PUPILS at Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School were treated to an audience with one of Great Britain’s most successful Olympians last week.
Swimmer Duncan Goodhew, who won gold in the 100m breaststroke at the Moscow Games in 1980, teamed up with Chewits’ Young Ambassador Programme to put on a masterclass session for some of the school’s most promising young sports stars.
He first fielded a host of questions from his captive audience before leading them through an exercise routine.
The first question on all of the pupils’ lips would have been ‘Duncan who?’ But, once it was announced that the three-time Commonwealth Games silver medalist was paying a visit, the school, led by P.E teacher Jo Hodkinson, tasked the children with finding out everything they could about their famous guest.
“Leading up to it we had to put quite a bit of work into who he was,” said Ms Hodkinson. “A lot of the parents were more excited but once the children realised what he’d done they thought it was amazing and we had a brilliant response.”
Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School can boast an array of sporting talent, with promising athletes, rugby players and gymnasts among their ranks.
And Goodhew had plenty of advice for the youngsters hoping to emulate him and one day stand atop the Olympic medal rostrum.
“What was so exciting about this school is that it’s so close to the Olympic venue,” he said. “They have a very active P.E department, they have great coaches and they’re well on their way.
“I talked to them (the children) about feeling big inside. When you swim your first length you feel big inside, when you ride your bike for the first time you feel big inside and it’s about finding things that give you that.”
Goodhew admitted he felt quite big inside when he realised he had won his first Olympic gold medal almost 20 years ago.
“I grabbed the block at the end and thought ‘my life will never be the same after this moment’. If drowning is your whole life going before your eyes – that’s what they say happens – then I was drowning in my own emotions.
“Everything was there, all the work and the people who helped me and what it took.”
There will have been plenty of children dreaming of doing just that as Goodhew recounted his triumph, and Ms Hodkinson believes the whole experience will prove to the children that they can go on to achieve similar success.
“It’s good for them to see he’s just a real man and not some sort of god that comes in shining, it makes it all the more attainable for them,” she added.
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