If you haven’t heard about the Catholic school in the southwestern region of Western Australia that schooled four Paris Olympians, you should know that Lauren Reynolds, Jake Harvie, Kyle Lee and Alex Saffy all attended Bunbury College, a school in the Marist and Mercy traditions. Bunbury (Nyungar: Goomburrup) is a coastal city in Western Australia, located almost 200 kilometres south of Perth. It is the state's third most populous city, with around 75,000 residents.
The cool thing is that the Olympians who were nurtured there are now at the peak of a wide range of sports – marathon swimming, hockey, para swimming and BMX cycling. It just goes to show that a firm foundation can lead to great things and something special is happening on the WA coast.
There’s an abundance of Catholic school graduates competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, with many success stories. Nicola Olyslagers achieved a silver in Women's high jump while Melissa Wu plunged into the record books by diving for Australia in a record five Games, reaching a fifth 10-metre platform final.
Here are some of the competitors who hail from Catholic schools across the country that we are aware of. Do you know of any others?
Contact us and let us know all about them!
Swimming:
• Abbey Connor: Swimming - Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta, NSW
• Olivia Wunsch: Swimming - Holy Spirit Primary and Mount St Benedict College, NSW
• Se-Bom Lee: Swimming - St Martha’s Catholic Primary school, Strathfield, New South Wales
• Alexandra Perkins: swimming - Australian Catholic University
• Kyle Lee: Marathon Swimming – St Joseph’s School, Port Lincoln, SA, Bunbury Catholic College, East Bunbury, WA
• Melissa Wu: Diving - Australian Catholic University
• Anabelle Smith: Diving - Australian Catholic University
Athletics:
• Peter Bol: Running - St Norbert’s College, Perth, WA
• Torrie Lewis: Running - St Mary’s Catholic College, Gateshead, NSW
• Sebastian Sultana: Running - St John XXIII Catholic College, Stanhope Gardens, NSW, Australian Catholic University
• Josh Azzopardi: Running - St Gregory's College, Grepgry Hills, NSW
• Kristie Edwards: Running - Sacred Heart, Mona Vale NSW
• Rose Davies: Running - Holy Family Merewether Beach (Primary), St Pius IX, Adamstown (7-10) and St Francis Xavier’s, Hamilton, NSW.
• Elizabeth Clay: Hurdles -Our Lady of Rosary, Waitara (Primary) & Loreto, Normanhurst (Secondary), NSW
• Nicola Olyslagers (McDermott): High jump - St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School, Woy Woy, NSW
• Declan Tingay: Race walking - Australian Catholic University
Team Sports:
• Nicholas Kay: Basketball - St Edwards Primary, Tamworth and McCarthy Catholic College, Tamworth, NSW
• Blake Govers: Hockey - St Joseph’s Catholic High School, Albion Park, NSW
• Matthew Dawson: Hockey - Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, The Entrance & St Edwards College, Gosford
• Jake Harvie: Hockey - Bunbury Catholic College, WA
• Grace Young: Hockey - St Patrick’s College, Sutherland, NSW
• Rowena Meredith: Rowing - Stella Maris College, Manly, NSW, Australian Catholic University
• Bronwyn Cox: Rowing - Australian Catholic University
• Dietrich Roache: Rugby sevens - Patrician Brothers, Fairfield, NSW.
• Corey Toole: Rugby sevens - Mater Dei College, Wagga Wagga, NSW
• Mark Nawaqanitawase: Rugby sevens - St Josephs Primary, Enfield, and St Patrick’s College Strathfield, NSW
• Bridget Clark: Rugby sevens - St Joseph's Primary, Oatley & Santa Sabina College, Strathfield, NSW
• Bronte Halligan: Water Polo - Stella Maris College, Manly, NSW
• Sienna Hearn: Water Polo - Australian Catholic University
• Elle Armit: Water Polo - Australian Catholic University
• Marcus Berehulak: Water Polo - Australian Catholic University
• Angus Lambie: Water Polo - De La Salle College, Caringbah, NSW
• Matthew Byrnes: Water Polo - De La Salle College, Caringbah, NSW, Marist College Ashgrove, Qld.
Other Sports:
• Emma Nedov: Gymnastics - Brigidine College, St Ives, NSW
• Ruby Pass: Gymnastics - Lourdes Hill College, Brisbane, QLD
• Joshua Bell: Skeet Shooting - Good Shepherd Catholic Primary, Hoxton Park, NSW
• Kieran Woolley: Skateboarding - Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats, NSW
• Ruby Trew: Skateboarding - St Keiran’s, Manly Vale, NSW
• Tyler Wright: Surfing - St John the Evangelist Catholic High School, Nowra, NSW
• Ellen Perez: Tennis - Stella Maris Catholic Primary School & Corpus Christi High School, Oak Flats, NSW
• Natalie Van Coevorden: Triathlon - John Therry Catholic High School, NSW
• Matt Hauser: Triathlon – Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay Qld.
• Kyle Bruce: Weightlifting - St John Paul II Catholic College, Schofields, NSW
• Lauren Reynolds: BMX cycling - Bunbury Catholic College, East Bunbury, WA
Para-Olympics:
• Sarah Walsh: Para athletics (Long jump) - St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Engadine & St John Bosco College, Engadine NSW
• Holly Warn: Para Swimming – Sacred Heart Primary, Mosman, NSW
• Timothy Hodge: Para Swimming - St Bernadette's Lalor Park & Patrician Brothers, Blacktown, NSW
• Paige Leonhardt: Para swimming - St Joseph's Regional College Port Macquarie, NSW
• Alex Saffy: Para swimming - Bunbury Catholic College, WA
• Brenden Hall: Para swimming - Australian Catholic University
• Melissa Tapper: Para Table tennis - Australian Catholic University
• Celine Vinot: para badminton - Australian Catholic University
• Shae Graham: Wheelchair rugby - Australian Catholic University