Sarah Tait

Sarah Tait
Personal information
Birth name Sarah Anne Outhwaite
Born (1983-01-23)23 January 1983
Perth, Western Australia
Died 3 March 2016(2016-03-03) (aged 33)
Melbourne, Victoria
Residence Melbourne
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight 70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
Country Australia
Sport Rowing
Event(s) Pair – Women (2-)
Coxless Pair – Women
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
2012 London Coxless pair
World Rowing Championships
2005 Gifu W8+
2005 Gifu W2-
2011 Lake Bled W2-
Updated on 9 February 2014.

Sarah Anne Tait (née Outhwaite; 23 January 1983 – 3 March 2016) was an Australian world champion, three-time Olympian and Olympic-medal winning rower. She was the first mother to represent Australia in rowing at an Olympic level, having returned to international competition following the birth of her daughter.[2]

Early life

Tait was born in Perth, Western Australia, one of four children of Simon and Barbara Outhwaite.[3] She was educated at St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls in Perth.[4] She began rowing in 1997, at the age of 14.[4] Tait's first rowing success was in 2000, aged 17, when she won a silver medal in the Junior Women’s Four at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.[3]

Career

Tait competed at the Summer Olympics three times, in the women's eights at the 2004 and 2008 games and in the women's coxless pairs at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where she won a silver medal with Kate Hornsey.[5] At the 500m mark of their race, Tait and Hornsey were in fourth place, but moved up to third place at the 1000m mark. In the last 500m of their race, the pair passed New Zealand's world champions Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh, to finish second behind Britain's Heather Stanning and Helen Glover.[6][7]

Tait won gold in the women's eights at the 2005 World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan, along with a silver in the coxless pairs (with Natalie Bale).[8] She also secured a bronze in the coxless pairs at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Lake Bled.[8]

Tait captained the Australian women's rowing team at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and the 2010 and 2011 World Rowing Championships.[3]

Three months after the 2008 Olympics, Tait became pregnant with her first child. As she was determined to compete in the 2012 Olympics, she continued to train up until the last three weeks of pregnancy, and returned to her training schedule five months after giving birth.[5] At around this time, Rowing Australia changed their policy on family visits to athletes, enabling children to visit their parents while training and competing;[5] Tait was credited with inspiring this change.[9]

Tait announced her retirement from competitive rowing on 26 February 2014, as she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer after the birth of her second child eleven months earlier. Although she had initially returned to rowing after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she was later advised to retire from the sport to undergo further treatment.[10]

Family

Tait was married to national rowing coach Bill Tait and was a second cousin of rower David Crawshay. She was a mother. Her father, Simon Outhwaite, was an Australian rules footballer for South Fremantle Football Club.[11]

Death

Tait died on 3 March 2016, aged 33, in Melbourne, Victoria.[12] She had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2013.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Tait profile". london2012.olympics.com.au. Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Lane, Samantha (13 May 2012). "The comeback kids: it'll be mothers' day in London".
  3. 1 2 3 "Sarah Tait loses hard-fought cancer battle | Rowing Australia". www.rowingaustralia.com.au. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 "ROMS | Sarah Tait". www.rowingonline.com.au. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  5. 1 2 3 "Australian Olympic medallist Sarah Tait dies from cancer, aged 33". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Australian rowing medalist Tait dies at 33 - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  7. ↑ "Rowing silver to Tait and Hornsey". corporate.olympics.com.au. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  8. 1 2 "Sarah Tait". World Rowing. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Australian Olympian dies aged 33". Stuff. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Sarah Tait retires from rowing as Olympic silver medallist continues cervical cancer battle". ABC News. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Silkstone, Dan (4 July 2008). "Family and football link unites two of our best".
  12. ↑ "Sarah Tait, Australian rowing icon, dies of cancer aged 33". ABC News. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Sarah Tait: Australia's London 2012 rowing medallist dies aged 33". BBC News. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
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