Mark grew up in Eltham, Victoria where he began canoeing on the Yarra River in 1996 as a year seven student at Eltham College. He credits his early interest and improvement in the sport to the instruction of outdoor education head Ian Whitford. He represented Australia at the World Junior Canoe Slalom Championships in 2000 and 2001 before moving to Sydney in 2002 to pursue his goal of qualifying for the Australian Senior team. There he began his Bachelor of Business degree at the University of Technology Sydney and a cadetship at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Following a season on the Australian U23 team in 2002, Mark teamed up with Lachie in the double canoe event. PwC were supportive of Mark’s Olympic endeavors, allowing him flexibility in the completion of his cadetship. In 2003 and 2004 Mark pursued full-time university, returning to his final cadetship year in 2005. In 2006 Mark began his studies to qualify as a Chartered Accountant which he graduated from in May 2008.
After qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, Mark took a five month leave of absence from PwC in order to focus his full attention on the Olympic Games. He will return to full time work in September 2008. |
Lachie began paddling in 1993 as a year nine student at Melbourne Grammar after following his older brother Dan into the sport. Danielle Woodward had recently returned from the Barelona Olympics with a silver medal and was instrumental in Lachie's early canoeing career.
As a year 10 student, Lachie spent 3 months in Germany, where he trained at a German club, RKV Bad Kreuznach and first raced internationally. The following two years, he represented Australia at the Junior World Canoe Slalom Championships in the Czech Republic.
Lachie deferred his first year of university, and spent 6 months of 1997 travelling and competing in Europe, North America and Brazil, culminating in the world championships in September.
The following two years, Lachie began his Medical Science degree part time, but was firmly focussed on the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In 2000, he missed the Olympic team, which forced a reassessment of his plans, and he decided to complete his degree full time.
After placing 18th in the K1 event at the World Championships in Bourg St Maurice, in 2002, Lachie paired up with Mark in the double canoe event. He had been in need of a new challenge, and C2 certainly provided that, especially with the Athens Olympics less than two years away.
After finishing his Bachelor of Medical Science in 2002, Lachie began graduate medicine the following year. He completed the degree in 2006 and has since been employed at Nepean Hospital as an intern/resident.
Having qualified for Beijing, Lachie stopped working so he could focus all his energy on his performance for Beijing. |
