Ella Easton Interview
An exciting interview to come to you today as we chat to Ella Easton, an Australian sports climber who is setting her sights on reaching the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We learn from Ella just what sports climbing is and what disciplines there, as well as why we should be really excited about watching it during the Olympics. We also learn everything from the training required, why the Olympics will be different to the usual sports climbing meet and everything else there is to know about the sport and just how much of a chance Ella has on making it! It's a fun interview that will teach you a lot!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: Welcome back to Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast as we continue on our interview series with a series of athletes in what should be a moment right now where we're getting very excited and pumped up for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, if things were normal. But of course, things aren't really normal at the moment, and we don't really have an Olympic Games to talk about. So we're bringing you interviews to fill the void and get you excited for the 2021 Olympic Games and a special interview for you today because for the very first time, we really don't have an Olympian on this show. This is a person who is striving to be an Olympian in a brand new sport that has never been at the Olympics before. The sport is sports climbing, and any long-term listener of this show would know how excited and sceptical I guess we have been in the past about this being a sport and why on earth it's at the Olympics. So we thought it would only be appropriate that we track down a sports climber and chat to them about this sport and try to get them to sell it. Why we should be excited for this sport in Tokyo. The athlete that we are speaking to today, her name is Ella Easton. She is a Australian sports climber hailing from Sydney who has represented Australia at the Junior World Championships and is in with a real shot of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games. So it's a very informative chat here. We learn a lot about the sport. We learn a lot about Ella. And I really think that this interview will help you get to know not only Ella, of course, but the sport of sports climbing a little bit better and get you in the zone and excited as to why this will be an exciting thing to watch at the Tokyo Olympics. So without further ado, here is our chat with Australian sports climber Ella Easton.
BEN WATERWORTH: As we continue our series of interviews, filling the void for no Olympics being on right now, when we thought there would be Olympics, we are very excited for today's guest, because it's an athlete from a sport that we actually haven't seen at the Olympics before. And long-term listeners to this show would know that we have sort of questioned this sport. We've never heard of it before. We're like, what on earth is sport climbing? What does this mean? What does this even involve? So we got together, we worked out, who should we interview for these podcasts? And one of the suggestions, of course, was we need to find a sport climber. We need to find someone who does this sport to explain this sport and why we should be watching it at Tokyo in the 2021 Olympics now, of course. And it's a thrill to be able to welcome someone to the show today who is involved in this sport and very much likely could be representing Australia at the Olympic Games this time next year. It is a pleasure to welcome to the show Miss Ella Easton. Ella, first of all, welcome to Off The Podium. It's a pleasure to have you on the show today.
ELLA EASTON: Oh, thank you. It's my pleasure as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, this is this is unique because I think you're actually our first athlete on the show who, I guess, isn't an Olympian. I mean, you haven't competed at the Olympics yet, but I'm saying now you will be an Olympian. There we go. I'm giving you those. Those vibes. But this sport is is fascinating because again, we'd never heard of it. I'm sure this is not we're not the only ones. It's probably you have to explain this to a few other people as well. But how do you describe sport climbing to somebody who is like me and doesn't really know much about it? How would you describe this sport?
ELLA EASTON: Well, it is it is it can be complicated. So obviously climbing originated outdoors. So yeah, like just kind of climbing up massive walls outdoors and stuff. It's quite new to the competition scene. Like indoor climbing is honestly quite like recent. But yeah, competition climbing is essentially three disciplines. There's speed climbing, which is probably the most exciting to watch. There's like a set route. Like it's always it's the same all over the world. The angle is like, yeah, the same. The texture can vary, but they're basically a uniform route, uniform holds. And the speed climbing, the aim is to get up the wall as quickly as possible. And yeah, it's about it's crazy how fast like people can go. They can go. Yeah, I think the world record is under five seconds, which is crazy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. How high is the wall? Like how long is it?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, I think, OK, I should know this. It's between 12 and 15 metres, I think.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow.
ELLA EASTON: I'm actually quite new to speed climbing myself. So I, it's in Australia, it's completely new. It's, yeah, it's very, very new. But yeah, no, the fastest guy is, yeah, he can go, he's just insane. His muscles are just crazy. Like, yeah. And I think the women's world record is just, just under seven seconds. I was broken very recently last year. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's insane. I can't think of another sport in the summer games, at least it is that quick. It's over and done with. I mean, 100 metres is what? Nine point whatever seconds for the men and just on 10 for the women. And wow, five seconds is over with. I mean, the commentators would be able to get a word out.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, it's a crazy sport. I think it's, it's definitely the most variable form of climbing because you can have one foot slip. Like, yeah, your foot might slip off a hold and you're gone. Like, your chances of a medal just completely out of there, which is, I mean, I think, yeah, a lot of climbers aren't particularly fond of speed climbing for that reason, in that it's so different from forms of climbing that originated from outdoors. But it's genuinely very exciting to watch. And I think, yeah, I think people who don't know about climbing will find that one the most entertaining. But yeah, there's two more disciplines. There's my personal favourite, bouldering. Bouldering is the one I think most people will be familiar with because it's got such a good indoor scene. It's, yeah, the walls are quite short. Yeah, I think the limit for world competitions is about four metres. And in that competition, yeah, the aim is to get as many tops as possible, but the moves are crazy. They'll be like, yeah, there's things called dinos, which are essentially dynamic moves, which are huge jumps. Yeah, you can have coordination dinos where you have to like, yeah, catch something with your foot, move your hands, like, yeah, which is so bouldering is also really, really exciting to watch. Lead climbing is kind of the one that most like mirrors the outdoors. It's like, yeah, so basically you have about, I think it's eight minutes to get as close to the top of the wall as possible. You bring your rope up with you and you clip it in the wall. And yeah, the moves, it's also do with your fitness and your, yeah, it's, it's, that one's, it's more of a slow burn, but they're really, they can get really exciting. Lead finals can be very exciting.
BEN WATERWORTH: There's more endurance based that one.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, endurance. That's the word. I wasn't sure if that was a climbing term or not to, but yeah. Yeah, no, you've got to have like crazy endurance.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's crazy. So the bouldering one, is that sort of judged based? So like you're doing these moves and people are judging, giving you points, or is it time based still? Kind of how does it work?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, yeah. So basically, for the combined, well, normally in bouldering competitions, you'll have a number of climbs, a number of different climbs, different segments of the wall. And there's like, well, it's not exactly a halfway point, but there's a point like kind of in between the top and the start that is called the zone. And there's also a top. And so it's awarded based on how many tops you get and how many zones you get.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right.
ELLA EASTON: So yeah, you get, yeah. And also the number of attempts counts in that. So yeah, you want to do it in as little attempts as possible. And yeah, normally there's a timeframe as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. I mean, this is so fascinating. I mean, I think literally, well, I think we were literally thinking like it's just two people climbing a wall going, okay, what's going on here? But it sounds a lot more exciting and complicated. How do you get involved, Ella? How do you all of a sudden decide that I want to do this as a sport?
