Lani Pallister, Kyle Chalmers, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Kaylee McKeown headline top Sunshine Coast Olympic athletes
The Sunshine Coast will have stars proudly sporting the green and gold in the pool, on the track, with paddles, down halfpipes and more in Paris. Here’s who’s ready to rip.
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The Olympic Games are finally on our doorsteps, with the greatest athletes from across the world all gathering in Paris to strut their stuff.
Among the 460-strong Australian team that’s tipped to push for a record medal haul, 25 Sunshine Coast athletes are ready to shine.
Majority still live and train in the region, others have moved away and some have even relocated to the Sunshine Coast.
Here’s a snapshot of each athlete and why they’re one to watch out for at this year’s Paris Games.
Stay tuned for our story on which Sunshine Coast Paralympians to follow in the coming weeks.
Each athletes name, age, sport, and hometown are kindly provided by the Australian Olympic Committee.
Alexandria Perkins
Event: Swimming – 100 metre butterfly
Age: 23
Suburb: Caloundra West
Making her Olympic debut, Alexandria Perkins, a former Meridian State College student, trains at the University of the Sunshine Coast with the USC Spartans, under coach Mick Palfrey, while also studying physiotherapy. In the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she won gold in the mixed 4x100 metre medley and was a finalist in both the 50 and 100 metre butterfly. Coming into the Olympics, she won bronze in the 100 metre and 50 metre butterfly at Nationals on the Gold Coast. She qualified for Paris in the 100 metre butterfly coming second place, behind Emma McKeon, Australia’s most decorated Olympian. She will make her Olympic debut on her birthday.
Abbey Connor
Event: Swimming – 200 metre butterfly
Age: 19
Suburb: Parrearra
When she was 15, in 2021, Abbey Connor broke the long standing 200 metre butterfly age record, which was set 26 years before she was even born. After being selected for the World Junior Open Water Championships, Abbey then competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, setting a personal best in the final and the 2022 World Championships in Hungary, while still at school. Two years later, training at USC under coach Alex Clarke, she will make her Olympic debut in Paris, after finishing second in the 200 metre butterfly final at the Olympic trials, swimming a time of 2:06.82.
Zac Incerti
Event: Swimming – freestyle relays
Age: 28
Suburb: Sippy Downs
Competing at his second Olympics, Zac Incerti said he only began to take swimming seriously at 18, when he began being coached by current UniSC head coach, Michael Palfrey, in Perth. At the Tokyo Olympics he competed in the 100 and 200 metre freestyle teams, claiming bronze in both. He followed this up with gold in both the men’s freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100 metre relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. After rehabilitating from a shoulder injury in 2023, Zac finished fifth at the Olympic trials in the 200m freestyle final, so will compete at Paris as a relay swimmer. He also a passionate advocate for mental health awareness.
Lani Pallister
Event: Swimming – 800 and 1500 metres, relay events
Age: 22
Suburb: Alexandra Headlands
Making her Olympic debut, Lani Pallister is an incredibly talented in both swimming and surf lifesaving. As a child, she was coached by her mum Janelle Pallister (Elford), who is a former Olympian, Commonwealth Games gold medallist and champion surf lifesaver herself. In 2020, she began training at Griffith University Swim Club on the Gold Coast, where she studies biomedical science and is coached by her mum alongside Michael Bohl. She represented Alex Headlands Surf Lifesaving Club at the 2024 Australian Championships. After narrowly missing selection for the Tokyo Olympics, Lani won bronze in the 800 freestyle in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, before winning female swimmer of the meet in the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne 2022 – winning the 400, 800, 1500 and 4x 200 metre freestyle. In the Olympic Trials, she finished second behind Ariarne Titmus in the 400 and 800 metre freestyle, third in the 200 metre freestyle and won the 1500 metre freestyle.
