Olympic Water Polo Visitors
At the final assembly of Term 3, we had the opportunity to welcome back and congratulate BGGS Alumnae and Paris Olympic Silver Medallists, Gabi Palm (2015) and Abby Andrews (2017).
Gabi and Abby are dual Olympians who recently returned from Paris after a fantastic performance where they were integral to the Stingers result. Prior to Paris, the Aussie Stingers won gold in the inaugural Olympic Women’s Water Polo competition in 2000 as well as Bronze in 2008 and 2012.
Water Polo Captains, Charlie Howard (12G) and Lucy Taylor (12M), conducted a question-and-answer style interview which allowed Gabi and Abby to share their stories with the Staff and Students. Notably, the contrast of the COVID-affected, crowdless Tokyo games, to the 17 000 screaming fans, including family and friends in the Paris crowd. It was interesting to hear how each athlete managed and adapted to the stress and pressure differently.
We are so fortunate to have wonderful role models in Gabi and Abby—their stories relate to more than sport. The lessons of resilience and determination, along with how to adapt to change, apply to everybody and I thank them for being so generous with their time for the Water Polo program and the whole of School.
Ms Mel Rippon
Assistant Director of Sport (Development)