Two sisters standing tall

“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves – a special kind of double.” – Toni Morrison.

One sister has achieved her childhood dream; the other is close to making hers a reality. One spends her time flying along the ice; the other bides her time in the water. For every difference that draws these two athletes apart, there is a family bond that brings Emma and Holly Lincoln-Smith back together.

Raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches they were born into a sporting pedigree, with both parents heavily involved in sport during their formative years.

Emma chose running, a sport that came naturally to her. She competed in both track and beach running from a young age with the dream of someday representing Australia. It wasn’t until 2004, when Emma was 18 that her sporting career took an unexpected turn.

The Australian Sports Commission launched a talent identification program with the aim of improving Australia’s performance in lower profile sports. Emma was selected to trial for skeleton, a winter sport in which you slide head first down an ice track, reaching speeds of around 150km/h. Seven years later, Emma is now an Olympian and supported through the Institute’s Individual Scholarship Program, which allows her access to the facilities and services that the NSWIS has to offer.

“Although I have trained all over the world, the gym at the NSW Institute of Sport is probably the best gym I’ve trained in, and the support I have received from all areas of the organisation has helped me achieve my goals,” said Emma.

Holly found herself heading into the water when she was young, both in surf life saving and swimming. It was around the age of 13 when she fell into the sport of water polo, beginning her career playing with the Sydney Northern Beaches club. Having Sydney Olympic water polo gold medallist Debbie Watson as a school teacher, it was no surprise that water polo quickly became a priority in Holly’s life. 

“Debbie really encouraged me to play polo, she has been an amazing mentor throughout my career,” said Holly.

Rewarded with an NSWIS scholarship at age 15, Holly was a raw talent that current NSWIS Women’s Water Polo Coach Ryan Moar has worked hard to mould into a world class centre forward in the pool.

“Holly showed promise and potential from a very young age. She has overcome many hurdles along the way and if she can continue to improve and grow as an athlete she has every chance to achieve Olympic success,” said Moar.

Success has not come easily for Emma or Holly, with family tragedy and major injuries placing pressure on their dreams.

It was in 2005 when their mother Vicki was diagnosed with breast cancer; a disease that now affects one in nine women in Australia by the age of 85. Their father Marcus also underwent open heart surgery to remove a tumor on his heart. Vicki has now gone five years in remission, Marcus has recovered, and both use the strength gained from their experiences to support their daughters in their pursuits.

In 2009 Emma saw her Olympic dream coming near. A year out from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, she was sliding the best she ever had, and went into the off season brimming with confidence. Holly had a great year after being selected into her first world championship team and coming away from the 2009 FINA Aquatic World Championships named Australia’s most valuable player of the tournament. Both were unaware that their biggest challenge still awaited them.

In September 2009, their eldest sister Jessica Lincoln-Smith passed away, bringing their world to a crashing halt. Jess had battled anorexia, depression and bipolar disorder for around 12 years, illnesses that are too common amongst young women in today’s society. 

“I remember being there when my parents and I were told – I remember it so well, but it is a blur at the same time,” said Holly. Although Jess had been sick for over a decade nothing could prepare the family for the finality of death. “Even now I cannot believe it’s real and the finality of it hits you at the strangest times. Times when all you want is a hug from your big sister but you can’t, and times like Christmas and birthdays are always hard.”

Only four months out from the Winter Olympics, Emma was faced with the daunting task of refocusing on her sport, something that her sister had always been proud of. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull myself together to make the Olympics. I just kept going, if I hadn’t I would have fallen apart. The Olympics were a focus for me, a reason to get up every day. I had to keep going for myself, my family and most of all for Jess.”

Holly was hit with another setback two months later when she found out that she had suffered several tears in her shoulder, an injury sustained at the world championships and not diagnosed till later. The injury meant a full nine month rehabilitation before she would play water polo again, and three months before she could even swim, putting a dent in her Olympic dream.

