Eternal Love
Page 8
We read about the Townsville training camp every day in the papers. It seems as if distance swimmers Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser and Lorraine Crapp will be hard to beat in the Olympic Games. I can see why Terry did not want me to go to the Teachers’ College this year with the twelve weeks at Townsville and three weeks at the Olympic Village. I would never have been able to keep up with my studies.
I can also understand how you feel about being in a strange town and an unfamiliar home. I have been on holidays with Mum and Dad, but I have never stayed in a hotel or somebody else’s home, so I know I would feel a bit lost, as you do. It must be very lonely for you, though it sounds as if your house-mate John is a very nice person. You are lucky there.
Everyone here is talking about television, and what it will be like sitting at home and watching the Olympics. No one knows what a television set will cost at the moment, but it is certainly more than Mum and Dad have saved. Isn’t it amazing that people will be able to sit thousands of miles away and see a sporting event? I spoke to my Mum and Dad about going to the Olympics to see you compete, and the good news is they have not said ‘no’ at the moment. Mum has a sister who lives in Melbourne, and she has written her to see if I can stay there during the Games. Dad said he will do what he can about the train fare if Auntie says it is all right to stay with her. I can scarcely believe it may be possible. I would give anything to be there and see you compete. I have been praying every day that it will be possible. Mum and Dad have been very helpful, they both like you. Dad said if he ever had a son he would hope he would be like you, and they do not know you as well as I do.
I miss you, Mark, I miss you terribly. Everyone keeps asking me about you, they think you tell me everything. However I like answering questions about you. You know that there will ever be only one person for me, and that is you. If you ever fall in love with anyone else, which I hope will never happen, well, if you do, I will never marry. You are the only one that I shall ever love, and I swear that by God, the stars and the moon. I shall never, never, love another. I knew that from the first time I saw you.
You asked about my school-work and it is going very well. I really like my history classes, and we are doing Australian history at the moment. After Ancient History and European history I thought Australian history would be boring, but I find it very exciting. I had no idea what we did to the Aborigines. Do you know there were about 300,000 at the time of settlement, and about 75 years later there were only about 50,000 still alive? Influenza, small-pox and venereal diseases just swept through them. I always thought they were lazy and useless, but they had a very rich culture. We have virtually obliterated them, and destroyed their tribal and family affiliations. Anyhow, I am really loving reading about early Australia. I have been enjoying my English too. For Shakespeare we have been assigned Julius Caesar, and four novels. I am pleased, by the way, to hear that you are reading For the Term of His Natural Life. Mum had me read it when I was young. I could not believe the parts on cannibalism. The English treated the convicts about the same as they did the Aborigines. There are some wonderful Australian novels. We tend to underrate our own literature. Above all, I love the poetry, Henry Lawson and ‘Banjo’ Paterson being my favourites. They seem to be able to capture the spirit of the Australian bush.
Anyhow, it will be good to finish school this year. I must say I am sick and tired of these chocolate brown uniforms. Mine will just about see out the year. I have had to keep darning the stockings so much that they look like they have been attacked by flies.
Like you, Mark, I will write once a week. There is so much home-work during the week that I will have to write on Sundays. As you know the final year is pretty tough and I need good marks to get a scholarship to go to Sydney Teachers’ College.
So do not worry about being up there alone. I am with you every moment. I never think of anything else.
Best wishes,
Faith.
P.S. I have included a photograph of myself. It is not very flattering, but I hope it reminds you of me.
There were parts of the letter that bobbed around in Mark’s mind the whole week: “I never think of anything else”, “You are the only one that I shall ever love”, “I shall never, never, love another”, and then he picked up her photograph and looked at it again and again. I will never love another, Faith, never, he thought.
He decided he would write on Sundays as she did. Mark felt like writing more often, but there was little time with his exercise and weight programmes, travelling to and from the pool for twice-a-day work-outs, and his running morning and night that was criticised by many of the other coaches though he persisted with it. He felt the sprint-slow-sprint routine sharpened him up, and it was a pleasant relief exploring new terrain each day, taking new routes whenever he felt like it. Then there were the three meals with Mr. and Mrs Cooke and John. There was just not enough time in the day. In between times he talked with Terry, who lived in a downtown hotel. Mark wrote of his problems.
Dear Faith,
The training is going well. We are into our fourth week now, and I still have not been beaten in the time trials. However John Devitt and Kevin O’Halloran have been improving every day and we have been having some ding-dong battles. They are all beating the old Australian record. So I have to keep my own form going otherwise I will be in trouble. But so far I have always won out. Terry has been pointing my training towards the time of the Olympic final. He says that is when he wants me at my peak.
Terry says there have already been a few letters from American Universities to see if I am interested in a scholarship after the Games. He has said that most of the American coaches will be at the Olympics, and that we will worry about all that when the Games are over.