ELLA EASTON: Well, I've always liked climbing trees. I don't know why. That is a very generic climbing story. A lot of, like some kids just are drawn to the heights. I've never really been that scared of heights as well. So for me, there was no fear factor kind of, yeah, holding me out. It was almost my parents' fear that led me into it. They didn't want me falling out of trees. So yeah, it kind of chucked me into climbing. I got into it quite late. I actually only got into it in year six, so about five years ago, which is pretty recently. Yeah, and I just kind of, I get quite bored with other sports. There's not enough variability for me. And team sports, I kind of get too competitive. I think it's quite a similar mindset for a lot of climbers that with climbing, you can rely purely on your own physical strength and your own ability. So yeah, we're usually not really drawn to team sports. And climbing is like incredibly variable. So yeah, you end up getting drawn to it just because it's like the only sport that really gives you that variability. And yeah, kind of it works out your whole body, which is really, really cool as well. So you never really get bored of it. But yeah, and I like, yeah, climbing trees was really what led me into it.
BEN WATERWORTH: So does that then lead you to kind of just going down to your local rock climbing, indoor rock climbing, sort of thing like that? I mean, were there competitive climbing gyms around or kind of you just sort of treaded the water on those indoor climbing walls?
ELLA EASTON: Well, Australia is quite interesting in that we are so, so new to the competition climbing scene. Well, you know, like we're new to the climbing in general, really. So there's no there's not really any youth programs that are really, really intensive and aim towards those competitions. Well, they wasn't when I started climbing. So I just started at like a youth. It was almost like a yeah, it was like a very, very relaxed youth climbing where you just kind of go around. It was almost just like supervision. But I basically I kind of followed my friend who yeah, he he started getting into all these competitions. I signed up for my first competition literally the night before. I got new climbing shoes the night before, which is a huge no, because climbing shoes are really, really tight and wearing them. It's a night like the first time you wear them is an absolute nightmare. So I was not. Yeah, I kind of just like, I don't know. It was it wasn't a very gradual process. I kind of just found comps and then it all began from there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's it's some it's a sport, too, that I can imagine. I mean, anybody who's done indoor rock climbing, I did it once. And I think this is my sport. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not good with my upper body strength, but it's a sport that people can really take to. But I mean, training for this sport, I can imagine varies. Like you sort of touched on that, like upper body strength, that would be key kind of things like that. I mean, what are the focuses in the gym when you're kind of hitting there or training? Or is it more about the climbing more so than the gym fitness?
ELLA EASTON: Well, the interesting thing is that I think a lot of climbers tend to focus on different things just because it is so variable. So obviously climbing is like some of the best training you can do just because, yeah, obviously climbing works out all the muscles you need to do climbing. That was the first kind of when I was like more relaxed, I just climbed. That was my only training. And you can get quite far doing that. But eventually, yeah, you want to get more strength, especially for boulder. Gym training is really, really useful. So you're doing like deadlifts and weighted chin ups, stuff like that. Also training your finger strength, you kind of train every little, you have to train so, so many muscles in your body to do all these specific things. That's why a lot often climbers have like very distinct strengths. Like my strength is dynamic movements because like, yeah, I train them all the time. But then sometimes other climbers won't see that as a priority. And so they'll have a completely different set of training, which is, yeah. So it honestly depends on what you like and what are your strengths and what you want to work on.
BEN WATERWORTH: How do you train your fingertips? Like what are the many, many weights that you've got to do? Like I'm trying to get to this.
ELLA EASTON: What do you do with your fingers? So there's a thing called a hangboard, which is essentially, it's like a wooden board. And it has all these different kind of, it has like little, little like kind of pockets, little holes in it. Yeah, so it has like little edges. And basically, I just kind of hang, I have like seven different types of holes in mine, seven different types of edges. And I'll do seven seconds on each, three seconds rest, do all of them. And then I'll repeat that like heaps and heaps of time until my forearms are burning. Yeah, and then you can also do weighted hangs. So yeah, you can hang on those tiny, tiny edges, chuck a few weights on, and then you get like crazy strong fingers from that. But it is, and climbing in general also helps. Yeah, fingers are weird. It's hard to train.
BEN WATERWORTH: You must love Spider-Man. He must be your favourite superhero, right?
ELLA EASTON: He's the legend. Yeah, Tom Holland is pretty cool. And yeah, Tom Holland does his own stunts. So I'm also impressed by that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I'm sure there's a career in that, like down the line for, you know, he does his own stunts, but like if you need to stunt coordinator, like surely, you know, a sports climber can help him out. Because I mean, you guys would be perfect to help him out on those movies, right?
ELLA EASTON: Hmm, that's true. We could. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Post-gold medal at the Olympics, there's your crew. Yeah, exactly. And but I mean, with such varying disciplines, like the three disciplines you're talking about, can you be a competitive climber in all three, or is it a case of you focus on one, or kind of can you be variable across the three?
ELLA EASTON: Well, you can be variable across the three. It's hard to like, I don't know any climber who would be like world champion in all three separate disciplines. Yanya Ganvay, who's a really, really amazing Slovenian climber, she was world champion of lead and boulder, which is quite crazy. Adam Ondra, another really, really good climber, was also world champion in boulder and lead. But speed climbing is real. That's why a lot of people don't like speed climbing, because it kind of throws the whole, you can be good at everything, just like, yeah, you can be champion at everything out of the mix, because it's, yeah, it's just, it's very, very different. But you can't be good. They certainly all feed into each other in like, yeah, some way or another.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's kind of, I guess, in a way, the same bolt's not going to win the marathon, is he? Like, he's only going to, you know, he trains for the sprint, he's not going to be able to run 42Ks essentially, which I mean, how do you train to be fast climbing a wall? Like, is that literally something where it is down to, you need to just keep climbing that wall until you get faster?
ELLA EASTON: Well, you have to have muscle, you have to get, you've got to get the muscle memory down. So, like, speed climbers can climb it with their eyes closed, like, yeah, literally with their eyes closed. So, yeah, that means heaps and heaps of repetition. For me, I train almost every single, like, move on the wall over and over again. The start move I've done so, so many times, so I can hit the foot without even looking at it. So repetition is a big thing. There's often, there's a lot of, like, kind of ways you can do, like, dynamic pull-ups. So just, like, I don't know. Well, my, yeah, my, the speed coach I used to work with said, you have to try and, like, rip the bar from the wall as the aim. Like, you've got to, yeah, you can do stuff like that. I train, yeah, my legs as well. I do a lot of, yeah, like, skipping, stuff like that, jumping onto boxes, yeah, stuff that trains your leg strength. But yeah, it is a very... I think it probably would be similar to sprinting training, except, yeah, you've got to get the repetition in, and you've got to get the upper body strength in.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is it a case of, you sort of say, about how sprinters can kind of generally do it with their eyes closed? Obviously, the course is clearly the same around the world, but are they different? Are the walls made of the same materials everywhere we go, or do certain countries have a certain type of material, if that makes sense?
ELLA EASTON: The holds, I know the holds are exactly the same, but I mean, I've actually only ever climbed at... Well, the speed wall in Australia isn't even of international standard. Oh, I think it might be now, but I don't think it quite is. I think the angle is a bit wrong and the texture is wrong. It's good, but I think it's not quite up to that standard. And the only other one I've been to is in Italy. And yeah, I think the texture can be different. I know the one in France is meant to be more slippery. Like, I think the wall can be different, but yeah, the holds are the same. They measure them with a laser to get them completely accurate in the same position. But yeah, I think there are a few tiny variables that can influence performance.
BEN WATERWORTH: And in terms of equipment, are we talking specialised shoes here that you've got to wear to get a certain type of grip? Or are there things you are and aren't not allowed to wear on the shoes?
