Ever since she was a young girl, Tayla Kerpiniotis always knew she wanted to be involved in the sport of rowing.
She, along with her family, lived overseas in the Middle East for a short time but once they returned to Sydney and she started Year 8, she instantly began to look for a new hobby.
“My dad had done rowing when he was younger and he thought I would be good at it,” Tayla explains to The Greek Herald exclusively.
“So I tried it and I loved it. Being in the water is calming and relaxing, and I love the community and friends you gain from rowing.”
Now, at 19 years of age, this passion and determination for rowing has stayed with Tayla and has seen her proudly represent females in a sport which she says continues to be dominated by males.
“There aren’t many women rowers and it’s difficult to stay in the sport because there’s not a lot of funding,” she says.
Despite this, Tayla has persevered and was even proudly selected into the NSW state rowing team in the Youth 8 / Under 21 category.
This team recently competed in the Australian Rowing Championships in April and Tayla won two gold medals in the prestigious Bicentennial Cup and the Open Women’s University Quad Sprint.
Tayla’s mum, Evelyn Kerpiniotis, says seeing her daughter emerge from the water after the competition was “glorifying” and she’s “so proud of her.”
“We were just so thrilled. To see her so passionate and to achieve that result and her goals, was amazing,” Evelyn says.
Tayla adds that it was also a proud moment for her and showed how all her hard work has paid off.
“I’m so happy this season is done because I want to move up to the Under 23’s next season and see what I can achieve,” she concludes.
