Brendan Kerry Interview

Another athlete interview for today in the lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics as we chat with Australian figure skating champion Brendan Kerry! Brendan takes us through his time in the sport, including coming from an Olympic family, his training routine as well as what it takes to come up with the perfect song for a routine. He also gives us an insight into his first Olympics in Sochi as well as telling us just what it is like to sit in front of a camera, smile and pretend to be happy with the judges scores.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.

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BEN WATERWORTH: Welcome back to Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast, as we bring you another athlete interview ahead of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. Today we are speaking to Australian figure skating champion Brendan Kerry, 2014 Olympian, and is the first Australian actually to have already competed enough to get his name on the 2018 ticket to Pyeongchang. That's right, he's already qualified for the 2018 Winter Olympics. So in this fun chat, we learn a little bit more about figure skating, we learn about its history here in Australia to the point of how he got involved in the sport and sort of what it's like to be involved in a sport in Australia that obviously doesn't get as much attention as some other sports out there, and even finding out minor details such as everything from the music choices right down to that awkward moment where they're going to sit in that chair, smile in the camera, and pretend to be happy with a judge's scores. So you're going to enjoy this interview, I enjoy doing it. And here is my chat with Olympian, now two-time Olympian, Brendan Kerry. Continuing on with our series of athlete interviews in the lead-up to Pyeongchang 2018, we looked at a variety of different sports of the variety of different athletes. I'm very excited to be able to introduce our next guest from the sport of figure skating. I can honestly say that I've never really spoken to many figure skaters before, so I'm very much intrigued to be able to have this conversation to learn a little bit more about the preparation for the games next year from him, as well as a little bit about the sport in Australia in general as well. Please welcome to the show Brendan Kerry. Brendan, welcome to Off The Podium. It's an absolute pleasure, mate. As I said, it's not exactly a sport where I bump into many athletes, particularly in Hobart, I have to say. I mean, our ice rink down here are pretty small, and it's not a common thing. I've dealt with ice hockey players before, but not necessarily figure skaters. I mean, this is... it's a great sport, figure skating, and I guess you come from a very strong background in this sport. Your mother was an Olympian, your sister's involved in the sport heavily as well. I mean, this is almost like the family business that you continued on with, right?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you know, in the blood, that's what we do.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, and I love reading sort of a bit about your background when it comes to how you got involved with the sport, where you apparently were nine years old, you switched from hockey, basically said to your mum, figure skating is easy, so you gave it a go, and I believe moments later, you then landed flat on your face. So that sounded like a fun way to get involved in the sport.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, no, I had no desire to figure skate at all. I was definitely far more into just hooning around in my hockey skates all the time. You know, I listed the rink because I'm on the coach. And then, yeah, one day, I decided to give it a go, was terrible at it, and just kind of took off from that.

BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, wow, so given I can imagine starting in a sport where you're not that good at, I mean, I don't know if you're anything like me, but generally when I was nine years old and I tried something, if I was terrible at it, I just gave up and went and played video games. But you sound like you're a little bit more driven to give this a bit more of a crack. I mean, did you kind of, I guess, eventually just kept trying your hand at it, you really enjoyed it, or was it a case of you'd watched mum for so long that you thought, well, hey, I want to be good at this because I said it was easy five minutes ago, and I don't want to give up showing that I think it's easy.

BRENDAN KERRY: Well, you know, that's actually interesting because I kind of feel the same way in that I'm not good at something. I don't really enjoy it, but I feel the need to kind of go at it again and again and again. And skating has been probably the one thing in my life where I really worked very bad at it, but decided that I was going to change that. And it was also just a lot of fun for me because I enjoy learning. Like I found that I was learning things very quickly. It's just I started off so poorly. And so when you're improving at something, you feel good about yourself and kind of kept that momentum up to where I am now.