ELLA EASTON: I don't think there are too many specifications on the shoes. I know you can't heat your shoes up beforehand because that makes them more sticky. But for speed climbing, there are specialised really, really light harnesses. There are specialised shoes that help you go faster. A lot of people wear the kind of body suits that really help with air resistance. So there are stuff you can wear to make you faster.
BEN WATERWORTH: And you like to wear gloves?
ELLA EASTON: Gloves don't help because they kind of slide up your hand. Gloves aren't generally... You kind of have to make your hand the glove. Your skin kind of toughens up over time to help and becomes good at friction.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's interesting about the shoes. I mean, that's a fascinating thing about how they help grip. Do they have to measure that? Do they kind of have to before you go on the course, get a thermometer and stick it in your shoe to make sure it's not too hot?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, I've actually never seen anyone... I've never heard of anyone breaking that rule. So I'm actually not sure how they measure it. Yeah, I can't really help you with that one. But I think, yeah. That's an interesting question.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because I would say that would be something that you would have to keep an eye on because otherwise, you know, like... There you go, Ella. Tokyo, just stick your shoe in the microwave for 30 seconds if they're not going to check.
ELLA EASTON: I mean, I think as with a lot of things, like I guess with doping as well, they probably rely on other athletes or like in the team, reporting athletes. Yeah, or maybe seeing smears of rubber left on the wall if it's a bit more melted. I wouldn't. I don't know if that would be. I think, yeah, they rely on honesty from, yeah, teammates. And it's I think it would be quite hard to measure, but I haven't seen anyone get called up for it before.
BEN WATERWORTH: We're not giving any ideas out there. Although, again, it helps you get sort of a middle that way. You mentioned about Australia kind of, I guess, being a little bit new to the sport. What are the countries, I guess, that sort of lead the way? You mentioned, I think, Slovenia, a good athlete from there.
ELLA EASTON: Slovenia is incredible. I mean, all the European, a lot of the European countries are really, really good. America is very good. Japan is... Well, I've only actually been to one international competition, but Japan absolutely slaughtered it. They were... They're amazing. Yeah, they're really, really good. Japan and Slovenia probably lead the way, but it depends on each discipline as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: That makes sense, then, that Japan kind of pushed for... I mean, we sort of talked up karate kind of, that was sort of a... And baseball, like two huge sports in Japan, so kind of that, then, I guess, makes sense if all of a sudden they're really good at sports climbing. Is it surprising that Australia, I mean, Australia is obviously, you know, very outdoorsy. I think rock climbing is, from what I know, is a very popular sport in this country. So, I mean, is it surprising to think that kind of we're new to it, and it's not more of a bigger thing?
ELLA EASTON: I genuinely think, I mean, we are getting so much better. There are some truly amazing climbers in Australia. Yeah, like Angie Scarf-Johnson, Oceana McKenzie. I'm just thinking of the younger climbers coming up, and they are genuinely incredible. Oceana McKenzie has made a final in the World Cup Adult Circuit, which is... So we have a few climbers that are up there. There's so many that I'm not mentioning. But generally, I think it's the mentality. I think we're kind of a more relaxed... I mean, I don't know if that's true at all, but I think climbing is very, very perfectionist. You kind of have to have this... You have to be obsessive. And I don't know if that mindset is as prevalent in Australia as in other countries, but yeah, I think... Because we do actually have quite good outdoor climbing. I'm not really sure why it took off in Europe and not here. I think it's probably to do with the mentality there.
BEN WATERWORTH: The organisation Sport Climbing Australia, so they're obviously the governing body for the sport in the country. Do you know sort of how much participation there is sort of across the country? I mean, how many, I guess, in general Australians are going to international competitions at the moment?
ELLA EASTON: Well, we usually fill our quota. So, yeah, for the Youth World Championships, we had a big team or a lot of people. Yeah, we generally filled the three athletes per section like quota. It's more to do with the level of competition internally. So we have, for example, I remember my first state competition, I was up against five other girls or something like that. It's growing, but there's still not many climbers in the competition scene. Nowhere near compared to America, where they have to have regional competitions, which is like, yeah, our first level is state. So yeah, there's not many climbers internally competing, which I think is also what differs us.
BEN WATERWORTH: So what in terms of the national, so you mentioned state, so you go to the New South Wales Championship, I'm guessing, and then do you sort of just have the nationals? I mean, can you go and compete in the Queensland Championships to get a little bit more extra experience, or do you just have to sort of go state nationals as kind of your competitions?
ELLA EASTON: Well, your state is the one that counts. But yeah, I've gone to other state competitions before. You can get the prizes and stuff, which is cool. Yeah, it gives you experience. So you can go to them. But in the end, it's your state ranking that gets you to nationals. And each state has a quarter of, oh, I think it's five. And then if you're the state hosting it, you get a few more, like hosting the nationals.
BEN WATERWORTH: So how many nationals have you been to, Ella, and how have you done in the national championships?
ELLA EASTON: Well, see, I actually am quite new to the climbing scene. I've done two. The first one I did pretty shockingly. It was just of a scale that I wasn't used to at all. I made it into Worlds for speed, so I came second in speed, but I decided not to go just because, yeah, speed was kind of not really my thing. And then, yeah, 2019 nationals. Oh, sorry, I've been to three nationals. I've been to an adult one as well. Yeah, 2019 nationals, I came second in boulder, which I was very, very happy about. Yeah, I came second in speed as well, which I was also very happy about, and third in lead, which is, yeah. And so I got into Youth Worlds for all three disciplines, which is very cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. It's interesting. You say you sort of you qualify for the Worlds, but you decide not to go. I mean, why would you say no to that opportunity?
ELLA EASTON: So I've had a lot, yeah, I know, I kind of regret it, but I also, it was more about my mentality. I don't even think I was ready for, in some ways, I don't think I was ready for Worlds last year either, almost. It's just like, from Australian Nationals to Worlds is a colossal leap. Like, it is insane how different it is. So I think at the time, I just wasn't really into the idea, but I do regret not going. I think, yeah, going with a team and just having that experience would have really, really helped me in my next Worlds.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which you went to last year, I believe, in Italy. I mean, any opportunity I can imagine to say that you're representing your country is just an absolute honour. It was amazing. Yeah, what was that experience like, and how did you go?
ELLA EASTON: So I did OK in LEAD. I came 46 out of I'm not sure how many people. It was very, very close. Yeah, the scores were quite close. Wasn't great. I came, I think, oh, sorry, I've got it written down because I always forget. 30th in speed, not sure out of how many. I came 20th overall. And then Boulder, I did really, really badly. I got so nervous, I threw up all my food the morning before, which was terrible. And I just did, yeah, I did quite shockingly at Boulder. I think I came like 60th or something, very near the bottom. But I was, yeah, I was quite proud of 20th overall. That was my best result. It wasn't a great comp, though, for me. It's just so, so intimidating. I wasn't ready for it at all. The leap was, yeah, absolutely huge.
BEN WATERWORTH: But yeah, it was really, really fun. But it must be a unique experience to come from Australia, where you said it's still very new and fresh to, I guess, at the World Championships, I'm assuring. It's the leading facilities in the world. But I guess it's that experience. Does that help you then moving forward so that when you come back to Australia and you prep yourself for the next competition, that you've got that in the back of your mind now that you can push forward to the next level?
