04 AUGUST | ISSUE 480 | FREE
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Photo Credit: Rowing Australia
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esidents in the Western Victorian town of Nhill are euphoric with local resident and Olympic gold medalist Lucy Stephan’s win but residents of Nagambie are boasting the entire Olympic rowing team trained on Lake Nagambie. When the Tokyo olympics was postponed from 2020 to 2021, training centres across Australia were shut down for 4 months and Lucy Stephen quickly relocated to Nagambie taking up residence with the McNamara family. “We relocated most of the Nagambie Gym to our back yard and Lucy continued to train 7-8 hours a day,” said Patrick McNamara. Lucy is a dual Olympian (Rio 2016) and multiple Rowing World Champion. A country girl from Nhill where her family are grain growers and her mother is the district nurse. “My son Michael met Lucy when they were both on Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) scholarships for rowing, winning National Titles. “Neil Lodding and Wayne Gammon who live in Nagambie are two of the three who were Nagambie Rowers that rowed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and enjoyed watching the race with other local rowers. “I was President of Rowing Australia for 9 years, and we were excited when Rowing Australia decided to host their training camp in Nagambie on our National Standard 2000 metre course in the lead up to Tokyo,” said Patrick. Lucy Stephan and the rest of her women's four rowing crew held off the fast-finishing
Netherlands to win gold in their 2,000-metre event in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, with a time of 6 minutes and 15 seconds. At the back of the boat, Lucy Stephan was the first to cross the finish line. Lucy’s boyfriend, Michael McNamara watched the win while celebrating his 30th birthday with a few mates in Melbourne. Lockdown 5 was over and he had a couple of great reasons to celebrate. Michael was completely overjoyed - it was the best day of his life. “I knew that the Netherlands and Irish were going to be tough and it was an amazing race from everyone. I couldn’t be prouder of Lucy, regardless of the result, but getting an Olympic gold medal and Olympic record is something else and it’ll definitely make their 2 weeks in solo lockdown a lot easier,” said Michael. Patrick and Meryl McNamara with their daughter Louise Roberts watched the race at the Nagambie Rowing Club yelling at the television as the race drew to a close. “We were so nervous during the race. I was nervous from the morning - I couldn't eat so I can only imagine how Lucy was feeling. “Mum and I just hugged afterwards and we were pretty teary. It’s such an amazing achievement. Mum and Dad saw the effort that Lucy put in, both mentally and physically with the rescheduling of the games,” said Louise. On a day that will go down in history as Rowing Australia’s single greatest day in Olympic history. With four medals, including two gold on the water with Australia men’s and women’s fours both winning gold just minutes apart before
the men’s and women’s quad sculls both won bronze. Congratulations Lucy, we look forward to welcoming you back to Nagambie! It’s not over yet, we have a second honorary Nagambian competing at the Tokyo Olympics. On Saturday the 7th of August at 7am, Lisa Weightman is set to become a four-time Olympian in Tokyo, with all four appearances coming in one of the most gruelling events on the Olympic schedule - the marathon. The feat is a testament to Lisa Weightman's diligence as an athlete throughout her career as she joins an exclusive club of four-time Olympians. Lisa Weightman’s family have holidayed at Kirwans Bridge for 20 years and in the summer of 2021 the backroads of Nagambie became a stomping ground for Lisa as she continued her rigorous training regime. The Community Voice wishes Lisa the very best and congratulates her on her achievement of being a four time Olympian.