Scotch College

Scotch College: Great Scot: Ischia finds the right medicine

Ischia finds the right medicine

Joseph Ischia ('91) was an outstanding runner at Scotch.

At the age of nine, he won a Victorian junior 400m title and remained unbeaten for the next nine years over 800m and 1500m in State, national and Pacific Games competition.

Joe has continued to excel since leaving school, winning Victorian and Australian senior 800m titles. He was rewarded with Australian selection for the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur last August.

Outside running, Joe has pursued a medical degree. Medicine and athletics have not always been a happy marriage. 'Uni was getting in the way of my running, my running was getting in the way of my medicine. I went through a really bad patch and it was getting me down,' he said. 'Then I got some advice from a good friend who said it didn't matter what you did, as long as you put everything into it.'

Joe's lack of time for running has, however, led to injury. When he trains, he runs fast and hard and tends to overdo it. In July, he had virtually assured his clinical dean at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, at the time he sought a week off to prepare for and attend the trials in Brisbane, that he had little hope of making the Games team.

After finishing second in the trials, however, he had to return and ask for more time off after he was selected. Competing in the Games would cause Joe to miss three weeks of lectures, and there was his surgery phase to consider - without it, he would not pass sixth year medicine.

Accordingly, a deal was done. While the rest of the Australian team watched television and complained of boredom at the Darwin pre-meet camp, Joe spent four hours a day fulfilling the surgery phase of his degree. The deal with his medical faculty was that he could join the athletics squad in Darwin as long as he continued his medical studies. Lecture notes were faxed to him as he worked daily at Darwin Hospital.

Joe admitted in Darwin that he was more worried about passing his exams than running overseas for the first time in a major event. Competing in the Commonwealth Games is, after all, not a matter of life and death.

Postscript: Joe ran in the 800m in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, he did not reproduce his magnificent Australian form and was eliminated in a semi-final. However, Sydney 2000 beckons.

Athletics club looks to summer season

Old Scotch Athletic Club has commenced summer track and field competition at the Box Hill track on Saturday afternoons. The club competes in graded open and junior age competition and so athletes of all ages and standards are welcome. Coaching advice and social events are also offered to club members. Contact Pete or Andrew Simm or Mark Purvis for more information.