Chelsea Gubecka
Event: Marathon Swimming
Age: 25
Suburb: Nambour
Chelsea Gubecka was the first Australian athlete to qualify for the Paris Olympics, when she won the ten kilometre race at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. This will be the second Olympics for the former Kawana Waters State College Student, after she made her debut in the ten kilometre race in Rio 2016, finishing 15th. In the 2022 FINA Marathon Swim World Series, she won gold in the 10 kilometre race and silver in the 4x1500 metre mixed relay. She also placed third in the 1500 metres at the Australian Championships in 2023.
Nic Sloman
Event: Marathon Swimming
Age: 26
Suburb: Peregian Beach
Growing up in Noosa, Nic Sloman’s favourite swimming memory is not any of his international medals, but rather winning bronze in the 25 metre butterfly at his first swimming carnival, at six years old. Nic made his international debut at the 2018 Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo, claiming bronze in the ten kilometre open water event. Fast forward six years, Sloman has won one gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the FINA Marathon Swim World Series, silver at the 2023 Australian Open Water Championships and bronze in the 1500 metre freestyle at the Australian Swimming Championships. The former St Teresa’s Catholic College student goes into the Olympics in the best form of his career, finishing fifth in the ten kilometre race at last year’s World Championships.
Kyle Chalmers
Event: Swimming – 100 metre freestyle and relays
Age: 26
Suburb: Peregian
One of Australia’s strongest freestylers ever, Kyle made the bold move to relocate from Adelaide to the Sunshine Coast earlier this year with only over 100 days before the Olympics. He now trains under former Olympian Ash Delaney at St Andrew’s Anglican College, Peregian. Heading into his third Olympics, Kyle is one of only four Australians to have won the men’s 100 metre freestyle, which he did in Rio 2016, becoming Australia’s youngest Olympic swimming champion since Ian Thorpe in 2000. In Tokyo, he finished just 0.06 seconds behind gold medal winning American Caleb Dressel and led Australia to bronze in the 4x100 metre relay, swimming the fifth fastest relay split of all time. He won his first individual gold medal at a World Titles event in the 100 metre freestyle as well as gold in two relays in 2023. Outside of swimming, he is an avid AFL fan and spends time with the odd key to success – his reptile collection – comprising of 40 snakes and lizards.
Nic Porter
Event: Water polo
Age: 26
Suburb: Peregian Springs
Nic Porter’s water polo career began when he attended St Andrew’s Anglican College, winning four consecutive league championships from 2012 to 2015 as a goalkeeper. 2 years after his last school title, he made his junior international debut at the 2017 FINA Junior World Championships. Afterwards, he moved to the USA where he played for the University of Southern California (USC) and won the NCAA Division 1 Championship in his first season, all while studying health and human sciences. After completing college, he achieved his career highlight - winning a bronze medal in the LEN European Champions League playing for a Spanish club. Earlier this year, Nic competed in the FINA World Championships in Doha, where the Australian Sharks placed 11th.
Alyce Wood
Event: Canoe – Sprint
Age: 31
Suburb: Maroochydore
As a seven-year-old Alyce Wood dreamt of being an Ironwoman. At 15, she began kayaking to improve her surf ski paddling and instantly loved it. Today, she is still a member of her junior club – Sunshine Coast Paddle Sport Club. In 2015, she won the K2 500 metres with her partner Aly Bull at the Under 23 World Championships. They made the final at the Rio Olympics, after beating their Olympic idol Naomi Flood in the Australian selection trials. The pair represented Australia at Tokyo 2020 in the same event, placing fifth overall, while Alyce came 8th in her individual event. Alyce is married to Olympian kayaker Jordan Wood and coached by his mother – former Olympic medallist Anna Wood. Her proudest moment was becoming a mum to her daughter Florence in 2022. You won’t miss the former Immanuel Lutheran College student at the Paris games, as she always wears a hint of pink in every race.
