Laura Gourley was about 10 when she first dreamt of competing at the Olympics.
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She had no specific sport in mind, she just "thought that would be really cool".
"I come from a pretty sporty family. My grandpa (Robin Gourley) and uncle (Scott Gourley) both played professional rugby union and league," she said.
"Growing up hearing about all their stories and stuff, that's something I really wanted to do."
Fast forward 12 years and that dream is about to become a reality with the Narrabri local part of the Australian women's quad scull team rowing for gold in Paris.
The 22-year-old's selection caps off a somewhat meteoric rise, not really knowing anything about rowing until she was introduced to the sport when she started boarding at Sydney school Loretto Normanhurst, in Year 9.
Instantly taking to it - as someone who is quite a competitive person she loved "the side-by-side racing" - she had a bit of an inglorious start to her racing career.
In an interview with the Wide World of Sports earlier in the year, she recalled how in her first race she zig-zagged across nine lanes and back before eventually finishing last.
Undeterred, she kept plugging away, and found her radar, and gradually opportunities began to open up.
In 2021 she made the Australian under 23s team, which then led to her selection in the senior team in 2022.
Doing Narrabri proud
One of two Narrabri exports headed to Paris - Shannan Davey is part of the boxing team - Gourley's story is an inspiring one of determination, dedication and a bit of good old country ingenuity.
When home for school holidays, and again during COVID, she'd train on a neighbours irrigation storage dam in a boat borrowed from another neighbour.
"It was a bit wild.
"Sometimes it can get pretty windy where we're from because it's pretty flat," she reflected.
"But it was really interesting and I think it was a really good experience."
About two kilometres long, it meant "lots of laps" to get up to the 20 to 24 kilometres their sessions usually are.
It's an insight into the commitment that has helped take her to sport's biggest stage.
"I think in rowing you definitely need a lot of that because you spend a lot of time by yourself in rowing boats," she said.
"And then it's really up to you whether you want to do the work or not do the work, to make it."
A strong competitive streak, hasn't gone astray either.
"I was always super competitive with my siblings growing up (she is the middle child of three)," Gourley recalled.
"I think that really has fostered the way I approach training and racing as an athlete and I think it's been a big asset for me."
She described learning she had made the Rowsellas team as "a pinch me moment".
It was all the more special, having her mum Georgina, over there with her.
The countdown is on
Presently training at the program's European Training Centre in Varese, Italy, the team will move into their satellite village (the rowing competition is being held at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, which is on the outskirts of Paris) at the end of this week.
Naturally the anticipation is building.
"I think the racing for sure but then also the atmosphere around the Olympics," Gourley said about what she is most looking forward to.
"I've been told stories by some of the senior athletes here and they just say how great it is walking around and watching all the other sports and talking to the other Olympians like it's a really special atmosphere.
"I'm just really excited for that, to just be a part of it."
She will be straight into it with the quad scull heats the final event of the first day of the Olympic rowing program on Saturday, July 27.
