#TrainingWheelsToTokyo – From Brunswick to Tokyo: Local club celebrates trio of Olympians

A trio of twenty-year-old athletes from Melbourne will go from club favourites to Olympic heroes when they join more than 450 Australian and 10,000 international athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Endurance cyclists Luke Plapp and Sarah Gigante will switch the yellow and purple of their Brunswick Cycling Club jersey for the green and gold of Australia, while Catalina Soto will pull on the red, white, and blue of Chile.

Brunswick Cycling Club is one of the few and rare clubs that runs on the foundations laid through the philosophy of cycling. The underpinning term 'philosophy' refers to the club's approach of seldom referring to their club and its members as 'Brunswick Cycling Club' but refers to its members as the Brunswick family. This truly fosters the community centric value the club takes pride in while making sure everyone feels part of a family.

The club was registered as the Northern Suburbs Amateur Cycling Club during the First World War and began with a strong focus on providing a safe and enjoyable environment for their community to participate in while being active and healthy with social rides for beginners to competition for junior and elite riders.

Now in its 105th year, the club has a growing mountain bike community, women’s social rides and the iconic junior clinic is stronger than ever. The club is diverse and inclusive, championing the LGBQTI community with links to groups like Melburn Durt and has a big emphasis on mental health and responsible parenting. It has plans for a pump track and continues to provide an environment that makes riding a bike fun.

The strength of this philosophy is evident with the likes of Luke and Sarah beginning their cycling journey as ten-year-olds through the club's renowned junior clinic run by Cam McFarlane, while Catalina joined the club in 2015 after moving to Australia with her family.

20-year-old Gigante will be the second-youngest athlete on the Australian Cycling Team, believes the Brunswick Cycling Club played a pivotal role in developing her on and off the bike.

“It's no coincidence that Brunswick Cycling Club has three young riders off to the Olympic Games - the whole club's enthusiasm and passion for simply riding bikes is off the charts,” said Gigante, who has claimed boasts three national road titles in three years (2019 road, 2020 and 2021 time trial).

"The whole club, the Brunswick family, are responsible for my 'just have fun' approach to cycling, which has helped my longevity in the sport and made the whole journey so much more enjoyable,"

"Dave Morgan, Cam McFarlane and Alf Walker were some of the key individuals at the club who must have volunteered thousands of hours throughout my junior career alone, always turning up for training sessions and races whether it be rain, hail or shine.

“Unfortunately, Alf has since passed away, but we now have a memorial race in his name, and I think of him often and how proud he would be of our club, and of Dave, Cam and so many others for continuing his legacy and making sure Brunswick is still the most welcoming and encouraging club in the world.

“I guess you could call it a successful club results-wise, but the real success is that it provides such a welcoming environment with so many opportunities and a place to call home to a huge number of different people,” said Gigante.

Plapp, the youngest on the Australian Cycling Team in Tokyo, believes the club's success comes from instilling a mantra of enjoying being on your bike.

"Cam (McFarlane), Dave (Morgan) and Alf (Walker) were the ones that taught me to love the sport and always to enjoy riding my bike," said Plapp, who has won national titles on the road and track in recent years, including the 2021 road time trial national title in February.

"The culture they create is what made my development in the sport so special. I love riding and training because I get to see everyone, and this made me always want to train and ride my bike! And the more you ride, the better you get.

“I’ll never forget Moto roast - every Wednesday we meet at Cam’s house in Anglesea and go for a two-hour moto pace behind his postie bike and get back to a roast in the over and have dinner together! Best and hardest session of the week!

"I'm proud when I hear people from the outside talk about the club and the people there makes it special to know Cam and Dave get the recognition they deserve for the amazing club and culture created.

"I always look forward to going back to Melbourne to see my family but also my Brunswick family. I have Brunswick to thank for everything," said Plapp.

Club President Tony Maughan has had a first-class seat to the rapid rise of Luke and Sarah's career, beginning with their junior development days, but paid tribute to the pair for the mix of hard work and enjoyment they took from their cycling.

"Luke and Sarah are both young adults who have worked incredibly hard, but more importantly, have always found out ways to have fun while they are on a bike.

"Sarah was always the one who would love to compete with the boys as she loves that extra challenge."

Cam McFarlane, the coach of the Olympic trio during their early years in the club's development program, lauded the trio's generosity for giving back to the club.

"Luke, Sarah and Catalina are always supportive of their Brunswick family, and they will always do their best to support the juniors and other riders at clinics in the club and try help the next generation come through," said McFarlane, who believes the trio are already winners for just being selected.

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle."

In Tokyo, Gigante will be joined by BikeExchange duo Amanda Spratt and Grace Brown and Canyon-SRAM Racing's Tiffany Cromwell to form a four-rider Australian Cycling Team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Tokyo Olympic women's road race will feature a 147km course with 2692m of elevation, which starts in Tokyo's Musashinonomori Park and will incorporate incredible views of Mt Fuji. The Time Trial will see riders take on one lap of the 22.1km course beginning at the Fuji International Speedway.

Plapp will join Leigh Howard, Kelland O'Brien, Alex Porter and Sam Welsford in the track endurance squad which will contest the Team Pursuit, Omnium and Madison from August 2-8 at the Izu Velodrome.

For Gigante and Plapp, their first Olympic selection was made even more special, knowing lifelong friends would join them.

"It's already incredibly special to be going to my first Olympics, but to do so alongside two fantastic friends I grew up racing with is simply surreal," said Gigante. "It doesn't seem too long ago that Luke and I were neck and neck racing each other in Woodend for the Junior C Grade 3-Day Tour title as eleven-year-olds. And it certainly feels like only yesterday that Catalina and I would ride with our other junior friends to Mt Pleasant each Sunday morning," she added.

"To know that Brunswick has three kids going to the Games just shows how special this club is," echoed Plapp. "Myself, Sarah and Catalina grew up training together and pushing each other every day, and we have all played a part in each other's success. To have Cam coach myself and Catalina personally all the way through junior worlds and now at the Olympics is pretty damn special!"

When the trio make their debut on the world's biggest stage, they will be stronger knowing they have a wave of support from their Brunswick and AusCycling family back home.

Brunswick Cycling Club

https://brunswickcyclingclub.teamapp.com/?_webpage=v1