Brooke Hanson was born
in Manly New South Wales on 18 March 1978, the first
born into a family of four children. Her mother
Sue declared early in Brooke's life that "we
have a live one here" and her words proved
correct as Brooke developed into a very active and
motivated individual.
In 1983, at the
age of 4 and after two almost tragic events involving
water, Brooke was taught to swim by the legendary
Terry Gathercole (dec.) at his Killarney Swim
Centre.
It was obvious to her swimming teacher and her
parents that Brooke was born to breaststroke as
in her very first race at the tender age of 5,
she competed in a freestyle event - swam it breaststroke
- and won the race!
Brooke went to school at Manly
West Primary School NSW and then Mackellar Girls
in Manly Vale NSW for high school. Brooke started
swimming by competing in school carnivals, then
district and regional level swim meets and then
onto State and national level competitions. Brooke
was undefeated from Year 6 to Year 12 in her favourite
event, the 100m breaststroke.
Since her first race back in 1983, Brooke's life
has focussed strongly around achieving her goals
in swimming.
To those who know her, she
is a delightful, effervescent, vivacious, and highly
motivated young lady. Brooke's constant brilliant
smile lights up a room and she has the natural ability
to make people feel extremely at ease in her presence
because she is genuinely interested in everyone
she meets.
At the relatively young age of 19, Brooke
left the comforts of family and home to base herself
in Melbourne to study at Deakin University. Brooke
is undertaking a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a
double major in marketing, communications and sociology,
and has two years to complete this study.
Her future aspirations on the career front are in
the field of communications and media.
Brooke’s ability to divide herself between
the rigours of elite sports training and competing,
and undertaking a tertiary education course speaks
volumes for the character of this young lady.
Her other interests include following
AFL club Essendon - her lucky charm is her Essendon
Bombers gloves! She also enjoys cooking and watching
movies, and listening to music.
Our
history books tell us that Cleopatra's
face could launch a thousand ships
- Brooke Hanson's smile can lift the
spirits of a nation !!!
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At the age of 16, Brooke
made her international debut as the youngest member
of the 1994 Commonwealth Games Australian swim team
competing in Victoria, Canada. She swam into fourth
place in the 200m Breaststroke at that meet
.
The disappointment of missing Olympic Games selection
in 1996 by a mere 0.11sec. did not deter her from
dominating the breaststroke events on the 1996
Mare Nostrum tour, and claiming victory in the
50m breaststroke at the 2000 Telstra Australian
Championships - her first Open National Title,
a feat she repeated in 2003.
At the 2000 and 2001 Australian
Short Course Championships, Brooke took all before
her by winning the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke
events.
Brooke was on the Australian
Swim Team in Fukuoka Japan for the World Championships
in 2001 where she achieved an Australian Record
swim in the semi-final of the 50m Breaststroke,
breaking the 1998 record held by Samantha Riley.
She went on to place fifth in the final.
She returned to become the most successful Australian
swimmer at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane,
winning the 50 and 100m breaststroke in the victorious
Australian Women’s Team.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester,
Brooke won silver in the 100m breaststroke, before
qualifying for the 100 and 200m breaststroke finals
at the 2002 Pan Pacs in Yokohama.
After a series of personal best times, Brooke
qualified for the 2003 World Championships in
Barcelona, where she won silver in the 50m breaststroke
and finished sixth in the 100m final.
She established new Australian
records for the 50m breaststroke in both the heat
and the semi-final in Barcelona before holding
off world record holders Zoe Baker (Great Britain)
and Leisel Jones (AUS) to win silver.
Brooke returned home to Hobart
where she won her fourth successive 50m crown
at the Australian Short Course Championships,
after again breaking the Australian record in
the semi-final to become the fourth fastest swimmer
in history for the event. She later won silver
in the 200m breaststroke and set a new Australian
record in the 100m IM.
Brooke won 3 gold
and 1 silver at the 2004 Telstra Olympic Swim
Team Trials in Sydney and then went on to win
a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at he
Athens Olympics and was part of the 4 x 100 medley
Relay team that won gold.
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