We met an elite athlete at our meeting this time – Genevieve Hart, who is making waves on the rowing scene in WA. It all started when Gen was awarded a scholarship in 2018 to attend St Hilda’s for the main part of her high school career, and her benefactor encouraged her to take up rowing. By the time Gen got to year 11 she had made it into the 1st Rowing Eight Team, and off they went to Sydney in 2019 only to be ruled out by a gastro attack all round! Back in Perth Gen got involved with the WA Institute of Sport, and she became used to a very stringent exercise regime which she absolutely loves. It all starts at 5.00 am and Gen is exercising at every opportunity throughout the day. Covid disrupted the training programme significantly of course, but Gen carried on with her personal regime to build up her strength. Gen gave us a number of examples of the competitions that she has taken part in, such as when she rowed for the Under 21 Eight and the Open Eight – the latter ending in disaster when they were disqualified due to a paperwork oversight! By the time she was 18 Gen was racing against people in their early twenties, and by 19 years old she was selected in the Under 23 Australian team and enjoyed going to Europe to compete in places such as Poznan in Poland, Henley in England, and Varese in Italy. It was in the latter regatta that Gen won a bronze medal in the U23 World Championship. Women rowers tend to peak in their late 20s to early 30s, so Gen has plenty of time to make a huge impact on the rowing scene generally. Gen spoke with passion and enthusiasm, and it is little wonder she is making a mark at this stage. We wish her well in this very exacting sport.