BEN WATERWORTH: And it's such a, I guess, a graceful sport. I mean, it's such, you know, it's so fine in terms of the techniques and just the amazing tricks that you guys are doing. I mean, look, I can't even skate. So don't even talk to me about being able to do the amazing things you do. It's kind of, as you are learning these new techniques, learning these new tricks, I mean, is it just a case of, I can imagine if you're a perfectionist, it must be frustrating, but rewarding at the same time, trying to really land a great trick. I mean, do you find yourself just going at it all the time, like, okay, no, I'm not giving up until I land on my face another hundred times because I'm going to land this trick today. I'm going to learn it because I just need to get this done today.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, unfortunately, you know, you cop some pretty hard falls and you feel a bit down about yourself. You get frustrated, you get up, but you're done with it, but, you know, I think, and that's the reason that I feel as though my past season or two have really improved, just because I've kind of picked up that attitude of whether I really want to do it or not at the time. I'm going to make myself do it because the overall result is more important than dealing with the frustration at the time.

BEN WATERWORTH: And what's it like, I guess, growing up in a house? I mean, as I mentioned, your mum competed in the Olympics back in 1988. And I can imagine sort of having a mother who was an Olympian. You're going to hear stories, you're going to see the footage, she's going to no doubt probably get out the old costumes and the skates and kind of show it off to you. Does that kind of really give you a desire to push towards being an Olympian in general? Not necessarily in figure skating, but just, I guess, in the Olympics? And was that kind of where your, I guess, sporting desire did come from through your mum?

BRENDAN KERRY: That's a tricky question, you know. I feel as though growing up in Australia, we're just a very sports-heavy country in general, you know. I mean, even when you start off in primary school and you're like five, six, seven, like everyone's super active, always running around. So I felt like I always wanted to be moving, bouncing off the walls, doing something. And I didn't really have much of a desire to become an Olympian. It just wasn't in mind. It's just that I really loved skating, and it was a good way for me to not only kill time while one was working, but it was just something I really enjoyed. And that just kind of led to the last of the Olympics and qualifying Australia's spot for 2018.

BEN WATERWORTH: Which is actually incredible to think right now that we're now less than a year away, of course, from 2018. But you're already qualified. We should have mentioned that. And I believe, are you the first Australian to have actually now officially secured your spot for the Games next year?

BRENDAN KERRY: I'm not actually sure what the criteria is. There's no official announcement or anything. I mean, it's confirmed that I was the one that qualified the spot for Australia in that specific meeting. But I'd say, yeah, unfortunately, that's all I know as of right now.

BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, then. I mean, it's kind of what I found in speaking to a lot of the winter athletes in the lead up to these games, not only through myself, but Colin sort of talking to a lot of the Canadian athletes, is that a lot of these sports generally cannot, you can't find out you've really qualified until a few weeks even before the games, which I guess is a unique way of doing it. I guess that's just working around sort of the seasons. But I guess kind of at least thinking you're pretty much there next year, I mean, that kind of, you can really then switch focus to really looking ahead to it, because you don't have to have that in your back of your mind that, well, hey, I've got to qualify as well as really keeping up to my best performances.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, I mean, last time around, the qualifying event I competed in was in September or October, and the criteria stated that if you qualify as part of that event, the spot is guaranteed to be yours. So right now, the frame of mind, I mean, it's just try and train and plan as hard and efficiently as I can for the season, with the idea of Olympics being put in that schedule and trying to achieve the best result everywhere. You know, the Olympics is obviously the be-all and end-all of sport. You know, the highest peak any athlete could try and reach for. So to try and train and work out a seasonal plan where I can peak around that time of year is kind of where we're at and the thought behind it all.

BEN WATERWORTH: And what's the figure skating circuit in the scene, I guess, like in Australia, when it comes to sort of training and everything? Because I mean, like most winter sports, obviously, for an Australian, you've got to kind of chase the snow, as I like to say, the circuit. Obviously, it's a little bit different for you guys. You don't have to chase the snow because you're generally inside on a slab of ice. But does the Australian season kind of work around sort of, say, the European and the rest of the world season to help you guys compete on that international level? Does it work a little bit differently? I mean, how does it work?

