Queensland Olympians: Things you didn’t know about 20 of our sporting champions
Did you know Ariarne Titmus is a pavlova whiz, swimmer Zac Stubblety-Cook was once scared of water and rower Caitlin Cronin was a rep footballer? Learn more about 20 Queensland Olympic stars here.
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They are Queensland’s sporting finest who will fly Australia’s flag with pride at the Olympic Games starting in Tokyo this month.
But what don’t you know about some of our leading sportswomen and men?
ARIARNE TITMUS, swimming
Ariarne Titmus has that ruthless streak which all the greats possess, an iron willed determination and focus which makes her a champion.
There could be an eclipse darken the skies above St Peters Western pool, but it would not disturb her training focus. She is tough, but she also has a softer side.
If you ever attend the QGSSSA swim meet, you will see Titmus standing on the pool deck, greeting swimmers from St Peters Lutheran College as they leave the water following a race - win, lose or draw.
And when she is relaxing at home, Titmus is also a whiz in the kitchen. “She makes the world’s best pav (pavlova),’’ said her dad Steve.
CAITLIN CRONIN (rowing)
Did you know Ashgrove’s Caitlin Cronin was a true sporting all-rounder as a child?
One of Queensland’s new Olympians, Caitlin, 26, will be stroke of the quadruple scull which includes fellow Queenslander, Warwick rowing product Harriet Hudson (Somerville House alumni).
She first started rowing at All Hallows’ School after being encouraged into the sport by her father, Tim.
But there was a time when rowing was just one of the many sports she participated in.
Indeed she had “unquenchable zest for life and boundless energy to pursue anything she set her heart and mind too,’’ according to her mother Tracey.
Representative women’s football, tennis, ballet and gymnastics - life was never dull for Cronin or her parents on Wednesday sporting afternoons or at QGSSSA Saturday morning matches.
Indeed she was so good at football that she made a Brisbane representative side that played in a south east Qld competition in 2010.
Having parked rowing to one side, she returned to the sport as a year 11 student where she was in the All Hallows’ rowing Second VIII.
With an appetite for success, Cronin’s work ethic was rewarded a year later with a place on the All Hallows’ First VIII.
She continued to refine her rowing schools post-school, linking with renowned coach Peter Howard at the Brisbane & GPS rowing club.
Cronin started to be identified by state youth selectors, including a Queensland team which claimed a national bronze medal, and then progressed to the senior women’s eight and onto the Australian under 23 team.
Her career on the up when, in 2018, Cronin represented Australia’s senior team at World Cup and World Championships regattas.
As if the life of a rower was not gruelling enough, Cronin succumbed to a hip injury in 2019.
But with the dream of possibly representing Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Cronin surged through rehabilitation.
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Olympian Richard Powell, head coach at the University of Queensland Boat Club which is now Cronin’s club, said Cronin had worked incredibly hard to get herself to the Olympics after the injury.
“She got herself back into contention from adversity to be in the game,’’ said Powell.
“She has worked really hard and has come a long way which is full credit to her.’’
Her parents added: “The pathway has not always been an easy one, but her tenacity, discipline, passion, courage and willingness to tackle challenges along the way have held her in good stead and inspired others along the way.
“We are so incredibly proud and so incredibly happy for you - it brings us great joy to stand alongside you as you embrace your Olympic dream.’’
PAUL ADAMS (shooting)
When Australian Skeet shooter Paul Adams steps onto the Asaka Shooting Range at the Tokyo Olympic Games in July, he will proudly carry the words of his late grandfather tattooed above his heart while his key message will burn in his ears.
It was Adams’ late grandfather, Ian Mathieson, who introduced him to Shooting as a 10-year old boy on a rural property in western Queensland.
As a mark of his respect and admiration for his grandfather, the 2016 Rio Olympian had his words “One at a Time” and his initials “IWM” permanently etched on his body before he passed away in December 2017.
“That was his mantra. He always told me that,” said Adams. “I tell myself that every time I go into shoot. It’s quite funny how many people say it all the time. They don’t know I’ve got the tattoo and I kind of chuckle to myself when I hear it.”
It’s a simple philosophy Adams has followed throughout his career ever since making his international debut when winning the silver medal at the 2011 Oceania Championships.
GEORGIA GODWIN (gymnastics)
Did you know the thought of performing before her Japanese grandfather inspired gymnast Georgia Godwin to strive for Tokyo Olympic Games selection?