I feel a lot more comfortable here now. Mr and Mrs Cooke do everything they can for us. They are pretty old, both retired, and this is a real big thing for them. They never argue and seem to really respect the other’s opinion. I have not been around old people very much, so I must say I am very impressed with them. They have become more used to us, too, and now they ask us what we would like to eat and so they fit in to our needs more than they did at first. Maybe they were nervous of us. I think they expected us to be sneaking beer and maybe girls into the house, and they have been surprised at our good behaviour. A couple of the older swimmers have, however, got in trouble here. They have gone out at night for a few beers, which is all right if that is what they want, but they have come back drunk and there have been a few complaints. They have been informed in no uncertain terms that unless they sharpen up they will be sent home.
The coaches are all right, but the senior swimming officials are not very popular with the team. They do not seem to be able to relate to the varying ages of the athletes. They give orders, some of which are ridiculous, and never ask anyone else’s opinions. They are always interfering, trying to make themselves look important. As far as we are all concerned, they should put the coaches in charge and send the officials home. They are more in tune with what the athletes think.
The whole town turns out for the Monday night time trials, you would simply not believe it. The team being here seems the biggest thing that has ever happened to the town. There are flags flying over the pool, and the papers are covered with information about us daily. There have been a few surprises here, but Murray Rose seems to get better in his swimming by the day. The biggest rivalry seems to be between Dawn Fraser and Lorraine Crapp. They have been exchanging records every week here.
You might wonder what it is like with the girl swimmers here. The fact is we only see them at training. You will doubtless be pleased to know I have hardly exchanged a word with a girl. Most of them are pretty young anyhow. Lorraine, for example, is very quiet, whereas Dawn is very extroverted. Dawn says hello to everybody, and it is rumoured she has sneaked out at night and had a few drinks with the boys. She is a bit of a larrikin, but everyone loves her. She came from a poor home in Balmain, and used to climb over the fence at the local swi
mming pool to get in and have a free swim. When she gets in a race she is really competitive. She just does not like to be beaten. She seems to have the edge over Lorraine in the 100 metres, but Lorraine seems to have her number in the longer events. Lorraine on the whole does not seem to have the same killer instinct, but she is a beautiful, calm person. Anyhow, they are entirely different personalities. There are no romances I can report. The only love affair I know about is mine at 9 o’clock every night with a certain young lady from Randwick.
Terry is his old self, grumbling and snarling at everyone. But he is like an old hen with me, he would do anything for me. I mentioned to him I seemed a little down on my energy level, and he went out and bought me raisins and told me to eat them. He said to let him know if I needed anything. He is living alone in this hotel in Townsville, and as far as I know all he does is plan our training sessions. Peculiarly, the coaches keep clear of one another. They are extremely suspicious about everything and everyone. The one coach I like is Don Talbot. He has a number of swimmers here, and he is very positive with them. Seems to be able to relate to athletes. He is a school teacher, and I think that helps.
I really look forward to your letters, and read them again and again. I never get tired of thinking about you, and I am very moved to know you are keeping yourself for me. We do not have to be like other people - we can be different, and create a world for ourselves, of love and respect. I never want to argue with you, ever! I have seen so much of that with my own family. I never want to fall out of love, and I want to treat you with respect.
Finished reading For the Term of His Natural Life and enjoyed it very much. Not sure what I will get hold of next. There is not much time for reading.
That is all I can think of at the moment. Time is racing here now, and many are getting anxious about the selections.
Best wishes,
Mark.
It was not long before he received the news that really bucked him up and rekindled the considerable motivation within him.
Dear Mark,
I am so excited, and I know you will be the same. I can hardly wait to tell you. I will, will, will be in Melbourne for the Games! Who would believe it? My Auntie is only too happy to have me stay with her, and Dad has already bought the train ticket. He said it is the first time I have ever asked them for a special favour, and that they know what it means to me, and you. They have a deep respect for you, Mark.
So I am going, going, going! To Melbourne, to the Olympic Games, and I will be able to see you compete. I feel you are destined to win. Everything we want seems to be happening. It will be wonderful sitting in the stands watching you. I can hardly write I am so excited.
Won’t it be marvellous, Mark, for us to be together there? I know you will not have much time, but there will be opportunities to talk, at the very least. Maybe you could get permission to get me into the Olympic Village. That would be a wonderful thrill. And just imagine, Mark, all that time in Melbourne I do not have to wear my school uniform. You will hardly recognise me.
I have told the girls at School and they can hardly believe it. They all think I am so lucky. They would all like to be there. I will take my school books down with me as our Leaving Certificate exams are about a month after the Games. I will be able to do a lot of work on the train. But I shall be so worked up knowing the train will take me inexorably towards you it will be hard for me to concentrate. Fancy, me going to Melbourne to meet my loved one, and watch him in the Olympic Games.
Though I am only 17, I somehow feel much older. The feelings I have for you are not those of a child. They are those of an adult. I know many think that it is too early to choose one person, but you are the one I want, and I feel so lucky to have met you first. I will never forget when you stopped to talk to me outside of the Baths, and when you said that the three of us could travel to and from school together. Maybe I was just a kid then, but I do not feel like one anymore. Our relationship has deepened, and I have matured. You have given me more confidence in myself. I will be 18 in February, and in a few years I will be out of my teens.
