Before Ian Thorpe touched the pool wall in first, and before Cathy Freeman completed her iconic gold medal winning lap, students from around Australia and Oceania tested the waters and trialled the track at the Pacific School Games.

Last Monday, champion swimmer Thorpe, a product of Milperra Public School and East Hills Boys High School, joined other sporting luminaries such as sprinter Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, rugby player Chloe Dalton, father and son canoeists Daniel and Jackson Collins and swimmer Tayla Martin at Newington Public School.

There they chatted with students about their Olympic journey and reminisced ahead of the 25^th anniversary of Sydney 2000.

But some four months before those iconic Olympic Games had even started, the Department was busy with its own international event.

Bringing around 4,000 school athletes from across Australia and countries in the Pacific Rim, the Pacific School Games built on a legacy that had been established from the inaugural event in Brisbane in 1982.

Yet everyone knew there’d be much more at stake on this occasion.

“We were very much a test event for the Sydney Olympics,” the Pacific School Games Co-ordinator for the department, Ross Morrison, recalled.

“It worked out pretty well. There was a big opening ceremony with 80,000 spectators and 20,000 performers involved. About 2,000 kids got billeted out to families; it was a massive event”.

Featuring athletics, swimming, gymnastics and diving, the Pacific School Games used a number of the core facilities that would be in place for Sydney 2000.

It would be the largest school sport event ever held in Australia, and the department would work closely with the Sydney Olympic Organising Committee (SOCOG) to flag any issues that may impact the Olympics.

“The department was fantastic. It was so well handled. All the schools got behind it,” Mr Morrison said, noting the department went on to receive numerous awards from the International Olympic Committee for its handling of the Pacific School Games.

“It was a wonderful time for our teachers; The Premier’s Sporting Challenge also came out of the event too”.

While busying for a home Olympics at that stage, Thorpe had cut his teeth at earlier versions of the Pacific School Games himself.

On Monday he regaled students at Newington Public School with tales of his many years of toil and training up to 30 hours a week while balancing his time at school.

“I went to a regular public school,” he said. “The only limitations are what other people will tell you”.

As well as celebrating the Games themselves – held just up the road at Olympic Park – Monday’s event was another instalment of Olympics Unleashed where athletes share their stories of inspiration and motivation with students.

The program has already engaged with more than 128,000 NSW public school students across 906 visits and proved to be another big hit at Newington Public School.

“Our students were absolutely buzzing, hearing incredible stories straight from legendary Olympians and asking questions that fired up their passion for sport and success,” Principal Greg Weeks said.

“We’re beyond proud to have hosted this unforgettable event that’s lighting the way for our young people to chase their dreams!”