BRENDAN KERRY: It's definitely changed. We used to have nationals in August, which was, I wouldn't say it was ideal because championship events of skating aren't until January, February, March, but now we have nationals in December. So, we'll have some smaller winter competitions throughout May, June, July, all throughout Australia. Then we have some sort of like club level competition, interstate, state level, and then nationals at the end of the year, which kind of suits the international schedule much better.

BEN WATERWORTH: And what's the depth of the talent like in this country? I mean, I remember growing up watching the winter Olympics, and you know, there was always a strong focus. We always would have an athlete or two within the variety of different programs throughout the games. And you know, it seems to, from this perspective, all other sports are improving. There's always Australian athletes competing in figure skating. But do we have a real depth of talent there that is, I guess, punching above our weight when it comes to a sport which, you know, we're not necessarily known for being too good at?

BRENDAN KERRY: Oh, yeah, no, 100%. I mean, I feel like the level of talent that Australia is fortunate to be producing and bringing up right now in the sport of figure skating is nothing like we've ever seen before from Australia. We are winning a ton of international medals, results are consistently climbing in all disciplines of the sport. I go on and on and on about that aspect, but I'll just leave it with like, it's definitely the highest it's been, I would say, ever, and it looks like it's going to continue to keep improving with the next few generations as well.

BEN WATERWORTH: And that's what we like to hear. I mean, yourself, you've won the last four national championships, five of the last six national championships, I should mention there as well. So definitely your medal cabinet is getting quite full there, Brendan, which is great to see. But we obviously mentioned 2014 Sochi, your first Olympics, 19 years old, going to an Olympic Games. I mean, this must have been an amazing experience to go in there. I mean, not obviously talking about your result just yet, how you went there in Sochi, but I mean, when you got that nod and you're off to the Games, I mean, how was that feeling? And I could also imagine your mum must have been very proud to kind of, you know, go from herself being an Olympian to here we are passing the torch on. And I've raised a son who's about to go to the Olympics as well.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, no, I mean, my family was definitely ecstatic. I was actually 18 when I qualified, which I think made it even more overwhelming. And it was my first time moving away from my family to live overseas for training and stuff. So that whole year in general and that experience of qualifying and attending the Games was, it's very hard to put into words. I feel as though it's something that you just have to experience to really understand.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, for sure. You finished 29th in the program. I mean, coming out of it, were you satisfied with that result? Did you think you could have done a little bit better overall? I mean, how did you leave Sochi sort of feeling?

BRENDAN KERRY: Unfortunately, in Sochi, it was my worst state. I would say not even of the season of my life. People always ask, oh, were you nervous? I'm like, no. I mean, as nervous as one would be at that sort of event. But I was like, I just feel as though I wasn't headed into the Games in a good place. I feel as though that whole season, I had quite a lot of success in the run up. And I almost felt like I didn't deserve to be at the Games or have that success. So instead of focusing on, no, I'm a competitor. I'm here to do well. I was kind of like, oh, maybe I should like watch out for everyone else or give right of way. Or, you know, I just I felt very out of place. And it was kind of a head game that I played with myself, which was definitely, definitely what led to me not performing as well as I would have liked to.

BEN WATERWORTH: And do you put that down, I guess, to kind of just the experience of it, you know, being the age you were and heading into your first games? I mean, or was it just a case of, as you said, it sort of just got a bit overwhelming with sort of all the mind games that were going on with your head at that time?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, no, like 100%. It was, you know, it's an experience.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's amazing to think that sort of something like that can obviously, yeah, the worst time for that to happen, too. And I guess, do you do anything in between the last games and looking forward now to next year to try and combat that? Because, I mean, that's obviously the case. You don't want that happening again in a sport, which, as you know, graceful and amazing it is to watch, I'm sure that that mental stability really plays a key part in all those amazing things that you guys are doing out there on the ice.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, I mean, you know, the first season following the Olympics that started off a little bit rough, I still wasn't even as good as I was in the build up to the Olympics. But by the end of the season, I was achieving a personal best. And, you know, I've tried to put a real emphasis on my mental game. At every competition I've gone to, especially World Championships, I knew that would be where I would try and qualify for the game, which I did. And so I feel as though come time for the Olympics compared to World Championships, it's going to be a very different mindset. It's going to be, you know, you're here to compete really well, but it's also very special. And it's something that you want to try and enjoy as much as you can. I think since the last game leading to the next game, the biggest change in growth would be mental game.

