WHILE many have had their eyes glued to television screens over the last week as Australia compete for Commonwealth Games glory in the Gold Coast, one local couple in particular have been screaming their support for an extra special person competing in the games.
Although kilometres away from the action, the Millicent grandparents have been proudly waving the Australian flag in suppport of their granddaughter as she battles it out in the pool.
They may be non-swimmers, Noel and Pat Seebohm are very proud of the efforts of their swimmer grand daughter Emily Seebohm, who won two gold medals for Australia at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast on Tuesday night.
The Seebohms were watching the poolside action on television in the lounge room of their Williams Road home as Emily won the 50 metre backstroke final and then promptly returned to the pool and swam a fast backstroke leg of the 4×100 medley relay.
Although thousands of kilometres separate Millicent and the Gold Coast, Pat was still calling out “go Em” as the 25-year-old Queenslander sped through the water.
While The South Eastern Times was at their home on Tuesday night, the interview was halted briefly to enable Pat and Noel to cheer on Emily’s boyfriend Mitch Larkin to victory in his swimming event.
On the eve of the event, Pat had sent a text with good wishes from the Seebohm clan.
“I congratulated Emily on what she had done already at the games and wished Mitch well in his races,” Pat said.
Noel said the couple takes a keen interest in the sporting achievements of all of their family members which extends to four children, 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
“We are equally proud of them,” he said.
Apart from his pride in Emily’s achievements on the international stage, Noel was happy to also speak well of another grandchild, Jordan Muhovics.
Last month, he was the club captain and club president of the Mount Burr United Cricket Club which won the premiership in the Millicent and District Cricket Association.
“Jordan is a good lad and comes and sees us every week,” he said.
Pat and Noel joked the Seebohm genes are not responsible for Emily’s prowess in the swimming pool.
“When her dad and our son John played league football in Adelaide with Glenelg, the players would undertake swimming sessions and they would say he was the worst of the lot,” Noel chuckled.
Tuesday night’s twin successes along with two other medals from this meeting have lifted Emily’s Commonwealth Games haul to 15.
This means she has joined retired swimming icon Susie O’Neil as Australia’s most successful Commonwealth Games swimmer.
Emily has also collected five Olympic medals in her career and plans to extend it to 2020 for the Tokyo Games.
In her post-swim media interviews, Emily spoke of her delight in winning the 50 metre event.
“I really wanted to come into this and win a gold medal for this crowd, because they have been bloody awesome this entire week,” Emily said.
