From tractor to double scull at Australian rowing titles for Paris Olympic hopeful

She grew up on a cropping and cattle farm and learned to swim at a public pool. Now this young gun is on the water for hours each day chasing an Olympic dream - when not on a tractor.

Lucy Coleman on the family farm.

It’s an unusual lead-up for an Australian rowing championship - climbing onto a tractor to help out with a family harvest.

But that’s what aspiring Paris Olympic rower Lucy Coleman has been doing ahead of the Australian rowing championships in Perth.

Coleman returned to the family farm at Coolatai in the New England region - around six hours from her training base at Penrith - to help the family out during a sorghum harvest.

“We have a dry land cropping farm of 16,000 acres and we run a few cows on the side,” Coleman, 24, said.

“I’m back for the sorghum harvest. Dad will be on the harvesting combine and we usually have a worker, or me when I am home, driving a tractor with a chase bin to collect the grain.

Rower Lucy Coleman and her dad during the harvest. Picture: Supplied

“I then take that to my grandpa, he carts it away to our silo storage and grain corporations for milling.’’

Once finished Coleman, a scholarship holder with the NSWIS, heads to Western Australian to push her campaign to be rowing at the Paris Olympics with Tasmanian lightweight double crewmate Anneke Reardon after a week of trials in Canberra.

Rower Lucy Coleman has a Paris Olympic dream. Picture: Supplied

“We’ve won our seat racing and got reselected for the world cups coming up,’’ Coleman said.

“The big goal is a world championship medal and an Olympic qualification, we need a top seven at the worlds for that. The Paris Olympics is the big goal for me.’’

The European racing is a long way from the family farm, St Hilder’s boarding school on the Gold Coast where she fell in love with rowing, her Sydney Uni boat club and the University of NSW where she is now studying engineering, majoring in aeronautical engineering.

But she said her journey in rowing has only just begun.

Lucy Coleman on the family farm.

“I was always super sporty so when I heard about this rowing thing I thought I’d give it a go,’’ said Coleman who started the sport at school in Year 9.

“I just thought it looked super cool.

“For me to train absolutely hard for seven minutes … there’s something about that,

doing it with a great mate as a crew, doing it in unison, that’s really special.

“The highs are so high. You just want to keep chasing that feeling.’’

In Perth Coleman will be racing the single scull, double, an eight and the interstate lightweight quad for NSW.

AUSTRALIAN ROWING TEAM 2023

WOMEN: Women’s Single Scull (W1X) Tara Rigney Women’s Double Scull (W2X) Amanda Bateman, Laura Gourley Women’s Quad Sculls (W4X) Caitlin Cronin, Harriet Hudson, Rowena Meredith, Ria Thompson Women’s Sculling Reserve Kate Rowan Women’s Coxless Pair (W2-) Annabelle McIntyre OAM, Jessica Morrison OAM Women’s Coxless Four (W4-) Sarah Hawe, Giorgia Patten, Lucy Stephan OAM, Katrina Werry Women’s Coxed Eight Squad, includes the Women’s Pair and Women’s Four (W8+) Olympia Aldersey, Lily Alton-Triggs, Paige Barr, Bronwyn Cox, Georgie Gleeson, Molly Goodman, Georgina Rowe, Jacqueline Swick, Hayley Verbunt (Coxswain) Women’s Lightweight Double Scull (WLW2X) Lucy Coleman, Anneka Reardon Lightweight Women’s Reserve Georgia Miansaro

PARA: PR1 Men’s Single Sculls (PR1 M1X) Erik Horrie OAM PR2 Men’s Single Sculls (PR2 M1X) Simon Albury PR3 Mixed Double Scull (PR3 Mix2X) Jed Altschwager, Nikki Ayers PR3 Mixed Coxed Four (PR3 Mix4+ Squad) Thomas Birtwhistle, Jessica Gallagher, Toby Goffsassen, Lisa Greissl, Teesaan Koo (Coxswain), Susannah Lutze, Harrison Nichols

MEN: Men’s Double Scull (M2X) Caleb Antill, David Bartholot Men’s Quad Scull (M4X Squad) Jack Cleary, Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, Sam Marsh, Harley Moore, Campbell Watts Henry Youl Men’s Coxless Four (M4-) Jack Hargreaves OAM, Alex Hill OAM, Alex Purnell OAM, Spencer Turrin OAM Men’s Coxed Eight / Men’s Pair Squad (M8+ / M2-) Kendall Brodie (Coxswain), Benjamin Canham, Angus Dawson, Sam Hardy, Josh Hicks, Patrick Holt, Jackson Kench, Rohan Lavery, Tim Masters, Joseph O’Brien, Jack Robertson, Angus Widdicombe Men’s Lightweight Double Scull (MLW2X) Oscar McGuinness, Sean Murphy Lightweight Men’s Reserve Blaine Heseltine