BEN WATERWORTH: In the most recent World Championships, you finished 15th in Helsinki. How did you feel you went in these, in the World Championships? And I guess, I mean, this ultimately led you to this qualification for the games next year. But besides that little small factor there, Brendan, I'm sure it was a satisfying result for you to finish in that place?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, it was. You know, I was a little bit higher in the short. I felt like I did a really good short program. We had two short and long. The long program, I did pretty well. I have like a few, like, so-so errors, but I kind of pulled back the technical difficulty on the day to try and solidify a spot at the game. So it was kind of bittersweet, you know, awesome. Like, yeah, qualified spot for the Olympics. This is what we've been working for. Downside, I was like, I've been doing a little bit, like, I've been doing a substantial amount more in practice. It would have been really cool to show that off at Worlds a year out from the games. But I had a job to do, I've got it done. So no complaint today.

BEN WATERWORTH: And just looking here at the, I love how I've got a list of the music choices, because I'm always fascinated by how you guys choose your music for your routines. Is this in itself such a really, you've got to really nail your choice, because I can imagine when you're working on your routines with your coach there, it's got to really play in there. And I think that would be kind of fun having to always come up with something different. Is that one of the more fun aspects of skating?

BRENDAN KERRY: You know, that's also a very common question I get asked. So the music choice is usually between my choreographer and I, and my coach is okay or not. And I love my choreographer, I think he's amazing, he's a great guy. I love working with him, I'll take it out with him. But when it comes time to pick music, we definitely butt heads more often than not. Because, you know, it's like I view myself as a certain type of skater and he views me as a different type of skater, and we want to play to my strengths, but we have to work on my weaknesses, which I don't really like to think or talk about. So he's like, oh, we got to do this to cover this or fix that. I'll be like, no, it's not a thing. Or, you know, a lot of frustration when you're trying to learn really difficult choreography to suit the pieces of music that you go with. So it's an exhausting part of the season.

BEN WATERWORTH: And are there similar rules to gymnastics? Because I think in gymnastics, you're not allowed to have words and lyrics, are you? Is that the same in figure skating?

BRENDAN KERRY: I don't know the rules on gymnastics that used to be the case with skating, but to try and, I would say, make the sport maybe more relatable or a lot more exciting for a lot of people, because, you know, putting vocals in songs opens up just like a whole new world of what you're able to use in sport. And so at the moment, we're all allowed to use lyrics and vocals, which I was a little bit unsure how that was going to go down in the sport, but people have been to respond to it really, really well. And it, you know, as I said, gives you a lot more choice.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, just looking here from your recent choices, you got Singing In The Rain on there, parts of the Caribbean music kind of there, and I love going back here over some of your past ones here. You've got Metallica, nothing else matters. If you had to say to people, hey, Metallica used in the short program in a figure skating event, some people would be sort of, I guess, raising a few eyebrows. But if you can make that work, all the power to you, Brendan.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, no, definitely a fair variety of choices there, you know. Those pieces were, the Metallica piece was actually my choreographer. She did a really good job. That program was very cool, actually. And then last year's Singing The Rain In Pirates Of The Caribbean, we just wanted to be kind of playful and cheeky to the judges in the crowd.

