27 March; Amber Kerwin
An estimated 3,500 people converged on the Melbourne University Sport precinct at Parkville last Wednesday for the first ever Super Sport event open to all students, staff and community members.
The free festival celebrated all things sport, fitness, and wellness and catered to a vibrantly diverse crowd. The various activation's and sporting demos showcased the breadth of facilities and resources available for University of Melbourne students through MU Sport and their partners.
“It was magnificent to see so many people visiting the precinct and taking part in the day. We really had something for everyone in the event agenda: Whether visitors were sport lovers or sport curious, it was clear how much fun everyone was having.” Commented MU Sport General Manager Jean-Luc Garlick.
The hit of the day was undoubtedly the presence of a real F1 race car and two simulator machines. At one point in the afternoon, guests lined up for 1.5 hours to have their turn on the simulator and go into the draw for the top prize of two marquee tickets to the Grand Prix valued at $6,000.
Zining Xu, Master of Mechanical Engineering, took out the fastest hot lap time on the F1 Simulator clocking a staggering 1:18.699. What makes this time even more impressive is that it is only 1 second off the professional driver times who will be competing in next weekend's Grand Prix in Melbourne.
“It is my dream job to be an Engineer for a Formula 1 team. I am so happy to have won such an awesome prize and cannot wait to take my girlfriend to the Grand Prix this weekend.” Said Zining who is also a senior member of the MUR MotorSports club.
Capping off the afternoon, it was standing room only for our men’s and women’s University Basketball team’s first home game of the year against RMIT. Both teams put on stellar performances maintaining their unbeaten run for the 2023 season.
Leading the barracking in the stands were cheer-leading teams from both Melbourne University and RMIT who performed some amazing routines for the assembled crowds. Rather than a ‘Bring it on’ type battle the cheer teams were full of love and respect for each other with the RMIT group posting on social media: “OBSESSED! – United off the court “Frenemies” Thank you for being the loveliest! We had the best time.”
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