Holly reflected on this time, “I really struggled because when Jess died I used water polo to keep me going. It was my escape, so when I found out that I couldn’t train or play I did not know how I would get through it. I was lucky I had such amazing people around me supporting me in every way. Mum and Dad were constantly there for me doing anything they could to help.”

The silver lining was that the injury allowed Holly the time to travel to Vancouver to watch her sister take part in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. With a short history in the sport and three Olympic debutants, not much was expected from Australia’s skeleton athletes. To add to this, the event was shrouded in controversy when only days earlier Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili tragically crashed and died in the practice rounds, an accident that occurred metres from where Emma was standing.

It was a tough time for Emma, “I was mentally a bit shattered and it was hard trying to push the incident to the back of my mind. After everything I’d been through the last year I just had to forget what I’d seen. I couldn’t let anything stop me.”

Emma blistered through her first run sitting in sixth going into the final round, and only three-tenths off a medal. Her second round was tougher and she eventually finished in 10th place overall, Australia’s best result in skeleton at the Olympic Games.

“Competing at the Olympics was the most amazing and surreal experience of my life and just felt like it was all a dream. Overall I was disappointed with my 10th place finish, as I know there is more in me. My family was so proud, it was amazing having them there. It is usually silent as I come down the track, but as I rounded curve 16 I heard Holly screaming. She was more excited than I was.

“It was hard not having Jess there as I know she would have been the proudest person, I like to think that she was there with me. She never saw me slide, but she was in my heart coming down the track.”

Holly stuck to her rehabilitation program and showed that she was ready to play when selected straight back into the national team for the 2010 Sydney Six Nations Tournament and 2010 FINA World Cup. She was once again a pivotal member of the Australian team, winning a gold medal and being named in the All-Star team for the Sydney tournament, as well as winning a silver medal at the world cup in Christchurch.

“Through my nine month rehab I had the goal of playing at the world cup, even though it was only one month after my return to the pool. My physiotherapists Liz Steet and Andrea Mosler ensured I was doing everything I could to get my shoulder strong enough to compete against the best players in the world, and coach Moar made sure that I was doing everything in the gym and pool that I needed to have the best chance possible to make it. I was also really lucky that (Australia’s women’s coach) Greg McFadden gave me the opportunity to attend the camps and prove that I was ready.”

Today these two sisters are closer than ever, with Holly just over a year out from the London Olympics and Emma working towards the goal of a second Winter Olympic Games. If Holly qualifies for the Australian Olympic team they will be the first sibling combination to represent Australia at a summer and winter Olympics, an achievement that will not be lost on the sisters.

“I remember after Jess died, Em came up to me and said ‘I’m your big sister now, we have each other no matter what.’ We have always been close but losing Jess bonded us even more, we have to stay strong for each other. I am so lucky to have a sister like Emma, she’s one of my closest friends as well as my sister,” said Holly.

Emma has graduated with a Bachelor of Education and aims to someday become a teacher, while Holly recently graduated with a Bachelor of Human Resource Management. While focusing on water polo Holly also finds times to volunteer for Beyond Blue, a national charity that aims to raise awareness about depression.

“I miss and think about Jess every single day. There will always be a piece of me missing but now I live my life as if I’m living for two people. She is and will always be in my heart. I can still see her face and feel her hugs and I know I won’t ever lose that.”

Both sisters hope that they can help others through the experiences they have had with Jess, “I learnt a lot through my experience with Jess. I want to be able to help, not just those directly affected by depression but family members who get drawn into this disease by their loved ones and don’t know how to help,” said Holly.

Emma hopes to ride from Sydney to Brisbane to raise awareness for depression and anorexia, saying, “It’s something I want to do for Jess, and these diseases affect so many people, there needs to be more awareness.”

If you meet the sisters you will find a tattoo of their sister Jessica’s name scripted on their bodies, a source of reflection and motivation to achieve their goals. Life only gives what you take from it, and these sisters are leaving nothing to chance.