ELLA EASTON: Yeah. Well, for me, World was a real wake-up call. Yeah, so I didn't do it incredibly. I did it right. But after Boulder, it was such a big, it was an amazing experience, but it made it really, really messed with my head. I felt like I'd failed Australia. I think a lot of athletes kind of find that. You find, I don't know, because it's just so different. It was very, very shocking to me, very jarring. So for me, it really, it made me look into my headspace and kind of question how to become stronger and how to not get those setbacks. Because I couldn't, I didn't really train for the next, like a month after that, which is pretty crazy for me. So for me, it was a really good wake up call. I think it was a really important experience.
BEN WATERWORTH: So how do you overcome that? How do you kind of retrain the mental side of you competing?
ELLA EASTON: Well, I think it's important to acknowledge that sports psychologists can help with that. So for me, I didn't, I don't know, my friends, like they were really supportive, but it wasn't like enough kind of like, I don't know, it's quite like, I just assumed I was overreacting. Like, yeah, it's very, it's weird to kind of, you don't even realise what your expectations are of yourself. And they can, your expectations can push you, push you to be really, really good, but they can also, if you fail them, yeah, they can be really, really damaging. So I actually ended up seeing a sports psychologist, Jocelyn Penner, Sydney Sports Medicine Centre. I wrote it down because she's amazing. I had, I think, like two or three sessions with her, and it genuinely helped so much. Just like, yeah, kind of, I think it's really, really, the mental side of sports aren't really talked about enough. Like, it is so much pressure. And yeah, it's really, really important to just train your mental health as well and find coping mechanisms to deal with failure or stress and stuff like that.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is a lot of that too, now that the sport is an Olympic sport, is there kind of a lot of people now realising that this is a new goal to kind of reach that next level? Do you feel that adds that extra element of pressure, trying to aim to get to the peak sporting competition on the planet?
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, for me, yeah, for me, it definitely adds pressure. I mean, obviously, I would love to get into the Olympics, but I do know that there is a lot of really, really strong competitors out there. So yeah, it's very, I don't know, just the kind of uncertainty of how everyone will go, especially after isolation and not being able to hit gyms and stuff like that. I think, yeah, the uncertainty adds a whole new level of pressure. The format is just like, I don't like doing the format. I think it's a cool format to watch, but I personally find it really, really tiring. And it's a new format for me. So that adds a whole new level of pressure. So I think everyone will be feeling the uncertainty of it.
BEN WATERWORTH: So what is the format for the Olympics? And how does that differ to what you're used to?
ELLA EASTON: So usually you do each discipline separately. So when I went to Worlds, it was each on a different day. Or I had actually days of rest in between, which was super nice. Combined puts it all into one day, which is really... Well, yeah, it is very, very tiring. I've done a practice combined comp. Essentially, you have a bouldering round first. Then you have... Oh, no, sorry, sorry, speed first. Yeah, you have the speed round first. And then you have long rest in between. Then you have the boulder round, huge rest in between lead round. The whole qualifiers are 20 athletes for both women and men. And then the top six of those athletes... Oh, the scores get multiplied together. The people with the lowest scores, the top six athletes, go into the finals, where again, it's speed, boulder, and lead. Yeah, which is... it's so tiring. It is really... it just... yeah, you feel completely drained after a day of doing it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there a reason why they do that? I mean, is this a first? I mean, are there other competitions where they do this, or the Olympics just decided to do this for a different take?
ELLA EASTON: Well, they've done a few kind of competitions preparing for the Olympics. Yeah, I think the World Championships, and they've done a few in like... each country has kind of had qualifiers in that... except for Australia, ours has been postponed. Each country has had their qualifiers for that as well in that format. But yeah, it's very, very new. It's... I think it's to get it all done in one... in like two days, because otherwise it stretches out and it becomes, yeah, probably a bit tedious for the audience, but it's very new, like climbers are not used to it at all. So it'd be very interesting to see how it goes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because that essentially then, so what, you just have a gold for men and women, I'm assuming you're not going to have three gold, three, you know, for three different events, if that means then.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, I don't know how the medals are going to work. I think I've just been focusing on, yeah, on the combined format. But yeah, I think that's right. I don't think it's awarded separately.
BEN WATERWORTH: So in the long run, you sort of mentioned you don't like the format, but how does that put you in terms of potential qualification? Because, I mean, you said you qualified for all three events at the Junior Worlds, but does that then put you in an advantage against your other competitors you're fighting against for a spot in the Olympics?
ELLA EASTON: I think for me, it does. I think one of my main strengths as a climber is my versatility. I think I'm reasonably good at all three disciplines. I think it's harder for climbers who have just focused on lead and boulder for ages and now have to adjust to speed. But I kind of came in, because I'm a recent climber, I've kind of trained all three for quite a while now. So yeah, I think it does put me at an advantage, which is really good, because I'll need it. The combined is very, very hard, and my competitors are really, really good as well. So yeah, it's a good advantage to have.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, I believe Australia only has one spot for qualifying for Tokyo. Is that correct?
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, we do have only one, because the other spots are determined by international events, and we didn't get any athletes placed in those, because Australia is quite new, and also it's a very intense competition. But yeah, so we only have one male spot and one female spot, which will be very, very hotly contested for.
BEN WATERWORTH: But anything could happen. Exactly. So how now with obviously the COVID situation kind of things being postponed, so is there now just you just have one event later in the year basically to determine, if you win that event, you're going to Tokyo essentially?
ELLA EASTON: Yeah. It is on the 19th to the 20th of December, right at the end of the year. It's essentially what would have been on the 28th of... I can't even remember when the last one was meant to be.
BEN WATERWORTH: Who knows what day it is, Ella? I can't remember what month are we in.
ELLA EASTON: 28th of something. Yeah, so that's the new date. Yeah. Sorry, what was the question?
BEN WATERWORTH: So yeah, when was the tournament kind of and sort of how does it work? So, I mean, how many, do you know how many, I guess, competitors you're up against when it comes to the female category?
ELLA EASTON: It should be 20, but I think it might just be, yeah, I think it might just be, oh yeah, yeah, sorry, it's 10 from Australia, 10 from New Zealand, so it is 20. I was confused because there's only 10. I forget that, yeah, so it is 20 and then it'll progress to final six. Yeah, I have confidence I can get into at least the final six. And then once, yeah, once you're in the final six, like anything can happen. So, yeah, who knows?
BEN WATERWORTH: So with the fact that New Zealanders are also involved in this, do they get a spot or are they fighting for our spot as well? Like, is there only one spot for Australia or New Zealand?
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, they're fighting for our spot.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, bugger the Kiwis. Don't invite them. Just make the plane stay over there.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, it's a bit sad, but yeah, we'll hold our own, I reckon, but they're very strong as well. So that could, yeah, that brings it. And I don't really know them at all. So honestly, I kind of have no idea what I'm up against in terms of New Zealand, but I'm excited to meet them.
BEN WATERWORTH: How, I mean, you mentioned this before about kind of the lockdown situation, you know, preventing training and things like that. How do you stay in some form of fitness or training in that situation? Is it a case of using that sort of the finger training you were talking about before? Are there other things that a sport climber can do when you're kind of confined to four walls of your house, essentially?