Anyhow, Mark, I could hardly wait to tell you that I will be in Melbourne. Please tell me what you think about me coming to you.
Do well in your training. I think of you all the time.
Love,
Faith.
Mark’s reaction was obvious and immediate.
Dear Faith,
I am completely overjoyed to know you will be at the Games. It will be wonderful knowing you are with me there physically as well as spiritually. I am certain that there will be times I can get into the stands and we will be able to talk as much as we like. Just having you there so I can see you will make me feel more confident in what I plan to do.
We will be departing here in a few days to go to the Olympic Village in Melbourne. You can write to me c/o The Australian Olympic team, Olympic Village, Melbourne. We are allowed to invite people to the Village, so it will be my honour to take you on a tour. We will arrange a meal there somehow.
We had our final trials, and as you know from the papers I broke my own world record by a tenth of a second. John Devitt was second and Gary Chapman third. At the trials, there were 32 Queensland, 13 Australian and 6 world records broken. So Terry and I figure we are right on target for the Games. So now I am officially an Australian Olympian, and will be swimming the 4 x 200m relay as well as the 100m freestyle. Though I do not swim that event normally, the 200m I mean, they made me swim it in the trials. So you will have two things to look forward to. I will also introduce you to some of the other swimmers I now know. You will especially like John Devitt, and Dawn Fraser is a real character. Kevin O’Halloran is a very quiet farm boy from Western Australia, and he has improved out of sight. I have really got to be friends with him, he is very quiet and reserved, and feels, like I do, a little out-of-place. Over the years Western Australia has been ignored in the selection process when it comes to swimming. He learned to swim first of all in Kojunup, in a cattle bore on his father’s 9,000 acre sheep property, which gets a bit muddy at times. Then they put up a pool in the nearby town of Katanning, where his mother took the children during the second World War. It was one of the few country centres in Western Australia that had a public swimming pool at the time.
His training at Perth, when he was at Guilford Grammar School, was in the river pool at Crawley. He is really funny when he starts telling us of pulling jelly-fish off his face as he swam. He said he did not know there were lines on the bottom of a pool, and he cannot believe he is actually swimming in clear water. He is a real natural. Though I broke the world’s record, John Devitt pressed me all the way. He seems to be able to rise to the occasion. You never know what he is liable to do in the Games. He was elected captain of the Australian swim team, though he is only 19. He was really surprised. But that is why everyone likes him so much.
It will be in some ways sad leaving here as the people in town have been so terrific. When they pass us in the street they not only say ‘hello’ but they will say ‘hello, Mark,’ and they are all wishing us the very best at the Games. We could not have been treated better.
We will also miss Mr and Mrs Cooke. They did everything possible for us. One night it got cool, and Mrs Cooke came in our rooms and put a blanket over both of us. She was not aware I was awake, and tucked in the blanket as if I was her child. I have learned a lot from them, little things like table manners that I was not aware of. What I must do in life is keep learning from every new experience such as this. Anyhow, I will truly miss them.
We were given our green and gold blazers, Australian ties and grey pants yesterday, plus our Australian swim suits and sweat suits. I felt very proud when I got dressed up formally with the blazer. Who would have thought that I would be representing my country in the Olympic Games and be the world record holder? I feel very honoured, and I plan to swim to the death for Australia. So when you see me, I will either have my blazer or sweat-suit on. There is now an awfully lot of green and g
old when we get together. It all makes me very excited.
By the way, you signed your last letter ‘love’. I liked that, and I will sign mine the same way. Think if you all the time!
Love,
Mark.
The very day Mark was to leave for Melbourne, a letter arrived.
Dear Mark,
The Post Office assured me that this letter will be delivered to you just before you leave for Melbourne.
I just wanted to tell you I am counting the hours towards seeing you. The school holidays are just before the Games and run until they are over, so I will not be in Melbourne as you know for the first three weeks. I will however arrive the day before the Opening Ceremony. So I will write to you at the Village when my plans become more definite.
What I wanted to say in this letter is to wish you the very best at the Olympic Games. Only I know what you have sacrificed to get where you are. I am so very proud of you and can hardly wait to see you in your Olympic outfit. You will be the handsomest Olympian of all. I want you to know that I will be proud of you no matter what happens at the Games. Like you, I pray that you will win. But if you do not you will still be my Olympic champion.
If the depth of my love can somehow influence the gods, then you will prevail. For there is no other love as deep as mine. There could not be.
Mark, you have accomplished all your goals to this point. You only have one major goal to go. I believe in you, love you, and pray that all your dreams come true.
As you depart on the most important journey of your life, to the Melbourne Olympics, I wish you well from the bottom of my heart.
Love,
Faith.
There were disappointed members of the Townsville squad, as some did not go on to the Olympic Village because of their non-selection in the Olympic team. The others, attired officially, flew to Melbourne for three weeks’ of training prior to the competition. No other country was in Australia that early so it meant the Australians were in the Village alone and could train on their own.