Darcie Morton was selected to the 2018 Shadow Winter Olympic Team while in the midst of completing her Year 12 studies. She also spends up to 6 months overseas training and competing. Darcie has just turned 18 years old. How does she do it?

“For the last 3 years I have chosen to complete my schooling by correspondence through Distance Education Victoria, which is based in Melbourne. This means I’ve been able to split Years 11 and 12 into 2 years each, as it would have been too difficult to do more than 3 subjects (including a language) at a time.”

“This enabled me to continue to train full time and have the ability to focus on my training and competitions both overseas and in Australia. In the Australian winter, I based myself at the snowfields and then in October each year, I travelled overseas to train in preparation for my races. I’d spend 6 months overseas and return to Australia around the middle of March. This was possible because all my subjects and classes were online and I did not have to actually attend the school unless I was doing laboratory practicals.”

While the advantages of studying via distance education has been very beneficial for Darcie who along with Jillian Colebourn is one of Australia’s two top ranked IBU female athletes, there are also some downsides.

“ The disadvantage of studying by correspondence is that your learning is very much self-regulated. There are no teachers telling you to hand your work in on time or even simply there to help you each day like in at a normal school. So you have to be very disciplined with how you manage your time to coordinate study, learning, training and just everyday life.”

“Having completed Yr 12 Chemistry and German last year I am now in my second year of Year 12 studying Biology, Maths and English.

Darcie will finish her HSC studies this year and has set herself some very aspiring goals including qualification to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games over the next 4 years.

“My short term goals for this year include on-going qualifying to the IBU Cup circuit for 2018-19 with an aim of possibly qualifying onto World Cup. At World Juniors, I am aiming for a top 30 result at in my first year as a Junior (U21), which builds on the 3 top 30 results I achieved at World Juniors as a Youth (U19) athlete last season.”

“My long term goals are to eventually become more competitive (top 25) on the IBU Cup circuit and be able to continuously maintain the required points to stay on World Cup. This would hopefully lead to my 4year goal of representing Australia at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. “

Great work Darcie and we wish you all the best in completing your HSC this year, your on-going career as an athlete and your aim to represent Australian in 2022.