Lucien Delfour is a canoe slalom athlete who competed in the K1 event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Delfour has had multiple podium finishes at World Cup level, including silver at the 2019 World Cup in Markkleeberg, Germany.

Following wins in the K1 at both the 2020 ICF Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships and 2020 Australian Open it was announced that Delfour was off to his second Olympics where he will contest the K1 at Tokyo 2020.

Jessica Fox is a two-time Olympic medallist, seven-time world champion and hailed as the greatest individual paddler of all time.

The NSWIS scholarship holder amassed numerous junior world championship titles before announcing herself on the world stage at the London 2012 Olympic Games. At just 18-years-old, Jess produced one of the meet’s surprising performances to take silver in the women’s K1 event. The result made her the youngest woman to ever medal in canoe slalom at the Olympics.

In 2013, Jess won her first senior individual world title (women’s C1), before claiming the C1/K1 double in 2014. Next came a third C1 world title in 2015, which was then followed by a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the women’s K1.

At the 2018 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, Jess won two gold medals to become the most accomplished individual paddler of all time. In the following year’s championships event, Jess won silver in both her individual events before teaming up with sister Noemie Fox and Rosalyn Lawrence to take gold in the women’s C1 team.

Kayaker Jo Brigden-Jones is a world championship medalist who has been a member of the Australian Canoe Sprint Team since 2004.

Brigden-Jones competed at the London 2012 Olympics in the K4 500m event and will return to the Olympic arena for Tokyo 2020.

Bridgen-Jones has had several World Cup podium finishes including a silver medal at the 2018 World Cup in the K4 500m.

Kayaker Lachlan Tame won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the K2 1000m. The 2015 world champion has won multiple World Championship and World Cup medals, including gold in the K2 500m and silver in the K2 1000m at the 2015 World Championships.

After taking a two-year break from the sport and undergoing shoulder surgery, Tame returned in 2019 where he led the Men’s K4 500m at the World Championships to secure an Olympic quota spot for Australia for Tokyo 2020.

In March 2020 it was announced that Tame had been selected to the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo.

Murray Stewart is an Olympic gold winning kayaker. Stewart secured gold in the 2012 London Olympic Games for the K4 1000m event.

Stewart then went on to win bronze in 2013 and gold in 2017 at the World Championships, both in the K4 1000m.

Canoe sprint athlete Riley Fitzsimmons represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the K4 1000m, where the crew finished fourth.

After winning his first gold at the 2015 Junior & U23 World Championships, Fitzsimmons has gone on to win multiple international medals at both the junior and senior level. In 2017, Fitzsimmons became a world champion in the K4 1000m after winning gold with his team at the ICF World Championships.

Fitzsimmons will return to the Olympic arena for Tokyo 2020.

Jaime Ryan is a sailing athlete who competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the women’s 470 class with sailing partner Carrie Smith.

Hailing from Lake Macquarie in NSW, Ryan was also selected to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, this time in the women’s 49erFX class with crewmate Tess Lloyd.

In Rio, Jaime Ryan placed 15th overall in the women’s 420 event. Her brother, Will Ryan, also competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics and secured a silver medal in the men’s 470 event.

Sailor Jason Waterhouse won the silver medal in the mixed Nacra 17 at the Rio 2016 Olympics with his sailing partner (and cousin) Lisa Darmanin.

The Rio silver medallists return to the Olympic arena for Tokyo 2020 in the mixed-crew Nacra class. The pair have consistently been among the world’s best, backing up a stunning 2018/19 season which included a run of four international victories in five events with back-to-back bronze medals at the 2019 and 2020 Nacra 17 World Championships.

The duo also competed in the 2014 World Championships in Santander and won bronze.

Sailor Lisa Darmanin won the silver medal in the mixed Nacra 17 at the Rio 2016 Olympics with her sailing partner (and cousin) Jason Waterhouse.

The Rio silver medallists return to the Olympic arena for Tokyo 2020 in the mixed-crew Nacra class. The pair have consistently been among the world’s best, backing up a stunning 2018/19 season which included a run of four international victories in five events with back-to-back bronze medals at the 2019 and 2020 Nacra 17 World Championships.

