Lucy Stephan Interview
It's time to get back into the boat today as we sit down and chat with Tokyo Gold Medal winning Australian rower Lucy Stephan about her incredible career and her Olympic experiences! We learn from Lucy just how she went from a tiny town in rural Victoria in the middle of a drought to taking up the sport of rowing that would lead her to the ultimate prize in sport. We also learn about some prestigious races in Australia that may or may not be helped by drinking a certain type of alcohol, as well as why single sweep rowing could take off in an entertaining fashion. Added to this we learn more about the unique circumstances that led to her Olympic debut in Rio and just how possible it is to put into words the feeling of becoming an Olympic champion. It's a fun, entertaining and insightful chat that will have you smiling until you go to sleep tonight! So download and get to it!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast, coming to you today for another interview, an exciting, exciting interview. We are speaking to a Tokyo gold medallist today, Lucy Stephan, an Australian rower who was part of the Women's Four that won the gold medal several weeks back in Tokyo. And this is such a fun chat with Lucy going over everything from that moment crossing the line in Tokyo, becoming an Olympic gold medallist, learning a little bit more about the small town she's from, a town called Neil in Victoria. A lot of fun to learn from there and some history making things that she's created since winning Olympic gold there as well. And everything else in between, learning a little bit of fun in regards to some rowing events in Australia, her goals going forward after the Olympics, her memories of Rio where she was in the Women's Eight and all the drama that was around the Australian Women's Eight even making it to those Olympics. And also her love for a certain movie, which I'm not going to spoil right now, but she's been tested on this in the past and gotten 100% right. And we might change that fact today. There might be a bit of an upturn in terms of her knowledge on a movie from the past. So a lot of fun here with Lucy Stephan, Olympic gold medallist from rowing from Tokyo. Here is our chat with Lucy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Always excited to be able to talk about the sport of rowing on Off The Podium, particularly when we can talk to not only an Olympic medallist in the sport of rowing, but an Olympic gold medallist. She was a member of the Women's Coxless Four that won that famous, famous race only several weeks ago in Tokyo, and has also won plenty of other events, including two world championship gold and world championship silver. Just to add to the resume, it's a massive pleasure to welcome to Off The Podium Lucy Stephan. First of all, Lucy, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to have you here today.
LUCY STEPHAN: Thank you for having me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Does it get old hearing those words, Olympic gold medallist? Uh, you know.
LUCY STEPHAN: Not really. I think I hadn't actually heard it for a while, and I was like, oh, I get to talk about rolling again, which is nice. Um, yeah, no, it's it's obviously it's always nice to hear those things for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's always one of those things that I think it's kind of is you walk into a room. I feel it should just always be announced, you know, Olympic gold medallist, Lucy, here she is, you know, yes, I will have a drink, you know.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I don't think I could deal with that. No, I'd get all shy.
BEN WATERWORTH: None of the fanfare, no sort of trumpets going all the time.
LUCY STEPHAN: And like, it definitely obviously it's like within reason. But now I think I get quite I get a bit quiet and I get a bit embarrassed.
BEN WATERWORTH: So it's you're not wearing the medal out, basically you're saying and trying.
LUCY STEPHAN: It's not really one of those things. I more so like when I go to the schools and stuff, I more just put it on the kids and I'd rather do that than walk around with it on myself for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm still seeing though out there that there is so much possibility for what gold medallists can do, like with what they might be able to get. I mean, you know, I did see Kayleigh McEwen when she got back, she got given a car. So, I mean, you know, I don't know if you've gone down to your local car dealership with that gold around you, and go, hey, Kayleigh got one. Why don't I get one?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, well, that's what it is though. Obviously, they win at like, I don't know how many, when she wins, seven. It was, yeah, no, seven.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, M. McKee won seven, yeah, for sure.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, so it's kind of like, oh well, fair enough.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, whereas rowing is a little bit harder, right? Like, come on, you know.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, you don't really double up. Obviously, we had two in our crew that did double up, but that usually very rarely happens. Yeah, very rarely it happens.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're not quite going to have the multiple, you know, seven medals coming from a rowing regatta, essentially.
LUCY STEPHAN: That's it. I think maybe max you could get is probably two, and the Kiwis did it, and that is incredibly hard to do. I think they kind of had a practice run at Rio, learned some lessons there and have returned and got it right, this Olympics. But yeah, I think for us, it would have been interesting if the racing hadn't have been moved. So originally, the pair was meant to race the day before our final. But then we obviously getting up for an Olympic final and then having to go race the semifinal two hours later is very, very, very, very, very difficult. And they did an amazing job, and I think it's just the lanes are a bit unfair, and things just weren't in our favour that day for the pair race. But it is what it is, like the reality of it. We still got a gold medal as a four, and obviously that's still an amazing achievement for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: The thing I love hearing about that, though, is the fact that you think about that day, day five, not obviously just your gold, but the men's gold and the two bronzes as well. And then kind of it's still a case of that, obviously, there was even more potentially to come from that. I mean, I love hearing that kind of, even with the success that came from rowing that day, that it was still a case of, oh, well, this could have gone a certain way as well.
LUCY STEPHAN: For sure, I think that's the thing with rowing. Obviously, we have so many outside factors that do inhibit us, I guess, to a factor of, and I think that's what you kind of saw. We say we were lucky to a certain point that we were earlier in the morning, and we still had pretty crappy conditions, but you look at the quads and the amount of, you know, people catching dirty strokes and, you know, how tight the racing was. It really puts into perspective of just anything can happen and never ever give up, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was this a sport, Lucy, that sort of you grew up with, one that you sort of, you know, fell into, kind of, how did this journey begin for you to eventually leave Tokyo as an Olympic gold medallist?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, so for me, rowing, I grew up in a small country town in Victoria called Neil. And growing up in the 90s, Australia was dealing with pretty bad drought. So I couldn't actually row in Neil, and I didn't start rowing until I was lucky enough to be sent to boarding school for year 10, 11, 12 in Ballarat. And that's actually where I started rowing. But ironically, that was when the lake was bone dry in Ballarat. Like my jury, like kids used to walk home from school across the lake instead of around it. Yeah, it was very dry, obviously. And so I actually learned to row, would get on a bus once a week and travel to Geelong and row on the bar when they're out of the canoe club. So we're still really lucky in that fact that the school really tried to keep rowing alive and still all the schools kept giving that opportunity to their kids to row. And some went to like Essendon in Melbourne, and then most of us were down on the bar when in Geelong once a week. So that's kind of where I learned. And yeah, definitely fell in love with the sport from there. And my mum saw that. I didn't really know that you could row after school. But my mum put my name down on this Row in Victoria website in a way to, I guess, if there was any opportunities for me to go on and do that. And I got contacted by the under 21 coach at the time, Peter Kupces, at Melbourne Uni University Boat Club. And yeah, I guess went down there, obviously just reiterated how much I love the sport and just kind of kept chipping away until I guess made the senior 18 for sure in 2013, I think that was.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, fantastic. Gabby, were you very sporty as well? Were there other sort of sports that you did play kind of growing up?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, like I always loved sport, and I think there was always a desire to be really good at it. Obviously as a kid, I wanted to play netball for Australia, and this is when I was a young kid. So in nil, obviously the sports can be quite limited just with the amount of people and the knowledge. So in the winter, if you're a boy, you play footy. If you're a girl, you play netball. Obviously this is back in the nineties before, so like a bit more equality came in. So it was very strict. Boys play footy, girls play netball, and then you could also play hockey, but you couldn't do both. So it was either kind of one of those sports. And then summer, it was pretty much either tennis, if you're a boy or girl, cricket, if you're a boy, and then basketball, if you're a boy or girl. So for me, my two sports were pretty much basketball and netball. Netball, I was definitely mad keen on. My mom was quite a good netballer, and she was actually my netball coach. But I was always kind of, I guess, centre of the pack, runner up, best and fairest, those kind of like back end stuff. And then obviously moving to Ballarat, like a little fish in a massive pond. And I guess I just wasn't... There were times where I don't know if I thought I was good enough, but there was a few, I guess, instances that just made me really fall out of love with the sport, I think. And I think probably one of those was I found rowing, which was just this sport that it wasn't... It wasn't so much skilled-based, so whether you have fast-switch fibres or anything like that, it was more if you pull hard, especially in Ballarat at the time, I mean, we had no boarder. It was very, if you pull hard, you will go fast. And that's what rowing was for me. I guess it was an outlet. It was somewhere where I could just get in, pull on the handle, pull shaft, as we say. And then, yeah, and I really enjoyed that. And I guess it took away there. I always found netball for me personally was, I always felt like a bit of an outsider. And I wasn't really accepted for whatever reason that was. And then finding rowing, it was all of a sudden this kind of place that really accepted me for who I am. And I really just thrived, and I found out so much about myself when I kind of hit that sport. So I always say, you know, I didn't know that I was determined or passionate or this really fiery driven person until I started rowing. And it kind of just unleashed all these personality traits that I guess were bobbling around there until I found that thing that it could shine in.
BEN WATERWORTH: All those sports you were mentioning, it all seems very height based, Lucy. I mean, is this kind of something that sort of, you know, it comes down to because we spoke to Luke Letcher recently, and it was about that height sort of aspect of the sport as well. I mean, is height and rowing a very common thing, the taller you are, the better you are essentially?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yes, to a certain point, but I think rowing, I'm not, I'm tall for an average female, but I am not tall in the rowing world. I'm actually short and little, like to the point I have coaches call me, there was a coach who called me little one. Yeah, I think rowing, it's one of those sports where I never achieved in a netball. I'm not sure if you could do it, but I feel like with rowing, it doesn't so much matter your height or your strength. It's more what's going on between your ears. So there is a sense of, I guess, talent ID or talent that kind of looking for that. And obviously, we can definitely got that, you know, he is phenomenally tall, pretty strong for his height, like all those things. But I guess what rowing does is also allow people like me, who are on the shorter end, not necessarily like I'm solid, but I'm not like really, really strong. And I guess why I've got the way I have is, like one of my quotes that I always turn to is, it's not the size of the dog in the flight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. And I think, you know, if you look at the like any rowing team, but I think especially in Australian rowing team, because we have such diversity in terms of where we've come from and kind of our backgrounds and where we've grown up, you see a lot of height difference and a lot of size difference in our crews. It's really interesting when you watch Europeans, and I kind of only noticed it this year when at the World Cups and at Europeans, because you couldn't have big countries like the Kiwis and ourselves and the US and those kind of that usually have those European countries kind of came in, I guess, invaded, let's be honest. You have this level of all these people from different kind of walks and backgrounds. So you've kind of got people that have got a bit of Dutch in them. So they're really told blonde to do those things. So then you've got, I guess, like the Scottish in the art, like the bit shorter, bit more like solid. So I think what you find, especially in Australian rowing, is that we're all different shapes and sizes, but we all add to the boat in our own right. So yeah, it's for me, it is definitely a sport that people would say, oh, you'd make a great rower if you got really long arms and you're really tall. But I think what makes a good rower is what's going on between their ears. And you see that every day. You'll see someone who's really big and tall lose to a short person quite often, because it's, I think it's also to do those kind of short people have had to work bloody hard to what they get to. So when it comes to those really hard races, they can go there because they've kind of had to go there their whole life. It's like that, you know, it's like really tall people who have been really tall always growing up, and they get to seeing your basketball, and they don't know how to jump because they're always the tallest in their year level, where you have these people like short people who can jump tremendously high because they've always had to jump. And I think that's it. It's kind of rings true in rowing a little bit as well. And obviously that this is coming from me. This is coming from someone who I guess had to like fall with their fingernails to kind of really get in there and prove that a short little guy can do it. But obviously, God, I still want those big tall people in my crew because that's what makes us go fast at the end of the day. It's me and it's them together. And that's the best thing about rowing is that you kind of need each other to make that boat go somewhere.
