OLYMPICS - ALUMNI SHOWCASE

Ex BSC Student, Sarah Hawe, rows for Australia in the Paris 2024 Olympics

Sarah Hawe, a Brighton Secondary student from 2004, recently attended the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where she rowed in the Australian Women’s 8 at La Stade Nautique, just outside of Paris.  She was supported there by her parents as well as hundreds of other Australian fans.

The women's eight have been training for the last 3 years since the Tokyo Olympics and in more recent months have been located in a small town in Italy, Gavirate, situated on Lake Varese.  This is where the Australian Institute of Sport have a large training facility catering for several Australian sporting teams.  Rowing training is intense with 3 x 1.5 hour sessions, 6 days a week.

At the Olympics, the Australian crew progressed through the heats to the repechage and then on to the final on Saturday 3 August.  The women rowed their best time of the games and came in fourth, 1.4 seconds behind the third-place getter, Great Britain.

They were all obviously disappointed that they did not win a medal but their experience at the Olympics has been mind blowing.  As Olympians, they returned to Australia for a hero's welcome at Sydney Airport before returning to their respective homes for a well-earned rest.

(Photo attached of Sarah with her parents Jan and David)