Godwin, a Moreton Bay College alumni from the Delta Gymnastics Club, was one of the first six or seven Australians to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2019.
When Godwin was training in her comeback from a serious ankle injury sustained in 2018, the thought of being on the mat in Tokyo with her grandpa in the audience lifted her.
“When it was hard during training, I thought about my grandpa and that I want to do this for him.
“I don’t think many people know my background of being Japanese,’’ said Godwin, who won three medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
RHYS HOWDEN (water polo)
Did you know four-time Olympian Rhys Howden followed in his fathers footsteps to play international water polo after initially dreaming of becoming a Wallaby.
“As a youngster I played rugby until I was 14 and I envisaged myself being a Wallaby before a water polo player,’’ said Howden, who is an old boy of rugby union stronghold St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace. “I did not start water polo until I was 13.’’
The Brisbane Barracudas star then revealed when he first broke into the Australian team, he had followed in the footsteps of his father, Phil, who captained the Great Britain water polo team. “So water polo was in the blood,’’ he said.
RENEE TAYLOR (hockey)
When you are good enough to make the Australian hockey team, one presumes you would have always been a superstar in the junior ranks.
Not so for Everton Hills-raised Renee Taylor, a Clayfield College alumni.
Indeed Olympic selection is extra special for Taylor because she was not a child prodigy.
She did not make her first state under age side until under-18 level.
Yet within 18 months of that achievement she was a Hockeyroo, a rare bird in that she played for Australia before she represented the Queensland seniors.
Taylor was a Gold Coast Commonwealth Games silver medallist and believed setbacks she received during her early career in not making representative teams steeled her for the challenges ahead.
GENEVIEVE GREGSON (athletics)
Did you know when Australian 3000m steeplechase and 10,000m running gun Genevieve Gregson (nee LaCaze) was a child, she dreamt of competing at the Australia’s Olympic and Commonwealth Games after being inspired by the welcome home parades.
“I can still remember going to the Olympic and Comm Game parades in the city to meet all the medallists from some of the past championships,’’ she said.
“I would be in awe of any Olympian I met and would do anything to get something autographed.
“I didn’t know I would come this far with my running but I do remember wishing that one day I would love to be just like those athletes and run for my country.’’
BRONWEN KNOX (water polo)
Did you know the great Bronwen Knox was inspired into the sport after attending the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as a schoolgirl spectator with her family.
“We drove down. The five of us plus an exchange student from France,’’ said Knox, who was convinced that she and her siblings “did our parents head in’’ during the 1000km trip south from Brisbane to Sydney.
“We saw everything from volleyball to hockey to swimming.’’
“We only got tickets the night before the actual game,’’ North Brisbane Polo Bears junior said.
“Mum (Helen) asked me if I wanted to go and she was sitting on the phone waiting to see if we could get tickets.’’
So compelling was the contest, it inspired Knox, a St Paul’s School alumni, to alter her sporting pathway from swimming to water polo.
ZAC STUBBLETY-COOK (swimming)
Australian swimmer Zac Stubblety-Cook now stands tall in his sport, but the graceful breaststroke exponent came from humble beginnings around the pool.
Indeed he was actually scared of the water when he first encountered the Wellers Hill State School pool as a child.
It is fair to say Stubblety-Cook, who lives in Nathan, was not a water baby.
“Mum probably threw me in for water safety,’’ Stubblety-Cook said.
“But I was scared of swimming.
“I have told kids I can still remember swimming the half lap and closing my eyes and head butting the wall,’’ the Anglican Church Grammar School past student said.
It is a far cry from his current standing in swimming.
CASSIEL ROUSSEAU (Diving)
Did you know young Australian diving ace Cassiel Rousseau was an extremely reluctant starter in the sport after initially excelling in gymnastics.
The Cleveland State Community College and Mansfield State School alumni said after growing tired of gymnastics, his mother insisted he had to be active in sport - so she suggested he try diving.
“At first I hated the thought of doing diving,’’ Rousseau said.
“But mum still wanted me to do a sport.
“I hated the thought of diving but my sister was trialling for diving and mum said: ‘You had better go’. She did not force me to do it, but she really wanted me to give it a shot.
“And after that I trialled and I really loved it.
Cassiel has praised the support he received from Robertson gymnastics coaches, the husband and wife team of Yuriy and Olean Stepchenkov, had contributed to his fast tracking through diving.