The duo also competed in the 2014 World Championships in Santander and won bronze.

Cyclist Ashlee Ankudinoff has had tremendous success throughout her career. At the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow, Ankudinoff won gold in both the individual pursuit and team pursuit.

Prior to that Ankudinoff won gold at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and two silver medals at the 2017 World Championships.

Ankudinoff competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the Australian women’s team pursuit squad.

Track cyclist Kaarle McCulloch is a four-time world champion in the team sprint event.

Kaarle won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics and has been with the NSW Institute of Sport for over ten years.

At the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow, Kaarle won gold with riding partner Stephanie Morton, as well as silver in the keirin and bronze in the time trial.

Thomas Grice will make his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 in the Trap shooting event.

In 2017, Grice and partner Penny Smith became the first ever ISSF World Champions in the Mixed Trap Team event. The pair finished on the podium again at the 2019 World Championships in Lonato, Italy where they claimed bronze.

Grice won bronze at the 2017 Oceania Championship in the Men’s Trap and competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Trap Shooter James Willett made his Olympic debut at Rio in 2016 where he finished fifth in the Double Trap.

Willet changed to Trap after the Double Trap was removed from the Olympic shooting competition for Tokyo and, in 2019, he equaled the world record at the World Cup in Acapulco shooting a perfect qualifying score before going on to take gold. Later that year Willet and partner Laetisha Scanlan took gold at the World Championships in the mixed trap.

Following his win at the 2020 Commonwealth Championships, Willet was selected on the Australian Team for Tokyo 2020.

Jessica Hull is an Australian representative distance runner who has been officially selected onto the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the women’s 5000m event.

Hailing from Albion Park (City of Shellharbour), the NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder broke an 18-year-old Australian record in the 5000m by four seconds at the 2020 Herculis Diamond League in Monaco (finishing in 14:43:80) .

As a junior, Hull won multiple Australian Athletic Championships in both the 1500m and the 3000m, and went on to finish 7th in the 3000m at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships.

In 2015, the Australian relocated to the USA to take up an athletics scholarship at the University of Oregon, where she earned seven All-American honours and was a four-time NCAA Champion.

Nicola McDermott is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, the Australian women’s high jump national record holder and a member of the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo Games.

The NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete was first introduced to high jump at her local little athletics club on the Central Coast of New South Wales when she was seven years old. At age 11, she began working with coach Matt Horsnell who still coaches her to this day. Her personal bests increased year on year and in 2014 Nicola first represented Australia at the IAAF World Junior Championships where she finished 16th.

Nicola’s breakout season came in 2018 when she was selected to for the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, where she set a personal best of 1.91m to clinch the bronze medal – her first medal on an international stage.

After changing up her training she soared to new heights in 2019. In her first jump of the year she smashed her PB with a 1.94m leap in Canberra. Competing at the Golden Spike Ostrava she added another 2cm to her PB clearing 1.96m – a Tokyo Olympic qualifying height. Nicola then finished third with 1.94m at the Monaco Diamond League. Across the season she had placed in the top eight in five Diamond League meets.

Bendere Oboya is a specialist 400m runner, was the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games Champion and is a member of the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Born in Ethiopia and moving to Australia at age 3, the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder rose from obscurity in 2017, clocking 53.03s in the National Junior Championships 400m event to be selected for the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. Oboya ran another personal best (52.69) to become Commonwealth Youth Games Champion and earn a Commonwealth Games qualification time.

Since competing at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Bendere has continued to improve her times, highlighted by a 51.21s – an Olympic qualifying time – run at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.

At the 2021 Australian Track and Field Championships, Bendere won the women’s 400m national title to officially secure selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Rohan Browning is 100m sprinter and a member of the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

At the 2019 Queensland Track Classic sprinter Rohan Browning clocked 10.08s to equal the fastest 100m time by an Australian on home soil, cementing him as Australia’s third-fastest man across 100m behind Patrick Johnson and Matt Shirvington.

That time also qualified him for the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha – where he became the first Australian man in over a decade to run in the individual 100m at a World Championship.

Browning represented Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 4 x 100m men’s relay where the team finished fourth in the final.

