The WestVic Academy of Sport’s rowing athletes were recently given the opportunity to attend a training day, held in Melbourne at the Mercantile Rowing Club in conjunction with Rowing Victoria.

The day began with a welcome from Adam Harrison, Event Manager at Rowing Victoria, followed by a presentation from former Australian rower and 3-time Olympian, Jane Robinson. Jane spoke of her experiences in representing Australia at the highest level, the training habits and behaviours of elite athletes and the pathways and opportunities that exist for young athletes in the sport. Following her talk, Jane took the athletes for an Ergo Technical Session.

Alanna Peart is the latest FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete to claim an individual national title, with success at the 2018 Australian Winter Walking Championships on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, yesterday.

Peart, 15, and the reigning WestVic Academy Female ‘Athlete of the Year’, won the Gold medal after finishing first in the Under 16 Girls 5000 Meter Race Walk. Peart, coached by her father Wayne and who currently attends Ballarat High School, completed an Australian Road Walking double having claimed an Under 16 Girls 5000 Meter Race Walk title earlier in the year.

Buninyong teenager Sam Rizzo won the City2Surf elite wheelchair category in Sydney on Sunday.

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Sam Rizzo and Alanna Peart have been named FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport Male and Female ‘Athletes of the Year’ for 2017/2018 at the Ballarat Sportsmen’s Club monthly presentation dinner.

Rizzo and Peart were presented with their awards by FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport patron and former Olympic and Commonwealth Games Marathon Champion athlete, Steve Moneghetti OAM.

Keep reading to see all of the finalists.

FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete and Bacchus Marsh Grammar student, Ben De Bortoli, has claimed two Gold medals at the 2018 Australian Karate Federation Championships.

The National Championships, held in Caloundra, Queensland, last weekend, saw De Bortoli secure the Gold medal in the Kumite Individual Male Under 21 -75kg event.

Bacchus Marsh Grammar student and FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport athlete, Eliza Wales, was recently named National Champion at the 2018 Australian Karate Federation National Championships, held in Caloundra, Queensland last weekend.

Eliza competed on Saturday afternoon in the Female Cadet 54+kg Kumite division, where she won all bouts leading to a Gold medal. She followed up this success on Sunday morning with another great performance in the Female Cadet Open Division where she was narrowly beaten in the 3rd round, with her opponent scoring in the last second of the match to eliminate her from this division.

Taekwondo rising star Ruby DeRuiter has returned from her first international event with a silver medal.

The Ballarat Clarendon College student competed in the under-18 female black belt division of South Korea’s World Taekwondo Expo and Tournament, an event which attracts teams from more than 30 countries and more than 5000 athletes.

Travelling as part of a group of 20 athletes from Australia, DeRuiter spent time in Seoul as a tourist before heading to the athletes’ village and stadium in Muju ahead of the competition...

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Sam Rizzo and Alanna Peart have been named FedUni WestVic Academy of Sport Male and Female ‘Athletes of the Year’ for 2017/2018 at the Ballarat Sportsmen’s Club monthly presentation dinner.

The pair claimed back-to-back titles, capping off a highly successful year with strong performances on the international and national stage throughout the past 12 months.