Northern Beaches athletes competing in water polo, sailing and athletics will be heading to the Olympics in July. Other locals are still vying for spots in Rugby 7s and skateboarding. Peninsula Living reports
Water polo: Sienna Hearn, Freshwater
By Aoife Moynihan
Freshwater’s Sienna Hearn, 21, is making her Olympic debut in Paris this July, along with 12 other Aussie Stingers, representing the nation in the water polo from 27 July to 10 August.
The journey to Paris has taken dedication and sacrifice for Sienna, trying to balance sport and studies at high school and now at university. She took a year off after finishing school and now studies primary school teaching at the Australian Catholic University in Strathfield.
“There were heaps of sacrifices,” says Sienna. “Having to miss school and so many friends’ birthdays in order to play in tournaments around the world.”
Sienna began playing water polo at Manly’s Boy Charlton Pool at the age of 13 and also competed for her school, Northern Beaches Secondary College (Freshwater). She now plays for Balmain Tigers and usually trains three nights a week with them, as well as five mornings sessions with the Stingers at Sydney Olympic Park.
“All my friends did water polo and I just really enjoyed the game,” says Sienna. “It’s quite an aggressive game, but I grew up with three brothers so I was used to rough play. There’s constant hits and punches, but that’s just part of the game.”
Representing Australia at the Olympics can be nerve wracking for even the most seasoned of sports stars. So how does Sienna deal with nerves?
“Some girls like to be quiet and focus,” says Sienna. “I’m definitely a bit more outgoing and loud and like to get all my nerves out in that way and just have fun when I’m warming up. Then when I get in the pool, that’s when I switch on and be a bit more serious.”
Ten Olympic water polo teams will be competing for gold in Paris and there is some tough competition for the Stingers.
“We played test matches against the USA about a month ago,” says Sienna. “They will definitely be (tough). I think the Netherlands are (also) looking pretty strong.”
Sienna’s parents are accompanying her to Paris and she is grateful for her family’s support, especially her mom.
“My family has had to sacrifice different things,” says Sienna. “And my mum’s been a massive part in my journey, so she’s had to do a lot to help me get here.”
As it’s her first time in Paris, Sienna hopes to see a few of the sights in Paris while she’s there, especially the Eiffel Tower. “But I’m more excited to see the athlete village,” she adds. “It looks amazing and just unreal.”
Sailing: Shaun Connor, Fairlight
By Tamara Spray
Shaun (front) and Jim will compete in Paris
Shaun Connor, 25, has spent a long seven years campaigning with his 49er sailing partner Jim Colley of Newport to qualify for the Olympic Games. Now that the pair are headed to Paris, the rewards are sweet. Shaun is currently testing the sails and equipment they will be racing with against the world’s best. “The spinnaker is slightly different,” he says of the boat’s front sail. “That’s now a big Australian flag, which is pretty cool.”
Shaun and Jim met a decade ago while sailing a 29er together and formed a great team. They switched to sailing a 49er, a two-handed high-performance skiff with a hull length of 4.99 meters, and never looked back. The boats can reach speeds up to 25 knots.
Missing qualification for the 2020 Olympics has given Shaun three extra years of racing experience and wisdom. “We came reasonably close to making it, though we were still quite young and did fall short,” Shaun recalls. “I think the fact that we’re just a little bit older, a little more mature has certainly helped us this time around.”
He says the pair keep to a strict training program and have spent much of this year racing overseas. The Fairlight local has been in full preparation, training, testing the gear, familiarising himself with dummy cameras for Olympic telecast from the boat, while working in construction. “I live a pretty different lifestyle,” he says. “People don’t really know how many hours goes into it. You’re doing six, seven, even eight-hour days, just associated with training for the Olympics. And I go to work for five hours in the morning. You haven’t got much time for anything else.”
Shaun and Jim are currently in France, where they are sailing their Olympic boat in the waters off Marseille in preparation for the 49er event which runs from 28 July to 8 August.
And you can be sure that Shaun is loving it. “You can never get bored of sailing,” he says. “I just love the feeling of going out. There’s no noise, you’re sailing along, moving in motion.
“You are fully at peace too. There’s no real noise or distraction. You’re just basically focusing on technical trimming and sailing the boat as fast as you possibly can.”