BEN WATERWORTH: With the sports, I mean, you mentioned sort of netball career. Obviously netball is not an Olympic sport, but sort of was there any ambition like as a child, Olympics would be a great thing to go to? Did you grow up sort of watching the Olympics thinking this would be a great or was this something that sort of came to you once you got further in rowing, that this would be a possibility to go to an Olympics?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I think definitely it became a possibility after once I got into rowing. I think a huge thing was like netball, obviously it was to play for a show, and I kind of wanted to do that as a kid. And I think when you're around and you have pretty much AFL and netball and hockey are your three main things, it's very much AFL, I want to play for a footy team and netball is one I want to play for a show, I want to play for the state. So the Olympics, I think, isn't a massive, massive thing. It wasn't for me when I was growing up. You know, even I started rowing, Beijing Olympics, obviously, we did really, really well in and then even 2012, it's like I kind of was like, yeah, I'd love to go to the Olympics one day, but I think I've always kind of just taken the baby steps. And I think that's why I've kind of slowly but surely chugged away and got to where I am. Like when I was 2012, it was just about making the under 23 Australian team. And then after that 2013, then it became about Rio. But I guess it was that kind of that pipe dream to be the way that I've looked at it is I've always just wanted to be the best rower I can be. And that standard of the best rower I can be has obviously shifted from year to year. So, you know, not to say that in 2013, I wasn't training to win that gold medal, but it's about learning those things that now have got me to actually get that gold medal eight years later.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned you're from Neil. Now I'm seeing here population of just under 2000. It looks like it's closer to Adelaide than actually Melbourne. And I'm seeing the notable people from Neil. You might be the only Olympian from Neil. Do you know if that's the case? Because everyone I'm seeing here is an AFL player, a cricketer or a politician. So are you the only Olympian from Neil?
LUCY STEPHAN: As far as I think I know, from what I've been told from the historians of Neil and the people that have been there for a long time, I'm definitely the only Olympian, definitely from, I guess, modern Olympics. Yeah, which is pretty cool. And someone actually said, obviously, because Ballarat claims me as well, given that I went to school there, but someone actually said I'm the first gold medallist from Ballarat at the Olympics. I don't know if that's true. This is like you say, someone said that, and I was like, surely not.
BEN WATERWORTH: We'll have a fact check and look into that, I think.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, it could be rowing, it could be the first Olympic rower, but yeah, I don't know.
BEN WATERWORTH: We had the fact checks going on because when Ariane Titmus won a couple of gold, even though Queensland tried to claim her, she's obviously a Tasmanian, and the fact check went there that she was the first individual gold medallist from Tasmania, all our gold medallists had either come in rowing or hockey or cycling. So it was, it's kind of interesting when you've got like, you'd know that obviously being from a small town and even Ballarat, you know, it's a small city that it's kind of that pride, isn't it, that those places have when you've got someone like you going out there and doing well on the world stage.
LUCY STEPHAN: I think that's been like definitely the special thing for me. And like, obviously, regional lockdown didn't happen. I had about a week before regional lockdown happened. So I got the chance to go back to Newark and kind of go to the schools. And you'd walk in, and then straight away the kids are like, Oh, my God, it's Lucy Stephan. And you're like, Wow, OK, like this, you know, seven year old has act like he knows exactly who I am. He knows what I look like. And I think that that was it was really bizarre for me because I think I just always kind of rowing is, you know, we've never had the massive crowds. And obviously, that's what happens with the Olympics is and people joke. It's like Australia loves rowing when it comes into the Olympics, because we do have a tendency to do quite well. And then the other rest, like the other three, you know, three, four years, four years in this case, it's like they kind of have a bit of idea. You become a world champion. They're like, oh, we become a world champion. But it's definitely not to the hype of obviously winning an Olympic gold medal. And I think, you know, it's very, very special to be able to go home and I guess see those kids. And like you said, there's definitely people that have come from Neil who have done great things in terms of footy and stuff like that. But I think to have an Olympian as well, it kind of gives that extra like, oh, you can go do this too. Growing up, for me, it was you either wanted to, like I said, play footy for the AFL or you wanted to play netball for Australia, where now it's like, well, you can go to the Olympics too. And you might not have even found that sport yet. Maybe that sport will come later in life, but it's just about finding what you love and going after it. And that's been a massive thing for me. I guess my message of, yeah, what I kind of wanted to spread, especially with these kids.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which not only does that make you then maybe the first and only Olympian from Neil, also maybe the first and only person from Neil to be on a stamp. So that's also something you can put out there as well. I don't know if, you know, Jason McCartney was ever on a stamp. But if he isn't, you've got that claim, right?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, you never know.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm just thinking the local post office there would be selling out pretty quickly on that day after you win the gold. Give me the stamp with Lucy on it.
LUCY STEPHAN: I don't know. Dad bought 500, so I was like, Dad, what the hell are you going to do with 500 stamps? He's like, well, I would never lose value if you lose.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, true.
LUCY STEPHAN: It's a valid point, but then I got home and they're just sitting in my room and I was like, can I at least use them? We just don't need 500 dollars worth of stamps just sitting here not being used. So I don't know, when you pay your bills, put a Lucy stamp on there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Or when you get a bill and it's got a Lucy stamp and you're like, oh, wait, there's me. You will have them, I guarantee you, in like 10, 20 years time. You'll be looking back at this moment in your life and you'll be going through your merch and all that sort of stuff you got from the Olympics. And you'll be showing your kids, your grandkids, look, look at this, mom, grandma was on a stamp. Which nobody talks about. Everyone talks about the gold medal. But I like talking about the fact that you get to be on a stamp.
LUCY STEPHAN: That's pretty cool. Yeah, no, the stamp is really cool. I remember when Kimmy Brennan got her stamp, I was like, geez, that's cool. Yeah. But I think it's like with everything, isn't it? It's like, you really, really want something. Can you go after it, and you drive for it, you drive for it, and then you get it. And you're like, oh, OK, cool, I've done that now. I guess I could bid on to the next thing. You know, it's like with anything, it's like, I really want this food. I really want this T-shirt. You buy it, and you're like, oh, sweet.
BEN WATERWORTH: Next thing.
LUCY STEPHAN: What's next?
BEN WATERWORTH: Two stamps. I don't know how many, you know, I guess, I mean, I guess Emma and Kayleigh probably got a few stamps after Tokyo. But I mean, Thorpey's probably sick of being on a stamp. He's like, stop putting me on the stamps. Like, come on. I can't imagine if the US ever did it. Michael Phelps, Jesus Christ. US. Posts would be running out of stamp printing presses, wouldn't they?
LUCY STEPHAN: It is pretty cool, though. I think it is like quite a little like Aussie, Aussie trait. That's like, it's one of those little special things that we get as Aussies. And I think there's, there's a few of those things that it definitely makes you really proud to be Australian and proud to be a part of that for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which when you're sort of progressing through the ranks, then through your rowing career, you mentioned obviously, you know, you set your sights on Rio and we'll talk about sort of what happened in Rio in just a moment. But as you are progressing through that, you're representing Australia out there. And as you said, sort of rowing is not really a sport that we do pay much attention to outside of that. What's it like then being on a world stage, wearing the Australian colours, going to these events and kind of progressing up the ranks and to realise that Olympics could be a possibility here?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I think the cool thing about rowing is that you can potentially get to row with your heroes at a very, very young age. So, you know, I was good as an underage. I was under 21. I was, you know, under 23. I was a decent rower. I was kind of, you know, one of the better girls in Victoria. I think if you had asked most people, they would have said, if you were like, oh, who's going to make it from that youth date, there would be quite a few that would say definitely not lose. That's all right. That just adds fuel to the fire, doesn't it?
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. You've got something to show off for that now a few years later.
LUCY STEPHAN: But being a part of Melbourne Uni, obviously Melbourne Uni Bow Club, and there's kind of two big main clubs in Victoria that you kind of have your elite rowers. Banks a little bit as well. Obviously Rosie Copper, who was in the crew, she's from Banks, but your two main clubs are Melbourne Uni and Mercantile, whereas I like to call them Mercantile. And as you can probably tell from that name, I think what makes Victoria so good at rowing is the fact that we have this mad, mad rivalry until one day a year where we actually get to row for Victoria at Nationals. And I think that that's the cool thing about, we have so many great rowers that have come from Victoria that you get to row with them, like I said, at a young age. So I think I was 9, it was 2011 Nationals, and one of the girls in the Melbourne Uni Open 8 had, couldn't go to Nationals, she'd been, I think she had to have an operation, it was really quite sad. She was fine, but it was like three days before Nationals, like, oh no, Jess can't come to Nationals. And I was kind of like the youth girl, and we had like quite a really, really strong senior group. And then there was a few under 23 girls that were already in that 8. And then I was the next girl in line. So what this kind of led to was, all right, Lucy, get to a row in this open women's 8 with all the Melbourne Uni girls. And we obviously had Phoebe Stanley, who went to 2012. We had Al Mac, who's two-time world champion, rode like competitively internationally for I think 12 years, so three Olympic cycles. We had Kimmy Crow, now Brennan, who obviously speaks for herself, gold medal, silver medal, and bronze medal. And then you had some really, really great girls, like Soph Robson, who's really good under 23, and McCarthy, really good under 23 athlete. That was seniors. We just had this really, really strong crew. There was Yaz, who was really good, strong lightweight, who just turned heavyweight. So I'm rocking up to go for this training row. And I'm sitting there, and Lucy Patrick, who coxed the 8 at London and Beijing. She's from Melbourne Uni as well. So she's getting me organised. She's like, right, Lucy, I'm going to do this. And I'm like, OK, yeah, obviously, shitty bricks. Then I come up, and the coach is there, and he's like, all right, everyone, this is Lucy. And then Kim looks at me, and she's like, hi, I'm Kim. And I was just like, no, I know who you are. Why are you introducing me to you? This is huge. And then I got to be in this crew, and it was always this thing of, so Melbourne Uni and Jerkintile can always, we could always back then seed a, we could seed a full club eight, which is huge. And then there would be kind of all the other people from all over the country at the time. Now it's a bit different because there's a bit more in New South Wales, but all over the country at the time, and they were in what was called the All Star Eight. So it was essentially like your best kind of girls around Australia that wanted to do the eight at Nationals, and they jumped in it. They called it the All Star Eight. And a massive thing was always, the club crews would sometimes, more often than not, actually end up beating the All Star crew, because what it does is the same as rowing for your country, same as rowing for your state. It brings you all together, and there's this sense of pride and specialness to the fact that you're all a part of something. So I jump in this Melbourne Uni Eight, and I can remember the race plan. It was like, Lucy was like, you know, we're going to be, we're not going to win out of the start, 750 metre mark, as long as we're in contact, we can do this. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, yeah, we can do it. And I think this is also why some people have so much success when they're young, because they just believe and they have no, they have no demons, they have nothing has ever gone wrong. So like, yeah, we can roll through, like, and at the time, same thing, I was young, I didn't know who was in this All-Star, right? Like, it was always looking back on it now, like, it's all these massive, like, star people who I used to, you know, who ended up looking up to in two, three years time. It's just like, you know, it's okay, as long as we're still in contact. And then we ended up rolling through to win the race. And that was kind of my first real experience of, I guess, being a part of this, like, highbrow, really, really great crew. And that's the really cool thing about rowing, is that I got to row with Olympic champions. I got to row with Olympians when I was 19, and I learnt so much from that to then take through to when I, I guess, became one of those Olympians. And that's the really sweet thing about rowing, is in the sense that it, you can really hone into that and learn those things and have those opportunities. Sorry, I think I got distracted.
