We are lucky enough to have an incredible tribe surrounding us at the clinic. Staff, clients, friends and family all with SO many inspiring stories to share.
Naomi Scott 19 was born and bred on the Northern Beaches. Her family was always sporty and loved the outdoors. There was no family history of Surf Life Saving, but from an early age, Naomi found she had an increasing passion for the sport and it was obvious from a young age that her dedication, drive and talent was second to none.
Where It All Started….
Naomi joined nippers in under 7’s. She had always enjoyed team sport with friends, it was all a bit of fun for her. But being her dedicated self she still had a lot going on.
Naomi’s average week by age 13:
Swim squad – 5 x days a week
Tuesday & Thursday – Board Training
Sunday – Nippers
Club Netball – Weekly training & game
Waterpolo (School and Rep) – Training & games
Not really your average week! Naomi really enjoyed racing and having fun but it wasn’t until the age of under 13’s she started to excel. A few state medals later and she decided to stop Netball and Water-polo to pursue her number 1 passion – Surf Life Saving.
At the age of 16, Naomi took part in the Summer Of Surf Iron qualifying series. It involved 6 different destinations on the East Coast of Australia. It was a race to enable her to qualify to become an Iron Woman and was all squads combined. To qualify you have to come in the top 6 – Naomi placed 5th.
“…I wasn’t really expecting much being my first year, I was just stoked to be there – it was my dream..”
Naomi was Officially An Ironwoman…
As expected, training started to get a little more serious from here – whilst at school in the middle of her HSC.
Naomi average week now looked a little like this:
Mon – Fri – School
Monday – 3.5 hours training
Tuesday – 3 hrs training
Wednesday – 1.5 hrs training
Thursday – 2 hrs training
Friday – 1 hr training
Saturday Morning – 3 hrs training
Sunday – Day off
= 35 hours of School & 14 hrs of training
At 17 Naomi competed in the Nutrigrain Ironwoman series. She was the 3rd youngest in history to qualify and the youngest person in the year (baby of the year). It was over a weekend, with every day having a different race format. On the Friday Naomi Came 12th and was happy with that considering her inexperience, she had a similar result on the Saturday.
After a long couple of days, Sunday came around and she won. This was completely unexpected. The biggest shock, friends and family were in tears and completely stoked.
“…The thing with surf is that you never know how you’re going to go due to weather/surf conditions. One small mistake getting caught in a wave can cost you the race. It’s something you have to accept about the sport. Everyone trains the same, you all know you’ve done the work but it’s so unpredictable. I wouldn’t change that about the sport – its what keeps it interesting..”
My Body Was Struggling
Around age 18, Naomi had a few issues with fatigue from stress of Uni and excessive training. They suspected adrenal fatigue and it became very obvious that Naomi had to focus more on rest and recovery if she wanted to continue to pursue her dreams…. She wasn’t focused enough on recovery, wasn’t getting the results she wanted as she didn’t have anything to give. “ My body was struggling”.
Not surprisingly, this is where pH Clinic came into Naomi’s world. Naomi was seeing Nick Dawe monthly for treatment. Nick is a Chiropractor and Coach to Naomi on paper but became so much more to supporting her recovery and supporting her through training. He oversees and helps to write her training programs, supports through training and injuries, acts as a mentor, recommends supplements for general immunity and muscle repair and “..just an all round good bloke…”
Nick introduced Naomi to pH Clinic. She comes in for pre and post race massages and infrared saunas. They help to loosen, release tension from sore muscles or support repair post race. Additionally the sauna also helps to detox after being in the chlorinated pool for extended periods. Naomi will do the Detox program for that reason or if she is run down. She will then use pain relief for sore muscles.
“Naomi is an exceptional, intelligent and committed athlete, dedicated to constant improvement, analysis and hard work. She is a major team player who is now the back bone of the Womens MLSC competitive section and even tough she is young she is well known as one of the most competitive and hard to beat female athletes Nation Wide and World Wide.” – Nick Dawe (Coach)
Popliteal Entrapment Syndrome
Naomi has also been suffering with Popliteal Entrapment Syndrome for the last few years. It’s not a common condition and the pain level is a bit unpredictable. It mostly comes up during running and usually takes a small 5kms to start hurting. Naomi saw a vascular surgeon in May this year who said she would be a perfect candidate for surgery (partial removal of Plantaris Muscle) but as it would only be affecting this one race where she would be running a longer distance she decided to try to heal naturally.
Naomi’s last big race was the Coolangatta Gold. It was an endurance race 42kms/4.5 hours with 9kms of run. She knew P.E.S would come up but didn’t know when and was going to deal with it as it came knowing in training she could often get to 5kms pain free….
500 METRES into the race, the pain hit her. The condition means that when it is triggered she gets no blood flow to feet or lower leg in both legs. Her feet go tingly, numb and painful. There is nothing she can do to fix it. Incredibly Naomi ran the remaining 8.5kms of the race in a significant amount of discomfort. It didn’t go as well as she had planned. It was really tough.
It was time to slow down and get better at resting, however this wasn’t the last reminder from her body that she needed to rest… Late last year Naomi was feeling run down and not right. After some investigating she discovered she had Glandular Fever. It was officially time for some rest and repair.
8 weeks later she is only just getting back into training and not currently racing. It is a huge adjustment for Naomi, but she knows its best for right now and gives her the best chance at getting back to her usual self.
Free Time
In Naomi’s free time she loves cooking and catching up with friends. She is at Uni studying a bachelor of commerce & advance computing. Naomi loves maths, understanding how things work and has always been computer-literate. “…A double degree so gives me lots of options as surf isn’t a sport you can live off, it’s more of a passion thing and not something I’m doing to make a living…”
“…I’m now more focussed on looking after myself. I love to train, which is a blessing because I’m always very motivated, but I’m making adjustments to ensure I have rest….I need to listen to body more and if I’m feeling off or exhausted I try to recover rather than training through it and ending up sick the next day..”