BEN WATERWORTH: And actually just going back way back here, here's one that I should have called out straight away. Michael Jackson back in 2009, 2010. You got a bit of Smooth Criminal, Dirty Diana, Thriller, Beat It. I mean, does that come across with, I mean, the moonwalks perfect in figure skating there. You don't even need to really try with that. But wow, that sounds like that would have been fun.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, that was a crowd favourite at home for sure.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, wow. Are you thinking ahead already towards the Olympics, or is that kind of, as you were saying, you got to talk that over with the coach and the choreographer there to kind of really nail it. And it's not in your mind just yet. You've got plenty of time to think about that.

BRENDAN KERRY: No, it's definitely been discussing and working on plans. So we're going to do my short program first, middle to end of May. I'm going to go to Canada for that. We've narrowed down the choice to, I think, one of two or three pieces. And then that week, while working on the short, we'll probably have a few meetings and listen to some music to try and find what we're going to do for the long.

BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic, fantastic. I definitely look forward to seeing what that comes out with. I mean, I guess in terms of that training, I mean, obviously, I can imagine a lot of skating, a lot of, as we were talking about before, working on those tricks and the landings and everything, but I mean, is there an element to it outside of the skating? When it comes to gym work, cardio work, things like that, I mean, is there anything in particular that you really need to work on? I mean, I'm picturing there's got to be a bit of strength in the legs for the landing, but I mean, is there much more that you work on overall when it comes to that training?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, you have to do a ton of core work because you're moving on a very slippery surface with a lot of speed, jumps as well, spins. We do a lot of leg strength, core work. I don't really focus too much on upper body strength. I actually want to try and be as small as I possibly can so I can rotate faster to do more turns in the air. And then a lot of cardio, actually. I feel as though doing a program is a lot like interval training, kind of like sprint from one end to the other, but it's kind of like you're doing it all on one leg and then you have to hold tension for a spin, or you got to like exert a lot of force for a jump, and then catch it on the way down. Flexibility is important for injury prevention, stuff like that. I didn't really learn that until I was older. I was like, I'm not going to stretch, I'm not about that, but definitely makes a big difference. But yeah, all around, you got to train on and off the ice pretty hard all the time.

BEN WATERWORTH: Because it does, I think, seem a lot more physical that a lot of people maybe give it credit for, because kind of as you were even saying there, with like the cardio work and just the amount of time that you guys are sort of out there on the ice, and even, yeah, the one-legged skating and all that sort of stuff. I mean, when you're in a gym and you're kind of working out, do you sort of get talking to some of the other athletes and, you know, a mixture of all different sports, and you're there going on the treadmill, you know, really pumping it hard and going, yeah, yeah, I'm a figure skater. And they're probably going to be like, oh, okay, I didn't realise you have to train so hard for that.

BRENDAN KERRY: It's happened a few times, yeah. For a while, I was actually spending a lot of time at MMA UFC gym. And we were doing a lot of backflips and stuff, holding weights. And a lot of the fighters and other athletes would go up to the trainer. We would be like, oh, what do they do? What do they do? And the trainer was like, you don't want to know. No, no, no, tell us. I'm like, all right, fine. They're all figure skaters. And everyone was like, what? Like, really? And we're like, yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's crazy, actually. That's a good mixture. That's when you start talking to the fighter guys and see if you can get some skates on them and see if you can give them a routine out there. You want to see how tough this is?

BRENDAN KERRY: Come on.