BEN WATERWORTH: I don't even know if I answered your question. No, no, it's, I love, this is the beauty of this show too, Lucy, is tangents and going on different things. It's the nature of the beast. So by all means, you're on topic still on this show.
LUCY STEPHAN: Still talking about rowing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, we're not at Mean Girls yet. Don't worry, we'll get there.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, no, it's really cool in that sense, and I think that's it, that I've been out to, and even now, it's like Kimmy obviously was an idol then, and we've gone on to be in these crews together, and usually big crews, and obviously big crews, and Helmut and Uni crews, and there's been so much risk, and she's, I guess, always backed me. And to have someone like that, when she backs you, that gives you that kind of fire to back yourself as well. You're like, oh, if Kim thinks I'm pretty good, then I can do this because Kim believes in me. And I think that that's a really, really special thing to be able to have in the sport that is rowing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it is that unique aspect of it, thinking about that way, just kind of almost being starstruck, but they're your teammates. It's like if you continue netball all of a sudden, like you're on the team now, there's Liz Ellis, just kind of, oh, hello, like, you know, kind of going that way, getting that call up. It's sort of a unique thing, it sounds like rowing has that.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, it's like you wouldn't be playing on the same team as with the Vixens when you're doing underage stuff, where it's quite possible, like you're still in the same, you're literally in the same boat club, you're in the same training environment, you go to nationals, they're there, you go to states, they're there. And I think obviously they brought in the national training centres in 2017, took that a little bit away in the fact that I don't actually get to go home to Melbourne Uni as much as I'd love to. But it's like whenever I'm in Melbourne, I'm there, I'm with those girls, I'm trying to chat to them, I want to row with them. Like, God, I hope we come out of lockdown because there's this massive race called Head of the Yarra, which is kind of renowned, it's like really fun regatta. You get in, you row up to Hawthorne, it's about an eight and a half k or nine k race, and it's flat chat, it's like you're pretty much going two k pace and same thing, that Mercantile-Melbourne Uni rivalry comes back in. And then you get up to the thing, you have a few beers, and then you all get back into the boat, and you're a little bit pissed, and you all row back. You know, you row, it goes quick because you're pissed, you row back, and it's just like one of those really fun things that you kind of, I remember one of my first cruises, and it's like, I'm in a boat with Kim with a green sack, like what's going on here kind of thing. I think that that's like the cool thing. I came back in when we had a really great crew in 2016, I think it was, and we hadn't won it for seven or eight years. And I was like, this is our chance, we can finally win it. But I was like, no, we've got to make sure, yeah, we can win it, but jeez, we've got to make sure we have that green sack at the finish line that we can take back in our boat, because otherwise, it's really hard to row when you're holding your cup. You've got a green sack, you can just pass it down the boat. I'm sure OH&S is going to get to a point where you're not going to be like, you're drinking road.
BEN WATERWORTH: Vick TD might be sort of on the arrow there pulling you over. Check your breath.
LUCY STEPHAN: I think also the thing, like the coxswain, who's like the little 50-kilo person, he sits and steers it. There is always a time if it's one of the really good Melbourne Unicruises, it's like, I can't have too many drinks because if I crash this boat, they're worth like 80 grand. I can't drink too much. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. But that's the thing. It's like rowing. There's this vast kind of level that you get to do. And that's what I love about it. And I think that's why, honestly, this COVID lockdown has been really tricky because I was so looking forward to going back and just hanging out at Melbourne Uni and kind of rowing in eights and fours. Obviously, not always drinking, but doing those training rows with those girls and just really having fun with it. And I think that's been a bit annoying, but hopefully, head of the arrows in November. So fingers crossed, we'll see what happens.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fingers crossed, yeah. I was about to say the secret for winning Olympic gold is just having a goon bag there in the boat going along, you know, Tokyo and just, hey, you've got our secret now. This is how we win gold.
LUCY STEPHAN: I know, God, imagine.
BEN WATERWORTH: Sneaky little... I love sort of when we talk about rowing, like learning the differences between skull and sweeping and kind of all that sort of, you know, involve that. And even then, yourself, obviously, you know, featured in the eighties, obviously at the eighties in Rio and all that kind of stuff. Do you have a personal preference? Like, are you an eighties fan? Like, you prefer to be in an eighties if you could. Did you obviously winning a gold in the fours is a little bit better? I mean, have you ever sort of done the skull and kind of tried that as well?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, so I've kind of always been a sweeper. When I was in Ballarat, it's changed now, which I think is great, but it was strictly like cox falls, and that's all you did. Which is a beast of a boat to do, obviously. You got like 55 kilos, and there's only four of you to pull along, where usually you have a cox and the ape. So I kind of started sweeping then, and then you usually it's like, and I guess I kind of fell in love with the thing about sweeping is you always have to have someone else, because obviously, for me, I'm stroke size, so I roll out to the right, and I always have to have someone who rolls out to the left. So I've always really loved having that person with me. And so all through youth, kind of stuck with that, jumped in the single a few times, never really loved it. I think also it's probably harder to do, they always say, it's like, you know how to skull, you can definitely usually kind of be able to jump in a sweep boat and you'll be okay, where it's almost harder to go the other way, like sweeping into skull can be quite difficult. So I was kind of strictly sweep for most of the time, would jump in it for maybe like a month or a couple of weeks every year. And then coming into Rio with our Women's 8, well, pretty much sweep was just really struggling in that cycle. So we had some quite good performances early on in 2013. And then 2014, we didn't have a great year. And from then, it was kind of 2015, which was the 8 I was in, we were kind of rebuilding and we failed to qualify. So we hadn't qualified the pair or the 8, which was huge. And huge in a way, not good. And so their way of trying to build up our sweepers to get better, I was like, right, we're going to put you all in single skulls. So I pretty much had to learn to single skull in about four months. And you actually look at who ended up in the 8. A lot of the girls who ended up in the 8 had done a season of sculling prior to that. So, you know, Al Hagan, for example, she used to sweet our skull as a junior. Mulgoo Me used to skull as a junior. Fee Albert was always a sculler up until that year. Jess Morrison, she'd done a bit of both. Obviously, I ended up in the 4 with her this year. She's obviously a phenomenal athlete, but there was a lot of girls in there that most of them were kind of scullers who were sweepers. But then they knew how to row the single. And so I think it was myself and Sha Sullen, who were the only ones who actually had it internationally or as an elite level scull. So at the time, I hated it, but I actually quite grew to like it because there was a part of it is, like I said, I'd always had a person with me. But what the sculling did, it was I could no longer. It was me. If that boat wasn't going fast, it was me. So I really had to kind of learn those things. And it made me a lot stronger. And I ended up making the eight, which was great. But then I think it is interesting. Like after we went with, you know, obviously we got the late call up to Rio, had all of that kind of stuff happen. And a lot of the girls decided to either take a year off or go back to sculling, because obviously there was a few girls in there who were scullers. And I even got to the point where I was like looking around to share, and I was like, there's no bousider for me really to row the pair with at this stage. Like everyone and all the bousiders that were rowing, they already had a pair partner. So I actually had the thought, I was like, well, do I go to sculling? Like, I managed to get that single moving half decently last year. Like, do I just swap to sculling? I actually sat down with my coach at the time, Bill Tate, and he's like, Lucy will always be a sweeper, I think, stick to sweeping. And obviously now looking back, I'm like, geez, thank God he said that. You know, there was definitely, I think, and it would have been interesting to see what would have happened. I think naturally I would have come back to sweep because I do love it. But there definitely was that thought there for a little bit. And yeah, and it was, you know, obviously then the four came back into the Olympic program for Tokyo. So originally there was just the pair and eight for women's sweep. But then when they decided that they wanted equality across the sports, which obviously awesome, they bought in the women's four. And it was funny when they bought in the women's four, everyone said to me, oh, Lucy, this is perfect for you. I was like, oh, what do you mean? Like, I can kind of, you know, like, yeah, I enjoy the four, but I enjoy any good boat. And then I guess in hindsight, looking back on it, it's like, well, I had a lot of success in the four in my younger years. Like, I was silver, under 23 world champion in 2012, 2013, I was world champion and under 23s, and I got a bronze at World Champs. So I guess I'd always had a lot of success in the four. And then that definitely didn't change by 2017. Like, I'd end up in that four, we became world champions. And I guess for that, it's definitely made me. And then from going into the training centre environment up in Penrith where there is 25 of us girls, and about 16, 18 of us are sweepers, we roll a lot in different boats. And I think it did become clear as the years went on that I am a four mover, and that is a boat that I do do well in. But then having said that, I think you have to be able to move the pair to get in to do well in trials. So I do enjoy a pair, and I love eight. I think in any situation, if you can get a good four, if you get a good eight, if you get a good pair, they're bloody awesome to row. I think for me, it is like that four, it is very special. But Jesus, well, like when you get in a good eight, and everyone's switched on, and you're all buying into it, it's a lot of fun. So I think there's, and yeah, and then the pair as well, there's something so intimate about just two people. So I really don't have a favourite boat, because I think there's things that I love in every single boat that make me just, I guess, love rowing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great answer. I like it. The one actually that I got to ask you, because you are actually our first sweep that we've had on the show, believe it or not, we've only ever had skulls on. So this is the other perspective. I asked this to Luke. What's the harder between the two, sweeping or sculling?
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, I would always say sculling, because it's not what I do. And like I said, I do believe that if you can scull very well, a prime example of this is I think it was Head of the Charles, maybe 2015. So there always used to be an eight, Head Head of the Charles, which is a kind of head, obviously, it's a head race over in the US. And the best eight, around about the top eight scholars of the world would get together and do, they called it the great eight. And essentially, they'll go to Head of the Charles. It was a bit of fun, a bit of a piss trip, like after world, a bit of a time to relax, but also still get to do what you do. And I guess socialising with the rest of the world and being in that environment. So this had happened, I don't know for how long, but there had been quite a few great eights every year, changed a little bit. But then 2015, I think it was Hamish Bond, who was obviously he was in the Kiwi Men's State this year. But he said, all right, let's make the great eight of sweepers. So we kind of got eight of the best sweepers from around the world. And the great eight of scholars beat the great eight of sweepers. So I think it's one of those things in the fact of obviously, the scholars, they would have said, right, straight up and down the slide, put your blade in the water, take it out, roll in rhythm, roll in time. Where I think when you go to sweepers, it's like, well, I want to roll this way. I want to really come out around the pin. I want to like, it would have been interest to be, I guess, a fly in the world between the two crews. But I think it's kind of telling in the fact of if you can move a single skull, you can move any boat. And, you know, I've done it. You know, I've been out in the single a couple of times, obviously up here in Naggers. I'm lucky enough to have that luxury that I can. And it is one of those boats where I do miss having my mate. And I think that's what also makes it harder. It's a long time to sit out there with your own thoughts. And to be honest, and that's what they always like. They do say it's like this. You kind of see it in teams and people joke about it. There's a difference of personalities between the sweepers and the scholars. And obviously the scholars, they, I think, to a certain point, all rolls much the beat of their own drums. But I think the scholars definitely take that to a next level in comparison to the sweepers. We're a bit of a sheep, like we like each other, and we like to have a bit of a pack that we can kind of all follow in and be a part of where the scholars are quite happy to go off and be their own pack and, I guess, lead the march to a certain point.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I can imagine then, too, on that level. And I don't know if this is a possibility that we can get going, because I think the physics of it probably don't work out too well, Lucy, that we're never going to see a single sweep, right? You're probably just going to be doing donuts in the water.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, no, you're just being circles.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, yeah. But I mean, that's an event in itself. That would be entertaining. Like who can do the most circles in like a, you know, a two kilometre, the same time it would take you to do a 2K, you know, single skull, like work around. Well, tricks add tricks to it, you know, it's like, it's almost like the trick element. You've got to make it routine. Jeez. Yeah, you always kind of, the thing for the kids, you know, Lucy, right? Like the kids have got to get into it somehow with that. I mean, what was obviously with Rio, as you were saying, I mean, basically you're caught up because of the whole Russian situation. Australia goes into that unexpectedly. What was that whole experience like going from missing out on qualifying, going to what you're saying back to sort of, you know, single skulls doing this, that, there, and then all of a sudden, boom, phone call. Guess what? You go into Rio, get the squad back together, and you're there in the Olympic Games.
