ROWER Kat Werry is in the running to equal an achievement that only fellow Olympian Shayne Reese has achieved.
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Werry, aged 30, is a finalist for Ballarat sportswoman of the year - an accolade she has attained four times.
Para-cycling world champion Alana Forster and Geelong AFLW footballer Amy McDonald have also been shortlisted for the honour, to be awarded in the annual gala dinner for Sportsmen's Association of Australia Ballarat Associated Branch on March 14.
Werry was awarded the Ballarat Sportsmen's Club Hollioake Medallion in February for the best performance in a team event. Less than a year out from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Werry has been part of Australian crews finishing fifth in the World Rowing Championships women's four final in Serbia and claimed bronze in the women's four for World Rowing Cup II in Croatia.
Her alma mater Ballarat Clarendon College named its new boat Kat Werry and the College girls' firsts rowed her to victory in Ballarat Associated Schools' Head of the Lake regatta on February 25.
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For cyclist Alana Forster, 2023 was the year of her comeback and first as a competitive para-cyclist.
A doctor by trade, Forster was forced to reinvent her game as an elite cyclist after a car crash sent her into hospital for about four months for a string of surgeries on broken bones.
About eight months after the crash, Forster had enough of a knee-bend to get back on the bike and the 2023 AusCycling Road National Championships marked her first major hit-out as a para-athlete, classified by lower limb injury.
Forster won the green and gold jersey and took this to the world championships in Glasgow, Scotland where she earned the world title in the C5 category.
Not long after her RoadNats comeback, the Canberran native how calls Ballarat home, was supported by Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club mates to complete the SPUD100 (100 miles or 160-kilometre) event in Ballarat Cycle Classic.
Determined to finish, even with the odd tow at times, Forster wanted to be part of the charity event for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute.
Amy McDonald confirmed her place among the AFLW's elite with a stellar 2023 season.
The 25-year-old polled 16 voted to finished runner-up in the AFLW best and fairest, an honour she shared with three players behind Richmond onballer Monique Conti, who polled 23 votes.
McDonald's vote tally is the most ever received by a Geelong player.
A three-time Geelong AFLW best and fairest, McDonald is a Redan and Greater Western Rebels' export and was drafted to the Cats in 2019 after a strong season with the club in the Victorian Football League.
McDonald is the 2014 winner of the SAA Ballarat's Blackbourn Encouragement Award.
Ballarat Sportswoman of the Year's roll call dates back to 1975 to promote and recognise top female athletes in the region and the mantra women can play.
Guest speaker for the 2024 event is Sharelle McMahon, the former Australian Diamonds captain and one of the nation's most decorated netballers.
McMahon is now Cricket Victoria's head of female cricket.
