Lisa Darmanin

Fast Facts

Sport: Sailing
Event: Nacra 17
Olympic History: Rio 2016 (silver), Tokyo 2020
Highlights: Silver medal at Rio 2016
Year Born: 1991
State Born: Balgowlah Heights, NSW

Growing up in Balgowlah Heights, NSW, Lisa Darmanin began sailing as a nine-year-old with her brother.

Sailing had always been a family affair, with Darminan training alongside her teammate and cousin Jason Waterhouse at Middle Harbour Sailing Club for several years. The duo claimed their first overseas medal together in 2009 after winning the ISAF Youth Worlds in Buzios, Brazil.

Darmanin went on to make her National Team debut in 2013, with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on her mind.

The lead up to Rio 2016 was a successful year for Darmanin and Waterhouse, winning the Rio Test Event and finishing second at the World Championships. Darmanin was also named Australian female sailor of the year.

In 2016, the Northern Beaches pair made their Olympic debut at Rio in the Nacra 17 class where they took home the silver medal.

Sitting in fourth prior to the decisive medal race, the Aussie duo jumped two places up the rankings after they crossed the line in second in the final race of the regatta behind New Zealand.

The Sydneysiders were pipped for the gold medal by the Argentineans by a single point after the crew of Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Sarouli finished the medal race in sixth as Austria's Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank won the bronze.

The Sydneysiders were pipped for the gold medal by the Argentineans by a single point after the crew of Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Sarouli finished the medal race in sixth as Austria's Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank won the bronze.

Selected for his second Olympics where he would compete alongside cousin, Lisa Darmanin, they were in fourth place going into the medal race where points are doubled. 

The task was to defeat Germany by four boats.
“We got a penalty on the start on the Germans, so that job was done. And we managed the Germans and the Spanish from there,” Lisa Darmanin said of the Tokyo Medal Race start line.
But unfortunately on the second upwind they caught some plastic on their foil and didn’t notice. They couldn’t really foil [where the boat sits above the water at an incredibly fast pace] downwind.”

They would eventually place fifth overall.