annual Grand Slam in Paris. 

Świątek makes it five from five 

23-year-old Polish world No.1 Iga Świątek won her fourth French Open title in five years. She beat Italian Jasmine Paolini in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, with the match lasting just over an hour. 

Świątek was dominant throughout the tournament and now has a remarkable record of 35 wins and 2 losses in all French Open appearances. This year, there was only one match during the entire French Open that Świątek did not win in straight sets - her second-round match against Naomi Osaka. 

Speaking after the final, her opponent said: “To play [Świątek] here, it’s something different…and she’s still [23] years old. These numbers are not normal, they are something unbelievable. I think she’s an unbelievable player.”

Paolini herself has plenty to be proud of—it was her first Grand Slam final, and she started the tournament as an unlikely prospect for a finals appearance. After her performance in Paris, she is now ranked a career-high No.7. 

Alcaraz the new King of Clay/Grass/Hard Court 

In the men’s singles draw, Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz became the first male player in tennis history to win his first three Grand Slams on three different court surfaces - the French Open is played on clay, Wimbledon (which he won in 2023) is on grass and the U.S. Open (which he won in 2022) is on a hard court surface. At just 21, he is also the youngest male to win a title on three surfaces. 

Alcaraz beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev in five sets (6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2), in a match that lasted nearly four and a half hours. During the match, Alcaraz required physio treatment on his left thigh, as well as a right forearm injury he carried into the tournament. Zverev beat Alcaraz in the quarter-final of this year’s Australian Open, and it looked likely to be a similar result in Paris when Zverev took a 2-1 lead at the end of the third set - until Alcaraz won 12 of the last 15 points of the match to win.  

There is also now a new No.1 player, with Italian Jannik Sinner (who Alcaraz beat in the tournament's semi-final) now in the top spot. Alcaraz is ranked No.2. 

A message from our sponsor

In Conversation with Deakin University Elite Athlete, Kate Eddy:

Kate Eddy is a professional Netballer with the Melbourne Vixens and 2020 Premiership winner. Kate is also studying a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University so she can become a Health and PE Teacher.

What’s your sporting schedule like?

In the [on] season we do two court sessions, two gym sessions and then we have a lighter session the day before the game, as well as a recovery day and lots of meetings to watch footage. We [also] travel to play every team once a season, so we have six away trips in the home and away season.

What is one of the hardest aspects of studying and being an elite athlete?

Definitely having the energy to study with such a physically demanding career after training. You are mentally and physically exhausted so it makes it hard to find motivation and energy to study.

What appealed to you most about the Deakin Elite Athlete Program and how has it helped you?

The ability to talk to someone and have support was the biggest thing. Also being able to have a point of contact to talk to in terms of how to approach certain situations.

Think Beyond The Field. Study sport at Deakin.

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