From Professional Rugby to Amateur Skeleton Racing ENS Talks to Bill Calcraft

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It is often said that if you are good at one sport, the chances are that you can turn your hand to most. This adage has been proved true on numerous occasions - Formula 1 driver, Jenson Button, is also a fine triathlete, Ian Botham is often remembered for his services to English cricket but Scunthorpe United also valued him as a defender, while All Black Jeff Wilson went on to pursue a fine cricketing career.
As ENS works extensively in not only Football PR but also Cricket PR we decided to research further...
James telescope of the less well-known sporting transitions has been that of London based former Wallaby, Bill Calcraft,who reckons he is one of the fastest Australians on a bob skeleton. Bill does smile and admit that at the last count there were very few male Australians in the world who could ride a skeleton. ENS asked Bill about his snowy sporting ambitions...
Q: Going from rugby to skeleton isn't the most obvious leap, how did it happen to you?
A: Almost 10 years ago I was invited to Innsbruck, Austria by businessman Michael Naylor and lawyer Alistair Crellin, ostensibly to discuss our respective involvement in the wind energy industry. Both of them are veteran sliders and, within hours of arriving, I found myself on the two-time Olympic Games ice track in the nearby village of Igls. After my first harrowing experience luging (that's feet first), I immediately insisted on riding the skeleton (that's head first!). The required body position is remarkably similar to body surfing on Sydney's northern beaches. I was hooked immediately.
Q: Rugby and Skeleton would appear to require diametrically opposed skills - could you bring any of your former sports experience to bear?
A: Actually there are more similarities than you might think. Aside from being very competitive, you frequently finish a day's racing (that's four to five runs) every bit as bruised as if you'd gone 80 minutes with the All Blacks. Like all serious sports, it is as much about mental toughness as physical preparation. It's mentally exhausting and you need great concentration to race down the Igls 1220m track at speeds in excess of 100 kmh. Few people are still competing seriously in most sports when approaching 50 but fortunately for me skeleton is accessible to a more mature age group if you join the right club. Believe me, age is the last thing on your mind once you are out of the starting block and rapidly accelerating with G-force down the ice towards the 360 degree Kriesel turn on the Igls track.
Q: What is the most physically demanding element of skeleton?
A: There is a short 10 metre sprint at the start of the course which I have to admit favours the younger sliders, then it's all about precision - and you can expect to be punished for small errors in judgement. On every start you are hoping for that perfect clean run all the way to the safety of the finishing bay; I can tell you, clipping the ice walls at over 100 kmh hurts! If you can break a minute from the top of the Igls track then that's a serious time for an amateur and it really is the "human bullet" type of experience. You get tossed about the track, you have just split seconds to adjust your line, negotiate the many bends and twists of the track, deal with the substantial G-forces and get to the bottom as fast as possible. You will limp away at the end of the day exhausted but it is a thrilling and compelling sport.
Q: A lot of people imagine that going head first down a skeleton track just requires huge amounts of courage, how fair a perception is that?
A: Clearly having the guts to give it a go and giving it your all is an advantage but Skeleton is actually a connoisseur's sport. Competitors - or sliders as we are known - need to be very precise and measured, despite hurtling downhill at great speed. Since the initial shock of my first experience I have raced with the International Sliders Club every year. I was attracted to the sport and found real solace in its similarity to body surfing. It's a rare analogy but growing up on Manly beach in Sydney meant I felt used to that kind of experience. Skeleton is not actually that dissimilar from body surfing in terms of body position and how you steer.
Q: You are serious about competing as an amateur - did you ever harbour higher ambitions?
A: A few years ago I was invited to join the Australian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association and there was just one other male member - and he didn't even compete! So there were some Olympic ambitions emerging but fortuitously, I say in retrospect, the qualification rules changed between the Turin Winter Games and the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. It became unfeasible in terms of the number of pre-Olympic events required to qualify. Also you have to respect the leap from being a good amateur to a professional; it takes real dedication and time to discover if you can make the grade. It's amazing to watch the professionals race. I am pleased to say that despite the fact that there is not a single ice track in the Southern Hemisphere, the Australian female sliders have done extremely well at a professional level here in Europe and our Kiwi neighbours are also having success.
Q: Given that Olympic representation may now be just a dream, what keeps you turning out to train each year?
A: It is a really exhilarating sport and you improve with each and every training run. When the ISC club returns to Austria for annual training and racing, we all see our times get better and better, year after year. Improvement is measured in hundredths of a second and several of our members can break the minute barrier from the top.
Q: And what's next for you in skeleton?
A: Unfortunately I broke my arm playing vets rugby for the Fullerians Club in Watford this season so I'm not sure if I will train this year but in regards to the sport, I would love to see more people give it a go; don't let me frighten anyone away. Every year the ISC takes many beginners - you get professional instruction and you slide at your level. You will not start at the top and you will get to the bottom but a good deal slower. The next run will be better, then better again and then you will be hooked. It sounds like a difficult sport but if you join a club you need very little else apart from the desire to try it. I would particularly like to see some European-based Australians have a go. I may not have got to an Olympics but I would be cheering on any Australian who did.