Ella Beere

It all started on the beach for sprint paddler Ella Beere. Growing up on the NSW Central Coast, Ella had been competing in surf life saving events since she was five. She moved to Sydney when she was 10 years old but continued to commute to the Central Coast and be involved in North Avoca Surf Club.

As a 16-year-old she decided to concentrate on ski paddling and her journey to the Olympics began.

“I decided to leave behind the beach events and try surf ski,” she said. “My ski coach suggested I should do some kayaking to improve my technique.”

Ella took to the sport immediately and the results quickly began to flow. At the Junior World Championships in Montemor, Portugal, in 2015, she finished seventh in the K1 200. The following year, competing in Minsk, Belarus, she improved to fourth.

In 2022, Ella relocated from Hunter's Hill to Queensland’s Gold Coast to further her career in sprint kayaking and that year she teamed up with Aly Bull, Ally Clarke and Yale Steinepreis to win silver in the K4 500 event at the world championships in Dartmouth, Canada.

At the 2023 world championships, in Germany, the same crew finished fifth, securing their place at the Paris Olympics.

But Ella has never strayed far from the beach and continues to compete in surf life saving events.

She stormed home with fellow Avoca paddler Natalia Drobot to win gold in the open female double ski at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships in Perth in 2023.

A week earlier, the same pair had won the K2 200 at the Australian sprint kayak titles in Perth.

Ella hopes to pursue a career as a psychologist, having already completed an undergraduate degree.

She said her interest in this field was sparked by the mental challenges she has experienced as a professional female athlete competing at the elite level.