BEN WATERWORTH: Put these skates on.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah. I mean, you know, it's great. If a fighter respects you, you're doing pretty well.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, for sure. For sure. What's kind of a running, obviously, theme we have in a lot of talking to all these winter Olympians in the lead up to the games next year is obviously from an Australian perspective. We all know that winter sports really don't get a lot of attention except maybe about a month out from the games when, you know, it starts getting really pumped up, the attention of it like that. I mean, I can imagine that from the perspective of an Australian competing in the sport like figure skating, I could looking at sort of all these main countries out there who are really pushing for the winds and the podium spots, it must almost be a bit of an advantage for someone like yourself, who I guess a lot of people maybe don't look at because they think, oh Australia, there's no pedigree there in that sport, we don't really need to keep an eye out. But you can kind of sneak through, you know, can't you in a way sort of like, oh, no one's going to pay attention to me, I'm going to come through here and really put my performance above the rest. Do you find that? Is it sort of a psychological advantage that people aren't expecting plucky old Australia to do well in this sport and you can use it to your advantage?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yes and no. I mean, you know, the thing with skating is the judge sport, so people definitely have an idea of an expected outcome because it's not like, oh, he's going to run the fastest or jump the highest today, you know. It's all based on, it basically comes down to opinion because all the top level athletes kind of do very similar things. So when you don't really have much reputation or there's no expectation, it's kind of, it's great in the sense that the only pressure that is really there is the pressure you put on yourself. But at the same time, you know, the way skating works is it's such a performance based sport, you really want to get as much attention and hype about you as you possibly can at every event.

BEN WATERWORTH: And it's kind of interesting sort of looking at with the other judging aspect, because I mean, that's that's a key thing about the Winter Olympics, obviously, there's a lot more of these, I guess, judge based sports than there are, say, in the summer games. And one of my favourite things, and I'm sure this might be one of the questions or comments you get a lot to in regards to the music as well, but I love the moment you guys step off the ice and you sit down on that little chair with the coach and you get the flowers and you're waving in the camera and you're waiting, you're sitting there, you're waiting for the scores and you've always got that look on your face. And I always think to myself, are you just burning inside sometimes thinking, if you look at those scores and go, oh man, they are shit, I am so angry, but you kind of got to be, what, like calm and relaxed at the same time because you realise you got a camera right in your face out. How awkward is that moment?

BRENDAN KERRY: Um, it can definitely be pretty uncomfortable. You know, you throw down a really good score and you're like, I'm gonna get a mad score and it's like, okay.

BEN WATERWORTH: And you're like, oh, that was awesome. If you're at an award show and you nominated and you don't win, you've got to give that sort of subtle little accepting clap that you kind of like, oh, they won. And you kind of deep down, like, what the hell, they shouldn't have won. But I just, I think you should next year at the games there, Brendan, if you think you have nailed it, if you're like, yes, there we go. That's it. That's beautiful. Fantastic. You get terrible scores. I kind of want to see you get the mascot. I want to see you throw it down. I want to see you just get so mad and angry. I mean, that would go viral online. I think you know that.

BRENDAN KERRY: I just, like, chuck a skate on the ice while the next person's warming up, be like, I'm done with this. I mean, you know, minus the fine that you would probably receive. And that's certainly worth it, yeah.

BEN WATERWORTH: I really think that would just in this day and age go really, go really well. I mean, what's that, the gymnast was Michele Moroni, when she had that unimpressed look on her face, that was a viral meme for a while there in gymnastics. So I couldn't imagine that that wouldn't. And I guess just don't accidentally throw a skate while, you know, someone's performing and hit them. I mean, I think that might go down not too good.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, probably not in anyone's best interest to know and do that. But no, I'm definitely surprised that we have seen a lot more negative outbursts or reaction. But I have no doubt it's going to happen soon one day. Yeah, it's going to be great, but it's going to be bad.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, exactly, exactly. Is there much, I guess, trash talking and kind of sledging involved in the world of figure skating? You guys sort of pass each other on the way to the ring. Oh, well, that was a nice landing not or, you know, obviously a lot better of a sledge than that. That was really childish, Ben. But is there a lot of that kind of psych out ability between you guys?

BRENDAN KERRY: Um, you know, again, that's also a very common question. No, I feel as though, you know, there's always going to be like a couple guys here or there that don't really like each other, whether it's because of competition or like getting in the way in practice. But overall, it's like, you know, at Wells this year, I think there was like 30 something, maybe even 40 guys. It's like, you know, when you see them, you go up and shake their hand, say hi, how's it going? Like everyone will give them a nod or like chat and hang out. I don't feel as though anyone is really out to get anyone else, which is a really, really cool thing about the sport.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you know, we can sort of, we can start a psych out thing in a way that's, it's friendly, though. I mean, we obviously want to keep it on a level where you guys all remain friends. But I'm still just thinking back to the little box there where you're waiting for the score and you can always just like hang around there while the next competitor comes off the ice and just kind of stick your head in there and just be the pest that's just like, hi, hi, Ron, hi, just like psych him out that way.