Since bursting onto the scene Dani has dominated Australian domestic competition. She has competed in both discus and shot put at the national and international level, but discus is where she excelled.

The 2006 Commonwealth Games was Dani’s first senior international competition and where, after coming from behind to snatch bronze in discus, she become the youngest Australian to medal in a throwing event at the Commonwealth Games. Then, in 2009 at age 21, Dani become the youngest-ever female discus world champion when she threw three personal bests in succession and 65.44m to win gold at the IAAF World Championships.

Debuting at the 2008 Beijing Games, Dani was the youngest member of the Australian athletics team. She went on to represent Australia at the London 2012 Olympic Games and again at the Rio 2016 Olympics where she finished fourth in discus, missing out on the bronze medal by just 44cm.

Competing at her sixth world championship in London in 2017, Dani threw 69.64m to win silver while also smashing a 23 year Australian discus record set by Daniela Costian.

Hannah Buckling first debuted for the Aussie Stingers in 2011 at the Canada Cup where she scored a goal in the final to help Australia win Gold. That same year Buckling was also named Water Polo Australia’s Junior Female Player of the Year.

In 2013, the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder travelled to the USA where she spent a season playing for the University of Southern California Trojans. In her single season, she netted 40 goals for the Trojans, earning All-American honours and helping the team win the NCAA Championship. Buckling then headed to the 2013 FINA World Championship in Barcelona where she and her Stingers teammates won silver.

Buckling made her Olympic debut in Rio where Australia finished in 6th place. In 2019, the Stingers travelled to South Korea for the 2019 FINA World Championships, with Buckling scoring two goals to help take down Hungary and earn a bronze medal.

Lea Yanitsas is a goalkeeper for the Australian Women’s Water Polo Team and is a NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder.

Yanitsas was part of the 2016 Australia Women’s Water Polo Team who narrowly missed out on a place in the Olympic semi-finals after their quarter-final match with Hungary was decided on penalty shootout.

Yanitsas made her international debut in 2007 and since then has been consistently guarding the Stingers net. In 2012 Yanitsas and her Australian teammates won a silver medal at the FINA World Cup. The team produced another silver at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

Following the birth of her son in 2018, Yanitsas was recalled to the Stingers squad and selected for the 2019 FINA World Championships where she and her teammates won the bronze medal against rivals Hungary. The competition also marked Yanitsas’ 150th cap for Australia.

Water polo player, Elle Armit is a member of the Australian women’s national team, The Stingers, and is a NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder.

With over 70 international caps, Elle made her Stingers debut in 2013 and competed at that year’s FINA World League Preliminaries. She has since been a consistent member of the squad.

In 2018, Elle and the Stingers were silver medallists at the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup. The Stingers traveled to South Korea for the 2019 FINA World Championships where they came away with the bronze medal after taking down Hungary.

Elle, who was raised in Townsville has competed in both Italian and Spanish national leagues. She played for Queensland in the National Water Polo league before relocating to Sydney in 2018 to play for the Drummoyne Devils.

Water Polo player Lena Mihailovic made her debut for the Australian national team in 2017. The NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder was a member of the Aussie Stingers squad that won bronze at the 2019 FINA World Championships and silver at the 2019 FINA World League Intercontinental Cup.

Mihailovic grew up playing water polo in her native Serbia and in Turkey. In 2011 she relocated with her family to Australia, where she joined Cronulla Water Polo Club.

While representing Australia at the 2014 Youth World Championships in Madrid,  Mihailovic was noticed by Arizona State University’s (ASU) Head Water Polo Coach. The following year she joined ASU where she played four seasons for the Sun Devils, finishing with a total of 131 goals to place her inside the top 10 for career goals in the school’s history.

Amy Ridge made her national team debut at the 2017 FINA World League Intercontinental tournament, where Australia defeated the USA to win gold. Since then, Ridge has been a key member of the Aussie Stingers squad.

In 2018, Ridge and her Stingers teammates won bronze at the FINA World Cup. In the same year, Ridge was ranked the second-highest goalscorer in the OVO Australian Water Polo League with 50 goals from 22 matches.

Ridge added another bronze medal to the tally after the Stingers took down Hungary at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships.

