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| 18 Mar 2026 | |
| Written by Sara Bishop | |
| Alumni in the media |
When Ironwoman-turned-ocean paddler Bonnie Hancock set off from Mermaid Beach in 2022, she was so nervous about a pre-arranged television interview she completely forgot to make sure the rudder pedals her ocean kayak were set to her size.
“I got in and couldn’t touch the pedals,” she says.
“I've got like hundreds and hundreds of people on the beach. I've got media filming the whole thing. And I get into my ski and I'm completely straining to reach the pedal.
“I'm thinking, ‘oh my God, I can't even turn.”
The takeaway? “Always check your gear!”
It was the first of many lessons Bonnie took on board over the course of her 27,000 kilometres paddling adventure.
For 254 gruelling days she endured sharks, crocodiles, howling headwinds, hypothermia, excruciating pain, seasickness, and severe fatigue to become the fastest paddler ever to circumnavigate Australia, the first Australian woman to do so, and the youngest person to ever complete the feat.
