Back to VCAA Bulletin No. 49 - June 2019
Charting an individual path through the VCE
It's 4.30am and Year 12 student Silas Harris is on his way to the local pool. It's cold and dark and all that can be heard is the sound of everyone else still tucked in bed. He hits the chlorine for two hours of swimming training, by which time the sun, the garbage trucks and the early morning dog walkers will have just started to catch up to him. He changes into his school uniform and heads to school, Viewbank College in Rosanna, to begin a full day of classes.
Silas is one of a select group of young athletes to be categorised by Swimming Australia as 'emerging swimmers' in its 2018–2020 Olympic Program. The categorisation process is used to identify athletes who show the most potential to reach the Olympic Games and World Championship targets set by the Australian Institute of Sport.
His categorisation followed last year's Australian Age championships, in which he won three gold medals in the 200, 400 and 1500-metre freestyle, a silver medal for the 400-metre individual medley and a bronze for the 200-metre butterfly. Off the back of this performance, he was selected to be a member of the Junior Australian Swim team attending the Junior Pan Pacific championships in Suva, Fiji, competing against the best swimmers from the United States of America, Canada, Japan and the Pacific Rim. Not long after returning from Fiji, Silas competed in the Open Australian Short Course championships, where he achieved timings that placed him in the league of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Daniel Kowalski.
'It is intensely satisfying when I touch the wall, look up at the scoreboard and see a result I'm happy with,' says Silas. 'That's when I know all the hours of hard work I've put in have paid off.'
Given his talent in the pool, Silas' future would seem to naturally point toward the next Olympic Games. While he doesn't discount his dedication and love of the sport, Silas' longer-term sights are set on another passion he holds – music. Last year, Silas' composition
La Pompe won first prize in the Years 7–12 Instrumental Category of the Australian Children's Music Foundation National Songwriting Competition. In the same year, he completed Units 3 and 4 of VCE Music Style and Composition through Virtual Schools Victoria, and this year he is completing Units 3 and 4 of Music Performance. Silas plans to spend his first year after completing the VCE focusing on both swimming and music, and preparing to audition for the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where he wants to study a Bachelor of Music (Interactive Composition).
'I've grown up with both water and music around me,' he explains. 'My dad is a violin player and as a child I'd always be around him, practising and rehearsing with his bands.
I love how I can express myself in music. I love being able to convert my emotions into sounds and seeing how other musicians express themselves through their work.'
So how does Silas manage to combine his commitment to elite-level swimming with his passion for music, all the while completing his final year of the VCE? The answer is a multiple-choice 'all of the above' for the flexibility of the VCE, the support he receives from his school and family (including his squad, which is 'like a little family'), and his balanced approach to study. As well as allowing Silas to juggle his overall study load to complete four instead of five subjects this year, his school has rescheduled his School-assessed Coursework so he can compete in swimming events throughout the year. Silas also tries to do as much extra work as he can during breaks and study periods, allowing him time after school to squeeze in another swimming training session and bass practice.
And, as any Olympian or maestro will tell you, timing is an essential ingredient for success.
'At the beginning of the year, I set up a weekly planner that is broken down into blocks of 30 minutes,' explains Silas. 'I enter everything into this – my training session times, travel times, subjects, study periods and major swimming competitions.'
His biggest supporters are his parents, who've been there through countless hours of swimming training and music practice. 'We're very proud of Silas', says his Mum.
'And we are very thankful that the VCE offers him the opportunity to pursue his diverse interests at a high level.'