Emma Lincoln-Smith Interview (Brink Vault)

Taking you back to 2011 with another 'vault' interview today as we chat with Australian Skeleton racer Emma Lincoln-Smith. From the amazing way she found herself in the sport right through to the perils and danger and excitement it brings, Emma gives on of our most entertaining vault interviews yet!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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

BEN WATERWORTH: We go back through interviews from Olympians, basically, throughout our parent shows, the Brinks history. And a big one today, being a lot of fun. 2011 was a year that we spoke to Emma Lincoln-Smith, who is an Australian skeleton racer, competed in Vancouver in 2010. And as you probably learned a lot from listening to this show, I for one am a big fan of Winter Olympics, and I love the sports that are crazy, and skeleton to me is one crazy sport. So we tracked her down, we got her on the show, we spoke to her about a career, and it's a fun-ranging chat. And interestingly enough, Emma holds a record, along with her sister Holly. They are the first siblings who have ever competed for Australia in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Holly is a water polo player, and actually won a bronze medal with the Australian Women's Water Polo Team in the 2012 Olympics. Bit of a statistic for you there. But anyway, Emma Lincoln-Smith, Australian Skeleton Racer. Here's our chat we had with her, well, the Brink had with her, from 2011.

BEN WATERWORTH: Emma Lincoln-Smith is an Australian Olympic Skeleton Racer whose career started after receiving a letter in the mail from the Australian Institute of Sport. A former track and field competitor and keen surfer, Emma soon went on to become one of Australia's leading Skeleton Racers, finishing fifth in the 2009 World Championships and tenth in last year's Vancouver Winter Games. Two weeks ago, Emma finished twelfth in the 2011 World Championships, and I spoke to her about this, as well as her career in one of the fastest sports on the planet. Emma, thank you very much for your time here on The Brink and on Edge Radio.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Good to have you. Good to have me here.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, Emma, your skeleton career began after receiving a letter in the mail from the Australian Institute of Sport. Now, do you want to tell our listeners a little bit about what happened there?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Well, basically, I was sort of just in a bit of a crossroads in my track and field career. I was sort of stuck and not really getting better. And just at the right time, I got this letter in the mail, and it said basically in a nutshell that the Australian Institute of Sport is putting a program together to try and find skeleton athletes. And as I was reading the letter, I just sort of became more and more fascinated by the sport, and it just sounded like an opportunity that I could not miss. And fortunately, I took it and made the cut and have sort of not looked back ever since.

BEN WATERWORTH: Did you know much about the sport before you went into it?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: No, I didn't really know anything. So basically, everyone was pretty much in the same boat. We all were just blind, really. We had no idea what we were doing. And we all sort of made very big learning adjustments along the way and a lot of crashes and banged up people. But we got there eventually. So it's all good.

BEN WATERWORTH: What did the training program actually involve? I mean, it sort of sounds like something you can't just get into lightly, strapping yourself and going forwards on a sled at that amount of speed.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Well, it's really difficult to train because we don't have a track here in Australia. So basically, we only get to slide for five months of the year. And during that time, it's very intense. We just take as many runs as possible. And while we're here in Australia, we just try and get fast, basically fast and strong. So on the track and in the gym and do a lot of visualisation, just sort of to remember the tracks because every track is different. And you have to know the curve basically off by heart. Otherwise, you get completely lost in the track. And that's when I think things will get dangerous. So, yeah, there's not a whole lot you can do, unfortunately.

BEN WATERWORTH: Is that frustrating? I mean, given you're saying before coming from, say, a track and field background, you can obviously just go out to a running track and do laps, given that you can't really go out to a track, as you said, we don't have one in Australia. I mean, that must get extremely frustrating.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It is. And it just means that you don't get to do it for so long. And I love it. And I miss it a lot while I'm back in Australia. And then while you're away, it's the same thing. You kind of sometimes just need a bit of a break from it and you can't have it. So it's a real all-or-nothing sport. You're either doing it and you're doing it 100% or you're not doing it at all.

BEN WATERWORTH: And obviously, there's a little bit more to the sport than just laying down forwards and going down a track. The start is obviously the key factor to it. But besides obviously training to get as fast a start as possible, what other training regiments do you need to take part in?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: You need to do a lot of neck strength work, because during the curves, you experience a lot of g-force. And that, in fact, presses your neck or your head on the ice, so you can't actually see in some spots. But if you have a strong neck, you can try and fight against that pressure, and you can see your way through the curve, rather than just, you know, not being able to see at all. Other things is just a lot of core work, because you have to be strong in your core to be able to control the third down the track, and a lot of flexibility, because sometimes you do find yourself in a position where, you know, it's not really good for the body, and legs are thrown and arms are thrown everywhere. So if you're flexible and you can adapt to that, then it means injuries are not as prominent.

