SW Olympians progressing well

Bunbury rower Alex Hagan will be within reach of an Olympic medal when the Australian women’s eight contests the final at Eton Dorney today.

Hagan’s crew, who have been one of the nation’s London 2012 success stories, came second in their heat on Sunday before comfortably qualifying for the decider by finishing third in Tuesday’s semi-final.

Despite finishing a boat length behind the Netherlands and Romania in that race, the Australians have outside claims to a medal, although, after gaining an 11th-hour qualification for the Games when they won the final Olympic qualification regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland, simply competing in London was a major achievement for Hagan and her crew.

It has been a tough start to the Olympics for basketballer Mark Worthington and the Australian Boomers, who have been defeated in their opening two matches.

Australia lost to Brazil 75-71 at the weekend and went down to world No.2 Spain 82 -70 on Tuesday.

Even if they can rally to win their final three group matches, the Boomers face the daunting prospect of a quarter-final withthe United States, who are the gold medal favourites.

The Hockeyroos, who count Collie’s Kobie McGurk and Bunbury’s Jayde Taylor among their squad, got their quest for a medal back on track with a 3-1 win over powerhouse Germany on Tuesday.

The victory, which came after Australia had suffered a shock 1-0 loss to trans-Tasman rival New Zealand on Sunday, sets up another crucial contest against South Africa today.

Meanwhile, when the archery competition started in London last Friday, Busselton-born Taylor Worth shot a personal best of 668 — placing him 23rd overall for the ranking round.

Busselton’s Scott Sunderland makes his Olympic debut today as part of the men’s track cycling team while Bunbury BMX rider Lauren Reynolds’ first event is next Wednesday.