After two failed attempts to make
the Australian Olympic Team in 1996
and 2000, Nunawading Swimming Club's
Brooke Hanson powered her way onto
the 2004 Olympic Team and then powered
her way to a silver medal behind China’s
Xuejuan Luo in the Womens 100m Breaststroke
in Athens.
“I
can’t believe I have hung in
there and won an Olympic medal. Any
medal would have been fine for me
so silver is great." Hanson said.
“I
was just in disbelief when I hit the
wall. I couldn’t actually line
up my name with my position at first
and then I saw a six but that was
because I was in lane six. This is
unbelievable.”
More than 80 swimmers and parents
gathered at Aqualink Nunawading to
eat breakfast and watch a replay of
Brooke's 100m Breaststroke race. With
Channel Nine's Today Show on air in
a live cross, the small but vocal
crowd cheered Brooke on as they watched
the race.
The crowd included Simon Moule, Brooke's
gym coach and Assistant Coach Grant
Watson, two men who have played a
major role in Brooke's success.
Brooke's training partners had earlier
watched the race live and cheered
her on to a personal best time. Brooke's
partner and club captain Jared Clarke
talked about the emotions throughout
the coverage earlier in the morning
and the phone call he received from
Brooke soon after the race.
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Brooke’s
coach, Mark Thompson, who
is a member of the Australian
Team coaching squad in Athens,
was extremely excited about
Brooke’s swim.
“How good was that!!
Brooke did an awesome job
to remain composed under the
pressure. Although the conditions
for fast swimming were not
great (it was very windy)
it was the same for everybody,
so that wasn't a drama. With
6 of the top 10 fastest 100m
breast swimmers in history
in that final, it could have
been won by anybody. As we
have seen with some other
races at this meet, it doesn't
matter if you are world ranked
no. 1 or the world record
holder, you can still be beaten!!”
said Thompson.
He went on to say that “Brooke
swam a great first 50 and
her second 50 was the fastest
for the whole field and it
was definitely the reason
she got the medal. I don't
think they showed it on the
TV, but Brooke didn't realise
for about 15 seconds that
she had won a medal - she
couldn't line up her name
properly and thought she had
finished 6th. As you can imagine,
she was pumped when she realised”.
Gary
Barclay
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