Caroline Buchanan is Australia’s leading female BMX and Mountain Biking cyclist, dominating national competitions for the last few years. Buchanan graduated from Erindale College in 2008 and since then has taken her career to the next level, representing Australia on the world stage.
Caroline Buchanan is a great ACTIVATOR for young people in the area, coming from the local area to being the best in her field in Australia.
Q1) What are your memories of being an active child?
Riding my bikes, climbing trees, building cubby houses, playing in the sandpit, swinging by my legs from the clothes line, gymnastics, playing soccer in winter on freezing cold Canberra mornings, Easter egg hunts in the park and trying to play golf with dad.
Q2) What did you enjoy the most and what did you enjoy the least about being an active kid?
Being active allowed me to meet and spend a lot of time with friends. Friends in sporting teams or out on family picnics/bike rides we always took friends along to play with. Definitely the least favorite part about always being active was getting swooped by magpies out playing in the yard.
Q3) Did your family do active things together?
Our family was always doing things together…bike rides around the lakes in Canberra, holidays to the beach and fishing, my brother mum and dad all did taekwondo together for many years, and my brother and dad both raced BMX with me.
Q4) Was healthy eating important in your family?
We never had any junk food in the house, no soft drinks, chips, lollies etc except for birthday parties. When I was a kid I didn’t know any different but I am very thankful now as not having been brought up on fatty, sugary foods I don’t crave them as an adult.
Q5) Now, how do you balance a busy yet healthy lifestyle?
Downtime and rest are very important, 10 hours of sleep a night, good time management and having a great support network (ACT Academy Of Sport, Cycling Australia, Layne Beachley Aim for the Stars, Sport Australia Hall Of Fame and the help and support of all my sponsors)
Q6) Why do you believe it is important for kids to be physically active and eat healthy?
I believe kids that have a physically active childhood and eat healthy have the fundamental building blocks for a healthy life. Being physically active is good for their bodies and mental wellbeing. It worries me to think that my generation and younger will not live to the same age as our parents simply because of bad lifestyle choices.
Q7) As an ACTIVATOR for the Physical Activity Foundation, how do you hope to make a difference to the future health of our Canberra kids?
Looking back I was a geeky, gawky looking kid that sport gave a focus to. I made a lot of friends through sport that have remained to this day. I hope that kids can see my success as an ordinary local Canberra girl, and realise that they also can aspire to bigger things. I always wanted to represent Australia, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t or couldn’t. At the very least I hope I can encourage kids to eat well, sleep well, and get outside and enjoy some of what Canberra has to offer.
Q8) What is your ACTIVATOR message to Canberra kids?
Riding a bike is like driving a car…. you need to put petrol in the engine and look after it. My body is my engine and I need to put good healthy food in it, exercise it often to keep my engine riding fast and look after it by getting lots of sleep. Also to BELIEVE and you can ACHIEVE.
December 5th, 2014