BEN WATERWORTH: The adrenaline factor, though, at the end of it, must be absolutely outstanding. The speeds that you guys collect going down that track, it just must be an insane feeling.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It is. It's sort of a feeling I can't describe what it's like, because there's nothing else like it in the world. It just feels like you're flying, and it is an amazing feeling. Yeah, I miss it a lot when I don't get to do it, but, you know, yeah, it's the way it is.

BEN WATERWORTH: So just over 12 months ago, till you were competing in Vancouver at the Olympics, now was this always your goal to try and make an Olympic Games?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It was. Ever since I was a little girl, it was to be an Olympian. I didn't expect it to be in a sport like Skeleton. I was looking more at track and field, but yeah, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to do it, and to compete at the Olympics, it really was a dream come true. It exceeded my expectations, and it was just a rush. It was so amazing, and to be on a track like Vancouver, where it is so exciting to watch, and to have my family and friends there was pretty awesome.

BEN WATERWORTH: But as you were saying, obviously, the fact that you're in the Olympics, it doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter to anyone really what sport, whether it's Skeleton, track or field. I mean, to be honest with you, Emma, I would be happy if I was a friggin curler. And nothing to say against the sport of curling, of course. But I mean, you know, just to wear that green and gold, walk out there and represent your country in the Olympics, it would just be unreal.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It really is. It's amazing. You can't, to be part of something that big, it's awesome.

BEN WATERWORTH: And to finish in 10th place too in your first Olympic Games, I mean, that too must have been a result in itself.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Yeah, I mean, I was disappointed, to be honest, in the result. I would have, I mean, you don't go into an Olympics sort of with anything on your mind but to win a medal. And if you don't have that, then I don't think, you know, I'm not sure why you'd really go. But for me, that was the goal. And, you know, I was really close after the first day of competition. I was only three tenths off a medal in sixth place and just slipped back a bit. But I think experience had a lot to do with that. And hopefully, you know, in Sochi, with more experience, I'll be able to pick one up.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, sport definitely has come a long way, then, in Australia. I mean, from getting a letter in a letterbox to get people into a program to sort of going in that way. And your best result is a fifth place at the 2009 World Championships. So do you think it's only just sort of around the corner, quite literally, I suppose, in sport of skeleton, that you're away from a medal?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: I mean, yeah, it's very, very close. And I can feel that. And that's one of the frustrating things is that I am so close. And I just need to keep my cool because, you know, I don't want to, you know, force it. And it'll come eventually. I just have to be patient and know that it will come and trust in my skills that they will improve. And the team around me will, you know, work the hardest to get me there, as I know they are. And yes, it'll come. I just got to be patient, which is hard. I'm not the most patient person in the world, especially in the sport like skeleton where everything's so fast, you know. I just want to have it bad now. Done. It'll come.

BEN WATERWORTH: You win a gold medal in Sochi, with all the endorsement deals, and I'm sure we'll be flying at your doorstep, you can build the first ever skeleton track in your backyard.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: I will. And I'm sure many people will be using it. I mean, that's the thing. Like, if we could do something like that, and people would just fall in love with it. So, it is expensive. That's the only problem.

BEN WATERWORTH: I can understand that. But you look at the fact that it would obviously draw in the tourists who want to have a go. But I mean, you didn't have the bobsledders, the lugers. They'd be all lining up to have a crack at it. And then we could, you know, ten years' time. People look at Australia. We're the dominant force in those sort of sports.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Yeah, exactly. You've got to start somewhere, and start small and build your way up. Even if New Zealand could build a track, it would be quite helpful.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you never know. They try to beat us in everything else. They could beat us to that. Who would just have to wait to see? Never, we wouldn't let them. Is it frustrating being involved in a sport that really doesn't get that much attention? For example, you just finished in the World Championships over there in Germany just over a week ago. I saw no coverage of it whatsoever. I had to search long and hard to find any form of coverage at all. It just must get incredibly frustrating.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It is frustrating. I think it's just a winter sport thing. I think all winter sports experience the same feelings. We had three world champions in snowboarding, and I doubt there was much coverage of it back here. I mean, I'm not sure because I wasn't here, but yeah, it is. I mean, it is. People, even now, I still have to explain to most people what skeleton is. And it's unfortunate because I think if it was broadcast on TV or even just had snippets of it, people would watch it. It's a really interesting sport to watch. And yeah, it's a shame that we don't have a broader view of the sports that are going on around us, and the Australians are competing around the world.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, that's the thing with all sorts of winter sports. It just seems to be every four years when the Winter Olympics roll around, everyone's fascinated. But I mean, I personally love the Winter Olympics ten times more than some Olympics because the sports are just so unique, and they're just fantastic to watch. I mean, you have ice hockey, you have speed skating. I mean, curling in itself is a fascinating sport to watch. If you sit down and watch it, it's incredible.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It's very diverse, and there's something for everyone there. And it is a shame, because I think people would really watch it, you know, on a regular basis. And what people don't understand is that, yeah, the Olympics, Winter Olympics comes around every four years, but they're every single year competing on World Cup and World Championships. And it's, yeah, we're not just competing every four years, which I think a lot of people seem to think that we do do. So, yeah, it's a shame.

