Lumen Autumn 2025 - Flipbook - Page 21
“I’m sure that if I had remembered my accident I might be
in a different position. I’m lucky to have not remembered it.
I don’t remember the feeling of impact on the ground. People
conceptualise resilience as getting back on the bike, so for me that
was quite literal. It was a step towards recovery. I guess I was scared
of getting back on the bike initially, but my love of it has overridden
that fear.”
In 2012, one year after her accident, Amber was coaching the
Pembroke School’s rowing team. It was then she set a goal for
herself. By the end of the season, she had to be riding along the
riverbank and keeping pace with the boat. It didn’t take long.
time, she no longer feels the pressure to train as intensely as she
once did, instead opting to spend quality time with her loved ones.
"Now it is all about spending valuable time with my son, my
husband, and my family," she says.
As the interview concludes at her old stomping ground at the
Adelaide University Boat Club, a young man enters the gym.
He looks at Amber quizzically before she explains what she’s
doing there.
Amber begins to head down the stairs as he sees her picture on
the wall adorned in the green and gold. After a double take, he
says, “Wait that’s you?”
Her future goals stretched beyond cycling and coaching,
however. Post-accident, Amber returned to University, completing
a Bachelor of Health Science (Hons) in 2014 and gaining her PhD
in Psychology in 2019, at the same time as having a baby – her son,
Monty – while living abroad in Utah.
“Yep, that’s me,” says Amber with a smile.
Amber Halliday is a two-time Olympian, two-time world
record holder, three-time world rowing champion, national rowing
champion, Tour of New Zealand winner and South Australian sports
star of the year.
Main photos of Amber at the Adelaide University Boat Club by Isaac
Freeman, Lumen Photographic Editor.
Amber now works in the Office for Early Childhood
Development and also runs her own business, SheThrivesInSport,
as a resilience, performance and wellbeing consultant. Last
November her many achievements were recognised by the
University when she was awarded the Outstanding Alumni
Contribution in Sports Award at the Distinguished
Alumni Awards.
Scan the QR code to
see Amber Halliday
and the other 2024
Distinguished Alumni
Award Winners
Amber now consistently cycles to work, and occasionally
“slowly” up to Norton Summit on her mountain bike. In her free
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