Athletics: Brandon Starc, Collaroy Plateau
Two-time Olympian Brandon Starc, 30, will compete in high jump in Paris. Brandon has been on the national team for 10 years and goes into the Games after battling a hip injury this season and breaking his collar bone in 2023. He narrowly missed a place on the podium in Tokyo, jumping 2.35 metres for fifth – which would have gotten him a bronze at previous Olympics.
Skateboarding: Liv Lovelace, Collaroy Plateau
After missing out on Tokyo due to injury, Liv has qualified for Paris in skateboarding, coming 15th at the recent Budapest Olympic qualifer. Liv, 20, competes in the ‘street’ event, where skateboarders must show their best tricks on rails, benches and steps – just like in an urban environment. Liv will find out if she makes the Australian skateboarding team on 2 July.
Rugby 7s: Sariah Paki, Manly
Sariah is aiming to make her second Olympic team after winning gold with the women’s Aussie 7s at her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham, 2022. Sariah, 22 started off playing touch football for Manly Warringah and progressed to the Manly Mermaids, part of the Manly RUFC.
Sariah was part of the Aussie 7s team which took out the World Championships in June in Madrid. Selection for the team will be finalised in early July, with the 7s hoping to get on the podium after placing fifth in Tokyo.
Reporting by Michelle Giglio
Water polo: Bronte Halligan, Manly
By Michelle Giglio
Bronte Halligan was just 17 when she debuted for the Stingers, the same year she completed Year 12 at Stella Maris in Manly. Ten years later, the Manly local is heading off to Paris for her second Olympics, armed with years of experience to share with her team. It’s a leadership role she cherishes. “I love leading these girls and helping them, but also playing with them,” Bronte says. “We’ve got great experience in the team (and) some really good newbies. Everyone bounces off each other really well and has different ideas and different strengths that they bring.
“So I think it’s a really unique team. I love being one of the leaders of this team and leading this team into the Olympics.”
While Bronte made her Olympic debut at Tokyo, this time she will have her whole family in Paris, which was not possible in 2021 due to the COVID-19 restrictions. “It’s going to be phenomenal to be able to get over there, put the ‘green and gold’ on, and have my family and friends in the stands watching me play.”
Bronte spends nine months of the year playing in the Italian women’s water polo A-league, for Ekipe Orrizonte in Sicily. Not only has she picked up the language, she also has a Sicilian boyfriend who will watch her in Paris. Being away from him to train with the Stingers the last six months has been really hard, she admits.
The daughter of New Zealand union and North Sydney Bears/ Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league goalkicking legend Daryl Halligan, Bronte says she ‘adores’ playing water polo and is ‘passionate and grateful’ for the experiences and opportunities she has had to travel the world and study overseas. “It’s such a privileged life that I’m so fortunate to be able to do it.”
The lead-up to the Olympics is intense, with the Stingers scheduled to play two tournaments in Greece and the Netherlands. The 28-year-old says these international events can be a challenge, with teams not wanting to reveal too much before the Olympics. “You are trying to play your best water polo while also trialling a few different things at the same time.
“It’s really (difficult) trying to find the balance of not showing (the opposition) too much, but also playing your best.”
While in the pool, Bronte is an ‘outside driver,’ tasked with carrying the ball and passing to other girls to shoot for goal. But she also scores and defends. The sport is gruelling, with girls swimming up to four kilometres a match. It can also be quite violent, with a lot of ‘grabbing and kicking and punching,’ Bronte says – which many will remember from the underwater footage of the Sydney 2000 Olympics when the Stingers won gold in water polo’s debut. Bronte lists a cracked nose, broken fingers and a foot to the face as just a few of her injuries!
In terms of her journey to Paris, Bronte says it has been 17 years of sacrifice, since first playing aged 11 for the Sydney Northern Beaches Breakers (based out of Manly Pool). “A lot of missed events and waking up at 5am every morning to train. And not just from me though, from my family as well,” she reflects. “So a lot of putting water polo first in my life to get to this point.”
With the Stingers placing fourth at last year’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and fifth in Tokyo, Bronte says the team will go hard to place in Paris against the other nine nations. “If we put our best foot forward and play together as a team, we’re going to be a really good chance (to medal).”