Mission accomplished

Mission accomplished! I have been selected onto the Olympic team to compete in London!

I am thrilled to have achieved one of my goals that I have been working towards for many years. My first kayak coach always told me to dream big. The Olympics to a 14 year old kid almost seemed too big and impossible but I stuck with it, worked hard and now my dream is a reality! It hasn’t completely sunk in yet, I am very excited and looking forward to the next five months.

I will be racing the K4 500m event with my teammates Rachel Lovell (QLD), Hannah Davis (SA) and Lyndsie Fogarty (QLD). We met the selection criteria by winning both selection races at the national championships and Oceania championships. 

The national championships were held last week in Penrith at the regatta course used for the Sydney Olympic Games. I won three National titles over the week – K4 500m & 200m, K2 200m and a third place in the K1 200m.

The biggest event was the K4 500m race as we knew if we crossed the finish line first, there was a ticket to London waiting for us! I was feeling pretty confident going into the race but also felt the nerves which brought me back to reality. The start gates dropped and the race was on. We stuck to our race plan and worked well together. It felt great and we had really good boat run, we pushed through the pain and tried to gain as much distance as we could every stroke. We crossed the line convincingly ahead of the other crews and we all had big smiles on our faces. Relief. We did it! My family, friends and support staff we all at the finish area to congratulate us. My dad brought a bottle of champagne along so we could celebrate in style! (It was 9am…not too early to have a few sips!!).

I would like to send out a big THANKS to all the staff at the NSWIS who have helped me achieve my goals. I am a very proud NSWIS athlete with a fantastic support network around me.. thank you to everyone involved!

My next goal is to be standing on the top step of the Olympic podium in London.

It’s now time to refocus, set new challenges and train my butt off!! I say… bring it on!