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, like obviously it's an emotional roller coaster. You know, not qualifying. Obviously you go into that, you know, it's called final qualification regatta, but also people call it regatta of death. Because it's literally your last shot to get that chance. And it's, you know, they say it's like it's one of the hardest races you'll ever do, because it's everyone is just clawing at their fingernails for it. There's almost this extra sense of emergency. And missing out by a second, that was really hard. And so I actually came home straight away. That was kind of like the offer. A couple of weeks before our coach was like, you know, obviously if we qualify, we'll stay overseas and we'll keep training. We'll go to Varese with the rest of the team, blah, blah, blah. If we don't, we can delay your flights, and you can go travel if you want. And I'll show, I was like, I don't even want to. He's like, I know you don't want to think about this. I was like, I don't even want to think about it. I'm coming straight home. Like if we don't qualify, I'm coming home. And myself and one of the other girls, like there was a few girls that did that, but Faye Albert, who was a bow seat, and we'd kind of talked about it after we didn't qualify. She's like, Lucy, I think I'm going to run a marathon. And I was like, great, I want to run a marathon too. That's always been on my bucket list. Let's train for it. Let's do that. That will give us something to do. Obviously, mental health is a huge thing. So we wanted those endorphins. So we started training for a marathon for about two months. And then obviously, you start hearing whispers, and there's things coming out that, okay, potentially the Russians, like the Russian rowers are going to be disqualified, like what's going on. So we kind of had to wait for the, I think the IOC had to make the first decision of are we going to eliminate all Russian competitors? And they turned around and said, well, no, we're going to eliminate all Russian competitors that are ever tested positive for drugs. And then the rest of the Russian athletes, it's up to the individual sport federation. So for us, that was FISA. So FISA turned around and said, right, we're essentially going to disqualify every Russian that's ever tested positive, obviously, and then every Russian who has never returned a negative test. So there was only, there was six men who had been tested by WADA, which is like the World Anti-Doping Organisation. So there was six blokes that had to seat race for a four. And then there was only two females that had two that were left who had actually been tested by WADA. So that meant they didn't have a pair, so therefore the eight couldn't go. And that essentially meant, OK, right, there's going to be no Russians, but now are they going to give us the spot? So we're waiting around, waiting around to get this phone call, whether we're going to go to the Olympics or not. Anyways, we get on like at the time, it was a teleconference, I think it was before Zoom existed, obviously, pre-COVID times. So we're on this phone call, waiting to hear, like been on there for a half an hour, haven't heard anything back, call back in half an hour. So call back, now I still haven't heard anything. We'll message you when we hear something. Anyways, pretty much hang up the phone, get a message straight away. It's like loose call back. So get on the phone. And at the time, the CEO was like, right, girls, what I'm about to tell you doesn't go on social media yet. And I was like, right, okay, we're on here. Like, we're going to go. And he's like, pack your bags, you're going to Rio. And there was just like hysterical screaming, like what I like, Faye, who was training with Marathon Wishes, like hyperventilating to the point where like Faye, meet your phone. Like, we need to hear the details of what's happening next. And that was obviously this like amazing, amazing feeling, because it was, you know, you dreamed of it, you thought it wasn't coming, and then all of a sudden it's coming. So everyone's just like so excited. By this stage as well, we'd kind of rekindled down in Melbourne. So one of the girls, oh, she was actually a reserve, and she was already overseas. So there was like a squad of nine of us rekindled in Melbourne, and we started training the eight. And we were all different levels. So you had like me and Fee, who were training for a marathon, and then you had people who had literally done nothing. You had some of the girls that had done like an hour a day. So it was all different levels. So you kind of had this like mishmash of a crew. And then we flew over. They were like, what do we do about jet lag? We're like, no, we'll fly them over the night at the opening ceremony. You will race three days later. And that was that. So we got over there, had a couple of training rows. And literally, we were just hoping for horrible, horrible weather. Because we were like, if we get horrible weather, we're going to smash up and down this slide and pull as hard as we can. So hopefully, like if other crews do that, they'll probably try and row too well, and then they'll catch a crap, and then we could make the A final. So that was our strategy. So usually, obviously, it's like, control the controllables. You can only control how fast you go. We're all like, no, no, please be horrible weather. Like, this is our chance. Did our heat awesome, became Olympians, great. And then the next day, like after it, you kind of, you have that kind of, it's like, oh, it's done. That's it. After the heat, I was pretty sad when I woke up the next day. So I went for a walk around the village, and I was kind of, you know, licking my wounds trying to figure out why I was sad. I was like, you know, you've wanted this for your whole life, and now you're here and you're sad. Like, what the hell's going on? And obviously, like, I had come to a little bit of conclusion of this isn't how I wanted to be there. Like, I wanted to be the fittest I've ever been. I wanted to be the strongest I've ever been. I wanted to be in the fastest boat that I've ever been in before, and none of those things were happening. So I got to the end of the walk, and my coach, who was our coach at the time, Mark Fangenhall, he, like, had coached me a lot coming up through the ranks, like, in 12, 13, 14. So, like, quite close to him, very much like a bit of a second father to me. And he's like, how are you going, Lucy? And I was like, oh, I'm struggling, like, I'm really sad. I don't really know why. He's like, well, of course you are. I was like, what do you mean? He's like, of course you're sad. This isn't how you're meant to be at the Games. He's like, this isn't it for you. He's like, bottle up this feeling, take your learnings, and come back for Tokyo. And, you know, don't come to Tokyo in the same situation, essentially. And so that was, for me, very much like a right here we go. So I spent, I guess, the next couple of days, we raced the repertoire, we missed out, probably had the best race we'd ever had in that eight. Like, I truly believe if we had a race, like, and it was just like nothing to lose, we just absolutely hooked it in. Because I feel like if we hadn't done that at qualifications, it would have been a different outcome for us. But that's learning, isn't it? And that's what we needed to do. For me, I had those learnings, and I've learned that now because of that situation. Yeah, and I guess we missed out, and it was shit, and we were sad, but I guess I turned around and said, right, you're coming back from Tokyo. It was never a question of whether I was going to go around again. So I just sat there as a little sponge, and I just absorbed. And, you know, I saw world champions not make A finals. I saw, I absorbed what the village was like. I absorbed what the Olympics truly were at its core, and how, I guess, hard it is to stay out of your head and watch other people and try to learn from other people's mistakes and also learn from other people's successes. And I think that, for me, that's what Rio gave me. It was this almost, this no pressure Olympics, which I don't think anyone has really ever got to experience unlike what we did in LA. And I think I, you know, I attribute a lot to, I guess, those mistakes and successes that I had last cycle into what I brought into this cycle with me and how I went about my training and went about the Olympics and learning what I did. So I'm very, very, very thankful for Rio, absolutely, because I think it's definitely a credit to the rower and who I turned into as a person and as an athlete.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I can also imagine, too, that all those things that you would experience at your debut Olympics outside of what you were talking about, the, holy crap, I'm an Olympian, there are the Olympic rings. I'm in the village. All those sort of shock and awe moments that when you get to Tokyo, you're like, OK, well, I'm an old hat at this now. I've been experienced in Olympic games. I can just focus on the competition.
LUCY STEPHAN: Absolutely. I remember we got in really early in the morning. It was like, I think, 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning by the time the flight got delayed and everything. We were driving into the village, and there was all these, like, we were all put onto these little 12, 24-seater buses. And I was sitting there, and I kind of was looking at the other people on the bus, and I realised that I was pretty much sitting on a bus where most of them were making their Olympic debut, as a lot of the people in our team were, and just seeing their eyes and how they were acting to the village and seeing, you know, the buildings and the flags and the dining hall and just how big and what it's actually like. And I was kind of seeing their reaction, and I was like, oh, yeah, I've already, like, I was like, oh, this is weird, because I've already seen this, I knew what to expect, and I think that's why I'm so forever thankful, because that's when I really, truly saw the benefits of Rio and the fact that I didn't need that day to get my head around the village. It was like, well, I kind of knew that this was going to be like, because I had the luxury of going to Tokyo.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. And you also then had the experience of, hey, you don't have to be confined to a room, you don't have to leave 48 hours later, you can have crowds, all those sort of things that I guess at the time, people were saying Rio was weird at the time, right? But now it's kind of like, look what happened.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, I think that's it. One of my friends made a joke, he's like, oh, Lucy, you've had one full Olympic experience. And I was like, well, what do you mean? He's like, well, you got the drinking and the piss up, which I didn't really enjoy in Rio because I was sad, because I was like, this is a shitty way to be at the Olympics. But obviously, I still got to go to those parties and experience some of those things. And the rowing wasn't there, but obviously, Tokyo, I had the rowing, I had the result, but I didn't get those parties. But I was just like, you know, it's like, yeah, okay, it's one Olympics, but I was just so excited to be in Tokyo. Yeah, obviously, those things would have been nice, but I didn't really miss them because it wasn't in my future. I didn't think that it was going to happen because we know, we knew, we were told so much of what COVID Olympics was kind of going to be like.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think if at the end of the day, you can choose between having a good party and an Olympic gold medal around your neck.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah. Obviously, the party.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. You know, the goon bag and all that kind of stuff going in your boat. You obviously mentioned sort of after Rio, the switch to the four and really a dominant team then between Rio and Tokyo. Obviously, as you said, it's returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1992. So, I mean, what was that period like and kind of what was it about the four of you that kind of just gelled in a way that went on to the World Championships, a couple of gold medals, silver medal, and then obviously going into what would eventually be a gold medal win in Tokyo?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, so the squads actually, it's quite interesting. So they centralised the program. So up until 2017, it was kind of live where you want a couple of months of the year, you'd go train at a location in Australia. But 2016, after the games, they centralised it. So all the girls had to move to Kendrith. All the guys had to move to Canberra. And so, like I said, 2017, it was looking around, who's there? Who's going to sweep? And at the time, I can remember I went up to the centre in January, and I reckon it was around February, and I went into the head coach at the time, but it still is the head coach, John Keogh. And I said, what are we going to do? There's literally no sweepers. I was like, we've got three stroke starters, hardly any bow starters. What's going on? And he's like, I don't know, Lucy, we'll see. We'll see what happens. It should be fine. Don't overthink it. Just trust me. Anyways, we got up to trials, did trials, and it became very, very obvious once we started doing the seat racing that there was four people, that the boat just clicked. And I can remember sitting in it, and I was like, the rhythms, they're so easy. This is it. Like, this is special. And so that so happened. I got off the water, and it was pretty clear that that was going to be the four once we saw the results. And I think part of it, it was this weird year in the fact that it was kind of, we made the team, and there was no one chomping out our heels. It was just us in Australia who were like the sweepers. So we just were very much independent. We did our own thing. We were coached by Tom Westgarth, and we all got along, and the rhythm was there. It was so, so simple. We had our little things, like we had Joke Of The Day, and it was just this really good vibes. It wasn't really ever. We didn't really have any super massive arguments or anything like that. We were very similar, same page. You kind of had your chief, your Indians, and we all worked together really, really well. And then obviously we went and won the World Champs, and all of a sudden everyone's like, women's sweepers back and all these sweepers. And then that year at the National Training Centre, all of a sudden we've got eight extra sweepers. So we had 12 sweepers in the centre, which was like, it was quite overwhelming because we'd just been so used to just doing our own thing. So then we obviously, and people, we kind of knew from that fourth success that we were going to look to have the fourth selected again. Went through, went through trials. And just because you win the World Champs doesn't mean that you're preselected for that fourth. So we had to do seat racing again. And we ended up with a very similar crew, except there was one