Local athletes of the future were celebrated at the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club on October 23, where Federal Member for Warringah Zali Steggall OAM recognised the region’s emerging sporting talent at a special Local Sporting Champions celebration.
The event brought together grant recipients, their supporters and established local athletes to acknowledge the dedication, hard work and achievements of junior athletes across a range of sports.
Ms Steggall, herself an Olympic medallist, congratulated the athletes and presented the Local Sporting Champions Grants, which provide financial assistance to help young sportspeople participate in state, national and international competitions.
“Warringah has a rich tradition of sporting excellence and its fantastic to be able to support the new generation of sporting champions,” Steggall said.
“We had a great session where grant recipients and their supporters heard first-hand from local athletes about the journey sacrifice and rewards of a career in sport.”
The MP for Warringah hosted the event and shared insights from her own sporting journey. Guest speakers included the following local athletes:
Emma Jeffcoat, Olympic triathlete and former surf lifesaving Ironwoman
Emma is a former Surf Life Saver Iron-woman(Junior Club: Dee Why Surf Lifesaving Club), turned International Triathlete after making the switch in 2015. With the lure of a lifelong childhood dream; the Olympic Games, and a challenging multi discipline swim, bike, run format proving the clear winner. Emma found 'Dreams do come true' when she represented Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Alongside her sporting pursuits Emma completed a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Sydney, under the Elite Athlete Scholarship Program, with a passion for Emergency and Intensive care work. In her “spare time” Emma loves sharing and presenting the incredible life lessons sport has taught her first-hand to other athletes, school groups, corporate and business groups.
In October 2025 Emma was selected as a member of the Australian Senior Elite for the 2025 World Triathlon Championships, staged in Wollongong from 15-19 October 2025. It marked the first time since 2018 that Australia had hosted the World Championships, giving our nation’s top triathletes and para triathletes the chance to compete for world titles in front of a partisan home crowd.
Robin Bell, an accomplished Australian canoe slalom athlete who represented Australia at three Olympics
In the canoe slalom singles, Robin Bell finished ninth at Sydney 2000 and an agonisingly close fourth at Athens 2004, after leading with three paddlers remaining. Winning the 2005 world championship and many other grand performances on the world stage set him up for a good performance at Beijing 2008 where he was ranked no.3. He duly won the bronze medal behind multi-world champion and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, Michal Martikan of Slovakia, and David Florence from Great Britain. Bell’s medal was the first by an Australian male in Olympic slalom canoe/kayak.
Duncan Cowan, Australia’s #1 ranked Ski Cross athlete who proudly carried the flag at the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics in South Korea, is a teenager and the youngest of Ms Steggalls' 2025 Local Sporting Champions guests.
With wins in the first 5 races of 2025 he is the first Australian to win the overall championship for the North American cup for USA and Canada.
Duncan is the current Australia and New Zealand Cup Champion and returned in April from the Junior World Championships in France where he finished in 9th position.
In 2025 Duncan's goals were to win the North American Championships in the USA and Canada and achieve a top 10 result at World Junior Championships in France. Both goals were achieved with amazing support behind him.
In late 2025 and early 2026, his goals are the Europa Cup races, World Cup races and to qualify for the the Winter Olympics in Cortina Italy.
''This is a big goal and I believe its achievable.'' he says
Duncan has been a recipient of the Local Sporting Champions grant.
For more information about the Local Sporting Champions program, visit www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding/local_sporting_champions.