BRENDAN KERRY: Well, I mean, you're not, you're actually not allowed to step on the ice until the person before you has finished taking a bow to the audience and the judges. So I feel as though if you really wanted to mess with someone, you kind of take your sweet time doing a bow because it's time that they don't have to warm up before the event. But I feel as though everyone tries to be very respectful of one another. But if you wanted to do something kind of just like someone out, you probably messed around with them definitely before stepping out.

BEN WATERWORTH: I think I've seen Blades Of Glory too many times, Brendan. I think I need to get my mind out of that and realise this is a serious sport and Will Ferrell is not involved.

BRENDAN KERRY: Not yet, but I mean, maybe he should. That would probably bring more publicity as well.

BEN WATERWORTH: You're very right there. Maybe he's just one step away from doing it. He could actually be very naturally gifted at it and maybe all that was his work in that movie. So, hey, you never know. Was it Chad Michael Murray's or something like that was his character's name, I think, from memory. Something like that. We'll keep an eye out for that. Now, what we're doing, Brendan, with all our guests on the show, we are asking them a bunch of questions at the end. Now, these are based on a series of questions that the Canadian Olympic website asked their athletes in the lead up to Rio last year in a series that was called I Am Canadian. So, we're changing this around, obviously, to make this I Am Australian right now and relate to some of these questions. I'm going to start off straight away by asking you, who do you think the greatest Olympian of all time is?

BRENDAN KERRY: Wow, Aussie Olympian?

BEN WATERWORTH: It can be anyone. Let's just stay with Australian this time around. Let's keep this patriotic.

BRENDAN KERRY: I mean, that's tough. I remember Sydney Olympics, so I have to go with Ian Thorpe or Cathy Freeman. Definitely pretty amazing.

BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely agree with you there. You might have just answered this next question I'm going to ask you here. The first Olympics that you remember watching were? Very much in the heart of many Australians still after all these years. Now, I can't exactly ask you this next question, because it's asked to draw a picture of yourself. So have you ever drawn a self portrait or anything of yourself there, Brendan? I mean, how would you draw a picture of yourself?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yep.

BEN WATERWORTH: Yep. Exactly. What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?

BRENDAN KERRY: That's a tricky one. Depends. Definitely depends on the mood. You know, I would say probably a safe vanilla, because you can chuck a bunch of toppings and syrup and stuff on it, mix it up a little bit.

BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. I do like a bit of vanilla ice cream. This question is kind of almost obsolete when it comes to you in terms of your sport, because you do have music involved anyway. This question is, if you're a baseball player, what would your walk-up music be? But I guess kind of we could turn that around in that, do you sort of, if you had a song in the lead up to you going out there on the ice, you know, you're walking out there with the headphones on, I mean, do you have a song, I guess, that can get you in that zone before you do hit out the ice?

BRENDAN KERRY: Yes, actually. I have, it's an hour-long mix by a DJ. And there's like a collaboration and a little bit of a remix of one part of it, which is at the 11 minutes at 50 second mark. Plays for about 40 seconds. Got a kilobyte, but it's got like fun lyrics, so I feel like I'm kind of relaxed but super focused. It's my go-to every time.

BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. There you go. I like hearing that. There we go. If there was to be a movie about your life, who do you think would play you?

BRENDAN KERRY: Oh, I mean, I can't be the star of my own movie.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, sure you can. Why not? That's a hidden skill there, Brendan, you're an actor.

BRENDAN KERRY: Oh yeah, I wish. No, you know, actually, I saw the movie Kingsman. I liked it a lot. And I have a lot of girlfriends. And all of them are in love with the actor, Karen Egerton. So I feel like if I could have someone like him, who women just love, play me, and, you know, me and her life, hopefully reap the rewards of that.

