University of Brighton saves the day for elite Aussie athletes

Matthew Hussey and Will Lewis both study Property and Construction Management at RMIT University in Melbourne, and were faced with the dilemma of missing out on the British Milers Club races due to clashes with their course exams.

The British Milers Club races take place in the UK, Belgium and Germany and would provide Matthew and Will with important exposure to assist with sponsorship as they move into a professional athletics career and hopefully national team selection and representation. Staying in Melbourne to sit their exams would have caused them to miss many of the races, and the cost of travelling to the UK later would have been prohibitive.

Matthew Hussey (left) and Will Lewis

Matthew Hussey and Will Lewis writing exams

Training partners Matthew and Will contacted multiple universities in the UK to request an invigilator so that they could sit their exams in the UK and also race. They received no luck until the University of Brighton stepped in and both are at the university’s Eastbourne campus this week to sit their four exams.

Senior lecturer Simon Green from the university’s School of Sport and Health Sciences is invigilating their exams. “We couldn’t have been more delighted to help Matthew and Will,” Simon said. “We have lots of elite athletes studying at Brighton and we know that both sport and study are incredibly important to them.

“As I knew I would be in my marking period, and would therefore be able to sit with them while they took their exams, I didn’t hesitate to say yes!”

Matthew and Will said: “We are so glad that Simon responded to our email as some Universities didn’t even reply. This has allowed us to have a full European season and we really appreciate the help.”

You can watch Matthew and Will in Manchester last year in the British Milers Club A race 1500m.

We wish Matthew and Will lots of success for the race season and with their exams too.