5 August 2021 | Sean O'Kane

15,721km.

That’s the journey that Victorian Eloise Swarbrick will make from Hawkesdale Victoria to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to play College Tennis for the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders.

Swarbrick began her tennis journey at the Gardens Caravan Park in Port Fairy, where she first picked up a racquet playing with her older siblings in the Summer.

“I first picked up a racquet when I was 5 and thought it was a pretty cool sport, then I started gradually hitting a lot more. Ever since I can remember I’ve been hitting with my family. Living out in the country that’s what you do on the weekend, pick up a racquet, and that’s where my love of tennis and passion for it really started.”

Swarbrick is proud to come from Hawkesdale, a town situated 40 minutes from Warrnambool in the South West of Victoria, with a population of just over 200 people.

“The community has about 30 or 40 houses, a post office, a rural store and a tennis court, living in a small community you have a lot of support, everyone in the community is like your family. The local tennis court was asphalt – when I was little I was used to the ball bouncing a metre above my head!”

Having played many sports from a young age including Basketball, Netball and Athletics it was Tennis that Swarbrick pursued, representing the South-West in Regional Team Events and the Victorian State Team.

“All of the sports I’ve played from a young age (netball, basketball and athletics) have helped me improved my tennis including being light on your feet and doing short, sharp sprints. But I chose tennis because there was a pathway.”

The pathway for Swarbrick began at the Tennis Victoria 10/u Wayne Arthurs Cup, followed by the 13/u Foundation, 15/u Minter McNamee Cup, 17/u and representing Victoria. Swarbrick also followed the schools’ tennis pathway through School Sport Victoria which comprised of being state schools champion in Grade 5 and 6 right through to being in the 18/u Pizzey Cup in 2019. Additionally, Swarbrick began playing junior pennant when she was 8 at Warrnambool Lawn Tennis Club before playing full time until 16 years old.

“I loved representing the south-west and Victorian schools’ teams and playing in a team environment, playing in those matches is such an important thing because its great for your growth, you respect the game more and I’ve made lots of friendships along the way. Having a team around makes you feel comfortable and confident on court, especially when I played for Victoria.”

Swarbrick then started training at the National Academy at Tennis Australia and followed a dedicated tennis and school schedule which incorporated 21 hours of driving per week across Victoria from Hawkesdale to Melbourne.

“Pre-Covid on Monday I’d go to school, head down to Melbourne on Monday Night, then train on Tuesday and do national academy, I’d try and fit another training session in at Kooyong on Tuesday afternoon then head home. Then do school on Wednesday (back in Warrnambool), then Thursday afternoon would be National Academy training, so we’d come down to Melbourne for that, then Friday it depended on the school schedule but sometimes I’d train at Kooyong in the squads.”

“My school, Emmanuel College, were fantastic with my classes, they did a lot of my work online, sometimes I’d zoom into the classes before we had all of this zooming now! I loved going to school because you could have a break from the tennis side or the sporting side of things and you could hang out with your friends, it was a nice balance of school, social and tennis.”

Following this packed schedule, Swarbrick was deciding what to do next, and that’s when College Tennis became an option.

“I learned about college tennis and thought that’s where I wanted to go and where I want to be. I didn’t really know much about college, I thought they just existed in American movies and that was about it!”

“If you’re naturally talented, you can go through the pathway with tennis. But I’m looking forward to the college pathway because you can rely on the degree and after your tennis and you have something to go back to and I think that’s why I was so eager to go in that direction.”

Swarbrick, with support of her family then set out to find a College Tennis program in the United States that best suited her. This involved sending footage of her matches and researching the different programs available.

“It was a long process, it took about two years, but I chose Middle Tennessee because of Coach Tayo (Tayo Bailey-Duvall). Coach Tayo was so relaxed, which made me relaxed and that’s the relationship that you want to have with your coach, because you’re spending nearly 24/7 with them on court. It sounded like such a great school to go to.”

Swarbrick and Bailey-Duvall connected straight away, sharing their love of the country lifestyle and after promoting the opportunities that Middle Tennessee would provide, Swarbrick signed her letter of intent in February 2021.

“When I was talking to Coach Tayo for the first time she said we own a dairy farm so you can go down and milk some cows if you’d like, and that’s what got me to be honest!”

“I know that it’s (Tennessee) full of country music, as soon as I heard the word country I thought that sounds like home and I’ve heard the community is welcoming and friendly and it’s a great environment. Also, I do chat a lot so if anyone is up for a chat it’ll be the country people!”

Bailey-Duvall was also understanding of the situation that Swarbrick was in, knowing that as a potential student-athlete you’re talking to many other coaches and schools, but her advice to Swarbrick was to do what you want to do. Once signed, the other girls in the team were just excited to quickly welcome Swarbrick to Murfreesboro.

“I’ve been talking to the girls in my team and they all seem so down to earth, they’re so eager to get to know me and I’m eager to get to know them and play tennis with them over the next four years.”

“That’s the best thing about college tennis, everyone comes from different backgrounds and walks of life; people from America, South Africa, India, and sharing our stories and knowledge of tennis being such a worldwide sport – I think we can all help each other improve our tennis too.”

The college pathway provides on court opportunities for Swarbrick, but also opportunities off the court. As part of the college tennis program, the student-athlete is required to select subjects and eventually a degree to pursue in the classroom.

“I’ve grown up in a teaching environment, Mum’s a teacher, Dad used to be a teacher and my sister’s a teacher – so I’ll most likely do PE (Physical Education) teaching and Science. The other area I’m interested in is working with athletes, either doing physiotherapy or occupational therapy, but I’ll talk to my course supervisors when I start to choose my subjects.”

Swarbrick has never been to America before and will leave in the middle of August 2021. Reaching out to the network of Aussie college tennis players in Victoria who have either been through a college tennis program or are currently experiencing it has helped enormously.

“I talked to Josh Charlton a little bit, he’s at Oregon (University) and Jasmin Starr at the University of Texas. I also spoke to Kate Maree Barnes who went to Clemson University. We played Pennant together back at home, she played college tennis and got a teaching degree and loved it.”

Another familiar Victorian and friend that has played with and against Swarbrick is fellow Kooyong player Amy Stevens. Stevens signed just before Swarbrick at Vanderbilt University in Nashville – just 40 minutes away from Middle Tennessee. The pair will line up against each other in January as part of the 2021-22 season.

“Amy played for Barwon and I played for South-West so we’ve been playing each other since 10/u Wayne Arthurs Cup. We were really competitive when we were younger but we’re friends now and having someone just up the road is like having family!”

“Amy had signed before me at Vanderbilt and in the next few tournaments we played she said right, Middle Tennessee, El, you’re going there!”

“I’m the only Aussie in any other sports teams (Men & Women) so it’s nice to have Amy just up the road. It’ll be great to check in with another Aussie to make it feel like home.”

Before leaving Australia, Swarbrick will have a strict program lined up as she starts her college routine. The long days will have Swarbrick doing 6:00am gym sessions, on court hitting, conditioning, stretching and back out on court in the afternoon. In addition to taking classes and studying.

“I’ll be practicing daily at Kooyong, at the National Tennis Centre (in Melbourne) and doubles practice at Hampton, but off court I’ll be doing conditioning and trying to get as fit as possible in Australia.”

“I want to have my level of tennis where I want it to be for college and prepare for the daily schedule, I think getting in a routine which you’ll be doing for the next four years is really helpful.”

“Plus, Coach Tayo said as soon as you get off the plane you’ve got a fitness test!”