![\"IMG_5510\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_5510-700x500.jpg\")
K LEE PHONE HOME: “We did it JR…we did it…” The Phone call from,Kareena Lee to coach John Rodgers….Photo Courtesy: Channel 7 (Australia).<\/p><\/div>\n
And what was said between bronze medallist Kareena and Rodgers ( the man they call \u201cJR\u201d on the pool decks around Australia), the master coach who Lee entrusted her career to, when many thought she was all washed up?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did it JR….we did it…\u201d Lee shouted down the phone and as quick as a whip, Rodgers replied from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast: \u201cKareena….we were never in doubt…you swam the race to a tee..\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodgers, who sat his charge in a sauna for 30 minutes every day for 10 days to prepare her for the oppressive Tokyo conditions and then wrote her taper on a piece of paper, handing it to her before she boarded the plane in Darwin for her Olympic debut.<\/p>\n
With wife Jenny watching every stroke with her dedicated husband and the Master Coach, they enjoyed the best two hours of the Tokyo Games, the result? A precious bronze medal, a just reward for the thousands of kilometres they have swum over the past three-and-a-half years \u2013 and the many words of wisdom that stayed with her for every stroke of today\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all so excited…we are all still shaking…. brilliant to watch….,\u201d said Jenny.<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_5509\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/IMG_5509-700x500.jpg\")
BRONZED AUSSIE: Kareena Lee showing off her 10km marathon swim bronze medal in Tokyo today..Photo Courtesy: Australian Olympic Committee.<\/p><\/div>\n
The journey \u201cand it\u2019s just a journey\u201d says Rodgers, a journey that has had its ups and downs, with \u201cJR\u201d revealing how they overcame painful shoulders leading into the Games \u2013 and what they did to compensate and get her ready to race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got through it…..you know me I don\u2019t stop….in out, in out….if she couldn\u2019t swim for one session we would kick for 8 kilometres… she just kept going,\u201d said Rodgers, who said the pre Games camp in Darwin with Swimming Australia\u2019s Open Water Performance Manager Greg Shaw<\/strong> was perfect.<\/p>\n \u201cKareena and JR crafted a race plan that was executed to the stroke rate and the very second (of that race)….she did an amazing job,\u201d said Shaw, who with Australian team coach Chris Nesbit were running along the embankment urging Lee to the finish.<\/p>\n And the wonderful mix of \u201csomething old\u201d and \u201csomething new\u201d in technology as the master JR put the finishing touches to his 27-year-old charge\u2019s preparation.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote Kareena\u2019s taper on a piece of paper (and gave it to her before she boarded the plane) and then we talked on Facetime each day,\u201d said Rodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd (every afternoon) she would say \u201cJR I\u2019m feeling better and better and better\u2019 and I said \u2018just keep going mate….and it will come….just keep going the way we planned.\u201d<\/p>\n Rodgers said their 10-day Darwin camp was \u201cthe best camp we\u2019ve ever been on\u201d (and he has been on some in coaching career spanning some 50-odd years) praising Shaw for the job he did in setting up an ideal preparation<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a perfect 10 days from 18th<\/sup> to 28th<\/sup> of July, we would train in the Parap Pool and then go and sit in the sauna for 30 minutes each day.<\/p>\n Kareena Lee, with Susie O’Neill and coach John Rodgers at the handing over of a treasured ticket to the Tokyo and a debut rewarded in bronze – Photo Courtesy: Hanson Media.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThe Darwin people were fantastic…we have never been better looked after in our lives…it was a perfect preparation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe journey was long but hey to come home with a bronze medal is something special after three-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore she came to me they said \u2018give it away or find something else\u2019…..and I said welcome JR\u2019s rehab centre….and we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee admitted it would take time to sink in, saying:<\/em><\/p>\n “I don\u2019t really think I\u2019ve processed how it feels: it\u2019s just incredible. It was the goal going in to come out with a medal and doing it at my first Olympics is incredible,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n And On being hit by a fish during the race? <\/em>\u201cIt jumped up and hit me (on the chest). I didn\u2019t know what it was at first and I was like \u2018woah\u2019. I was watching them jump out before but I didn\u2019t think one would actually hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n On training for the conditions:<\/em> “We were expecting the water temperature to be about 31 degrees because that’s\u00a0what it was at the test event. I’ve been training in a pool that was 31 degrees and the last couple of weeks leading in I went to Darwin which is similar air temperature to here back in Australia so that’s how I prepared.”<\/p>\n And what\u2019s next for Kareena Lee and her master coach JR?<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t even raised it with Kareena,\u201d said Rodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think next year we\u2019ll probably go into the pool a bit…I think we can go a lot better at 1500m and the Commonwealth Games and the World Open Water are on the agenda….remember, it\u2019s only a journey…but hey, we\u2019re good at the journey…..\u201d<\/p>\n And how did coach Rodgers celebrate?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going out on the bike after all this……\u201d said Rodgers, a mad bike rider who survived life threatening heart surgery in 2019, but not even a brush with the almighty could keep him away from this special date with Olympic destiny.<\/p>\n As tough as they come, a bloke born and bred, growing up in Sydney on the streets of Maroubra and still out of the old school.<\/p>\n And will you go on the bike ride with a minder JR?<\/p>\n \u201cYeah…..me!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Olympics: Australia\u2019s Marathon Swimming Bronze Medallist Kareena Lee And A Magical Bond With Her 82-year-old Coach \u201cJR\u201d Moments after Queenslander Kareena Lee claimed Australia\u2019s first ever Olympic marathon 10km swimming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7938,"featured_media":449628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122077,122075],"tags":[34385,1237,4005,129115,7930,39125,14596],"class_list":["post-484591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-americas","category-oceania","tag-2020-tokyo-olympic-games","tag-australian-olympic-committee","tag-greg-shaw","tag-hanson-media","tag-john-rodgers","tag-kareena-lee","tag-susie-oneill"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n![\"Kareenaleesusieoneilljohnrodgers\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Kareenaleesusieoneilljohnrodgers-700x500.jpeg\")