How the West Was Really Won (Part V) Quiz

Answer:

AMBER BRADLEY -
She became the first rower, male or female, to be inducted into the Western Australian Sporting Hall of Champions. She was a part of the Australian women's quad skulls team that finished fourth in the World Championships in Seville in 2002. She (they) backed this up with victory at the Rowing World Cup the following year, a gold medal at the World Championships and a bronze medal at the Athens Summer Olympic Games in 2004.

Switching to double skulls, Amber would win bronze at the World Championships in Gifes in 2005 and follow that effort up with a bronze medal, as part of the women's eight at the 2006 World Championships. She would retire after the Beijing Olympics in 2008 after finishing sixth in the double skulls.

PRIYA COOPER -
She was born with cerebral palsy and took up swimming as a form of therapy. It proved to be a doorway to a glittering international career. At the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, she was Australia's most successful athlete winning three gold medals, two silver medals and setting two world records. She backed that up at the World Championships, two years later, winning gold in each of her five events and setting four world records.

Appointed captain of the Australian team at the Atlanta Paralympics (1996), she led by example, winning five gold, a silver and a bronze medal and being a part of three new world records. The Sydney Paralympics in 2000 would be her swansong and, despite shoulder injuries keeping her out of the pool for a significant period of the season, she recovered to add another gold and three bronze medals to her burgeoning swag of achievements.

DAVID NEESHAM-
He began his career with the Melville Water Polo Club as a fourteen year old in 1960. He graduated to their senior side two years later, where he remained a fixture for all but two years, when he'd relocated across the country to Canberra, between 1963 and 1988. He represented Western Australia between 1966 and 1981, except for his two years in Canberra, where he represented New South Wales.

It is estimated that David played some 285 internationals for Australia (the records are not clear) and this included four Olympic campaigns between 1968 and 1980, and he was captain of the team at the Games in Montreal (1976) and Moscow (1980).

EAMON SULLIVAN-
He took to swimming at an early age as a means to assist with his asthma issues. He would go on to become one of the greatest swimmers that Western Australia has produced. He made his Olympic debut at Athens in 2004 as a member of the 4x100 metre relay team and helped Australia to a gold medal in the 4x100 metre medley relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

At the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 he would break the world record for the 100 metre freestyle on two occasions, once in a remarkable lead off leg in the 4x100 metre relay. Sullivan would continue to represent his country with distinction at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the Olympics in 2012, however, repetitive surgeries to mend his shoulders and hip would push him into an early retirement in 2014.

ROLLY TASKER-
He achieved two notable firsts as an Australian yachtsman. In 1954, in Australia, he and Malcolm Scott sailed their Flying Dutchman class dinghy to victory in the World Yachting Championships and then to a silver medal in the Sharpies class two years later at the Melbourne Summer Olympic Games. These were Australia's first ever yachting medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Tasker, who had begun to sail competitively in 1943, showcased his versatility at the craft by winning eleven Australian titles in various classes. He served on board Gretel II during its 1970 America's Cup campaign, has won international acclaim as a designer of yachts, masts and sails, created the remarkable "Siska" series of boats which have set numerous long-distance sailing records and pioneered the Sydney to Fremantle (via the Great Australian Bight) route... a journey that he would complete 133 times.

SHELLEY TAYLOR-SMITH -
In Western Australia, the words open-water swimming and the name Shelley Taylor-Smith are virtually synonymous. Shelley first came to notice when she broke the world four mile record in 1983 and then by taking out the first of her five wins in the prestigious Manhattan Island Marathon Swim.

Rather appropriately, she took out the inaugural World Open Water Swimming Championships, which is swum over 25 kilometres, on the waters of her home town in Perth. She would go close to replicating that win three years later, taking home the bronze medal at the 1993 Championships in Rome.

KEN VIDLER-
By the time he'd retired from top level competitive life-saving competitions, Ken Vidler had won more than fifty medals and was Australia's most decorated athlete in the sport. Vidler joined the Scarborough Surf Lifesaving Club in 1967 and would win the Australian Junior Ironman titles in 1971 and 1972. His graduation into the senior ranks did not slow him down, taking out that division in 1973.

At the World Ironman Championships in South Africa in 1976 he would win the single ski event and finish runner-up in the Ironman. In 1980 he attended the Moscow Summer Olympic Games as a member of Australia's K4-1000 squad, but the team faded at the close to finish eighth. In 1983, at the 75th anniversary of surf lifesaving in Australia, Ken was acknowledged as the nation's most decorated competitor.

PETER GILMOUR-
He took up sailing on Perth's Swan River when he was only seven years old and, by the age of sixteen, was competing at his first World Match Racing Championships. Whilst he finished in 21st place that year, this became an event that he would own, becoming the first man to win the title on four separate occasions. This mark has, subsequently, been eclipsed by the Englishman Ian Williams.

Gilmour sailed all manner of craft, from dinghies to off-shore yachts. He has competed regularly in the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race and, in 1987, began the first of his five America's Cup campaigns as the helmsman for Kevin Parry's "Kookaburra" syndicate.

TAJ BURROW-
Born in Yallingup, he would become one of Western Australia's finest surfers. In 1998 he became the (then) youngest surfer to win a national title. The following year he would enter the ASP World Tour, winning the Rookie of the Year award.
A powerful natural footer, his finest moments would arrive with wins in the Rip Curl Pro at Bell's Beach in 2007, which he followed up the same year, with a victory in the Billabong Pro, beating world champion Kelly Slater in the final. Burrow would end the tour that year in second place, behind compatriot Mick Fanning. In his first eleven years on the tour he would finish in the top four on nine occasions without tasting the joy of an overall victory.

BRDIEGETTE GUSTERSON-
She had a clear vision of what she wanted to be when she was barely ten years old - she wanted to compete at the Summer Olympic Games. However, she was drawn to water polo, a sport which, in the female version, was not a part of the Olympic schedule.

Bridgette had all of the physical attributes - tall and very athletic - to be a success at the sport, however, what set her apart from most were her fierce determination and an unquenchable desire to work diligently at her skills. Along with her unerring accuracy and cleverness in front of goal, this turned her into the best centre-forward in the game during her time. She would represent Australia in 212 internationals, winning numerous Player of the Tournament awards and achieved one of her goals when her team won the 1995 FINA World Cup.
We all love a fairy tale finish and the girl who dreamed of being the best in the pool, the captain of the side, the leading goal-scorer and the winner of an Olympic gold medal... she got it all. Women's water polo was added to the Olympic roster for the 2000 Games in Sydney and Gusterson played a major role as Australia scored the winning goal with 1.3 seconds left in the game.