Sarah Stewart

basketball player 

Sarah Stewart has represented Australia at wheelchair bastketball.  She first started playing in 2001 and within two years had made the national team.

In 2004 she made the Paralympic team and helped her team to the Silver medal. She was also part of the Bronze medal team in the 2008 Paralympics.

 

Sarah suffered a fall when she was 16 and this caused a form of dystrophy in her body, although this hasn’t stopped her achieving in all aspects of her life. She has a degree in Philosophy (which she also teaches) and also in English, and is currently working towards a doctorate.

She also plays in the Australian National league. She won the league with Hills Hornets every year from 2005 to 2010 before moving to Sydney, where she won the title with them. She was the highest points scorer in 2010.

  • Triple Paralympian
  • Seven times a title winner in the Australian National league
  • Highest club points scorer in 2010

Vegan

Sarah is vegan, and regularly tweets about this on her Twitter account – including an upload of a picture of her first meal from the London Paralympic village.  She turned vegan aged around 18-19.

“I didn’t like the idea of causing pain to other beings.  Also, being vegan seemed to fulfill that ideal of caring for others and the world. For me, health benefits, environmental benefits, socio-economic benefits, and so on, just continue to confirm how beneficial it is to be vegan.”

Aware of the importance of a good diet when competing, Sarah enjoys a variety of foods including a love of chilli and lemongrass tofu, fresh veggie stir fries, roasted plantain and aubergine, falafel, tempeh, coriander rice and fresh fruit salads.

“I think being vegan makes me healthier. I certainly believe that vegetable carbs and protein (along with all their nutrients) build better, cleaner bodies (including muscles) without all the bad-for-you animal fats, etc, and trying to avoid causing pain and suffering along the way is a great thing too.”

We are particularly grateful to Sarah for sparing time to tell us about her veganism while she was in London preparing for the Paralympics.  Sarah was an integral part of the Australian team in the games.  The team made their way through the group stages and beat Mexico and USA before losing the final and settling for Silver.  Read our report here.

In June 2014 Sarah’s team played in the World Championships in Canada.

Aside from playing, Sarah has managed the Sydney Uni Flames team since 2010 and is on the League Executive for the WNWBL.  She’s a Director on the Board for Wheelchair Sports NSW, and is on the Paralympics Australia Athletes Commission. She’s also been running the annual Women’s Festival of Wheelchair Basketball, in conjunction with WSNSW.

More information about Sarah elsewhere online 

The Great Vegan Athletes interview with Sarah

Sarah’s wikipedia page

Video interview

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