We are so proud of Australian Olympian Mum Sarah Tait winning Silver for Australia with her team mate Kate Hornsey in the women’s coxless pairs.
Sarah is the first rowing mum to win a medal for Australia.
“I could not believe that when I looked up in the stands the first thing I saw was my daughter’s face,” Tait said.
Two-year-old daughter Leila was in the stands with her father Bill, Sarah’s coach.
“It has been a crazy ride,” she said. “I live such a different life to what I did when I was just rowing. I saw Leila up in the stand. I was so excited. The first thing I saw was her little face. She made my mum do her hair and her nails.”
Tait’s effort to snatch an Olympic silver three years after giving birth to Leila is remarkable.
Tait, Australia’s women’s captain, still shakes her head at some of the manoeuvring behind her campaign such as sending late-night messages to babysitters to meet her behind boatsheds pre-dawn. Occasionally she would interrupt a training session to breastfeed.
A triple Olympian, she became pregnant six months after Beijing but remained determined to compete in London.
She once called it an “amazingly difficult juggling act” but with husband Bill, an Australian rowing coach, and a mother who has moved from Perth to Melbourne, she has pulled it off.
Husband Bill was proud of what his wife achieved.
“A couple of years ago it was incredibly hard logistically to manage on some nights when we were getting a few hours sleep and she would train for six hours and I would work for 12 hours,” he said.
“But we got some extra funding last year from the Sports Commission. Some people put that towards a plasma television but we got a live-in baby sitter from Italy who lived and travelled with us and is here today.
“I am glad we spent that money. She has trained better than she has ever trained in her life.”
Source: Herald Sun
Read Sarah s full story here: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/london-olympics/helen-glover-and-heather-stanning-claim-great-britains-first-gold-medal-of-london-olympics-in-womens-pair/story-fn9dheyx-1226440745939
What a fantastic achievement Sarah! You’re an inspiration to all Australian Mums and how gorgeous is your daughter!
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