High-profile swimming and athletics coach Russell Parsons OAM died on Thursday last week. Today former Team Parsons squad member and lifelong friend SARAH BECK reflects on the man, the mentor and the coach who had such a massive influence on her life and the lives of so many others.
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YOU could always tell who had been coached by my friend Russell Parsons, when you saw the North West Athletics tee-shirt.
You then knew that Russell had played a key role in that person’s life, not only through his training, but through the personal relationship they would have almost certainly had with him.
Around Echuca-Moama there would be a lot of these shirts, which means a lot of lives were touched by having Russell as a part of them.
My relationship with Russell started when I was in grade four.
I was doing swimming and athletics at the time and started training with Russell to try and get the absolute best out of myself.
It’s incredible to think that this was more than 20 years ago.
It really just feels like it was yesterday but I have been fortunate to have maintained contact with Russell through all these years.
Russell trained me as a swimmer and set me a program that included 5.45am sessions, something that continued during all my school days. And even today my day starts this early.
There were a number of great swimmers in our group, all pushing each other to get to our absolute best. This desire was not necessarily to win but to give our all and to achieve our absolute best.
It was something Russell fostered in us from the start.
We formed some amazing friendships, which continue today.
One of the fondest memories I have of Russell was when the Olympic torch came to town in 2000.
We both got to run with the torch, a privilege I cannot put into words.
But it was nothing compared to handing that torch to Russell, who lit the cauldron at Victoria Park.
Looking back on the past few days I am so honoured I got to share that moment with him.
Really, when I look back at everything in my own athletic career, it is intrinsically linked with Russell.
Out of the water I ran my first marathon in 2013 at his suggestion.
For years since I have continued to run marathons across the globe, always ending with Russell telling me how proud he was of me and then he would ask which marathon I was going to run next.
Russell’s NWA newsletters were a collection of everything every one of his students had achieved.
Pages of photos, races, any information he could get on those he had trained.
And if it wasn’t in the newsletter, it was probably on the walls of his house.
I wonder just how much he had when you consider that he trained people in Ouyen, Echuca, Frankston, Geelong and India to name a few.
I doubt he played favourites with everyone — though Clayton Oliver was often mentioned in the newsletter, probably due to Russell’s love of the Melbourne Football Club.
I hope they win for him in 2019, he will no doubt be watching on.
Despite being dealt a horrible hand with his health in recent years, Russell was always ready to help.
He had been helping me to set up my own coaching system in recent months.
And I intend to take the way he did things and use it to be the best coach I can.
He would never miss a session, irrelevant of what was going on in his life.
At the end of every session he would pull out his laminated cards with quotes, handing them to us all to make us think.
Having workout plans prepared for us if we missed a session, and making us keep a diary.
He would recognise every achievement, giving us certificates when we succeeded.
He was hard on us as a coach during sessions, but it came out of wanting our success, and when the training was done you could tell how much he cared for his students.
I was heartbroken at the end of last week when we lost Russell.
I still see him there, carrying his backpack, wearing his cap and refusing to wear shorts.
I will always remember his dedication, determination and drive.
This is exactly what I will take with me when I run the London Marathon in April.
If I could sum up Russell in a single quote — and you really couldn’t — it would be something along the lines of “a good coach can change a game, a great coach can change a life”.
Because Russell did change my life.
He was caring, generous and would do anything for those he knew.
And he continued to do it until he left us.
Russell’s legacy will not only be judged as coach, but as the man he was and the impact he had on our lives.
I will miss Russell very much and I’m sure he will be missed by so many.