PARA-CYCLING
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WHEN Emilie Miller first took up Para-cycling it was with the idea of using the sport to help her achieve good results in the pool, but now it will take her all the way to the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Switzerland.
Just four years after Miller first tried hand cycling and with only two seasons in Cycling Australia’s National Para Road Series to her credit, her times have impressed officials enough for her to be named in the Australian team.
She is one of three new faces in the team of 13 who will head to Notwil for the July 29 to August 2 championships.
To see her name on a list which included the likes of reigning road world champions Carol Cooke and Alistair Donohoe came as a shock to Miller.
“I am very excited and very happy. It was very unexpected, so when you get in an Australian team when you were not really expecting it, I think it makes it all the greater,” she said.
“I originally saw that I had been selected on the Cycling Australia website, that’s were they made the announcement, and then they sent out a press release.
“This is the first time I have made an Australian representative team, so it’s very exciting.
“It does feel a little surreal. When it is something you had not been expecting and something which was a surprise, it’s a bit surreal. You can always do something to improve, but yeah, I guess this does show I’m on the right track.”
Since a swimming incident in 2008 left Miller paralysed from the waist down, she has continually proved her disability is no hurdle when it comes to pursuing sporting excellence.
In 2011 she was named in the 100-member national youth swimming squad, a group who had been assembled with the view to one day representing their country. Miller was the only athlete with a disability named in that squad.
But as strong as she was in the pool, she soon discovered another talent – hand cycling.
“I only started this at the end of 2011 as cross-fit training for swimming and then I decided to take it up competitively,” Miller said.
That decision has proved to be a good one, but it has by no means been an easy path.
While Miller won a pair of national road titles earlier this month in Adelaide – for the road race and time trial – she was the sole female competitor in her H1 division and therefore it was hard for her to get a real gauge on her performances.
Given she has been racing alongside male competitors, Miller’s focus has been on improving her average speed. Her efforts have certainly impressed her coach Toireasa Gallagher.
“Her determination is outstanding, as there is no one else of her ability to race against in Australia, she has had to focus on racing to a set average speed to make team selection,” she said. “Now Emilie will have a chance to race against other H1 women on an international stage.”
It is that chance that has Miller excited as she now looks towards her Switzerland trip.
“It’s an exciting prospect to think I get the chance to race against women on the international stage, to see what their set-ups are like will be a bit different,” she said.
“I already know what the standard is like in Australia for men, that’s who I have been racing against, so it will be interesting to see what the sort of standard you need to be at to be competitive with women on an international level.”
The championships also provide valuable qualification points for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, so if Miller can impress it may lead her to further national representation.