seating change. Rosie Popper came in for Kat Wary. And we had a lot of success at the World Cups. And then about three weeks before the World Champs, Rosie got a rib stress fracture. And that kind of meant that she couldn't train anywhere near as much as what we wanted to on the water. So it was this decision of, do we hope that Rosie's rib becomes healed enough to race at the World Champs, or do we spring in Kat Wary, who was in it the year before, and Rose does her rehab, and then potentially she jumps into the eight for the World Champs. So we decided to do that. Kat came in and we won silver. And that was, I think, a bit of a letdown for us. I feel all of us were kind of going there safely again. We were undefeated that Olympic cycle. We were there to win gold. So we kind of rode that wave. And then the following year, same thing, the eight, sorry, won bronze. So we'd had quite a successful sweep squad. Then we had a few more sweepers come in. And then by this time, our whole squad is so strong. We're all moving really well together. We're rolling pairs, fours, eights. We're all mixing it up. It's all, like, really great. And the massive thing was how do we qualify all sweep votes, which is a pair, four, and eight. So they made the decision. We did trials. We all got our rankings. And then from that, they put together our crews. So there was the pair, which was Jess and Annabel. They were the top ranked. Then there was myself and Sarah. We were second ranked. And then we had Kat and Ol, who were third ranked on bow side and fourth ranked on stroke side. And that became the four. And then the other girls went into the eight, and Jess and Annabel doubled up. And we went and we won the world championships in that four. And we got silver in the eight and pair. So all of a sudden, we're like, sweet. We are pretty much, we are the only nation to medal in all three sweet boats. And we're one of the only nations to qualify all three sweet boats. We're like, we're pretty much best in the world. And from there, I guess it was this discussion of we don't really want to double up at the Olympics. How do we go about this? How do we seed our crews? Went to trials and we decided it was essentially 2020 trials. We selected our crews with no double ups. So it was the pair, Jess and Annabel were in the pair. There was four of us selected into the four, and then there was eight, obviously, in the eight. We had two weeks training in those crews, and then COVID hit. And so, obviously, they were like, right, the centre's closing, you all got to go home and train. So we all went home and trained for three months, came back to the centre. And kind of, I guess, what we saw was there was a bit of a vast difference. Kind of the bottom end that we'd had in 2019-2020 season had said, no, I'm not going to row, so that then produced a new bottom end. There was a bit of a difference in some of how people had trained over those three months and how they were getting their head around it. Obviously, there's a huge amount of stress in figuring out, the Olympics have been postponed, do I ever want to do this? It's completely pushed back my year. So a lot of people are dealing with those things quite differently. And it was decided, it was kind of looking at, it was like, OK, well, actually, we're probably going to have to double up this year. And then it was, do we double up in the eight or do we double up in the four? And we got to trials. We kind of looked at it all. We all obviously got our rankings. And then it was kind of, I guess, to a certain point, up to Jess and Annabel. And then myself and Roz, who came out second ranked, do we go Jess and Annabel in the four? And then whenever they're in the pair, we go in the pair? Or do we go with the third ranked and Jess and Annabel double up into the eight? And we kind of threw a mixture of opinions. It was decided that Jess and Annabel would go in the four with them, and they'll double up. And so, like I said, when they train the pair, we're the pair, we're pretty much there pushing them along. And it meant that the eight could just solely focus on the eight, and they didn't have reserves coming in and out of the boat and messing up with them in that sense. So it was actually a really fresh crew this year. I was the only one in the four who had been in it for the last three, four years. Jess and Annabelle had never internationally competed in the four. So it was a really fresh crew. But I guess what I learned to at the start, it's such a strong squad just because I hadn't raced internationally with these girls. I definitely rode with them and I definitely raced with them domestically. So while we hadn't had that international experience together in the four, there was such a sense of trust that when we got to Tokyo, it wasn't a question of what we were there to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I can imagine to camaraderie outside of the boat is just as important because you're not going to work well in that boat together unless you are getting along outside of that boat.
LUCY STEPHAN: Hugely, absolutely.
BEN WATERWORTH: And what are some things that outside of the obvious training side of things, I mean, is it just a case of going out in the goon, like having some good nights out, I mean, kind of, you know, hanging around, watching mean girls, like, I mean, kind of what are some of the things that you'd be doing really to kind of, you know, help that build?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I think, like, there's a lot to it. I think just realistically, just spending time together, like it wasn't even just our four, it was the whole squad. And I think when we train together, you know, we're doing three sessions a day, pretty much six days a week. We're spending a lot of time together. You know, you go out for coffee, you do the brunch. Like, yeah, sure, you might go out and have a couple of green sacks every, every blue moon. Like, obviously, you're not going to do that too much. But I think that's what brings the team together. And you really saw it. And not even just with the girls, but you really saw it when COVID hit. And we didn't have that international season. Like, obviously, the boys are in Canberra, we're in Penrith. We didn't have those international season where we got to go away and train together. And we hadn't seen each other for a very long time. And then when we finally kind of got those opportunities to actually hang out, and in the new year, once COVID was over, it was almost like, it was like, oh, boys cooties. Like, it was just really, it was a really weird vibe in the sense of the team was just so used to being on our own. But obviously, you know, you have nationals, you have trials, you have a few events, and you kind of bring back to this real closeness of the team. And I think that that was so special when we got to do the World Cup simulation regattas. And, you know, and I think you see that in just how close our team was with, like, I guess the golden hour, the hour of power of what they called it. It was to be that and to experience that together and to have that with those guys. And I think that it's not just the girls, but it's the whole team that brought that about. And, yeah, it's definitely. And obviously, it's just it's naturally gravitating to people as well. And I think, you know, there's always going to be people that you're naturally closer with. You can actually click with better. But what training what the training centre does is, and I said at the start, it's like we don't all have to be best friends. We don't all have to love each other. But what the centre does is because you see each other training, you see each other going into those deep dark spaces. We all respect one another. And at the end of the day, that's what makes us go fast, is about having that respect for one another, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of just before we get to that magical day five, did you get to do the opening ceremony? I mean, I know there was a lot of restrictions around, and obviously you didn't get to do it in Rio. But given that sort of rowing was at the beginning of the, did you at least get to experience an opening ceremony this time?
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, usually the rowers never actually do the opening ceremony because we do race usually the next day. And it's kind of just this thing, rowers don't do the opening ceremony, and we didn't do it this Olympics either for that reason. We were racing really soon, and I think you want to be off your feet as much as you can, and it's a big night, it's a lot of walking. And yeah, so no, it wasn't in the opening ceremony, but obviously I got to watch it on TV.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I mean, armchair critic like me, kind of, you know, dream of an Olympics. I used to always kind of see where they get there, and it was always the swimmers, of course, where they'd be like, oh, the swimmers don't compete because they're competing the next morning. I just always feel like, fuck that, it's an opening ceremony of the Olympics. I'm not going to let that opportunity. Does part of you kind of want to rebel and do that?
LUCY STEPHAN: No, because you're there to race. Obviously, all those things are great, and it's cool to be a part of it, but it's like you get to do, usually, non-COVID times, it's like you get to go home, you get to do the welcome home parades. I think the most telling thing is, obviously, there's the Olympic rings, which is like they're quite a big Olympic rings, and everyone wants to get these photos in the Olympic rings. It's kind of like your bucket list of the Olympic village. You want to get this photo. And the four of us were kind of putting it off, putting it off. We kept saying, we're going to get our photo at the rings, we've got to get it. And then we're going, obviously, bro, as we get up quite early to train, we're like, look, go in the morning, because usually you have to line up. We're like, we don't want to line up. We don't really have our feet. We go in the morning, and the sun's behind us. We're all squinting. It's a shitty, shitty photo. But we're literally walking away. And I think I said, or someone, like they all agreed, it was like, bugger it, we'll come back, we'll get one with our medals. And then we did. And now we've got hundreds of photos of us with our medals in the rings. And I think that that's what you're there for. It's like, there's obviously, there's a range of why people go to the Olympics. And obviously, there's some countries that it's, you have, you know, people like Eddie the Ale and like people like that, that it's there to live and breathe the experience. So, yeah, are you going to sit up and stand in a line to get your photo at the rings? Sure, why not? Like, if that's what you want to do, if that's what you want your Olympic experience to be like. But for us, it's very much about being there, we're there to win a medal. And so that meant that we don't get to walk in the opening ceremony. Yeah, it's crap. Maybe because we're rowers, so we're used to not walking in the opening ceremony. And like in the past as well, we've usually the reserves of the rowers have put on, like if you Google it on YouTube, they put on like their own opening ceremony of them like dancing around in like tights and stuff like that and doing their own thing. You know, I think it was cool, like there was part of the Aussie team, I didn't do it, same thing, because we were racing the next day. But there was a lot of the Aussie team that they put on their opening ceremony kit, and then they paraded around the village. They actually did their own walk around the village, which I think is so cool. I looked at that, and I was like, oh, I kind of wish I had done that. But like I said, we were racing the next day. It's like, I'm not going to... While it would have been a really, really cool thing to experience, it's like, I'm here to do a job, and that's what I've got to do, you know?
BEN WATERWORTH: I kind of, now that you mention all that, I actually have so much more respect for James Tompkins back in Beijing when he was a flag bearer. The fact that, you know, he's kind of tapped on the shoulder, James, would you like this great honour? And obviously part of him probably going, well, I'm going to compete, but hey, I get to carry a flag for my country at the Olympics. So, I mean, kind of, wow, mad respect for him now.
LUCY STEPHAN: It's so much, yeah. Well, like, and I guess it depends when he was racing. Maybe he wasn't racing the next day, but, or maybe they were just going really, really fast, didn't really matter. But like, Hamish Bond, for example, he was a Kiwi flag bearer, and he said, no, I don't want it because their race got moved to the next day. Obviously, he would have done it when, if their, if their final, if their pay was meant to be on the Monday, but it got moved to the Sunday. So he was like, no, I don't want it. I'm going to go borrow like same thing, I guess. So yeah, I think it's just decisions and what you want to do and how you feel that you can react to being, as I always say, you've got to have the high highs, you're going to have the low lows. And opening ceremony is a massive part to how you're going to tackle that low when it comes.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned the hour of power. I mean, day five, like just to me, probably was the best day of the Olympics. I mean, I remember getting up that morning and just not being able to keep up. It was like, God, Australia's not winning gold medals. Like, you know, it's kind of like, calm down, calm down. But we talked to Luke about kind of his experiences of that. And obviously he was sort of in the third boat and he mentioned, you know, you really get to sort of experience that you were the first. So you kind of were the one that set it off. I mean, before I sort of get to what came afterwards, I mean, the race, Lucy, crossing the line, your Olympic champions. I mean, is it something you can put into words what that feels like when that is happening?
LUCY STEPHAN: Not really. I think it's really interesting. Like I've talked about Kim a little bit already, but when she won gold in Rio, she talked about people like, what's it feel like when you cross the finish line? And she talked about a lot that she'd visualised this race so much that it was very, is this reality? Is this actually happening or is this just another visualisation? And I guess when she used to say that, I was like, that's obscene, that you could actually not believe that something was real. And then when I crossed the line, it's exactly what happened. So I guess for me, I was like, cool, I'm kind of cool. I'm like my idol. I'm like Kim. I visualised it so much like Kim, yay. But that's what it was like. I think you can see it when I crossed the line, it's just this face of surprise. And I was actually, I'm kind of renowned for swearing. Obviously, you probably heard a little bit in this podcast. I'm surprised I haven't said the F word yet.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm expecting more Lucy, to be honest. Come on, you're running yourself down.
