Olympic hopeful Yale Steinepreis to share her journey with students at East Narrogin Primary

An elite kayaker and Olympic hopeful will visit East Narrogin Primary School to speak on the power of goal setting as part of the Olympics Unleashed program.

Yale Steinepreis began as a sprint kayaker aged 16 and was snapped up through a talent identification program.

Having been selected in six Australian teams, Steinepreis has been on a scholarship with the WA Institute of Sport for the past seven years and hopes to go to the Paris Olympics in 2024.

While the journey might seem like a blessed one, it has not been all calm water for Steinepreis, who was laid low by a mysterious illness in 2018.

“I was just so tired; if I got to training, I couldn’t get past the warm-up,” she said “I was getting sick a lot, about every four weeks, feeling like I had a bad flu and that would take me a couple of weeks to get back. I went to a lot of specialists to try and figure it out but we never actually did. It definitely made me aware of work-life balance so that everything was in order so that it didn’t rear its head again.

“The biggest thing was to use your support network ... you don’t have to do it all by yourself. There will be people to help and support you through it.”

This experience and its teachings will form the basis for her speech to years 1-6 students on August 23. By speaking about goal setting, she hopes to help the students navigate challenges they face in the future.

East Narrogin Primary School deputy principal Joanna Hayes said it was valuable for children to meet people who were pursuing their passion at a high level.

“You can’t be what you can’t see is a common belief among young people in our community,” she said.

“Our youth have limited access to elite sportsmen and women, which often challenges their ability to unleash their true passions and follow their dreams.”