ELLA EASTON: Well, it was hard. So I know a lot of climbers built home walls. I didn't just because it's expensive. But yeah, and the other time, and we weren't sure how long lockdown would go for. So I didn't want to build a wall and then have it. Yeah, lockdown opens suddenly. So I ended up focusing on my fitness. I treated it kind of as an extreme off season. But yeah, so I have a coach, Alex Mookins, yeah, first sent personal training. And he gave us like, yeah, he gave us, we'd have every two days, we'd get a program. It would be split up into four sections. We'd do prehab to keep all our muscles like conditioned against injury, which is super important for climbing, just because the movements are insane sometimes. We'd have plyometrics, I think they're called, which was stuff helping with speed climbing especially. So like skipping, single leg jumps, stuff like that. That really helps dynamic movement. We had, yeah, an endurance session or a finger strength session on the hangboard. And then we'd have either a strength or power session. And I'd add in some ab workouts and a lot of running as well, just to really, really keep my fitness quite strong. So I actually didn't, it was quite effective. I haven't really felt the difference coming back to climbing, which is super cool.
BEN WATERWORTH: And what is your general routine like during the week? I mean, are you training daily? Is it kind of, do you have to limit it to a certain amount of times so you don't burn yourself out? Kind of what's a general week like training?
ELLA EASTON: Well, especially for climbing, you can't, my skin, like the skin on my hands is unfortunately not great. So I can't climb that many days in a row. I tend to climb four or five times a week for a couple of hours a session. It really depends. I do two climbing sessions on Tuesday. The rest of the week, I'll do one climbing session. And then a lot of it for me is, I go to the gym once or twice a week because my power is personally quite good. So I tend to focus on my flexibility, my core strength, and my finger strength more than that. And then I've also been running as well. But you have to take... I have one or two complete rest days where I only stretch because it's really hard. You've got to be really careful not to burn yourself out.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is there a certain type of diet that sports climbers... Are there certain types of foods and drinks that you have to focus on to maintain your weight? I mean, kind of like, what's the diet like for a sports climber?
ELLA EASTON: For me, I have a very, very loose diet, just because I don't... I think calorie counting sounds risky. Until I know, like, completely what to do, I don't want to take any risks while I'm growing. I think, yeah, it's important to kind of have healthy ideas. I don't want to start calorie counting and get obsessed with my weight or something. I have done a little bit of that before. But, yeah, so I avoid sugary foods usually, unless it's a birthday, that's my rule. Because I think, yeah, it's fair enough. I have less self-restraint than a lot of climbers. Yeah, so I have, yeah, weight picks pretty much every morning, because for me, I know they work as my fuel. And then, yeah, on rest days, I tend to have more protein to rebuild my muscles. But honestly, it's quite, I can feel when my body kind of feels healthy. I can feel when, yeah, if what food I'm eating is kind of benefiting me. But yeah, I don't really have a diet. I know a lot of other climbers do, though.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's not like a carb loading. You're not like Michael Phelpsing it, where you're eating like three pizzas before you swim, right?
ELLA EASTON: For me, it's much looser. I tend to just go by feel. If I feel like, I don't know, if I feel like my body is really, really full of energy and yeah, stuff like that, then yeah, I feel ready to go climb. I know a lot of climbers do calorie count though, but I'm just not prepared to risk it quite yet.
BEN WATERWORTH: When the sport was announced at being at the Olympics, had you already started or were you kind of after it had been announced at the Olympics?
ELLA EASTON: I started, yeah, so it was announced at the Olympics, I think it was only like one or two years ago or something like that. So I'd been climbing for a little bit. But yeah, so I think when it was announced, I was well into training by then, I think. Yeah, most climbers were. I think to have a chance, it was announced quite recently before the selection event. So it's been a rush to really kind of get our body in shape, which is, yeah, it's just a...
BEN WATERWORTH: What's that feeling like when you kind of hear, because I mean, this is a unique perspective I'd love to hear, because everyone we've had on the show are in sports that have long established Olympic sports, so they know that that is kind of the peak, you know, competition for their respective sport. But you're in a sport, you're all of a sudden finding out that this is now an Olympic sport. I mean, as an athlete, now knowing that your sport that you're good at, you can now go to the Olympics. I mean, how does that make you feel as an athlete, knowing that?
ELLA EASTON: Honestly, I'm kind of trying to keep, like, quite neutral about it. Like, it is, because it's just so weird. Like, I've never really had any Olympic aspirations, just because I thought it would never happen. I thought it would never really... Yeah, it was never in the Olympics until very recently. So, yeah, it's crazy, because, yeah, the Olympics is the peak of human, like, physical strength, of skill. Yeah, I'm really inspired by Olympians, so to think that I could be one of them is, like, crazy. And I've met a few Olympians, and they're all just so inspiring and so hardworking. So, yeah, I think, if not this Olympics, I'll definitely try and get into the next one. Well, yeah, I definitely, and I think I have a chance. I think, yeah, the fact that there'll be more than one Olympics is crazy as well, but I have, like, multiple chances of it, which is, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I think, I mean, I know exactly what you mean about the Olympians. I mean, I've long had an ambition to go in the Olympic cellar, but unless I'm out podcasting an Olympic sport, I think I'm probably not quite going to be there anytime soon. But it's, and like having it postponed as well, because, you know, you go into that mindset, as you said, it was kind of announced late, you sort of, things are going fast, you know, now pushing towards that date, we think it's going to be a qualification. It's then cancelled. I mean, back to that mental ability you were talking about before, how does that affect you then when you kind of, you're in such a mindset of pushing towards this goal, and then now you've got to wait another 12 months?
ELLA EASTON: I was very annoyed because it's in my HSE now. So I'm very, I'm very, I'm actually, yeah, I'm quite annoyed about that. It's been quite hard balancing my motivations because I always thought I'd take a year off from training in my HSE. Well, not a year, but a year from competitions just to focus on that as well. So it's really, especially for me, it's, yeah, it's really weird having it postponed. I feel like, I don't know, I'm going to try and get in this amazing shape, but it is weird like training up for that event so, so much. And then it just, yeah, because I was training like very, very hard before the event. And now it just kind of, yeah, just kind of dwindled away into nothing. It was, you know, crazy.
BEN WATERWORTH: What's more important to your HSC or the Olympic Games?
ELLA EASTON: Well, that's the thing. I've always had this idea in my head that they wouldn't, I don't know. It's so hard to balance just because, yeah, my family aren't athletes. So we've always been very, very, it's very weird being a student and also climbing, because you never really know what your motivations are, because obviously HSC is kind of, yeah, school is proclaimed as, it should be a top priority. But then, I don't know, it's, I honestly, I think if I'm qualified for the Olympics, HSC is gone. Like, I don't care about it anymore, because, you know, it's the Olympics. Like, of course, I'm not going to care about HSC. But for now, yeah, exactly. But HSC, like, yeah, it does matter. I don't know. It will matter to me quite a lot.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't let your parents listen to this interview, Ella. Just let them hear this interview. I mean, it's obviously, it is one of those kind of balancing acts. And I think the thing, though, with your age, like you mentioned, kind of, if you don't qualify for Tokyo, no, there's always Paris, of course, in four years' time as well. So, I mean, I guess that's one thing you've got on your side is definitely your age, that you kind of still have that ability where you do have plenty of chances, I guess, to qualify for Olympic Games.
