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"It would mean everything": Long-time Squash mother-daughter duo all in for LA 2028

 

"It would mean everything": Long-time Squash mother-daughter duo all in for LA 2028

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Sarah and Vicki Cardwell 2025

A passion for squash runs through the veins of the Cardwell family, and the apple hasn’t fallen far from the magnificent family tree.

In the world of squash, Sarah Cardwell’s name carries significant weight; she was born into a family deeply rooted in squash, with her mother Vicki Cardwell BEM being one of Australia’s most celebrated and successful athletes in the sport.

A former world no. 1, Vicki was a dominant force on the world and Australian squash scene from the late 1970s to the mid ’90s winning four consecutive British Opens and a World Open title.

Her achievements were quite rightly recognised with her induction into the Squash Australia Hall of Fame and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF) as well as being awarded the British Empire Medal by the Australian Government.

“In 1985 the Sport Australia Hall of Fame was created with 120 all-time great athletes from all sports. Three squash players were in this inaugural induction [Heather McKay, Geoff Hunt, Vicki Cardwell]. This was recognition of my international career from 1978 to 1983, during which time I won five Australian Opens, four British Opens and one World Open Championship,” Vicki reflected.

Despite growing up surrounded by such unprecedented sporting success, Sarah never felt any sense of pressure to pick up a racquet or follow in her Mum’s gargantuan footsteps.

“Growing up, I just thought everyone had trophies around the house and British Open plaques as curtain stoppers. But no, apparently that’s not normal!” Sarah said.

“I remember when I was at one of my first ever national junior squad camps, the coaches pulled me aside and said if I ever needed to talk about “the pressures I’m dealing with”, and I had no idea what they were talking about,” she chuckled.

That was Sarah’s first real moment of awareness.

While picking up a racquet seemed the natural path for Sarah to take, she is adamant that her squash-loving parents never forced her to – they just encouraged her to be active and enjoy playing sport.

“My Mum and Dad were always really good at making squash a fun thing to do – I was never forced to train and they let me learn by experience, so I learnt the lessons myself pretty quickly,” she said.

“I was more of a hard-working kid than a natural talent, and I learnt very quickly that if I didn’t train very well, or train as hard as other kids, I’d start losing to them - and I didn’t like that!”

“Mum has always naturally wanted what’s best for me, and I’ve put way more pressure on myself than anyone else,” Sarah added.

Sarah’s hard work and commitment quickly led to tangible results.

Her junior career was strewn with state and national titles, winning the Victorian Junior Championships from u13s-u19s and multiple National Junior crowns.

She became a regular member of the Australian national side and represented her country at the Commonwealth Games on two occasions and also at the World Team Championships on four occasions.

Sarah joined the PSA Tour in 2008 and lifted her first career title in January 2012 on home-soil at the Australia Day Challenge. Back-to-back titles soon followed as she lifted both the Queensland Open and Malaysian Tour Squash VIII titles in 2015.

Two runner-up finishes at the City of Perth Squash Challenge Open and China Squash Challenge Cup in 2016 saw Sarah break into the world’s top 50 for the first time in her career. She has since reached a career high rank of world no.41.

It was only when Sarah, a Victorian Institute of Sport athlete, got older and results came less easily that she started to truly appreciate her Mum’s lofty feats.

“When I wasn’t winning off talent alone, when it became about the one-percents, I realised how much more impressive Mum’s achievements were. Going through it, I have so much more respect for her and think “God, how did you get to the top of this sport! It’s so damn hard!” Sarah said.

While Vicki’s career was one of dreams, Sarah’s story, so far, is all about ambition and hard work, blending her Mum’s legacy with her own fierce determination and patriotism – the latter being passed on to her by you know who.

“I’ve never felt more proud than when playing for Australia,” Sarah said.

Something she hopes to achieve at LA 2028, where the sport will make its long-awaited Olympic debut.

Squash had previously sought Olympic inclusion four times unsuccessfully before finally receiving approval from the International Olympic Committee in 2023, marking a significant breakthrough for the sport.

Being part of the Olympic Games has been a long-held goal for the squash community, and inclusion will serve as a catalyst to increase awareness of what is already a major participatory sport globally with a long and diverse history.

“I hope it increases people’s awareness of the sport. That seems to be half the challenge - just showcasing it to people and making them aware of the sport,” Vicki said.

“Usually once people play it or see it, they love it,” she added.

Sarah is equally excited to see the world’s reaction to elite squash.

“I’m really excited to see what it does for the sport - I don’t know how you can’t love it after you’ve seen it – it’s addictive and fast and competitive and has every aspect of what a sport should be in my eyes,” said Sarah.

The announcement immediately reset Sarah’s timelines.

“My goals have definitely changed since it was announced, so I’m now looking to 2028 and there’s no stopping until then…I owe it to my childhood self to push to make the Olympic team,” she said.

By 2028, Sarah will be 36 years old and edging towards the tail end of her career. Genetics would argue otherwise.

Vicki retired from the World Tour at age 42 years and seven months, satisfied that she had left nothing on the court and proud of her efforts, especially returning to elite competition following the birth of her two children.

“I still felt like I had more in me, so I set realistic goals no matter the expectation from others about returning. While my priority was my children, I set my target at top 10, and I got back to 12 in the world,” Vicki said.

Although Vicki didn’t get to compete at an Olympic Games during her illustrious career, she will get to see that dream come true where a squash player can finally become an Olympian and win an Olympic medal.

And hopefully it’s her daughter.

“It would mean everything to call myself an Olympian, it would be the absolute cherry on top of my career,” Sarah said.

Ashley Gillespie
Victorian Institute of Sport

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