Before making her Aussie Stingers debut at just 17, Bronte Halligan represented Australia at the 2013 FINA World Junior Championships and the 2014 FINA World Youth Championships.

Since then she has gone to consistently represent Australia at the highest level, including at the 2019 FINA World Championships where Halligan and her Stingers teammates won the Bronze medal after defeating Hungary.

Now a veteran member of the squad, Halligan celebrated her 100th cap for the Stingers at the 2019 World Super League final where she also earned MVP of the match against Hungary.

Halligan splits her time between Australia and the USA where she plays for the UCLA Bruins in the college system.

Water polo player Matilda Kearns will make her Olympic debut at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the age of 20.

The Aussie Stingers forward took up water polo in high school and went on to represent Australia at the 2016 and 2018 FINA World Women’s Youth Water Polo Championships, the 2017 FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships and the 2019 Summer Universiade.

In 2019 Matilda moved to the USA to take up studies at the University of Southern California (USC). The freshman scored two goals on debut for the USC Trojans and earned ACWPC All-Academic honors in her freshman year.

Matilda was then selected into the Aussie Stingers squad and made her senior international debut at the 2019 FINA World League Super Final in Hungary.

With over 200 international caps to her name, Keesja Gofers is a senior member of the Australian women’s water polo team, the Aussie Stingers. She made her Olympic debut at Rio 2016 where the Stingers narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

Since being called up to the national team in 2010, Keesja has won multiple World Championship and World Cup medals including Bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea and the 2018 FINA World Cup in Surgut, Russia.

In 2018/19 Keesja spent a season playing for Olympiacos in Greece where she helped the team to their sixth Greek League Championship in a row.

A three-time Paralympian, Madison De Rozario is an incredibly successful wheelchair track & road athlete.

The NSWIS athlete has three Paralympic silver medals, a myriad of World Championship medals and was the 2019 Women’s 800m T53 World Champion.

Madison won two gold medals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 1500m T54 and the marathon. Just a week after her Commonwealth Games marathon race, Madison made a last dash sprint to win the London Marathon – becoming the first Australian to win the women’s wheelchair title. At the 2018 World Para-athletics Nottwil Grand Prix Madison won gold in all three of her events and equalled the women’s 1500m T53/54 world record.

To kick off 2019, Madison set a new world record in the 800m T53 while competing at the 2019 GIO Summer Down Under Series in Canberra – crossing the line in 1:45.53. Later that year she finished third at the World Marathon Championships and won a gold and two silver medals at the World Para Athletics Championships.

Rheed McCracken is a para track athlete who has competed and won medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The NSWIS athlete won a silver medal at both Games in the men’s 100m, a bronze at the London 2012 games in the men’s 200m as well as a bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in the men’s 800m.

Rheed, who is based in Newcastle, has won multiple world championship medals, including back to back silver in the 100m at the 2017 and 2019 IPC World Athletics Championships. He set a new world record time of 14.93 in the 100m T34 at the 2017 Swiss National Championships – a record he then broke the following year at the 2018 World Para-athletics Nottwil Grand Prix, crossing the line in 14.80.

Rheed will return to the Paralympic arena for the Tokyo 2020 games where he is hopeful of winning his first Paralympic gold medal.

NSWIS Para-canoeist, Dylan Littlehales, represented Australia at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and will hit the water again at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Hailing from the NSW Central Coast, Dylan was introduced to para canoe at 14 by his uncle who was a head coach for the Australian canoe slalom team. The timing was perfect; Para canoe was making its debut at the next Paralympics in Rio and the Avoca Kayak club had just started up – and so Dylan’s journey began.

At 15, Dylan made his debut for Australia in the KL3 event at the 2015 ICF World Championships in Italy, placing a commendable 17th. He was the youngest competitor by three years. Returning to the World Championships the following year, Dylan powered home to place second in the B Final by just 0.001 of a second – qualifying Australia a berth at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Selected to the Rio 2016 Team, Dylan was 16 when he made his Paralympic debut – the youngest in the para-canoe squad by five years. He reached the semi-final in Rio where he placed 6th and took more than a second off the time he clocked in his heat.