ELLA EASTON: Honestly, I'm more hopeful for the next one than this one. I think, just, I don't know, like, obviously, I will try my absolute hardest, and I think I have the ability to make it into the Olympics this year. But I think this, I'm treating this as, yeah, I don't know. I think next year, the next one will probably be more of a chance, but honestly, anything goes. Like, it could be this year as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: We have the confidence in you, Ella. I mean, like, I won't mention the weirdly bad track record we have of getting athletes on the show, and then they really kind of go shit at the Olympics afterwards. But we're going to get you to the Olympics. That's all we care about. Right?
ELLA EASTON: We'll see. If not this one, I've always got next one.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Exactly. Are they at the Youth Olympics? Is sport climbing at the Youth Olympics?
ELLA EASTON: It was. I don't even know what the qualification was for that. I just, yeah, I think we had one athlete there. I'm not really sure. I think they just kind of picked someone, but I honestly have no idea. I wasn't really into... I was kind of less into competitions when that rolled around. But yeah, we have had a climber go to the Youth Olympics for climbing.
BEN WATERWORTH: What's it like, say, with your friends when, you know, they want to hang out or something like that, and you say, I want to go climbing instead. I mean, it's kind of not like, you know, as I said at the very beginning of the interview, it's a sport that a lot of people maybe are unaware of is a sport. What do you say to your friends? Like, hey, no, I'm just going to go climb a wall for a couple of hours.
ELLA EASTON: It really sucks. I mean, it really does suck to... Like, friends, like, do get angry at me sometimes. Like, I don't know, I always feel like I should... It's so... Like, having three priorities in life, having HSC, friends, and climbing, it's really, really tough. And I also think, especially because you don't really realise how\... Like, yeah, how important friends are for your support system. It's always hard to kind of balance that because, yeah, it is... And yeah, climbing isn't really... It's not like... I don't know. I think a lot of people don't realise that it's like an actual sport. Like, they kind of think it's like a ledger thing. That makes it even harder. Yeah, it's really... It's pretty shitty. It's not a fun situation, but...
BEN WATERWORTH: It's more of a sport than dressage. Let's just put it that way. Which, I mean...
ELLA EASTON: I mean, it's a very, very hard sport, but just because people don't really recognise it as that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, from what I... Again, the research I've kind of looked into this before the interview, Ella, it's kind of... From what I can see of it, I feel like this has the real potential to be one of these sports where people will watch it. The Olympics go, holy crap, where has this sport been in our lives? Like, it looks very interesting. And spectator-wise, I mean, at the Junior Worlds, is it a big crowd? Like, kind of, how does that work for spectators coming to watch this?
ELLA EASTON: I think the venue wasn't actually that big, but we did have a crowd, and it was... Well, I mean, I'm biased because I do the sport, but it was very, very exciting. There was this amazing Italian commentator who was just... He was great. He brought this great energy to the whole thing. Yeah, I think there's been huge crowds in other events. Like, the World Championships always draws a massive crowd. Yeah, like, the stadiums can be really big. There's music pumping. And the one in Tokyo has, like, a light show, which is just really, really crazy. Yeah, I think... So, yeah, my... I don't remember the World Championships having a huge crowd, but I think that was purely because of the venue. I think it could attract, yeah, thousands and thousands of people, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I implore anybody listening heading to Tokyo in 2021, you know, might be good value tickets. I can't imagine that these are maybe among the high demand tickets, you know, so they could be getting a bargain to see a great sport. And I'll tell you what, we've tried our hand at commentary on this show a few times. You know, I had particular fun doing the moguls in Pyeongchang, which is a fun sport to commentate. I want to watch you at the Olympics, and I want to commentate because if it's five seconds, I'm barely going to be able to say, and here's Ella Easton. Oh, she's done. Sweet. There you go.
ELLA EASTON: Climbing is hard to commentate on. You kind of have to leave all the commenting for after. But for bouldering and lead, there's a lot of stuff you can look at, and there's a lot of... Yeah, I think it's a pretty exciting sport. And I think people should definitely go see it. It's so cool, and the light show will be... It'll be good.
BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine it's going to be a very unique Olympics, I think, kind of, with everything that will go ahead. Ella, we have a little segment on this show, which we're going to bring back. It's been actually a few interviews since we've done it. Based on a questionnaire that was on the Canadian Olympic website in the lead up to Rio, where they sort of got athletes and kind of asked them a variety of different questions. And I'm going to go through some of these questions now, just as I get to know you. So everyone listening can get to know a future Australian Olympic gold medallist on the show right now. So, you know, just putting even more pressure on you here. So are you prepared for this? I mean, I literally told you this before I hit record, but I'm sure you've done your homework on random questions to answer these.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, I'm so ready. I'm so ready.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good. All right. I'm glad that's the correct answer. One point straight away. So first question. Who to you is the greatest ever Olympian of all time?
ELLA EASTON: Well, I really like Olivia Vivian. She's my personal favourite. Australian Ninja Warrior, absolute legend. Yeah, she's very cool. So I'll say her. I'll say Olivia Vivian, a gymnast. She's crazy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great answer. I don't think we've ever had that one before. So yeah, follow her on Instagram. I like these plugs you're going...
ELLA EASTON: Well, she's my personal favourite. I think, yeah, she's pretty great. She's pretty great.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, there was one of your fellow sports climbers. He was on Ninja Warrior, was he not?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, a bunch of climbers are pretty good at Ninja Warrior. I'm probably going to try. I'll try Ninja Warrior myself.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay. Well, you know, Olympic gold and Ninja Warrior, you know? Bugger the HSC. You'll do both of them instead. The first Olympics you remember watching, do you remember what Olympics you remember first watching?
ELLA EASTON: Rio. That's the one I... Yeah. I haven't... I don't... I was quite young when the other ones came out. So maybe I did watch them, but I honestly don't remember watching them. I do remember the first thing I watched, though. I watched the ribbon gymnastics.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep.
ELLA EASTON: And I was very impressed. It was very good.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic. You're making me feel a lot older. Your first Olympics you remember watching is Rio. Holy crap.
ELLA EASTON: Because I was like... I would have been like 12 when that came out. And then, yeah, the one before would have been eight. So that's pretty young.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. OK, I won't mention Barcelona as my first. Um, if you could be...
ELLA EASTON: I don't even know when that was.
BEN WATERWORTH: 92. 1992.
ELLA EASTON: Yes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes. Um, now I think I know the answer to this one. If you could be any superhero, who would you be? Spider-Man.
ELLA EASTON: Come on. That's too easy.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're already Spider-Man, let's be honest. Aw, thank you. Have you ever been tempted to compete in a Spider-Man costume?
ELLA EASTON: No, I haven't. I have not. But next time, there's a... a generic costume, though. I might want to go for something more, like, more out there. But I'm tempted now.
BEN WATERWORTH: But you could get on to the AOC, right? And when they're designing the team uniforms, like, full on, like, get the Spider-Man green and gold.
ELLA EASTON: I could go for a green and gold Spider-Man. I think that'd be sick.
BEN WATERWORTH: You would like, it sells itself. How is this not something that somebody has done before? Like, it sells itself.
ELLA EASTON: Definitely. And the speed climbing, I feel like it'd be very, very aerodynamic if you had, like, a skin tight Spider-Man green and gold.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Look, speed skaters do it in the winter games. Like, you know, it helps them. Cathy Freeman wore it when she won Golden Sydney. So, like, you know, like...
