EXCERPT FROM MEDIA RELEASE
Victorian Beach Volleyball player Lauren Taylor has officially been selected to represent Australia at the Youth Olympics Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October.
One of only 88 athletes named across 26 sports; Taylor will again wear the green and gold, having only recently returned from the U19 World Championships held in Nanjing, China.
“Nanjing was amazing, it was a once in a life time experience and I’ll treasure every moment,” said Taylor.
2018 has, and continues to be a big year for Lauren, with Australian representation following a breakthrough season on both the local and national tours. The highs of the past 9 months though, come on the back of a period the young athlete would like to forget.
Soon after representing her country at the U17 Asian Championships in 2016, Taylor was diagnosed with Osteochondritis Desicans of her femoral medial condyle; requiring screws in her femur. Six months out, became nine when she picked up post-operative deep vein thrombosis (DVT); prompting regular blood thinning injections and a further 3 months out. Nine months became a year, when an arthroscopy led to blood in the knee joint.
“The injury was definitely a giant obstacle. I never dealt with anything like it before, but in retrospect it was a good learning experience.”
Within weeks of recovering, Lauren was back on track and setting goals.
“It was quite remarkable, how quickly Lauren picked herself up and pushed forward,” said Brett Middlin, Head Coach at Vic Beach Volleyball Academy (VBVA).
“All the hard work, all the hours of training, it’s paid off; Lauren is going to the Youth Olympics, and she’ll be one of the youngest players in the tournament. It’s a big deal, given the length of time she was out.”
Taylor has been modifying her studies in the lead-up to Argentina; travelling to Queensland each week to train with teammate Tiaan Smith, as well as weekend training with VBVA.
“It will be a very busy final few weeks for me! Words can’t describe how excited I am to be playing for Australia again.”
The 2018 Youth Olympics will run from 6 – 18 October, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