“I thank my coaches back at Robertson who helped me transition and who pushed me to do this and encouraged me,’’ Rousseau said. “They had no regrets about me leaving.’’
LIDIIA IAKOVLEVA (gymnastics)
Aged 17, she is one of the babies of the Australian Olympic team after winning her place in the highly competitive Rhythmic Gymnastics field.
Did you know she was a sucker for eggs on toast with halloumi and avocado of a morning and lulled herself to sleep at night reading Jane Harper books.
“Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day,’’ she said. Lidiia also said she liked to break up the day with a nice walk in the bayside sunshine.
The youngster will be having a particularly special Olympic debut as her mother Iuliia will be by her side - as coach.
ABBY ANDREWS (water polo)
Did you know Abby Andrews’ first foray into the sport was being selected for the River City 13Cs.
Andrews, a left hander, will compete in her first Olympics after a tense, drawn out campaign caused by the delay in the Tokyo Olympics.
To think she was a reluctant starter in the sport and her first match was in the Cs, of all things.
“I did not even want to play, but my parents pretty much ushered me into it as my sister was playing,’’ Andrews recalled. “And they knew I loved swimming.
“Then I discovered I could channel my passion for sport and anger into such a physical and brutal sport and I thought this sport is for me.
“I was still not amazing at the start at Grammar (year 8, Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School), but I started making junior squads, youth squads and stepping up my confidence.’’
By the time she was in Year 10, Andrews was in the Australian Youth team.
As a 17-year-old in 2018 she progressed into the senior Australian squad for a series against Italy, playing all of three minutes, and then was capped by did not get in the pool against the USA.
ASHLEY MOLONEY (athletics)
The Logan City resident is an athletic freak capable of snaring a medal at his first Olympic Games.
Few outside of athletics have head of him, but honestly, if he puts it all together and performs to his ability, a podium finish is possible, and a top 10 finish a formality.
So what gives this 193cm tall athletic thrashing machine his fuel for the day?
On a typical training day - which is most days - Moloney loves to start his day with a sunshine punch juice, raw oats and yoghurt.
For lunch, the Heritage Park local and Brisbane Boys College old boy digs into a big bowl of rice, vegetables and a sauce and for dinners enjoys his steamed vegetables and chops.
CHELSEA FORKIN (softball)
Did you know that Chelsea Forkin was once an elite baseball player.
The Redcliffe SHS teacher is one of the senior team leaders in the Australian softball team bound for Tokyo, but there was a time when another bat and ball sport dominated her sporting life.
She was so good at baseball, that she was one of only two girls at the under 14 Australian National Baseball Championships, one of only two girls competing. She later represented Australia at the Women’s Baseball World Series, ironically in Japan.
But at the age of 16, Forkin left the sport of baseball to play softball where she would also shine.
TOM NEILL (swimming)
The Australian Dolphins newcomer played rugby at St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace before a badly broken leg almost demanded he head in the direction of swimming.
He was playing No. 8 and captain of the Year 8 As when he sustained the injury.
“That is when I did turn and thought I would give this sport (swimming) a go,’’ the 18-year-old Brookfield resident said.
Initially, aged 15, the Damien Jones-coached Rackley Centenary swimmer made his first national teams when he competed at the Junior Pan Pacs in Fiji.
It was around that time former swimming coach Doug Frost observed Neill at a carnival and said to his coach: “Your kid can make it with a technique like that.’’
Then, in 2019, he made the Australian team bound for the world junior championships where his teammates were fellow Olympic newcomers, Meg Harris and Mollie O’Callaghan.
All this from a youngster who used to look up to his older brother and sister and wonder if he could ever be as good at swimming as they were.
Now Lachlan and Claudia Neill, both state swimming medallists in their time, will be the ones peering at their little brother in admiration Tom made the Australian team for this first Olympic Games.
“Stoked is the right word,’’ said Neill, a St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace old boy from Damien Jones’ swimming squad of Rackley Centenary.
“It (the Olympic trials) was an up and down week, a rollercoaster, but I got the job done.’’
A 200m-800m freestyle swimmer, Neill’s journey to the Tokyo Olympic Games started as a child when Neill decided he wanted to emulate his brother and sister who were excellent junior swimmers.
Tom’s dad, Simon, said his youngest ”wanted to be a part of that action’’ when his brother and sister started bringing home the medals.
And so he did.
“It was just following and emulating my older brother and sister, following in their footsteps and then I started on my own journey.
