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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-04 Daily Xml
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South Australian Sports Institute Awards

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Can the minister update the house about the achievements of the athletes recognised at the 2018 South Australian Sports Institute Awards?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for his very important question—and what a fitting person to ask that question. The member for Colton is a SASI Award winner himself, not to mention an inductee in Swimming South Australia's Hall of Fame, the Australian Institute of Sport's Best of the Best and the Path of Champions at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. He is an absolute superstar. It is great to have him on this side of the house, but enough about the members on this side of the house.

I am pleased to inform the house that the South Australian Sports Institute Awards night was held in November. SASI scholarship holders, coaches, staff, special guests and families all came together for what was a wonderful night to celebrate the success of the South Australian Sports Institute and the year that preceded. The awards night saw awards presented to the senior and junior female and male athletes of the year, athlete with a disability, coach of the year and program athletes of the year as well as the presentation of the Amy Gillett-Safe Memorial Award. In their first year together as a team, outstanding beach volleyballers Taliqua Clancy and—

Mr ODENWALDER: Point of order, sir: as important as this information is, it's all publicly available on the SASI website.

The SPEAKER: Please send it to me if you have it, and I will review it.

Mr ODENWALDER: I will.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Please do. Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar won the Female Athlete of the Year. This pair have done outstandingly well. They won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. They beat Canada in a thrilling final. In August, they finished third in Hamburg at the FIVB World Tour final. It was the best result ever for Volleyball Australia at the finals. Taliqua was awarded the best server and Mariafe was chosen as the most improved for that event. They both did wonderfully well. It is great to have such outstanding women athletes being developed in South Australia and achieving such great results.

The men's award could not be split. Matthew Glaetzer and Alex Hill, a cyclist and a rower, both claimed that award. Cyclist Sophie Edwards capped off an outstanding year by taking out the Junior Female Athlete of the Year. Sophie claimed a bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the junior world championships, breaking a longstanding national record in the process and leading the nation for South Australian athletes.

Matthew Carter took out the Junior Male Athlete of the Year honour. Matthew won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in the three-metre synchro and a bronze in the junior world championships in the one-metre springboard. What you would not read anywhere is that, when this guy's photo was put up on the screen, my wife's jaw hit the floor. This guy had the best abs you have ever seen. He is a physical specimen, and everyone in the room was suitably impressed. Darren Hicks was recognised as the Athlete of the Year with a Disability. Darren won a silver medal at the world cycling championships and a bronze at the road world titles.

Taneka Kovchenko was awarded the Amy Gillett-Safe Memorial Award. This is presented annually at the SASI night and recognises the spirit and sporting qualities of Amy, who was an Australian cyclist and rower killed while cycling in Germany in 2005. Her parents, Mary and Denis Safe, were there and are two of the loveliest people you will meet. They are big advocates for cycling, and I have done a number of rides with them over the years. They are just genuinely super people, and they were both over the moon to present Taneka with her award.

Some background on Taneka: she was forced to retire and pull out of the Commonwealth Games, even before her first dive, after receiving some news that she could risk permanent injury if she continued diving. She didn't let those circumstances get to her and they didn't deter her. She provided strong support for the Australian divers at the games and really did an outstanding job. Kym Simons was acknowledged for his outstanding work as the Coach of the Year. Again, the program sportspersons were named as well, but you can get them online. A big thanks to Wes Battams as well, the director of SASI, for his work.

The SPEAKER: I am going to give the member for West Torrens one on the buzzer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens—only one.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! One more.

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