Aly Bull
Event: Canoe – Sprint
Age: 28
Suburb: Alexandra Headland
As a child, Aly Bull dreamt of going to the Olympics, but couldn’t in her preferred sport – surf lifesaving. After her surf lifesaving hero Naomi Flood competed at London 2012, she started kayaking. An ironwoman who won the under 17 titles, her decision to focus solely on kayaking helped her achieve her Olympic debut in Rio. In Tokyo 2020, Aly, who trains at the Sunshine Coast Canoe Club progressed to the semi-finals in and the B final in the 500 metre competition, coming 16th. She holds back to back world titles in the 1000 metres canoe sprint. Aly is also a firefighter in Queensland, finishing dux of her course after failing to get into the academy on her first attempt.
Ally Clarke
Event: Canoe sprint
Age: 24
Suburb: Alexandra Headland
Ally Clarke was training for the Coolangatta Gold surf ski event on the Sunshine Coast when Olympic gold medallist Kenny Wallace told her she should try kayaking. Ally quickly fell in love with the sport and in 2022, she moved to the Gold Coast to train with the Australian sprint kayak team. She claimed silver with her teammates Aly Bull, Ella Beere and Yale Steinepreis in the K4 500 metres at the 2022 World Championships. They qualified for Paris by coming fifth in the 2023 World Championships. When she isn’t in the water, the Matthew Flinders Anglican College alum is completing an honours degree in occupational therapy at UniSC.
Peyton Craig
Event: Athletics – 800 metres
Age: 19
Suburb: Sippy Downs
Peyton Craig has always been talented across multiple sports. He won a national swimming title at aged ten, played rugby league for eight years, competed in triathlons and began athletics at age six, going on to win medals at national titles at just 11 and 12 years old. At just 16, he competed at the Australian National Under 20s and won both the 1500 metre and 3000 metre events. He also competed at the word triathlon juniors in Montreal in 2022. 2024 has been exceptional so far for Peyton, who broke the 800 metre Australian record twice and clocked a personal best to qualify for his Olympic debut. Peyton, who graduated from Chancellor State College, trains at the UniSC athletics club.
Haylie Powell
Event: Street Skateboarding
Age: 18
Suburb: Mooloolah Valley
When skateboarding made its Olympic debut three years ago in Tokyo, Haylie Powell watched in amazement from her hospital bed after dislocating and fracturing her elbow in a fall while skating. One week after her injury, she was back at the skatepark with her cast on. At age 11, Haylie was competing at national events and a few years later, she made her international debut in California. In recent competitions, she made the top 16 at the Street World Championships in Sharjah, 2023, finished 10th at the X Games in Japan and finished third at the Street League Sydney Select Series in October 2023. Paris will be her first Olympics.
Kyra Cooney-Cross
Event: Football
Age: 22
Suburb: Bli Bli
Kyra Cooney-Cross grew up on the Sunshine Coast and played for both Bli Bli and Coolum in football before relocating to Alice Springs and then to Ballarat, where she attended high school. She was signed for Melbourne Victory in 2017, helping them become W-League premiers the following season and again in 2022. After the victory, Kyra transferred to Swedish club Hammarby and her team won the Swedish Cup for the first time in 28 years. In the Matildas’ historic 2023 World Cup campaign, she showcased her skill in the midfield, attracting attention from major clubs Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Juventus and Lyon. Now, she plays for Arsenal with fellow Matildas Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord. The second youngest player of the Matildas squad, Kyra will work in the midfield with Katrina Gorry.
Kaylee McKeown
Event: Swimming – backstroke specialist
Age: 23
Suburb: Caboolture
Kaylee McKeown is one of the world’s greatest female backstroke swimmers. At just 15, she joined the Australian Dolphins, alongside her older sister Taylor. In the Sydney Open in 2021, she broke national records in 3 events – the 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. At Tokyo, she won both the 100 and 200 metres backstroke and the women’s medley, along with bronze in the mixed medley. In 2023, she broke world records in the 50 and 100 backstroke. Kaylee holds all the top five times in history and 9 of the top 10 in the 100 metre backstroke, cementing her place as arguably the greatest female backstroke swimmer of all time.