BEN WATERWORTH: Prime time skeleton racing, I think, could become a thing, Emma. You could have it replace MasterChef, and it would take off.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: I think that's an idea in the making. I just want to crash, and then I think people would watch it more. People like that stuff.

BEN WATERWORTH: It's extreme skeleton racing.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Yeah, I could arrange that to be done.

BEN WATERWORTH: We should look into it. We could create a reality show. Anything that's a reality show seems to work. You could have, you know, instead of Australia's Next Top Model, Australia's Next Top Skeleton Racer, hosted by Emma Lincoln-Smith. And before you know it, Skeleton is the number one sport spectator wise, participation wise in the country.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It would definitely be a different type of show. I'd watch it if it was on TV.

BEN WATERWORTH: I could just see it. It would take off. It would just be amazing.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It would. It really would. Absolutely.

BEN WATERWORTH: We'll talk. We'll talk up here. We'll come up with some contracts. And then before you know it, you know, we're the millionaire brains behind it.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: All right. I like that. I like the idea.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now, with the sport such a skeleton, is it something that sort of relies, as I was saying, about the attention factor, obviously, but obviously you must rely heavily on sponsors, private companies to sort of fund your way through there, or is it sort of all based on the Australian Institute of Sport and government funding?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Yeah, we're pretty much all Olympic Winter Institute funding and AIS. So we're looked after that way, but we don't really have major sponsors. I mean, the OWI, Olympic Winter Institute, has carbon, so they supply our clothes. But besides that, we're pretty much, yeah, all government funded. So I mean, like you said, we just don't get the exposure to get that big sort of corporate sponsorship, unfortunately.

BEN WATERWORTH: Does it take a gold medal for that to happen?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Pretty much you need to win a medal or to get that sort of funding, because, yeah, I mean, without that sort of exposure, the medal exposure, we just don't get the other exposure that you need to get that sort of funding.

BEN WATERWORTH: And that obviously makes it a double-edged sword, because I suppose in a way you need funding to try and get that success, don't you?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I guess we're pretty lucky, the skeleton program, because we do get the funding, whereas there's other sports or winter sports out there that don't get any funding, and they're all self-funding their own way. So I mean, we are a bit more fortunate, but yeah, it is a hard road being a winter sport in Australia, especially when you haven't got the medals yet. Yet being the opposite word, Emma.

BEN WATERWORTH: It will come. Come, Sochi. It will come. You will have it.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It has to come.

BEN WATERWORTH: Now for all the eager little children listening to this program right now who want to get involved in the sport of skeleton, firstly, what would you suggest they do and how can they get involved in the sport?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: The first thing I would say is to not tell your mum at this stage, because mums don't like their little kids doing skeleton, that's a fact. Second is to go out there on your bodyboard and get into the waves and practise going along the waves and getting that feel for what it's doing, and just run around, get fast, and do your neck strength work.

BEN WATERWORTH: You sort of hang around track and field areas and look for fast sprinters and follow them to the beach and see how they are on a bodyboard. Does that mean that you spend lots of time at the beach, A, for practice, and B, obviously, to soak in some hot weather, since you're probably around snow most of the year?

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: It does. In fact, I'm actually in the North Narrowbeam Cup, just in my bikini. I just got out of the stress band. Yeah, I do. I think one of the reasons why I adapted to surfing, to skeleton so well, is because of my surfing, because it's the same sort of body awareness and feel that you have to have for both sports. So I can lie now and say I'm actually training.

BEN WATERWORTH: All these people at the beach who are having a relaxation time, and you can say, I'm training for the Olympics.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: I'm working hard here.

BEN WATERWORTH: Well, Emma Lincoln-Smith, thank you very much for your time here on The Rig. Much appreciated. Good luck with your skeleton career, and we look forward to seeing you. Hopefully with a gold medal. We'll make it a gold medal around your neck.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: We'll make it a gold medal. You do.

BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Good luck with the rest of your career, Emma.

EMMA LINCOLN-SMITH: Thank you very much.

BEN WATERWORTH: A lot of fun chatting to Emma and Skeleton. Again, such a great sport, and one that I will definitely be watching when it comes to Pyeongchang in 2018. More of these interviews, plenty more to come. And as always, subscribe on iTunes. You can rate us on there, leave us feedback, everything else in between. Like us on Facebook. You can do that there as well. And we always appreciate your support as the program continues to move forward, get a little bit closer to the next Olympics in 2018. But there's still lots to talk about in between now and then. Off The Podium, we're done and dusted for another episode. Thanks for your company. I'm Ben, and we're out of here. Thank you very much, and see you next time.