Allison Shreeve

Allison Shreeve
Born (1982-02-05) 5 February 1982
Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia
Nationality Australian
Occupation Windsurfer
Known for World champion windsurfer
Olympian
Website Official website

Allison Shreeve (born 5 February 1982) is an Australian Olympic athlete who was the PWA World Tour Champion 2004 and Formula World Windsurfing Champion in 2005, 2006 and 2007.[1]

Early life

In her younger years, Shreeve was home schooled and grew up in a rural property. After finishing high school at Port Macquarie High, she was accepted into the sandstone University of Sydney to study a Bachelor's degree in Civil and Structural Engineering, which had her move back to Sydney.

In 1998, during Port Macquarie High School's summer program, Shreeve chose windsurfing, despite she had a promising and successful future in track and field athletics after securing many titles and records at local zone, regional, and state levels. Mark Jordan saw potential in Shreeve and coached her for free, helping her go on to win the Australian Youth Champion title several times.

Career

Speed sailing

In November 2005, Shreeve set a new world speed sailing record (A class) at 27.7 Knots (51.3 km/h) at Saintes Maries de la Mer Speed Canal. She topped this with a record of 33.05 (61.2 km/h) knots at Fuerteventura in late July, 2006.[2]

Bass Strait crossing

In March 2009, as an ambassador for the Life on the Edge Challenge , Shreeve announced her intention to windsurf across the Bass Strait - a body of water between the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania. The crossing would require her to cover approximately 250 km of ocean and she had hoped to complete the journey in 8–10 hours (this would have been a new record time). The crossing was attempted on Thursday 26 March 2009. Shreeve faced winds between 30 and 35 knots for 6 hours straight, often in unfavorable swells reaching 4m in height. After a total of 9 hours and 125 km, Shreeve was forced to abandon the attempt due to severe cramps and the onset of hypothermia.

Personal life

In the last few years, Allison Shreeve attracted reasonable attention for her success in the sport. Many newspapers came out empathizing with her, because, as many claimed, she had the looks, she had the medals to prove it, and she had the personality, yet she was not able to find a financial sponsor. Because of a lack of a sponsor, she had been forced to sleep in her car. An underlying reason is that windsurfing is very small in Australia.

In 2006, Allison Shreeve was featured on the American TV channel Nickelodeon showcasing her gear and telling the audience what windsurfing is like. Shreeve was featured in Who magazine, which reported her eating habits and how she keeps fit. She told Who that she had a 50-minute run, injury-prevention gym exercises, and 500 sit-ups per day. As for diet, she says she chooses salads, steak, vegetables, and occasional chocolate. She also advised people not to eat after 7 PM – three hours before you go to bed. She was featured in a full-length interview on Life FM. Initially however, because she was low profiled, she was ignored. She was sent many support messages through Life FM. Shreeve is a Christian.[3]

Results

2006

2005

Professional status

Sporting achievemenets

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Windsurfers take the breeze". The Age. 12 December 2005.
  2. ↑ "Shreeve Breaks World Record". Outdoor News Wire. 22 November 2005.
  3. ↑ "Allison Shreeve windsurfing testimony". Bible Society of NSW.
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