Sam Short
Event: Swimming – 400, 8000 and 1500
Age: 20
Suburb: Maroochydore
Making his Olympic debut, Sam had a hugely successful year in 2023, specifically at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where he became the first Australian since Grant Hackett in 2005 to win medals in 400, 800 and 1500 metre freestyle at the same world titles. In the 400 metres, he achieved the fourth fastest time in history. Sam will make his Olympic debut at 20 years old after narrowly missing out on competing in Tokyo. At the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, he won the 1500 metre freestyle and placed second in the 400. Out of the pool, Sam is completing a science and law degree and is a surf swimmer at the Maroochydore Surf Club. He is also an ambassador for Melanoma Institute Australia after having skin cancer in 2022. His coach is confident he can break the 400 metre world record in the near future.
Jamie Perkins
Event: Swimming – 200 metre relay swimmer
Age: 19
Suburb: Alexandra Headlands
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Jamie excelled in both swimming at the Mountain Creek Swim Club and surf lifesaving at the Alex Headland Surf Lifesaving Club. She won eight gold medals at the 2021 Aussies, with six the following year. Simultaneously, she was making a name for herself in the pool, notably coming second in the 200, 400 and 800 metre swims at the Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Hawaii 2022. At the 2023, world juniors in Israel she on the 400 metre freestyle and swam a personal best in the final. She qualified for Paris as a relay swimmer, coming joint fifth place with Shayna Jack in the final of the 200 metres, in the same race in which Ariarne Titmus broke the world record. The Maroochydore State High School Alum also trains with Ariarne Titmus at St Peters Western under Dean Boxell, alongside Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.
Isaac Cooper
Event: Swimming
Age: 20
Suburb: Mountain Creek
Isaac Cooper dreams of one day being the fastest swimmer in the world. 4 years ago, at the 2020 Queensland Short Course Championships, he achieved a PB and broke the Queensland Age Record in the 50 metre backstroke. A year later, he qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, where he won bronze in the 4x100 metres mixed medley relay team. After making the Australian Team for the 2023 World Championships in Japan he revealed that the secret to his success were the changes he had made to training regimen. Instead of training 80 kilometres in the pool weekly as he previously did, he swum 14 kilometres weekly and spent time surfing, playing tennis and doing mixed martial arts. The following year he won the 50 metre backstroke at the Doha World Championships. He won the 100 metre backstroke at the Australian Olympic trials and trains at St Andrews Swimming Club alongside Kyle Chalmers.
Maeve Plouffe
Event: Track cycling
Age: 25
Suburb: Unknown
Growing up in Adelaide, Maeve Plouffe was an exceptionally talented swimmer, with ambitions of a career in rowing. At a South Australian Sports Institute identification testing session, she was recommended cycling and although initially reluctant, she began in 2015. Soon after, she was selected in Cycling Australia’s Podium Potential Academy and made her international debut at the 2019 Track World Cup in Brisbane, where she won gold in the women’s team pursuit final. A Tokyo Olympian, in 2022 Maeve became the third woman in history to complete an individual pursuit (3km race) in under 3 minutes 20 seconds. She currently rides for ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast. A week ago, she was announced as an inaugural member of the Sunshine Coast based women’s elite National Road Series development team. Outside of cycling, she is completing a Bachelor of Law and Science, majoring in Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Adelaide.
Ben Armbruster
Event: Swimming - freestyle
Age: 22
Suburb: Yandina, now Gold Coast
Ben Ambruster started swimming at age four, in his home town, Stanthorpe. In 2021, he moved to the Sunshine Coast to train with the USC Spartans swimming team, alongside studying a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science. When his coach Chris Mooney left USC to Bond University, he too followed. He is also studying a Bachelor of Sport Management at Bond. In the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, he won gold in the mixed 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Paris will be his first Olympics, after finishing second behind Cameron McEvoy in the 50 metre freestyle at the Australian Olympic trials. At the trials, he wore the cap with the stripes of the German flag across it, which belonged to a swimmer who shares his last name - Luca Armbruster – who he met at the 2023 World Cup. He wore the cap as good luck, since Luca had already qualified for the Olympics. Post his swimming career, the former Yandina resident wants to become a PE teacher, like his mother.
