Greg turned his hand to racehorses, setting up a stable to break and train. “They knew what the horse world entailed,
S P OT L I G H T
On a roll
so they never forced it onto me,” Tom recalls, “although they had a Shetland pony for my older sister and I, we weren’t super interested as young kids.” But by age nine Tom had caught the bug. “Growing up, people would ask me what my hobby was outside of
At 17, Tom McDermott was the youngest show jumper in the world to win a World Cup, and as RACHEL ROAN discovered, the accolades keep rolling in.
riding, and I wouldn’t have an answer,” he laughs. “I used to tell them this is my hobby. This is what I love, it’s my passion. This is what I want to do. Horses were it.” Like many horsey kids Tom attended
F
Pony Club, getting serious about show
or Tom McDermott, riding horses
the World Cup League, the World Cup
jumping by the time he was twelve.
is in his blood. In their early years,
final, and with the Australian team at the
His first big show was the Australian
both his parents were talented
1988 Seoul Olympics. But after the tragic
Show Jumping Championships in Sale,
riders on the show jumping circuit.
loss of Greg’s Olympic horse in 1990,
Victoria, where he won the Junior
Tom tells me his mother Jennie had
the couple decided to pull the pin and
Australian title and still holds the record
competed up to 1.3m, later grooming for
settle down in Wagga Wagga, where
as the youngest ever to win that event.
his father Greg while he competed in
Tom was born and raised.
“After that it really kicked off,” he says.
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