Scatter wants to walk his way to medal

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 30

Scatter wants to walk his way to medal

By

ROD DEW

The Canterbury “Athlete of the Year,” Graham Scatter yesterday left for England, where he will make his final preparations for the Commonwealth Games 30km road walk in Edmonton on August 8. He is hopeful that when he returns he will have with him the first walking .medal won by a New Zealander in a major games since Norman Read won the Olympic title 22 years ago in Melbourne.

“I am aiming for a medal. I have dedicated myself to achieving this, and I believe I can do it,” he said. His training has been going exceptionally well. In the last 10 weeks he has reached 200 km a week in training, a lot more than he has done before. “I’ve always been on top of it. Towards the end, I had to hold myself back. I have never been fitter and I have never been so happy with my form.” Seatter, aged 22, now holds every New Zealand road-walking record from 5000 m to 30km and he is confident that he can go faster yet. His best time for the Commonwealth Games distance of 30km is 2hr 23min Bsec and for a time this gave him third ranking in the Commonwealth. He has now slipped to sixth but is not at all concerned by this.

His best time, he says, is only 3min 30sec slower than the top ranking, held by the Australian, Willi Sawall. “Over 30km, this is nothing.” Apart from Sawall, his main concern will be the English representatives. “I don’t yet know who they will be but I know the top four or five from whom the English team will be chosen. “They are all tough and seasoned performers."

Jake Warhurst, who won the Commonwealth title in Christchurch four years ago, is one of them. He is currently ranked third in England but is expected to confirm his place in the Games team in the British 20km trial in Manchester on July 16.

Seatter intends to compete in this event, which he is regarding as his most im» portant final test before his Games medal bid. The race is also an official British trial for the European championships in September and all the top walkers are expected to start. “This is when I want to be hitting top form. This will be a most important race for me because it will be just three weeks before the Games.”

Seatter will have one more race before leaving England, a sharpener over 10,000 m in London. This will end a comprehensive programme of racing and training which will begin at Crystal Palace on June 24 with the British 3000 m championship. In the four weeks following, he has five races ranging from 10,000 m to 20km planned at week-ends, and another two mid-week events.

In England , Seatter will not be alone as far as his fellow-countrymen are concerned. Mike Parker (Otago) who will also represent New Zealand in the Games walk, flew to England last Saturday and will follow much the same racing programme as Seatter. Two other New Zealanders, Ross Pilkington (Auckland) and Peter Fox (New Plymouth), are competing in England as well. Seatter will also join forces with Allan Callow, a Canterbury representative this year, who will be walking for the Ise of Man in the Games.