LUCY STEPHAN: No, I'm trying to get better. But I, and even my boyfriend said, he's like, I'm so surprised you didn't swear out the finish line, Lucy, because I said, Oh my God. And you can see myself, Oh my God, saying it. And I just kept saying, Roz will be able to back me up on this side that you can kind of see she's sitting there crying. And it's funny because you all react in such different ways. Obviously, Jess and Annabel, they would have like breathed in as much as they could, but they knew they had that pair race. Roz is just like crying, like couldn't stop crying. And then I'm just sitting there being like, Oh my God, it actually happened. And I'm like, Roz, it actually happened. And she's like, yeah, it was just like one of those experiences and it's overwhelming of how we all reacted. And that was a massive thing for me. I was just sitting there like every 30 seconds. I was like, it happened, it happened. I just had to keep saying it aloud to actually realise that it had happened. And then the same thing when we're walking up onto the podium, I kind of like looked up and I was like, Oh my God, we're walking onto the Olympic podium. And I was like, is this a dream or is this real? Because this seems so far-fetched of the amount of people that have wanted this and visualised it to actually get to do it. It's like I'm walking onto the podium on the middle of the podium. Like that, it was very much like, is this a dream? Like I had to do a bit of a reality check of, no, this is really real. So yeah, I guess it was, you know, we had our race plan, we executed as best we could. We trained for it, we worked hard, there was, like I've said before, there was ultimate trust in that crew. And a lot of people are saying, you know, when the Dutch were steamrolling us down, we looked so calm and composed. And I think that that's what we'd been training for. It was like, we knew exactly what we were doing. Like, yeah, sure, we were rowing absolutely our hearts out to stay in front of those Dutch, but it was, there was ultimate trust in it. And then to experience that with the girls, I obviously forever grateful, but it's very much you feel like you're in a different reality. You feel like it's, yeah. And I totally appreciate what Kim was saying now of, is it even real for sure? Because that's exactly how I felt.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it something then that you can't wait to get back and watch the footage of it? Like, I mean, it's obviously being in the race is great, but I guess imagine watching it and hearing, you know, the commentators call it up there and all that sort of stuff, because I don't know, like, do you even want to watch it and relive it again?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, like, it is funny, I think I didn't watch it straight away after I, I think Ros and Annabelle, Ros was downstairs and she's like, I just saw our race, it was so close. And I was like, no, it's camera angle. And I fully, firmly believe that when it zooms in on the bow balls, it's 100% the camera angle because I reckon we were like, it looks like we've been side by side bow, but I'm like, nah, we were like half a canvas, canvas in front. And then I'm like, I think that's the thing. I have watched it back. Like, you'd be silly not to. And sometimes like, you know, obviously trying to do a little bit of exercise for mental health and stuff. So I sit on the Watt bike and I love watching rowing. And obviously I love watching myself win just as much. So if I'm trying to kill, you know, 10 minutes on the Watt bike, it's easy. It's an easy thing to check up and watch. And it's funny, obviously, in the commentary, I think I'm sure. I'm sure he says it, but someone's like, oh, I'm glad it was an extra 100 metres because, you know, we would have had a real race on our hands, where I firmly believe that maybe 100, like maybe about 50 metres to go or 80 metres to go. It was pretty tight, but I reckon then we moved away again. But whether that's true or whether that's just my sheer belief in the three other girls and who I'm in the boat with is yet to be confirmed. But yeah, like it is definitely something obviously you love to watch back and I've always. And it's just I guess it's a reminder of what you did and what you achieved. And I think I watched it back the other morning and I was like, Oh God, I was like, Oh, I look really fit. I was like, Oh, so strong. I was like, Jesus, you look good because you just like we haven't been able to do it. We haven't been able to go out before. I haven't been able to like do that thing that I love, which is rowing crew boats. And so to watch it back, it is very like, Oh, I just want to have that feeling again. Yeah. But let's be honest, if I jump back in a boat now, like what I haven't rowed now for about a month, it's like, I'm going to have to get my touch and feel back like I think that's a hard thing. It's like, I can imagine what it would feel like, but whether my body would be able to do it right now, who knows.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which that whole the remainder of that day, though, I mean, I think you were being interviewed, weren't you? When the men crossed the line from memory and kind of just was that you and they like just kind of watched him?
LUCY STEPHAN: No, it was the chicks. It was the chicks quad because the men's floor was actually really funny because I think I must have been running off or getting hit by something must have been happening. And I didn't realise that the men's board won. And then they were doing a replay on the big, like the big board, the big screen. That's exactly what it's called. The big screen. And I was like, Roz, oh my god, they won. And she's like, yeah, at least it was like two minutes ago. And I was like, oh, okay, that's awful, and then I actually looked on the rowing course and they're like spinning around, getting ready to come in. We did get interviewed when the chick squad was coming through, though, and obviously the chick squad, that was a, that was a sweet race. And the fact that it was, it was, you know, for three or four boats gunning for those final medal placings. And then one of the boats caught a crab and the Aussies came through. So it's like, that was pretty sweet to be part of. And I think that was the thing. It was, I always feel pretty lucky in the fact of being in the four, you usually are kind of early in the, in the program. And so it is that, I guess that thing. And then because the racing got postponed, it meant that those two quads got to race just after we did. And it was really, really, really special to be a part of that. And I guess to start it off as well, it's, it's a huge honour in that, in that sense that you feel like, and I know Cam Gerson talks about it a bit, he's like, you know, we saw the girls who were warming up, we saw the girls, the girls who go down and we're like, oh, yep, half length up. We saw the boys go down. Oh, yep, they're a length up. So when it actually found out yes or no, if we'd won, it was, they knew that we were firing. And I think that's the thing I kind of talked about being a team when we all train together. It's like if you see a boat that you usually train against and you compare yourself to doing well, and you usually stack up to them pretty well, you're like, okay, they're doing well, we can do well too. And I think that that's like a really cool thing about, I guess, definitely, especially what we experienced with COVID this year, we had to work together, we had to train together, we had to use one another to push us. And so then to have that day once again together, it's very, very special.
BEN WATERWORTH: And the thing too, that at that moment, it was weird that it got broken what four days later you had co-created Olympic history, part of it, because ultimately, at that point, it was the equal most successful day Australia ever had in the Olympics, obviously, with the two fours winning the gold and Ariane getting in the swimming, obviously, beaten a few more days later when we got four on one day. So I mean, it's just, it was, do you get sort of word back, sort of like that Ariane won a gold, that sort of the Australian Olympic team in general was sort of buzzing with a three gold as well?
LUCY STEPHAN: We did, like, obviously, we're pretty lucky over there, like we had our phones. And so I've found out pretty quickly, you know, you just had to jump on Instagram or online and you found out very quickly. I think it really shone through doing like that interview after and then they're calling it like the hour of power and, you know, the medals that we won in that time. It was really, really special. I think you can't underestimate what it's like to be a part of that team and, you know, we all did our media stuff and then we all jumped on the same bus. And when we came back to the village, everyone was kind of Aussie building, you know, we're very lucky. Everyone's kind of out the front, clapping us and cheering for us and it's to be a part of that. It's so, so special. And everyone there and that's kind of like what I said, I think when you're at the Olympics, there's almost, you hold your head a little bit higher when you're an Aussie because you have such pride behind the team, behind how your building looks, the fact that we have a barista life, there's just so many, I think, special things for us and we're like, you know, these little green and gold, little jelly beans walking around and it's a huge honour to be a part of it and so then to, I guess, have that sense of people being happy for you as well and people being a part of that, it's incredibly special for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think I need to learn more about this barista. Luke told us that there was basically a designated AOC person whose job it was to get the beers. So there's obviously somebody there too is on the coffee, he's like, I feel like I need to start applying for jobs in the AOC because it's not just athletes, there's other roles going.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I don't know, I don't know about the beer scene because I like, like, yeah, they gave us a few, which was good. Obviously, you want to be able to celebrate as best we could. And within doing that, you want to be respectful of everyone else who's still competing and still on the team. I am still over so surprised just by how soundproof those rooms are. Like, you would think, and like, obviously, there was still times when I think we were lucky in the fact that rollers were all very close together. So if one room was being noisy, hopefully, like there was probably the people next door, they weren't sleeping. But I can remember, you know, you walk in and it would be so loud in this room. But then, you know, you'd walk out, close the door, and you can pretty much hear nothing. And you just like, you know, for building this, and it's the Japanese, of course, they're going to do it well, but I was like, wow, this is thank goodness. Obviously, if the walls hadn't been soundproof, we would have been a lot quieter. But yeah, no, very lucky with the barista. I don't drink coffee, but I'm very happy. Obviously, a lot of my friends drink coffee, so I was stoked for them. But yeah, they call it BK Cafe, which obviously Boxing Kangaroo Cafe. And I think it wasn't actually an AAC person, it was a person they brought in. He's an Aussie, but he lived in Japan, so they brought him into the village and he was our barista. But obviously, there was a massive line for it.
BEN WATERWORTH: And was it just only for Aussie athletes, or could you get other athletes who were hearing that you had this great coffee?
LUCY STEPHAN: Only Aussie athletes, because it was free. It would have been interesting. Obviously, then it goes against your COVID-safe rules. I did say to one of my GB friends, I was like, look, you're a keep up. I could pretend that I'm getting a coffee and I could get it for you. Like, do you want one? Because I could do it. And then I'd like socially distance, like leave it on the ground, like two metres away from you. And then you could walk up and pick it up. But yeah, we're definitely very, very lucky.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, I've got to ask a question. Obviously, men's cox is for synonymous with the words Awesome Fawesome in the history of Australia. You got the gold first that day. Does that automatically make the women's cox is for the now, the new Awesome Fawesome?
LUCY STEPHAN: So the way we're doing it, it has been a discussion. And I think so the way that we're, I guess, marketing ourselves to a certain point is together as a team. So it was, I guess, I was like, do we go off on our own? But then obviously the boys were like, well, in this day and age, we really do need the girls, obviously, which is great. We're here, go quality. Yeah, they sound so excited about that. And look, I was completely, I threw it straight back to them and I was like, yeah, we need the Awesome Fawesome. So I guess it was this like settle of, we'll use each other and obviously, we get along with the guys really, really well. So we're calling ourselves the Awesome Fawesome, with an S.
BEN WATERWORTH: Pluralise, I like that.
LUCY STEPHAN: So that's the plan. We'll see how it goes. I think, ideally, it's like, you've got the Golden Valley fruit is obviously so well.
BEN WATERWORTH: I was going to ask that, does that come back? Do you get to sing the Peaches, Mango, Peaches songs?
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, I don't know who's going to take over Tonks's line. But I think it's hard, because I think also back then, obviously, I don't know if they were better well-known or, obviously, Golden Valley fruit has now turned into SPC. And I think, obviously, it's not as big a company. And obviously, because of, I don't know, globalisation, is that right? Business management?
BEN WATERWORTH: Sure.
LUCY STEPHAN: No, that's not right.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't ask me about anything around that. I'm a podcast host, Lucy. I'm not the right person to ask that.
LUCY STEPHAN: Anyways, to do with how the world is changing, and obviously, online and everything's big companies are so much bigger. I think it's, you know, maybe we could do like an Instagram ad or something like that. But I think it would be a fast stretch to actually get TV ad in prime time slot. It's so nostalgic. We have contacted them. We're waiting to hear back, but I think COVID's really put a stutter in the works with that stuff. So it would be cool. And I don't actually know, because of the nostalgia behind it, I don't actually know how much they'd have to pay us, but we'll see how we go.
