Leading sport and business women speak at UC

Amanda Jones

22 May 2014: World Champion rower and Olympic Games silver medallist Kim Crow and University of Canberra alumni and founder of hercanberra.com.au Amanda Whitley shared their passion for sport at a function at the University of Canberra.

More than 85 people attended the 2014 Business, Sport and Women’s Lunch organised by Capital Football and held at the University’s Ann Harding Conference Centre on 21 May.

The event, now in its third year, was an opportunity for attendees to hear engaging and motivational stories from some of the region's most inspirational sports and business women.

Olympic rower Kim Crow, Capital Football CEO Heather Reid and hercanberra.com.au editor Amanda Whitley at the UC Business, Sport and Women’s lunch. Photo: Michelle McAulay

In her speech, World Champion rower and Olympian Kim Crow spoke of a career-debilitating foot injury which forced her to quit her chosen sport of athletics.

“I dreamt of becoming an Olympic runner and to be told by a surgeon at just 19 years old that I wouldn’t run again was heartbreaking,” she said.

“When I started rowing, I wasn’t strong enough or fit enough. The only test I passed was my height and wingspan!” she joked.

Her sheer determination to achieve saw her win a seat in the Australian women’s eight rowing team within eight months of starting rowing, and she went on to win a World Championship bronze medal. She was the only rower to race in two events at the 2012 Olympics and won a silver medal in the double sculls and bronze in the single sculls.

“The adversity I faced was the best thing that happened to me - I love rowing,” she said.

University of Canberra alumni and founder of popular local website hercanberra.com.au Amanda Whitley also shared her love of sport, saying, “I found my love of physical activity when I discovered dance.”

“I set myself a challenge to learn to dance and within a year I was a Zumba instructor. I love it, I found my happy place.”

The mother of two was named on the UN Women’s ‘100 Years, 100 Great Women’ list in 2013 and won numerous awards in her former career in the public service.

Her website, launched in 2011 as a place to tell the city’s stories and connect local women with each other, now reaches over 70,000 readers each month — and she still finds time to dance each week.