ELLA EASTON: Let's bring on the Spider-Man costume, I'd say.
BEN WATERWORTH: Bring it. All right. More people would watch. There you go. I'm telling you now. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
ELLA EASTON: I personally like... Oh, I'm going to go with mango. Oh, actually, I've got one. It's from Messina. Salted coconut and mango. Never had a better... Oh, it's so good. It's incredible.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fancy taste. I like... That's got Olympian written all over it. There you go. There's a couple of these ones that work. They've gotten an athlete to do a drawing here. We don't have that amount of time. If you were a baseball player, what would your War Cup music be?
ELLA EASTON: Lemon by Nerd. I love that song. It's pretty great. You know this song from Beckham? The one that goes... I think Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield. That's a classic. Actually, that'd be it. That'd be it. That's a good one.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm seeing this again. Maybe you do. I don't know. They need to have kind of walk up music as you go to the wall, like representing Australia.
ELLA EASTON: That would be so cool. Sometimes when I'm walking out, I kind of sing it in my head. Imagine everyone's looking at me as I stride out onto the... That would be so great. Honestly, I was thinking of getting into wrestling purely because they have walk up music. That would be so sick.
BEN WATERWORTH: They do it with swimming now. They come out with these Jedi robes with the video screens behind them. It's very pop, sorry. Is there sledging? Are you competing in speed? Are you actually directly competing with somebody next to you, and do you sort of look over and go, hey, guess what? I'm going to kick your ass. You suck.
ELLA EASTON: Climbing is actually a very, very nice sport. There's no... I've never heard anyone say a bad word about someone to their face in climbing.
BEN WATERWORTH: To their face.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, well, I think I've heard... There's always some kind of... Yeah, it's always a little bit of drama. But no, it's a very... I don't know why, but it's a very, very nice sport. The community is super, super supportive. I don't know, especially compared to, I don't know, soccer, which I've also played, there's just... I don't know, there's not really anything.
BEN WATERWORTH: The New Zealanders, watch out for those New Zealanders. That's right. Learn some sheep jokes.
ELLA EASTON: But yeah, I don't know, there's not really much.
BEN WATERWORTH: Look, I lived in New Zealand for 18 months, just call them Australians, they get pissed off. Yeah, that's how it works. What is the best nickname that you've ever been called? Kevin Bacon. That is a perfect nickname.
ELLA EASTON: I don't know why. Someone said I look like Kevin Bacon.
BEN WATERWORTH: If someone calls you Kevin Bacon, you win at life.
ELLA EASTON: It was great. Yeah, that's the best nickname.
BEN WATERWORTH: Own it. This isn't a question, but what's your favourite Kevin Bacon movie? This is a bonus question.
ELLA EASTON: Oh, well, you know the sad thing? I've actually never seen a Kevin Bacon movie. I know he was in Footless, and I'm sure I would love Footless.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ella, Ella, Ella. He is, he is. Watch the air up there. It's a basketball movie. It's great. It's fantastic.
ELLA EASTON: I will.
BEN WATERWORTH: Please, actually, I want you to answer Kevin Bacon with this one now. In a movie about your life, who would play you? The guy doesn't age.
ELLA EASTON: I think he can do me justice, to be honest. Absolutely.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, absolutely. Now, this one kind of is an interesting one for you. Obviously, you're still very young. You're still in high school. So, I mean, this kind of can relate almost to a question of what will you be when you grow up, I guess, outside of being an athlete. But the question here is, if you weren't an athlete, then what would you be?
ELLA EASTON: I don't know. I'm not going to lie. I've got no idea. I'm kind of an English nerd, but I'm not really sure. I'd probably do something writing based. I've had so many career paths in mind. I wanted to join the army at one point. I wanted to be a search and rescue person. But honestly, oh, actually, journalist. But journalism is sort of dying. So, yeah. Like a National Geographic journalist. Go to Venezuela and write articles on trees or something. That would be my dream job.
BEN WATERWORTH: As an actual journalist, I can tell you it has its pros and cons.
ELLA EASTON: It's hard now, right? It must be pretty tough.
BEN WATERWORTH: You have to adapt. It's kind of, you know, I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm with you. National Geographic journalists would be absolutely fantastic. But the beauty is that as well as many people think it's dying, it's also flourishing in many ways, too, because there is as much as newspapers and magazines aren't what they used to be. The internet has got so many a myriad of opportunities.
ELLA EASTON: That's true. I don't know. I've always wanted to kind of I've always sort of wanted to be a journalist, but we'll see. Being an athlete is pretty epic.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'll tell you what. You can have my career. I'll have yours. I'll go to the Olympics. You write stories. Glad to swap. I'd rather that gold medal. What is your guilty pleasure snack?
ELLA EASTON: Frozen berries. Easy question. I'm such a big fan of frozen berries. I know all my favourite brands. I used to eat about a pack of a day, which is a bit bad. So yeah, I love them. I truly love them.
BEN WATERWORTH: So why frozen berries? Why not just regular berries? What is it special about the frozen ones?
ELLA EASTON: First of all, they're cheaper, which is always good. So I don't feel guilty about having an absurd amount. Yeah, I don't know. There's something... I'm a bit of a trendsetter. A lot of people in my friend group like frozen berries now. They're pretty good. It's almost like having ice cream without the guilt. Well, it should be a guilty pleasure, but the guilt is kind of washed away by the fact that it's a fruit. It feels like you're having...
BEN WATERWORTH: I've never really heard someone explain fruit as guilty, but hey.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, exactly. I think it's just the amount I have. Yeah, I have a little lot of them.
BEN WATERWORTH: Are there particular ones? Are you a strawberry, a raspberry girl? Is there have to be a particular berry or mixed berries?
ELLA EASTON: Mixed berries are good. I think strawberries have always been my favourite, but mixed berries, they're the classic. They're what you really want. Frozen mango is good too, though.
BEN WATERWORTH: You like your mangoes. I'm discovering this. You'd be way too young to remember this, but there was many years ago when we had the awesome, foursome, rowing team that won a bunch of gold medals. They were spokespeople for, I think they were Golden Valley Fruit, and they used to do an ad where they used to have all four of them would be singing this peaches, mango, peaches song. So there you go, future ambitions as an Olympic gold medallist, get yourself a gig with Golden Valley.
ELLA EASTON: I've always wanted to be sponsored by either Wheat Bix or like a frozen berry company. That would be my absolute dream. Like genuinely, I'd be so happy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't they do those berry Wheat Bix anymore? Do they still do those ones?
ELLA EASTON: Well, I'm more of a, I'm a fan of the pure Wheat Bix. So I want to be a pure, because they're just like, I don't know, they just, I love them. They're so good.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's been a while since they've had those, I remember they used to have like Brett Lee and Tim Cahill on those ads with like, how many do you do? And kind of, you know, smashing Wheat Bix. Listening Sanitarium, get her on board. What is your favourite song lyric?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, that's very hard. I feel like I'm going to have to come back to that one. I really can't think of them. Because I'm like, I'm more of like a tune person. Like, I barely listen to the words half the time. I feel like all of my favourites will probably be explicit. So, as a teenager, you know, I like to listen to a bit of, yeah. They're probably a bit explicit.
