Little did the towering South Australian, who is stroke of the Women’s Eight, have any idea of the tumultuous journey that lay ahead thanks to the pandemic, but she was committed to that promise. 

Goodman’s race to the Olympics has been anything but ordinary. 

Her Rio debut came on the back of the doping ban which saw the Russians disqualified and the Australian Women’s Eight included in the competition just weeks before the Games. 

“I’ll never forget the moment our Women’s Eight was called into the Rio Games,” she says. 

“We’d missed qualification, most of us had put that dream to bed, I went on holidays to Thailand, but then two weeks before we were due to compete, we were told we were in. 

“I’d dreamed of being an Olympian since I was 13 years old, and bam, it came out of left field. I’d achieved my life-long goal in the most unexpected way.” 

But the Rio experience was far from her childhood sporting fairy tale.   

The Australian team failed to make the finals, finishing last in both their heats and their repechage, but those results only fuelled Goodman’s future motivation. 

Since then, the Women’s Eight has cemented themselves as one of the most powerful crews in the world finishing second to New Zealand at the 2019 World Championships in Austria.  

“Everything was going so well and then the Tokyo Games were postponed,” she says. 

“I’d vowed post Rio to be in medal-winning form; to be prepared, something which the situation in Rio didn’t allow for. We were going for gold in Tokyo when the pandemic hit and it looked like my dream was gone.” 

Goodman spent the first lockdown at her family’s holiday home on Lake Eucumbene in the NSW Snowy Mountains, running her dogs Pip and Tilly and baking scones. 

But she never lost sight of her goal. Her focus best illustrated by daily workouts on the ergometer, even when the winter snow arrived. 

“I’ve embraced the motto: Never lose hope, destiny will deliver you great things – all you need to do is keep trying,” she says. 

“It’s been a crazy and unexpected journey. One thing I’ve learned is by simply trying every day, we can all achieve the most extraordinary things.” 

Goodman is joined in the Women’s Eight by fellow Rio Olympians Genevieve Horton, Olympia Aldersey along with debutants Katrina Werry, Sarah Hawe, Georgie Rowe, Bronwyn Cox and Giorgia Patten. Coxswain James Rook is the first man to hold this role Australian rowing history.  

Their biggest challenge will come from reigning World Champions, New Zealand, as well as Great Britain, Romania and the USA all of whom have a strong history in the boat class. 

The Australian’s Women’s Eight will compete in their heats Saturday 24 July 

Catriona Dixon