INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL STUDENTS MEET DOLPHINS

KUALA LUMPUR, August 1: Students from the Australian International School in Malaysia met their idols today when they attended the Telstra Dolphins' team training session at the Bukit Jalil pool in Kuala Lumpur.

The 43-member Beijing bound team took time out from their training schedule two days before they depart for the Olympic Games to meet 55 children from the school's swim team.

The school, which has 550 students, of which 35 per cent are Australian, is made up of children from 30 nations, many living in Kuala Lumpur after their families moved to the city for business.

Team swim captain's Gaia Miller-Foote, 17, and Rory Stanford, 16, were amongst those that greeted the Australian team and both said they were touched by the chance to meet their heroes.

"It's a great opportunity for us because it's not everyday that everyone gets to meet the Australian swim team," Stanford said.

"It's been good and hopefully we can pick up a few things while we are here as well."

Grant Hackett was a unanimous favourite of the pair but both agreed all of the Australians were inspirational.

"I've never met anyone this famous before and it's such an awesome opportunity, really inspiring as well," Miller-Foote said.

Miller-Foote and Stanford made a presentation to Head Coach Alan Thompson and passed on a message to the entire team.

"Good luck, I'm sure you'll do great and we'll be cheering you on back here," Miller-Foote said.

Breaststroker Christian Sprenger, who will compete in his first Olympics in Beijing, said meeting the students added to his own experiences.

"It's pretty cool to know that the school knew we were here and were able to come along and see us," Sprenger said.

"It definitely makes the whole experience a bit more real and if we can get around to see the kids and mean something to them it's pretty special.

"I hope that they can watch us swim on television and remember the hard work that we have done and the path we have taken to get to that level.

"They have watched some of us train and seen that the good things don't just happen straight away, you've really got to work at it and hopefully they've got some of that inspiration from us.

"The parts on television are the end result of a lot of time and preparation."

Melissa Gorman, who will swim the 800m freestyle and 10 kilometre open water double, said she enjoyed meeting the kids and appreciated their support.

"It's great to know we have the support of all these school kids and they seem to be enjoying hanging with us," Gorman said.

"Knowing that all these kids look up to us and they want us to perform well at the Olympic Games is very exciting."

The Australian team will wind up its staging camp tomorrow before flying into Beijing on Sunday.