What started as an early morning experiment has since taken Sarah Peterswald from rowing and coaching at Canberra Grammar, to coaching in Northern Ireland and Oxford, and then back to Canberra. Now she’s staying here, building a career helping others find their own path in the sport.
At 6am one morning, Sarah had a choice: go back to sleep or give rowing a go. A friend had suggested she try it, and Sarah figured there wasn’t much else to be doing at that hour anyway.
“I’ve been so fortunate to get some amazing opportunities through the sport and been supported by great people,” she says. “It’s pretty hard to walk away from that.”
That sense of support has stayed with Sarah and shaped the coach she has become. Her time rowing was defined by the care and patience of her school coach, who not only supported her development but also encouraged her to consider coaching.
Today, Sarah places a strong emphasis on getting to know the athletes she works with and understanding their individual goals.
“I enjoy seeing people develop and become more confident versions of themselves,” she says.
After university, Sarah took on coaching opportunities in Northern Ireland and Oxford. The experiences were vastly different, but each helped shape her approach.
Northern Ireland showed her that even without extensive physical resources, bravery, determination and community can help people succeed. Oxford, meanwhile, presented incredible opportunities and taught Sarah the importance of advocating for herself and putting herself forward.
Those experiences gave her the confidence to consider coaching not simply as another way to stay involved in rowing but as a career.
Today, Sarah is a full-time coach at Red Shed, while also working with the ACT Interstate senior team and youth pathways program. Her weeks are busy, combining physical coaching with managing programs, organising staffing and equipment, processing selection data and working on a Talent ID program.
She coaches juniors and adults from learn-to-row through to competitive level, giving her a unique perspective on the many different ways people can find their place in rowing.
For Sarah, progress is rarely linear.
“It’s been really cool to see how some people have overcome challenges that have caused them to remain stagnant for a period of time but then they have persevered and made huge changes again.”
Coaching has also taught Sarah to play the long game. Rather than becoming caught up in rapid progress, she believes athletes need to consider how they can sustain themselves in the sport. Sometimes, having a perspective from outside the boat can be exactly what an athlete needs to take their next step.
That perspective is particularly important as Sarah continues to build her own future in sport.
This year, she was selected as a recipient of the HerCoach scholarship, an initiative supported through grants provided by the ACT Government. The program has connected her with a network of female coaches, both established and aspiring, providing something she had previously felt was missing: female role models to learn from and share experiences with.
“It makes me so excited about the future about women in sport and leadership roles,” she says.
For Sarah, increasing the number of women in coaching is about creating more positive and inclusive environments for coaches and athletes, while challenging the standards of what leadership in sport can look like.
Her message to women in the ACT rowing community considering their own next step is simple: put yourself forward.
“Keep pushing the boundaries and putting yourself forward for things you want to try. The rowing community is for everyone.”
It is a message that reflects Sarah’s own journey.
From a Canberra schoolgirl persuaded to try rowing at 6am, to an athlete, overseas coach, full-time professional and emerging leader in the ACT rowing community, her path has never been entirely direct.
And perhaps that is exactly the point.
Rowing can take you places you never expected – sometimes overseas, sometimes into a new career, and sometimes into roles you didn’t know existed when you first stepped into a boat.
For Sarah, coming home to Canberra has meant returning to a community that has continued to make space for her.
“The ACT Rowing community is so tight knit and well connected,” she says. “It was so nice to come back to after time away and have people welcoming me back.”
For Sarah, that community continues to open doors – not only for athletes, but for coaches, officials, administrators, volunteers and everyone else looking to find their place in the sport.
