BRISEIS CLUB DINNER Wednesday 15th July

Time: 6:30 pmVenue: THE ROYAL GEELONG YACHT CLUB 25 Eastern Beach Road, Geelong Tickets: BRISEIS CLUB MEMBERS: $85 GUESTS: $90

Guests of Honor

The club’s July 15th dinner has received a massive boost with the procurement of Four Tour de France - Commonwealth Games as our Guests-of-Honour.

Sophie Smith:

Globe-trotting sports journalist/broadcaster Sophie Smith has covered the Tour de France 13 times and is the author of the acclaimed book, “Pain & Privilege. Inside Le Tour.” Sophie became passionate about cycling during her formative years on the Geelong Advertiser, covering events like the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, the world’s second-oldest bike race. She boldly headed off to Europe and reported on major international cycling for magazines in Europe, America and Australia. Sophie was part of the Nine Network’s 2012 London Olympic Games award-winning team and interviewed Australia’s first gold medallist Grace Brown. She has worked for multiple media outlets at many world road championships and all the big races in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. Sophie is currently employed in Channel 9’s news department.

Leigh Howard:

Because of his docile demeanor, Leigh Howard is probably the most under-rated bike rider in Australian cycling history. Ranked No. 14 in John Craven’s book The Conquerors – a detailed account of Geelong’s Top 100 sports champions – Leigh’s versatility on track and road was astonishing. As a youngster, he played football for Modewarre alongside the Abletts, Hoveys and Boltons, but was lured into cycling by his mother Kim. As a 16-year-old, he contested the Australian Under 17 track championships in Melbourne and won all six titles. He is a winner of four world track titles, including two Madisons with Cameron Myer; a dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist and world record-holder; an Olympic bronze medallist; a competitor in the 2016 Tour de France; and rode the Tours of Spain and Italy twice each; his list of accomplishments on the global stage and in Australia is tropospheric.

Donna Rae:

Canadian-born Donna is one of the most distinguished figures in Australian cycling. As AusCycling’s Director of Pathways, she is responsible for establishing a pipeline of opportunities for athletes to win gold medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the disciplines of track, road, BMX and mountain biking, among others. Donna rode the women’s Tour de France three times; the first occasion in 1986 as a member of a trail-blazing Aussie female team: “We didn’t have a friggin’ clue what we were doing,” she recalls, mirthfully. As a specialist coach, Donna climbed the ranks in national cycling; in 2022, she was appointed general manager of the Australian cycling team at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. In 2021, AusCycling recognised her special talents by awarding her a three-year multi-tasked coaching and managerial contract, leading up to and including the 2024 Paris Olympics. Donna and her husband Tad Szalinski are based in Geelong.

John Minns:

Geelong-born Minns won the Australian open shot put championship on six occasions. The high point of his career was attained on January 26, 1989, in Canberra when he broke the national record with a monstrous heave of 19.64 metres; in September, he nailed sixth place at the World Cup in Spain. The bespectabled Minns represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986, Auckland (1990) and Victoria, Canada (1994). His results were curtailed by injury. A gentle soul, John works as a gaming manager at Buckley’s Entertainment Centre.-times Commonwealth Games shot putter John Minns, John represented Australia at the Games in Edinburgh in 1986, Auckland (1990) and Victoria, Canada, (1994).