Beyond Sport with Fiona Stewart

Nathan Buschkuehl // professional triathlon and the high expectations that come with being an athlete

Today we are joined by another close to home guest, Nathan Buschkuehl. Ex professional triathlete who also happens to be my brother-in-law. Nath takes us on the journey of what it took to get some of his best results, including 2nd at the Mooloolaba Continental Cup in 2014, finishing just after Jake Burtwhistle. Nath shares with us what it was like when he was stepping away from the professional arena but still had high expectations of himself.
We also get an insight as to the benefits being involved in sport had on his relationship with his partner, Olympic long jumper, Brooke. If you’d like to hear about her journey, she appeared on the podcast in season one, episode 6.
You’ll also hear Nath mention his coach Steve Foster, who was actually a guest in season one, episode 4. As well as his brother Todd who was a guest in season one, episode 10.
We’ll also hear an insight of how COVID 19 may affect the athletes, friends and families in terms of the Tokyo Olympics.

Steele Von Hoff // life as a professional cyclist, breaking 6 vertebrae and what it took to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal seven weeks later...

This weeks guest is 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Steele Van Hoff.
Steele takes us on his early sporting journey and how he became a professional cyclist with some incredible career highlights. Representing his country multiple times as well as winning a world tour stage at the tour down under in 2015.
But one thing that stands out for me is the amount of resilience and determination that Steele showed in 2018. The day he announced that he had been selected to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games – Steele had a major crash…breaking his 6 vertebrae in his back and neck. This was 7 weeks out from the Com Games. I’ll let Steele tell you the story, but oh my god… what an incredible comeback story.
For the charities mentioned by Steele you can find the links here;
https://whitebikefoundation.org.au/?fbclid=IwAR3JbNP504JHFEg-_vxVEQTyV7iF6aLfIrqMPPFFec1qDOVZiWRQe3j0WSM
https://mentisassist.org.au/?fbclid=IwAR0BydYIHK9_g-UWQLU8B9RqIf0qyDJuzioSwcAE5byKJuHpb6b6-p0szIk
https://www.peninsulahotsprings.com/rideforrelief2020/?fbclid=IwAR3fFCgBZKydNorlam555wGTI0gldOdJdCrgAQCpXaWiG_YfSqQ3iV-kjV8

Nigel Knighton // PART 2... the benefits and lessons that comes with being involved in Karate and being a sport teacher.

This episode is part two of an interview with Nige Knighton. In part one we chat about Nige’s early years and what made him passionate about not only his sport of Karate but teaching and coaching the younger generations, of one which was me…. If you haven’t listened to part one yet, pause this episode here and come back to it after you’ve listened. In this episode we discuss the benefits sport has given Nige, as well as some important lessons along the way. Nige has a real passion for passing this passion for sport on to the younger generations and it really shines through.

Nigel Knighton // PART 1... the journey of finding passion in Karate, coaching and teaching

We are joined today by the marvellous Nigel Knighton. A 5th Dan in Karate, sports teacher and father. Nige takes us on his sporting journey of how he found a passion in the sport industry and made a career of it.
This is quite a close to home episode for me as I knew Nige as Mr Knighton, during my 6 years of high school. Nige started off as my year 7 sport teacher – when a very non athletic Fiona used to forget her sport uniform or spend an hour running away from the ball.  
I was lucky enough to be a part of a year 9 self defence class, again taught by Mr Knighton where I started to discover that sport wasn’t just about the mainstream football and netball. Mix that with finding my gills in the pool, as Nige describes my swimming. I decided to do my certificate 4 in Sport and Recreation as part of year 11 and 12, lead by Mr Knighton. It was not only my favourite subject during those final years, but the one I put the most time into and thus did the best at.
When I look back now, if it wasn’t for Nige’s welcoming and engaging attitude towards sport, I may have been one of those kids who lost interest and dropped out of this wonderful world I’m now involved in.
After a little bit of market research via Facebook and Instagram, to keep with the shorter format of season 2, this episode is split into two parts.
In part one of this interview we chat about Nige’s early years and what made him passionate about not only his sport of Karate but teaching and coaching the younger generations.

