Former East Gippsland resident and rowing star, Paige Barr, is off to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Barr was this week selected as part of the Australian women’s eight that will compete at Vairessur-Marne from July 26-August 3.
Joining Barr in the team are Bronwyn Cox, Georgie Rowe, Katrina Werry, Jacqueline Swick, Giorgia Patten, Sarah Hawe, Lucy Stephan OAM and Hayley Verbunt (cox).
The crew are firmly focused on winning Australia’s first ever Olympic medal in the event and have the form on the board to be competitive following a bronze medal performance by Australia at the world championships last year.
Australia will face stiff opposition from Romania, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
At the final World Cup III in Poznan before the Olympics, Australia won the eight ahead of Romania and the Netherlands.
The Paris course is likely to be more challenging – rough and choppy – but that holds no fears for the Australian crew who have been training hard at their European Training Centre in Italy to prepare for the Games.
Barr, a former Gippsland Grammar Student, has made a meteoric rise through the ranks in recent seasons after moving to Melbourne for university and to row at the famous Merchantile Rowing Club.
She has become a dominant figure at domestic level and a constant in the Australian women’s eight over the past two years, as Rowing Australia put together a crew that it hopes will taste ultimate glory at one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
The Australian women’s eight has put up some outstanding performances over the past 18 months, but Rowing Australia is buoyed by the fact there still appears to be plenty of scope for improvement in the crew, which might be enough for them to go all away.
IMAGE: Former East Gippsland rowing star, Paige Barr (right), proudly holds her plane ticket to the Paris Olympic Games alongside her Australian women’s rowing eights teammates earlier this week. Barr has had a meteoric rise over the past two seasons and her crew is a legitimate medal chance. (Photo: Rowing Australia)
