Locals competing in hockey, Rugby 7s and water polo will be heading to the Paris Olympics in July. They took some time out of their training to speak with North Shore Living
Hockey: Tim Brand, Chatswood
By Paula V. Arenas Santa Maria
At 25 years of age, Timothy Brand has already competed at an Olympics, bringing a silver medal home with the Kookaburras in Tokyo 2020.
Now Tim is vying to be selected for the Kookaburras again, committing himself to high-level training and competitions around the globe as he puts it all on the line for a spot in the Paris team.
While competing at a pre-Olympics event in Belgium, he took a few minutes between his back-to-back matches at the annual International Hockey Federation Pro League in Europe to speak with North Shore Living. This is a yearly tournament of the world’s best nine national teams, with the Kookaburras sitting on top of the table at the time of writing.
“I started playing hockey at around nine years old,” Tim says. “I really enjoy how hard it is to master the art of dribbling, receiving and passing the ball in hockey. It’s also a very inclusive sport, and I think it has a great sense of community, especially around the clubs.”
Once Tim realised that he had enought talent to possibly play for Australia, he set the Tokyo Olympics as his goal.
“The Olympics is definitely the pinnacle of our sport and something everyone sets out to be a part of,” he comments. Despite getting silver after a penalty shoot out in the Tokyo final, the experience was ‘a massive success’.
“The build-up we went through with the team during COVID-19, grinding for months on end with no international competition, was extremely enjoyable to be a part of. Then, to perform how we did…was very special, and it’s the memories we made with that team that were important.”
Making his best effort to balance hockey with his life outside of the field, Tim says the most challenging aspect of being an athlete is developing as a person outside of hockey, ‘so you have a plan for your future after retirement’. Being on tour for weeks and moving interstate away from his partner, family and friends is also difficult.
“I love getting up each morning to train, getting to tour overseas and doing battle against the top teams in the world. There are hard times and moments, but the highs that come with our journey far outweigh them.”
Just a few weeks before Paris, as Tim aims for selection, he continues with his physical and mental preparation.
“Our new high-performance mindset coach has made some significant changes in our program. We spend a lot of time trying to improve this area as it is critical in performing well at a high level under the most pressurised game situations,” he adds.
Tim says he believes the Kookaburras are the ‘fittest’ men’s hockey side in the world, which will count in the hot conditions they are sure to face in the peak Parisian summer.
“I think it’s going to be a tough tournament as always. The top teams in men’s hockey at the moment do not have much at all separating them. These high-pressure games come down to who shows up on the day, who has that mental edge and who fights to get their team over the line. I don’t think our team is placing any expectations on ourselves; all we can do is perform to the best of our ability in each moment of each game.”
It’s been 20 years since the Kookaburras won gold at an Olympics, in Athens. Let’s hope they can get over the line in Paris.
Rugby 7s: Henry Hutchison, Cremorne
By Aoife Moynihan
Henry Hutchison has returned after a year off with an ACL injury and is excited to potentially represent Australia in Paris with the Aussie 7s, as they are known.
If selected, Henry, 28, will have his cheer squad in tow, as his family plans to travel with him to Paris for the Rugby 7s tournament on 24 July at Stade de France, with the men’s final on 27 July.
Henry has always loved rugby. He played for Lindfield and Gordon clubs growing up and made his debut with the Aussie 7s in Cape Town against Portugal in 2015 at the age of 18.
“It was a dream of mine to represent my country at something,” recalls Henry. “Growing up, I didn’t know what it would be. I remember being infatuated with the 2000 and 2004 Olympics – I always wanted to go to the Games. When Rugby 7s was introduced into the Olympics, it was my two worlds combining. It’s a privilege – I know that’s a cliché, but it really is.”
Aussie 7s is an intense game compared to the 15-player game. It’s fast, with matches a mere 14 minutes long.
“The rule book applies the same way in both 15s and 7s,” explains Henry. “But it’s 14 minutes with seven people on the field and a lot of space.”
The seven-man format can magnify errors, so players have to be at ‘a hundred per cent’ to go out and play a tournament.
“You are constantly on an island by yourself,” he says. “If you’re flagging, you can get exposed pretty quickly.”
The Aussie 7s men’s team placed seventh at the last Olympics, with Fiji taking home the gold medal. Henry says this year’s competition will be close.
“(Fiji) is up there,” says Henry. “Our competition is very tight. There could be eight or nine teams who honestly would back themselves on the podium. I think gold, silver and bronze are really up for grabs. Argentina have been in red-hot form; between the likes of Ireland, France, New Zealand, Fiji, and ourselves, it will be really close.”
Henry is hoping to stay on in France and have a holiday after the games, but for now says ‘it’s all eyes on the scoreboard and focussing’.
“There’s nothing more that I want to do than represent my country well and make the people of Australia proud of what they see on the television,” he says.
Henry will find out if he makes the Aussie 7s on 1 July.
Water polo: Tilly Kearns and Sienna Green, Mosman
Water Polo Australia
Daughter of former Wallabies hooker Phil Kearns, Tilly is heading to her second Olympics after her Tokyo debut in 2021. The 23-year-old played for the Sydney Northern Beaches Breakers in her younger years and attended Queenwood School for Girls at Balmoral.
Water Polo Australia
Sienna, 19, will make her Olympic debut in Paris. The central defender captained the under 18 national team before joining the Stingers in 2022. Sienna will make history as the youngest Australian woman to compete in Olympic water polo.