Steph Kershaw // Hockeyroo, Commonwealth Games silver medallist, overcoming injuries & gaining confidence through sport

Todays guest is Steph Kershaw, Australian Hockey Player who grew up in Townsville. Steph take’s us on the journey of falling in love with Hockey, through the rest of her family playing, the hardships of doing her ACL…twice. And how incredible it was to win a silver medal in front of a home crowed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Hockey isn’t just a sport for Steph, it also helped her step outside of her comfort zone and gain confidence.

Maddy Hogan // Paralympic Javelin bronze medallist and mother of twins - a chat full of wisdom and humour!

This weeks guest is Maddy Hogan, three time Paralympian and a mother of twins. Maddy opens up and discusses the relatable topic of comparison and what that can do to your self esteem. Why she made the jump from playing cricket to Javelin and the importance of taking a chance, believing in yourself and bouncing back.
Retired from the sport now, Maddy still gives back to the community as being a change our game ambassador, which focuses on women’s participation in all areas of sport.
I really got a lot from this chat with Maddy, she’s the perfect balance of humour and wisdom and I hope you enjoy this one.

Breanna Hargrave // Athletics to Cycling... the determination it takes to be an 'older' athlete

I have the pleasure of being joined by this weeks guest, Australian cyclist Breanna Hargrave. Breanna started off in Ballet and athletics as a junior and at 19 gave up ballet to focus on athletics.
A national level competitor in athletics in the heptathlon, but Bree wanted more out of herself, she wanted to represent her country. So at the age of 28, with some Australian Institute of Sport testing, Bree transitioned to track cycling. During her time sprinting Bree went to the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won a bronze medal. Bree is a 4 time Australian Champion on the track and has lately been making her mark on the road.
Bree’s determination shines through in this chat, and is such an inspiring story to keep chasing your goals.

Shannon Barnes // from VFL to wearing the green and gold in Floorball

This weeks guest is Shannon Barnes who represents Australia in the sport of floorball. If you’re not sure with what floorball is don’t worry – I didn’t know either, Shannon gives a great explanation of it at the start of the interview, but basically its very similar to Hockey.
Shannon talks about discovering the sport of floorball and falling in love with it so much that she stepped away from playing football and cricket. Not only does Shannon play sport, but she works in the field as an exercise and sport scientist.
The lesson sport has taught Shannon is such an important one, and super relevant to other sports and every day life.

Season 2 Trailer

Welcome to season 2 of Beyond Sport with Fiona Stewart. In this podcast we chat with athletes, coaches, and industry professionals at all levels of sport, about the benefits being involved in sport has provided them outside of the just the performance side of things.
I’m your host Fiona, I have a background in competitive swimming, being both a coach and a swimmer. I’ve been involved in the fitness and aquatic industry for 10 years and I’m currently managing a swim school based in Victoria, Australia.
I started this podcast whilst we were under a strict 5km lockdown in Melbourne because of COVID, however I’ve always wanted to delve deeper into the physical, social and mental benefits being involved in sport has provided people. This curiosity started whilst being a competitive swimmer, but just grew stronger when I was completing my Bachelor of Sport Development. So with a little extra time on my hands a spark of inspiration hit and thus this podcast was born.
This is a completely independent podcast that has been created to share the journey and lessons of top level sporting professionals, but also your everyday lover of sport. If you like this podcast I’d really appreciate if you could leave a review and share it with someone who you think would also enjoy it.
Make sure you hit subscribe on apple podcasts or follow on Spotify so you don’t miss the release of each new episode. There’s so many AMAZING stories coming up for season 2.
You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram @beyondsportwithfionastewart
The first episode of season 2 will be dropping shortly, however feel free to go back and listen over some of the journeys of the incredible humans who were on season one.

BONUS EPISODE // New Year's Goal Setting

So it’s that time of the year again…
The time where we stop and reflect on the year that’s been, and plan for the year ahead. In this special bonus episode we are discussing goal, but not just in the way that we’ve all done before.