Lumen Winter 2016 - Flipbook - Page 11
Sport the perfect balance for study
M
ad-keen cyclist Natalie Redmond
recently travelled to Europe to cycle
in mud and snow for six weeks.
It’s all part of the fun of cyclo-cross and
Natalie was there to compete in the World
Cup and World Championships.
The engineer and law graduate is
passionate about her sport and when
she found there was no cycling club at
the University of Adelaide she linked
with a couple of friends and started one.
That was in 2009 and after 18 months
the club was officially affiliated with
Adelaide University Sport where she
was awarded a coveted Blue.
Natalie was vice-president of the club
during her time at the University and has
seen its membership grow to between
30 and 40 members today.
“I really felt that I was contributing
something through my involvement in the club
as well as gaining all the benefits,” said Natalie.
“When you’re at university I think you’ve
got to have something almost of equal
importance to your study, whether it’s sport
or some other interest, otherwise you can
lose perspective. You get what you give.
“Of course there’s also the social benefit
of being involved in a club.”
Natalie is now an acoustic and
mechanical engineer at AECOM in
Adelaide and still finds time to cycle about
10 hours a week on trails and roads.
She competes nationally in Australia in
road racing and also cross country cyclocross which is becoming more popular
here. “We do it in Australia but it’s nowhere
near as muddy as Europe,” said Natalie.
Choosing between golf and medicine
P
ain management specialist David
Cherry has the rare distinction of
representing South Australia at
golf, football and bridge.
It’s an unusual, if not unique,
combination that demonstrates his ability
and determination to succeed at the
highest level in all of his many interests.
The Associate Professor was awarded
an AM in this year’s Australia Day Honours
for his service in two of these pursuits –
as an academic and researcher in pain
management and his executive roles in golf.
As a young man David found himself
having to choose between the two –
professional golf or medicine.
“All the people I played against turned
pro but I decided to finish medicine and
that was the best decision I ever made,”
he said. “I did think about becoming a
professional golfer at one stage but never
really seriously – medicine is a much more
reliable source of income.”
David graduated with a medical degree
from the University of Adelaide in 1971
and went on to specialise in anaesthesia.
He was director of the pain management
unit at the Flinders Medical Centre for
27 years and then convenor of Medical
Panels SA until 2015.
His sporting prowess is just as
impressive. He was competitive at a high
level in both football and cricket but really
shone at golf, a
sport in which he
is still very active
as a player and
an international
administrator.
When Lumen
spoke to David he
had just returned
from Augusta after
refereeing at the
US Masters, a
role he’s held for the past five years. He
is currently Chairman of the Asia Pacific
Golf Confederation responsible for helping
to organise major golf tournaments
throughout the region.
The University of Adelaide | Alumni Magazine 9
