Beck’s nephew — and cousin of her three teenage children Declan, Maddie and Cade — Col Pearse was contesting the final of the S10 100 metres butterfly event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in the early hours of last Wednesday.
There would have been precious few residents of the farming community asleep for the 5.45am gold medal-winning swim, Pearse’s progess followed closely through the entire region.
Declan, Maddie and Cade are building impressive sporting resumes of their own and were only happy to wrap themselves in Australian and 2006 Commonwealth Games flags to celebrate their cousin’s win.
Standing in front of an exhibition dominated by another of Bamawm’s international sporting stars, Sharelle McMahon, the trio downplayed their own sporting exploits.
Declan, 16, debuted with Rochester’s senior Goulburn Valley league team this year and in spite of his teenage status is also an A-grade cricketer.
His 15-year-old sister, Maddie, has overshadowed him on the cricket front as she prepares to embark on a pre-season with district cricket club Carlton.
She missed much of last year with stress fractures, but is fully fit for the new season.
She is also a talented netballer, part of the region’s talent identified program.
“None of us are swimmers though,” Declan said, “Col is the swimmer.”
The cousins, due to the commitments of Col Pearse to his swimming, only really catch up during the holidays nowadays.
Beck, and husband Greg, along with Col’s parents Julian and Teena — and his siblings Corey, Stephanie and Ashley — become instant personalities when the para-swimming star appears on the world stage.
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