BEN WATERWORTH: I mean, like, by all means, again, your parents aren't listening to it, so you can drop us a, you know, a Kanye West verse or something. I don't know.
ELLA EASTON: I was, yeah. I'll come back to it. I'll think of something, maybe.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going to hold you to it. I will hold you to it. What is the most recent TV show that you binge watched?
ELLA EASTON: Um, Fleabag. Fleabag season two. I didn't watch season one, but I watched the entirety of Fleabag in one night. So that was my, yeah, very good show.
BEN WATERWORTH: Going to go back and watch season one now that you've watched season two?
ELLA EASTON: Nah, I'll leave it at season. Season two was so good. I don't want to ruin it with season one. It was great, though. Good show. British comedy is really, really good. I feel like they just have like kind of dry like wit that's just, yeah, Killing Eve is good, too. I'm a fan of that, but yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great. What is your favourite place in the world to compete in?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, well, it'd have to be Arco. I mean, the stadium, it had a huge climbing wall, and there was like a massive hill with a castle in the background. So like, easy. Yeah, that was an easy question. It was amazing. Really, really cool. And Italy is beautiful. So definitely Italy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you just chow down on pasta? I mean, I know that's probably a kind of obvious question, but I can't imagine going to Italy and not eating pasta.
ELLA EASTON: And yeah, pizza, pasta and gelato. Yeah, they were great.
BEN WATERWORTH: Berry gelato or mango gelato?
ELLA EASTON: Oh, berry, of course berry gelato.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right, yeah, absolutely. What is your favourite video game?
ELLA EASTON: I... This is going to sound really lame, but I can't do video games. I'm really bad at them. My mum actually lapped me in Mario Kart, and after that humiliating defeat, I was out of there, could not handle it. I got lost. I got lost in the court. I don't know how I got lost in Mario Kart, but I just could not find my way. So honestly, I'm going to have to say Tetris. I don't even know if that counts. I'm just going to go with Tetris.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think when you can say that you've been lapped by your mum in Mario Kart, you are probably not good at video games. Unless your mum is like the world champion in Mario Kart, I'll take that from your mum.
ELLA EASTON: It was her first time playing.
BEN WATERWORTH: That wasn't great. Stick to the sport climbing, Ella. Stick to the sport climbing. E-games probably not in your future. What is your biggest fear in life? That's a very deep question you're asking.
ELLA EASTON: I don't like spiders, but I feel like I can get over that, which is a bit ironic because Spider-Man is my favourite superhero, but we'll ignore that. I think for a lot of athletes, it's failure, just like kind of failure to achieve the expectations that you're putting on yourself for all aspects of life, really. So I go with failure. I think that's a pretty universal, especially an athlete fear.
BEN WATERWORTH: The one I'm reading off here, this is a Canadian wrestler by the name of Danielle Lepage. Her answer for that is failure as well.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, well, I think because it is scary. I don't know, you work so hard for one event, and then it's kind of thrown out if you fail. So yeah, definitely failure.
BEN WATERWORTH: And this is one thing that I mean, I love talking to athletes and particular Olympic athletes is that, I mean, the unique, the great, the bad thing about the Olympics is it's a four year cycle. So it's kind of you put so much effort into one event that's four years, and it's kind of I can imagine that kind of weighs into the mind a little bit as well.
ELLA EASTON: 100% Yeah, just keeping up the motivation. I tend to kind of there's so many different aspects of climbing you can like you can do competitions, but you can also focus on outdoor climbing and you still remain quite strong if you do outdoor climbing. So for me, yeah, I kind of tend to switch between the two. I want to be a good athlete in both both. Yeah, indoor and outdoor. So yeah, for me, I think for climbing, it's less difficult than maybe for like, I don't know any other sport. But yeah, it's still hard.
BEN WATERWORTH: Final question. What is the one thing that you can't live without?
ELLA EASTON: Um, I go with frozen berries.
BEN WATERWORTH: So basically, the perfect night for you is eating a bowl of frozen berries on wheat beaks while watching Kevin Bacon movies, essentially.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, of course. Well, I don't know if they're any good yet. I have never seen a Kevin Bacon movie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ella, it's Kevin Bacon. Come on, the guy could read you the dictionary and it's entertaining.
ELLA EASTON: Yeah, he's, he's, um, he sounds like a legend. I'll get on to it.
BEN WATERWORTH: He's beyond a legend, he's Kevin Bacon. Like, you know, there are certain people in the world that you just say their name and you automatically, your heart beats faster, you get excited. I'm telling you, like, when you're about to enter that course in December, right, you, like, sure, get that warm up music, get it going, pump out a few bars of Footloose and just look at a picture of Kevin Bacon. Literally, just look at it. Get a print a picture of him.
ELLA EASTON: Instant win, instant kill, just instant gold medal.
BEN WATERWORTH: Simple, exactly. Exactly. To prove that I'm right, fire up Mario Kart after this interview, look at a picture of Kevin Bacon, you will lap your mum.
ELLA EASTON: I'm going to have to decline that offer. Never again, never again will I hear the music of Mario Kart.
BEN WATERWORTH: Ella, it's been a treat to chat with you. Before I let you go, did you think of any song lyrics so I quickly put you on the spot again?
ELLA EASTON: I failed in that one.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's all good. Mario Kart and song lyrics, not your forte. It has been an absolute pleasure to chat with you and to learn about this sport. We're so excited to be able to see this sport and witness it for the very first time. Best of luck for you between now and the Olympics and December. I look forward to getting you back on this show. Let's say between December and the Olympics next year, we can talk to you about qualifying. And then we'll get you back on as that Olympic gold medallist. You can show off a nice bright gold medal from Tokyo 2021, and we can celebrate that on the show.
ELLA EASTON: Sounds good to me. Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been really fun.
BEN WATERWORTH: A fantastic chat there with Ella, definitely learning a lot there. And I said it in the interview, and I'll say it again, I'm excited for this sport, come Tokyo 2021, Tokyo 2020. I don't know what I meant to call it. I think it's officially still Tokyo 2020, even though it's taking place in 2021, but who the hell knows? So I, for one, will be glued to my screens when the Olympics happen to watch this sport, and fingers crossed that Ella will be there competing for Australia. Now, if you're enjoying our interviews, of course, we've got plenty more to come. Our John Montgomery interview, that is for a couple of weeks old now, really, but it's still available to be downloaded, of course. Our Aaron Brown interview, Canadian bronze medallist. His interview, of course, published last week. And one of Aaron's teammates, Brendan Rodney, will be joining us next week. Now, Brendan was part of that 4x100m team at Rio that did win the bronze medal, of course. And Brendan chats a lot in length about that whole experience, kind of his experiences, how he got into the sport, and just everything else in between as well, how the COVID shutdown has affected his training, whether or not that is impacting him, and his form heading into the Olympic Games. And it's a fun, great chat with Brendan. And for the very first time on this podcast, you will be hearing me interviewing a Canadian. Collins, as a Canadian, has interviewed Australians before. I haven't really interviewed Canadians before, so hey, there's a first forever thing, and you will hear that next week on the show. Remember to like us on Facebook, we're on Twitter now. Give us a follow on there. Stay up to date with, of course, everything that we post. And subscribe to the channel. We're on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts. We're all in those good places where podcasts are available. Thanks again to Ella. Thanks, everyone, for listening in. This has been Off The Podium, and we'll speak to you next time. Good night.
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