BEN WATERWORTH: I love that. How much they'd have to pay us. That's the big kicker.
LUCY STEPHAN: Look, I'm not saying that people shouldn't pay us to do that stuff, but we are rowers. We know that we only have a night amount of time where we are wanted.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I've got to imagine. I can't imagine that they didn't sell a couple of extra million cans of fruit back in the day due to those ads. So I think they owe rowing more than you owe them.
LUCY STEPHAN: 100%. I was talking to the manager we've actually got. He was the guy who got that deal for the original Awesome For Some. And he was saying, it was like, look, I don't actually think that the original payment for it was that much, but the royalties that came through, because I think it just kept being played for years and years after. So, you know, we'll see how we go. It would be bloody good to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think it'll be epic. And it's the day and age of reboots and kind of let's bring things back. Like I think you just get you all on the way, get the original four, kind of do it all together.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, that's it. Get all 12 of us. It would just be so much fun. But we'll see. We'll see.
BEN WATERWORTH: We all remember those ads. Like it's kind of weird. Everyone remembers ads. And you remember those ones. Yeah. Like, wow. I guarantee you more people if they met James Tompkins, like, hey, you're the guy from the fruit ads. More so than a couple of Olympic gold, right?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, for sure. For sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Interesting. Now, we're going to wrap this up with a series of fun sort of get to know your questions, but just a couple of quick things. Obviously, it's a question you're probably hating getting asked right now, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask you it. Paris 2024, gold three years away now, kind of what's the outlook right now for the next Olympics?
LUCY STEPHAN: Look, the fire is still there for sure. Being up in Penrith, it is, I think, doing anything what we do at such a high level, it is really, really intense environment. And I've always said when I can sit back and watch my, I guess, Australia on the TV and the rowing team on the TV and know that I couldn't make that boat go faster, for me, it's about being at peace with that. Right now, I don't really know whether I can make a boat go faster or not. And I guess it's about taking that time to reflect and figure out if I can. And if I go back, it is, yeah, it's going back for the right reasons. And it's been out to, I guess, look back and say, obviously, the goal would definitely be to win another gold medal. But I don't want to go back. And if we don't do that and have massive regrets, it's about being able to turn it like come back to the sport and still enjoy it and still love it, even if we don't get that end result for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, as always, I'd just like to add 11 years to Brisbane. You'll be what, like 41, 40, like, you know?
LUCY STEPHAN: I think the boyfriend then would no longer be the boyfriend. I don't think it would be because we're married. I think it's because he would have said, F you, Lucy. See you later.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. Geez. The love is strong there for his Olympic gold medallist girlfriend.
LUCY STEPHAN: No, he wouldn't. I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean, I don't like it. Lucy, I want to live with you. I want to spend time with you. Like, it's not in a way of like get over it. It's more in a way. I just want to be with you.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good save. Good save. I like that. Now, as I said, we close up with a series of fun questions, but I kind of want to do a two-parter here because I did in the research here, you know, read some articles, watch some YouTube videos, and I did happen to see the little Rowling Australia mastermind video on your fandom of a certain film, Mean Girls, which you absolutely dominated on. Can I just say, I think you got 10 out of 10, or whatever it was. I need to find some more questions. So I found some more here. I'm going to see if I'm going to test your knowledge on Mean Girls. I would like to say that I'm such a fan that I created these, but no, not quite. So let's try a couple of these. Can you tell me what's the opening line of the movie Mean Girls? I can give you four options here, or if you know it off the top of your head, you can just give it to me straight away.
LUCY STEPHAN: Can you give me four options? I haven't watched it so long.
BEN WATERWORTH: All right, so the options are, I guess it's natural for parents to cry on their kids' first day of school. I know what you're thinking, homeschooled kids are freaks. This is your lunch, okay? Or my family's totally normal.
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh no, is it A?
BEN WATERWORTH: It is C. It is this is your lunch, okay? Yeah, wow.
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh yeah, it's like in the background, it's not her talking. It's like, yep, damn it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Looking good. Let's try this one. When Katie first enters her new school, what is on fire in the front lawn? A laptop, a textbook, homework, or a backpack?
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh my god, I have no idea. Um, a backpack?
BEN WATERWORTH: Let's go for that one. It was a textbook.
LUCY STEPHAN: Damn it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, jeez.
LUCY STEPHAN: This is not fun to listen to.
BEN WATERWORTH: We'll go one more. I'm kind of glad that I've broken the streak of wins here, so I'll take that as a win. What happened to Ms. Norbury over the summer? She dyed her hair, she bought a new car, she got promoted, she got divorced.
LUCY STEPHAN: She got divorced.
BEN WATERWORTH: She got divorced is correct. Winner winner chicken dinner. There you go. You got one out of three.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yay, one out of three. Oh, that's upsetting.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, you know, again, you won an Olympic.
LUCY STEPHAN: I'm going to have to go watch it tonight, just to redeem myself. I don't think I've watched it in about 34 years, because it's one of those movies that has not aged well, ethically.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes. No, it is definitely one of those ones for sure.
LUCY STEPHAN: It's hilarious. It's hilarious, but it has not. Well, then I look at Mean Girls, and Mean Girls is a masterpiece because, god, that movie has aged well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Tina Fey, anything she touches turns to gold.
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, hilarious. Hilarious.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely. Do you actually think Tina Fey would go on a boat if you had an opportunity to say, hey, Tina, come give us a go. Have a crack in the boat.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, look, her and oh, what's her? It's the mommy main girls. What's her name?
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it usually a part of Amy Poehler? Yeah.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah. Hilarious. Parks and Rec. Genius. Hilarious. So funny.
BEN WATERWORTH: That'd be good. That'd be fun to just get out there and just kind of try it out. Right? Like you wouldn't even be rowing with them. You'd be talking to them basically the whole time.
LUCY STEPHAN: I mean, like I sit here now, I'm just going to ask you his questions.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, speaking of questions, so our real final set of questions is a series of questions that Team Canada put to their athletes ahead of Rio and Pyeongchang. Just sort of a get to know you element. There is a drawing element if you want to do some extra homework, Lucy. Of course, you don't have to. Stick figures are acceptable. We always put it out there. We've had one athlete, Ash Werner, our bobsledder, she did them with a lot of fun. You can check them out in our social media. So it's always optional there, Lucy, if you want to do it. But and as we've sort of we've talked to before, unfortunately, to our rowing guests, they did not quiz a rower. So I've gone for a paddler. We've gone for Cam Smedley again, a canoeist. So it's the closest I could get. So first question, you're allowed to answer your own as well. What is your favourite all time Olympic moment?
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, God. Yeah, I don't know. I guess my own. Yeah, there's so many from the show. You're so lucky. You've got like Katherine Freeman. And for me, it's like, like obviously the awesome Borsems. And then there's like Peter Anthony and Stephen Hawkins. Like when they were lightweights, like there's just so many. I think being an Aussie, you're just spoiled for choice.
BEN WATERWORTH: Didn't mention Kim there, Lucy.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, I'm Kim, obviously.
BEN WATERWORTH: Of course.
LUCY STEPHAN: Obviously. But, you know, I just wanted to put you on the spot.
BEN WATERWORTH: Kim, former guest of ours. I'm sure she listens still to this day. So, you know, she's big off the podium. Come on. Come on. What are you talking about? If you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be? Please say Neil.
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, I can't even. That would just be hilarious. Like maybe Neil, because like, it would just be so funny.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
LUCY STEPHAN: I would like love a home Olympics. Like I think to be in Melbourne again would be sweet. I would hope that like rowing would be closer than Ballarat, though. I think we're so lucky. Like any real city that does it, like Tokyo is so good. Obviously, Rio had its moments, but I think Paris is going to be amazing. I think LA is going to be incredible. Like, yeah, it's just it's one of those massive things that I think can bring a city to life for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: He's a question that put you on the spot. And this is more of a to see if you know, because I actually don't know the answer. Where was rowing held at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956?
LUCY STEPHAN: In Ballarat.
BEN WATERWORTH: It was held in Ballarat.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, in Ballarat on the lake.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right. I've seen the I've seen the the Penrith facility. I've been there and being Tasmanian Lake Barrington, of course. You know, we're proud of Lake Barrington here.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, yeah, Lake Barrington was like Tassie. Tassie would be beautiful. I do think I do think the life of Brisbane is going to be really, really cool, because I think up there, it's like always sunny. The weather is always great. I think that would be really cool. Really anywhere in Australia, I think you went to any major city in Australia. I think they could definitely put on a good show.
BEN WATERWORTH: The thing I love about Brisbane is the fact that technically Australia will host our first ever Winter Olympics. So just putting it out there, if they say Winter Olympics are not possible in Australia, well, they're being held in winter in 2032. So there you go. The weirdest instruction a coach ever gave you was?
LUCY STEPHAN: I don't know, weirdest instruction, but I can remember was when I first kind of got up to the centre, and I was in a single skull. And we do these things which are called roll ups, which is where you're sitting at the finish, and you tap down, you keep your blades off the water, and then you get out to the catcher, and you put them in, and your whole idea is to balance the boat when it's not moving, which is really, really tricky, especially when you're not a single scholar. And I did this roll up, and I absolutely nailed it. And I got to the catcher, and I was like, f*** yeah, Lucy. And then the coach, John Keogh, over the megaphone just goes, self-praise is no praise. And then just put that down.
BEN WATERWORTH: Shut down, wow.
LUCY STEPHAN: That is stuck with me for a long time. Self-praise is no praise.
BEN WATERWORTH: There's a t-shirt. There's a t-shirt. Put it on there. The first picture, if you want to draw a picture of yourself, and Cairns drawing a lovely picture of him in a boat. It kind of looks like he's being attacked by a shark or something. So I don't know how the canoeing waters are there in Canada. Probably not that safe, apparently. Your favourite workout is?
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, like just obviously rowing on the water, probably like race pace pieces. I just love doing, like that's what I, I guess for me, it's my bread and butter is what I really enjoy. So some of them are like race pace stuff. Yeah, but yeah, probably definitely rowing. But having said that, I think something that I definitely learnt when I started rowing is I used to hate going to netball practice, but with rowing, I don't really hate anything. Don't love bike riding, but at the same time, once I get on and start doing it, I quite enjoy it. But yeah, I have to be rowing for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Can you show off if you go down to the local gym, get on the rowing machine and just try and get one of those gym bros on there and go, okay, come on, give me a race, come on.
LUCY STEPHAN: Not a bad idea. I do go to city gyms sometimes and I'm like, oh, this is... And then I would get on it and I'll row, and then I'll get off and someone else would come on it and go back and do... I would say if you were looking at me, wouldn't you be like, oh, she knows what she's doing. Maybe I could ask her for tips, but then people get on and it's like, they kind of show you off. I'm like, what the hell are you doing? Like, you're going to throw your back out. Like, they turn the fan right up to 10 and they like power it for like 30 seconds and then they have to stop because they're so stuffed. And I'm like, no. Anyway.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is a good setting for the fan? Like as an Olympic role, what do you put the fan on?
LUCY STEPHAN: So the girls will... It will be around four, five. And the guys, I think it's around, depending on the erg machine, right? There's actually, it's called a drag factor. You can actually go into the settings and you set it. So when you go into it, it's like 110 for girls, I think it's 130 for boys and 100 for lightweights, lightweight girls. But yeah, the girls, it's like around about four or five. And I think the guys, it's like five, six, seven kind of thing. Around about there.
BEN WATERWORTH: I have it about one. Just...
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, which is fine. That's great.
BEN WATERWORTH: You know, it's not my favourite. Let's be honest. If you could have lunch with any one person, who would it be?