Neill’s rising in reputation has also been helped by his mateship with his coach Damien Jones.
“He is one of a kind. He is not only a coach but I see him as a mate out of the pool,’’ Neill said.
But as coach, Jones also has a job to do, and sometimes that job is being a tough coach so the pair “find a balance”.
A motorsport enthusiast, one of the most impressive things about Neill is his leadership and it would not surprise if he was one day placed into a position of responsibility within the Australian Dolphins.
“He has a nice way of showing leadership,’’ his dad said. “He has a high work ethic and cares about others. He has a strong moral character.’’
JAKE WHETTON
Did you know that is Brisbane’s Jake Whetton returns to Australia with an Olympic gold medal, he will return to a hill in Perth with a cold can of something to celebrate the moment.
Reabold Hill in Perth is supposed to be a place of enjoyment for locals and visitors alike.
Weddings are held on the ridge, 85m above sea level, and there are views to the Swan River, the Indian Ocean, Rottnest Island, Kings Park and Botanic Garden.
But to Kookaburras’ Jake Whetton, it can be hell on earth.
It is a place where Hockey men’s Head of Conditioning, Brendan Appleby, sends the squad to get some fitness in their legs and lungs.
“There is a hill in Perth around the corner from the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport).
“It is a 700m track and it is pretty much straight up a hill - it takes about 30 minutes on a good day.’’
It is gruelling but a necessary evil and a challenge Whetton laps up.
When the Clarivaux MacKillop College old boy was looking a teenager looking for an edge over opponents, he would run the streets around Parkinson,
Years on Whetton is an established member of the Kookaburras, but his appetite for fitness is greater than ever.
“The coaching staff in the last two years have put me back into the midfield.
“We are doing more Ks (kilometres). To have that engine is really important.
“I pride himself to run our games.
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“If my opponent has something left in the tank, I must have something left in the tank to go with him if he sprints off.’’
And when he takes off to go stride for stride with his opponent at the Olympics, he will have Appleby to thank for sending him up Reabold Hill.
“I am sure if we win a gold medal, we will go back there and have a reminisce because that has done some damage to the boys over the time,’’ Whetton said.
GABI PALM
Did you know Australia’s women’s water polo goalkeeper Gabi Palm only started in the position because no one else volunteered for the role.
“I started (as goalkeeper) at (Brisbane Girls’) Grammar because no one wanted to be a goalkeeper,’’ the Chelmer-raised Palm said.
“My freestyle was not great but I was always good at breaststroke so I put my hand up.
“And I found not only did I love the sport, but I had a natural ability which always helps.
“I kept working on it, made a few teams and I was very fortunate to have good coaches along the way to guide me.’’
And did you also know a key part of her development was spending three months in Italy in 2017 learning her trade.
She said the whole experience in Italy, both in the pool and out of it, helped her grow.
“I have grown as a player and a person and it is helping shape me toward my Olympic dream.’’
LOGAN MARTIN (BMX)
Marsden State High School alumni Logan Martin has his brother Nathan and his supportive parents to thank for helping him on his road to becoming an Olympian.
Martin learned his craft after following his brother Nathan to the Crestmead skate park when he was aged 12 or 13 years.
“We moved close to skate park in Crestmead and it was pretty much a daily thing,’’ Martin said.
“When I first started riding I went with my brother and he got me into it. I am grateful for that.’’
MITCH LARKIN (swimming)
Did you know Olympic veteran and former world swimming champion Mitch Larkin once saw an Olympic swimming event on the television when he was a child and declared to mum Judy: “I want to do that one day.’’
He was aged eight and sitting at his family home with a broken arm watching with wonder as the Australian swimming team swept all before them at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
His mother, Judy, was in another room but heard her son call her toward the television.
“Mum, that is what I want to do, represent my country in swimming,’’ Judy recalls him saying.
Larkin once told us he was particularly inspired by viewing Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett.
It is amazing 21 years later Larkin, one of the nice blokes of Queensland sport, is still at it, representing his country.
Larkin, the John Paul College old boy who has been moulded by elite coaches Michael Bohl and Dean Boxall (St Peters Western) over the years, has become a bit of a national treasure.
EMILY SEEBOHM (swimming)
Did you know Emily Seebohm loves riding horse.
The St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School and John Fisher College alumni loved riding as a child and still does.
Yes this extraordinary champion, one of the greats of Australian sport, does gym, studio pilates and pole fitness, but she still enjoys riding a horse.
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