Brianna Throssell
Event: Swimming
Age: 28
Suburb: Brisbane
When her coach Mick Palfrey moved to USC from Perth in 2021, Perth born Brianna Throssell followed, joining the USC Spartans. Although she has now moved to St Peters Western, part of Dean Boxell’s powerhouse squad containing ten Paris Olympians, the Sunshine Coast has still played a pivotal role in her career. While training at USC, she competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, where she collected two bronze medals in the 100 and 200 metre butterfly. Last year, she celebrated her 28th birthday at the World Championships in Doha where she won bronze in the women’s 200 metre freestyle. Brianna will contest at her third Olympics as a 4x200 metre relay swimmer after finishing fourth in the 200 metre freestyle in the Australian Olympic Trials. She was awarded an Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours Ceremony and has a physiotherapy degree from the University of Notre Dame in Perth.
Chloe Moran
Event: Track cycling
Age: 25
Suburb: Unknown
Like her teammate Maeve Plouffe, Chloe grew up in Adelaide and was picked as a cyclist at the South Australian Sports Institute’s talent identification program. She rose through the junior ranks, setting an Australian record and claiming a silver medal at the 2015 Junior World Championships in Kazakhstan. At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, she won gold alongside Maeve, Sophie Edwards and Georgia Baker in the team pursuit. At the 2024 track nationals, Chloe won her fourth consecutive title in the points race event. Along with teammates Maeve Plouff and Sophie Edwards, Chloe is a member of the Australian Cycling Academy (ACA) based out of USC. She is also studying for a Bachelor of Medical Science at Flinders University.
Sophie Edwards
Event: Track cycling
Age: 24
Suburb: Unknown
She too grew up in Adelaide and was a part of the women’s team pursuit quartet that won gold at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. Sophie began cycling with her dad at the velodrome near their Adelaide home. In 2018, she claimed a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in the individual pursuit and broke the record for her age group. She competes in both track and road cycling throughout the year. Making her Olympic debut, Sophie also has a Bachelor of Health and medical sciences from the University of Adelaide. She lists Caroline Buchanan - a 2x Olympian and world champion in both BMX and mountain bike – as her hero. Alongside teammate Maeve Plouffe, she is an inaugural member of the Sunshine Coast based women’s elite National Road Series development team.
Dominique du Toit
Event: Rugby Sevens
Age: 27
Suburb: Little Mountain
Born in Zimbabwe, Dominique du Toit moved to Queensland as a young girl. In the 2014 Youth Olympics in China, she scored eight tries to help Australia win gold. She made her senior Olympic debut at Tokyo, where Australia made the quarterfinals and finish fifth overall. She has also competed at two Commonwealth Games, winning silver in the Gold Coast and gold in Birmingham. The team is well placed leading into Paris, having come second in the 2022-23 World Rugby Sevens Series behind key opponents New Zealand. Dominique has a Bachelor of Media and Communications from Macquarie University in Sydney and has confirmed her retirement after the Olympics.
Kristina Clonan
Event: Track cycling
Age: 26
Suburb: Buderim
Making her Olympic debut, former Matthew Flinders Anglican College student Kristina Clonan transitioned from endurance to sprint cycling after missing selection in the Tokyo Olympics and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games team. Her decision paid dividends when she won the 500 metre time trial at the Commonwealth Games, beating her hero Anna Meares’ Commonwealth record. Following this, she swept the individual events to retain all three Australian titles and won a gold medal in the time trial at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton. Kristina is completing a Bachelor of Business at Griffith University in Brisbane, majoring in property development and real estate management.
Originally published as Lani Pallister, Kyle Chalmers, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Kaylee McKeown headline top Sunshine Coast Olympic athletes
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