LUCY STEPHAN: Like, honestly, if it was just like a really fancy lunch, I could probably just go with my boyfriend because we never get to see each other. I don't know. That's kind of lame. But like, it's a really nice lunch and like we could get like day drunk, which is always great. Because I sound like an alcoholic in this.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's about number five for the alcohol references today. Lucy, I...
LUCY STEPHAN: Oh, Jesus. We'll be pretty much day drunk. Day drunk is a great thing because you go to bed at eight o'clock and you wake up feeling fine.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah. Yeah, sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Tip some Olympic gold medallists. There you go. See you to my success by Lucy Stephan.
LUCY STEPHAN: I get to do it once every pretty much five years. So yeah. And then I don't know. I have a big thing for David Bowie, John Bon Jovi. They're kind of my two...
BEN WATERWORTH: That would be fun.
LUCY STEPHAN: Like David... Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was that the celebrity deal? The celebrity death that just really affected you, because we all kind of have wine, don't we?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, it knocked me around a bit. Yeah. I think for me, it was like I didn't... I knew he was good, and I definitely... It's one of those things, because when they die, their record sales go up. I definitely respected him, loved him a lot before he died, and then after he died, I was like, oh my God, he's gone. That's when I really sat down and really started to realise how many amazing songs he had.
BEN WATERWORTH: And Elaborance? Is that one of the most amazing movies ever?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah. And I think also a big thing for my, I guess, celebrity crush on him is he just loved music, and it's all he ever wanted to do with his life. And he just solely put himself into that and wanted to become famous in his music way. And I think I have a lot of respect for that. It's similar for me, I guess, in rowing. He was passionate about his music, and he took it as far as he could. And I feel like that's kind of where I connect with that, in terms of the rowing sense. Like, John Bon Jovi, as well, is very similar to that. Like, I have a lot of respect for celebrities that it's always hard when you see people, you're like, oh, I just fell into it, and it was really fun. And I'm like, where my definite, like, celebrity kind of gratitude or admiration, what is it?
BEN WATERWORTH: Adoration?
LUCY STEPHAN: Adoration? Adoration is those ones that are passionate, they've worked hard, and that's how they've got there, for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: And I think David Bowie is one of the very few people who I think refused a knighthood. He was offered a knighthood and was like, why do I need to be knighted? What have I achieved? It was kind of like a, yeah, like one of those sort of, you know, who refuses a knighthood?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I find him. And oh yeah, also he's just a weird bug, I think. Everyone goes on about Harry Styles now, they're like, bring back Manly Men, and it's like, well, what about David Bowie? All these people, this isn't, this isn't, yeah, I'm like, he wore a dress on his album cover, I was like, Harry Styles is not the third, like full-coded Harry Styles, like, it's like hot, great. But I think this has been happening for years and years and years, and I always find it very funny. I'm like, you, people very quickly forget history, very, very quickly.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's very true. Don't get me started on the debate about Taylor Swift being groundbreaking when Madonna did it about 30 years before, but we forget about history, don't we? So anyway, your favourite sandwich is?
LUCY STEPHAN: I love a good chicken schnitzel. I think a salami sandwich is also overrated. Overrated? Underrated, sorry. Oh, what's he going to say? Underrated. I love a good salami panini with some bit of pesto or something on it. Yeah, I want to say I love all sandwiches.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. Is it about the bread too?
LUCY STEPHAN: Actually, you know what my favourite sandwich is? No, tell me. My favourite sandwich is a sandwich that you did not make yourself. When someone else makes you a sandwich, it is infinitely like a hundred times better.
BEN WATERWORTH: Hundred percent. Hundred percent. And does your boyfriend make a good sandwich? Is that kind of where the love comes from? Is that it's all about sandwich making?
LUCY STEPHAN: He makes me sandwich. He cooks me dinner a lot, and he is very good like that, but I don't know if he's ever made me a sanger. He makes a good burger and like a good wrap, which is essentially a sandwich, but it is. Yeah, he's more of a rough guy.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, makes up for it there. That's a good answer. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
LUCY STEPHAN: I think flying would be really, really, really cool. Teleportation, obviously, being long distance with my boyfriend, teleportation would be awesome. And just family, like I've spent a lot of my life being away from my family and my loved ones, and I went to boarding school at a young age, teleportation would be sick.
BEN WATERWORTH: I need to read this answer out here from Cameron. His answer to this question is to kill a yak from a hundred yards with mined bullets. I don't even know what that is. It's a Canadian thing.
LUCY STEPHAN: You're Canadian, yeah?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
LUCY STEPHAN: It's like you're Canadian, yeah?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I need to ask Colin about that next time I was on the show.
LUCY STEPHAN: Like, I don't know, to kill a kangaroo with your mined, like, I don't know how I feel about that.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think we need to get Cameron on the show just to quiz him about that for an hour, basically, bugger the Olympic career. The best candy in the world is?
LUCY STEPHAN: I love Zappos.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, yes.
LUCY STEPHAN: I love anything sour. I love a Zappo.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice, nice. As a kid, your favourite sports team was?
LUCY STEPHAN: I was like a huge, sporty kid, like I could probably say Adelaide Crows, mainly. It's a bit of a funny story. I didn't really, like I said, didn't really have a sports team when I was growing up. I was the first, I'm the oldest, was a girl. Parents are like, oh, Lucy wouldn't care about footy. Went to get on the school bus when I was like five or six, and the bus driver was actually would have been when I was prepped. So yeah, five. The bus driver was like, what footy team do you go for? I was like, oh, I don't have one. He was like, go for the Crows, you know, that on the bus. I was like, okay, cool. And then in hindsight, last time the Crows won the Premiership was 96, 97, which was when I started school.
BEN WATERWORTH: It worked. You took it on board.
LUCY STEPHAN: But I'm definitely, I don't know, I'm at a little point now where I'm kind of questioning it, obviously, with some of the stuff that's come out of the club recently. So I'm thinking, and I'm a huge, I'm an underdog fan. So it's like when the doggies got up underdog, when Richmond came through on the dog, obviously now with Melbourne, I'm kind of on that bandwagon, it's too late to jump on Melbourne. So I'm thinking.
BEN WATERWORTH: Get on the Suns, Lucy, they will get somewhere eventually.
LUCY STEPHAN: No, I don't like what's, I don't like, what's his name, Toby Green?
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, right.
LUCY STEPHAN: Is he Suns?
BEN WATERWORTH: No, no, he's, he's a giant. So he's a giant. So you're okay with the Suns. No one knows any of their players.
LUCY STEPHAN: But Suns, but Suns, didn't they make grand final recently?
BEN WATERWORTH: No, the Giants, Suns have basically been around for 10 years and have not finished any higher than like 14th. So, you know, they're at the very bottom.
LUCY STEPHAN: Well, actually, I was thinking, I know they have won like a lot, a lot of premierships back in the day before the salary cap came in, but I'm actually thinking Carlton.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, see, I don't know if you can see that behind me loosely. Where am I pointing there? There's a, you can sort of see an ambulance. They're my team. So jump on board. There you go. That works for me.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I was thinking, because I feel like, you know, they've been in rebuilding years for about 20 years. So maybe one day they'll get it right.
BEN WATERWORTH: Not that we're counting.
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, so maybe I'll jump on them.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do it. Because I remember growing up, like it was the opposite, like as a kid, it's like, oh, Carlton, they've been everything now. It's just like, we can't even buy anything. We can't keep a coach for longer than two years. So it's just, you know, yeah, good, good idea. I like that. That's smart. Your favourite sports movie is?
LUCY STEPHAN: I used to love Remember The Titans. It was probably one of my favourite movies. Yeah, Remember Titans, great movie. Obviously, what's it called? Bob said movie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Cool Runnings?
LUCY STEPHAN: Completely blank. Yeah, Cool Runnings, great movie. There's just so many like, Coach Carter. I love their underdog. Like realistically, any underdog movie. I just like the feels.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer. Good answer. The final question, if you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
LUCY STEPHAN: I don't know. I'm quite happy where I am. I really love Australia. And I think we're so lucky in this country in the fact that we literally have everything. We have snow. Obviously, it's not the best snow in the world, but we have snow, we have amazing beaches, we have rainforest, we have desert, like, I think Australia is just probably one of the coolest countries in that sense that we literally have everything. And yeah, there's a lot of people like, I just want to go to Europe. I just want to, you know, go overseas. And obviously, there's so many countries that I do want to go overseas, but I do just love being in Aussie for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great answer. Correct answer is somebody who's officially been on an Australian stamp. I think that's the correct answer. They might have removed your stamp from syndication essentially, if you had have answered anywhere else. Lucy, before we let you go, if people want to kind of stay up to date with what you're up to, your journey, anything along those lines, social media or anything that people can sort of check you out on?
LUCY STEPHAN: Yeah, I've got my Insta, which is Lucy, L-O-O-S-T-Y, obviously, because it's a long name. Lucy, underscore, Stephan, S-T-P-H-A-N, I'm pretty sure that's it. But that's pretty much the only thing I'm on. I was on Twitter for a while, but never really got into it.
BEN WATERWORTH: No TikTok yet? Not quite on that page?
LUCY STEPHAN: No TikTok. I feel like I'm a bit too old, but I have thought if I want to do a small business thing, I'm definitely going to have to get on the TikTok.
BEN WATERWORTH: I say bring back MySpace. I'm waiting for our first athlete to be like, yeah, I'm on MySpace. You can check out my Toms, my top friends.
LUCY STEPHAN: I saw a meme the other day. I saw a meme the other day. It was like, can you imagine if MySpace existed now? Like the social anxiety you would have having to get your top eight friends.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you remember the days when you go to school the next day and you realise, why am I not in your top eight anymore?
LUCY STEPHAN: Why am I number four?
BEN WATERWORTH: I was number two yesterday.
LUCY STEPHAN: See, I was lucky and nil because you only really had, like, you know, there was only a certain amount of, well, like, you have like a heap of heap of friends. Like it was kind of, everyone was everyone and you kind of, yeah, nah, it's horrible. Horrible. But I did love it. Like you'd open it up. Like someone, I saw another meme where someone's like, we need to get it. So when you open up someone's Instagram page, a song plays in the background.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.
LUCY STEPHAN: And I was like, you've officially gone to MySpace because that's what MySpace did. And I had like all my little emo songs, like Escape The Fate, 30 Seconds To Mars, all the emo songs.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. And you always have that one song. And to this day, there are songs that I hear that remind me of someone because that was always their MySpace song. There it was. Like boom. Like wow. You make it happen. Facebook, if you're listening. I know Mark Zuckerberg's a huge listener to the show. Lucy, a lot of fun. Seriously, so much fun going over everything through your career and through the Olympics. And I'm saying this now. We look forward to seeing you get back to back gold in Paris in only three years' time.
LUCY STEPHAN: Thank you. We'll say. Fingers crossed.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks to Lucy for her time. So much fun chatting with her there. And yeah, our first sweep from rowing as well. Interesting, we've only had the skullers on before. So always good to get somebody on the show from, I guess, an aspect of a sport that we've never talked to before. And we'll see her in Paris. Come on, we know Lucy, we know what's gonna happen. So big thanks again for your time on the show today. Moving forward, we've got some great interviews still to come here on Off The Podium as always. And if you wanna keep up to date with what we've got coming your way, simply follow us on social media and hit a subscribe button on one of the podcast channels Off The Podium on all of those. We're sadly not on MySpace. Maybe we are the ones that need to bring that back. So watch this space. And of course, we'd love to hear what you think of the show. If you've got any feedback for us or wanna have any requests for people that you want us to hunt down and maybe get on the show, we'd love to hear those ideas along the way. Big thanks again to Lucy for her time. Thanks to you for listening to the show. My name is Ben, this is Off The Podium. And as always, go left.
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