BEN WATERWORTH: That is a good answer. That is the best way to look at it. I like that. That's why I always say Channing Tatum and I are very similar, Brendan. But then I wake up and clearly that's not true. So your answer, I think, was a little bit better.

BRENDAN KERRY: I mean, you got to tell yourself what you got to tell yourself.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Right. You know, you've got to be confident every now and then. What is your guilty pleasure snack?

BRENDAN KERRY: Chocolate. 100%. Without a doubt, it's chocolate.

BEN WATERWORTH: Do you have a particular type? Like, are you a dark chocolate man, a white chocolate man, a milk chocolate man?

BRENDAN KERRY: Honestly, like all sorts of chocolate. Chocolate fudge, blueberries covered in dark chocolate, milk chocolate. Yeah, chocolate. Chocolate's good. I'm actually sitting in front of a Max Brenner chocolate bar right now. Not eating though, just on my phone.

BEN WATERWORTH: If it's got the word chocolate in it, you're touching it, it's all good. Do you have a favourite song lyric? Here's an interesting question.

BRENDAN KERRY: No, I like a lot of music, so I can't narrow it down.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's one of those ones that you can't really answer on the spot. You've got to think about that one before you go into it. What is the most recent TV show that you binge-watched? OK, it's one I haven't quite got to yet, but I've heard it's good. So, good old. I can imagine that that comes in handy with the travelling, obviously, you know, between Australia and Europe and North America and just everywhere you're going. I mean, those plane trips and the hotel rooms and just the travelling. I mean, that's kind of where Netflix and all these shows become your best friend, I can imagine.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, 100%.

BEN WATERWORTH: What is your biggest fear in life?

BRENDAN KERRY: Um, being stuck in a small space is probably what we're going with.

BEN WATERWORTH: Right.

BRENDAN KERRY: It's just, I don't know, feeling very stuck, you know, I don't, I really don't like that.

BEN WATERWORTH: That's why it's good that the rinks are so nice and big and spread out, so you're able there to kind of really spread your wings when it comes to skating. So, the opposite of that, I can see it. And the last one I've got here, what is one thing that you can't live without?

BRENDAN KERRY: Music, 100%.

BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. Good answer. They're always different, these My Name Is Canadian questions. It seems every single athlete got a different set of them, so that was a bunch of interesting ones there. But Brendan, look, it was a pleasure chatting with you today, Matt, where you're going to keep an eye on, of course, everything that happens between now and Pyeongchang next year, and come the gains, we're going to be definitely rooting for you here in Australia, cheering for you, and really hoping that you can pull it through and go very, very strong. So fingers and toes crossed, Matt. Appreciate your time on Off The Podium, and for sure we'll catch up post-2018 next year, and we'll chat to you about your second Olympics.

BRENDAN KERRY: Yeah, sounds great. Thank you very much.

BEN WATERWORTH: Fun chat, and once again, thanks to Brendan for giving us his time, and also a special shout out to the Australian Winter Institute there with Belinda Noonan, who has organised a bunch of these chats for us in the last week or so, and has been a fantastic help. So, once again, appreciate her assistance in hooking these up. And we're going to continue to hook you up with some great chats and great episodes. Best way to get these, of course, to your device is to subscribe to us via iTunes, via Stitcher, or whichever podcast provider you do prefer. And while you're there, please click on the ratings, give us some feedback, let us know what you're thinking of the show. You love it, you hate it. Really, don't give two shits about it. Either way, we'd love to hear from you. And you can also do that on Facebook. Like us on Facebook. And if you are listening to one of these episodes, use the hashtag Off The Podium and tweet along. Perhaps you've got some insights and thoughts or anything along those lines. And we definitely will check that out and love to hear from you. In the meantime, thank you for your company on this episode. We'll be back very, very shortly here on Off The Podium. And we'll speak to you then wherever you can hear my voice.