Tasmanian Young Australian of the Year Ariarne Titmus ‘very fortunate’ to have family support
Tasmania’s Young Australian of the Year Ariarne Titmus shared the “essential ingredients” that took her from a small town in Tasmania to become a champion swimmer.
Tasmania
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Ariarne Titmus says she was “very fortunate” to have the belief of her family to propel her to achieve her dreams.
Speaking upon being named Tasmanian Young Australian of the Year award, she expressed her gratitude as her father, Steve, accepted the award on her behalf in Hobart on Wednesday night.
“I’m so upset I can’t be there tonight, unfortunately … at least dad can be there to accept my award tonight,” Titmus said.
“I’m very fortunate that I had a family who believed in me and let me do what I wanted to do.
“They didn’t ever push me to swim, I just felt so much support from my family.
“It’s crazy, I just pinch myself everyday that this is my life.”
Unable to make the ceremony due to a work commitment in Melbourne, she shared her passion for proving to people, no matter their background, that anything is possible.
“Two essential ingredients is belief and hard work,” she said.
“I’ve gone on to show that coming from a small town in Tassie, from probably the coldest part of the country, doesn’t mean you can’t become a champion swimmer on the world stage.”
Drawing from her time in Launceston last month, Titmus said her biggest takeaway from meeting young children was being able to inspire them to reach their dreams.
“I feel so proud to be a woman in this country kind of leading the charge for women in sport.
“We’ve got a long way to go but I think that’s something I’m really passionate about.
“It all starts with girls staying in sport in school.”
The champion swimmer said she was taking a break from the sport and “trying to enjoy life”, revealing it’s been a “tough slog [as an] Olympian athlete”.
The 24-year-old said she planned to be back in training for the LA Olympics next year.
Her advice to young people was to “give anything a crack” and to be “fearless”.
Tasmanian of the year revealed
Climate solutions innovator Sam Elsom has been named 2025 Tasmanian Australian of the Year.
The announcement was made during a ceremony held in Hobart on Wednesday evening.
Unable to attend the ceremony, he spoke via video from South Africa saying he was overwhelmed, grateful and extremely humble.
He said he would like to use the platform to help get on with the work of reaching emissions reduction targets.
“We’re nowhere near where we need to be to reach those targets. So I hope to use the platform to advocate for climate action and to try and use the work we’re doing to create positive environmental outcomes and also for agriculture and Tasmanian farmers,” he said.
His children, Captain and Sugar, accepted the award on his behalf.
The Sea Forest founder has commercialised a way to reduce methane emissions by using a native Australian seaweed, Asparagopsis, that he cultivates on Tasmania’s East Coast and turns into a livestock feed supplement.
He was recently named a finalist for the $1.9m Earthshot prize. The business also announced on Wednesday a deal multimillion-dollar with East African company Noa’s Herd that’s set to benefit farmers in one of the poorest parts of the world.
Also nominated for Tasmanian of the Year were wild food advocate Rees Campbell, 1000 Hearts founder Sarah De Jonge and oncologist and treatment equality champion associate professor Louise Nott.
Senior Tasmanian of the Year
A lifework dedicated to improving the quality and longevity of life for Gynaecological oncologist associate professor Penelope Blomfield has been rewarded.
The associate professor who is passionate about addressing the disparities faced by many woman diagnosed with gynaecological cancer was named Senior Tasmanian of the Year.
Upon receiving her award she said her nomination had come from left field and she felt very “proud and honoured”.
“I think this honour today not just reflects on me, but it reflects on the hard work of many teams of nurses and medical staff that make up the gynaecology services in the north and the south of the state,” she said.
In 2000, she became the first female gynaecological oncologist in Tasmania and has remained at the fore of advancements in her field.
She was also appointed by the Federal Minister for Health to the Cancer Australia Advisory Council in 2018 and 2021.
The other finalists were athletic coach Rosemary Coleman, Nurse Carol Nagy and retired farmer Norman Spurr.
Young Australian of the Year for Tasmania
Swimming sensation Ariarne Titmus OAM is Tasmania’s Young Australian of the Year.
The 24-year-old introduced herself to the global stage in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games and has gone on to break several world records.
Earlier this year at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Titmus won two golds and two silver medals.
The Launceston born and bred swimmer returned to her childhood pool last month and held meet and greets during her visit.
Also nominated were inclusion advocate Ellsie Bird, cancer care advocate Dr Ella Smalley and domestic violence survivor and change advocate Romany Wake.
Local Hero for Tasmania
Keren Franks who has touched the lives of countless young Tasmanians by bringing to life her ground breaking vision has been awarded Local Hero for Tasmania.
The Founder of Young Leaders of Tasmania has used her first hand experience of the power of inclusion for people living with disability to create programs to help change community perceptions.
Upon accepting her award on Wednesday night, Keren said it was overwhelming to have been recognised.
She said her daughter Bella, who was born with a disability, starting school and her interaction with other students was the inspiration behind her work.
“They had no fear and no stigma of disability,” she said.
She said the biggest change she would like to see is acceptance to breakdown the stigma surrounding disability.
Keren saw that an inclusive model of education can yield enormous benefits, not only for students with disabilities but for mainstream students, too.
She created the community not-for-profit organisation in 2017.
Others also named as finalists included conservationalist Todd Dudley, fundraiser Damien Green and Hard Cultural Connections founder Djuker Willis Hart.
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