Speedy Sargeant’s path to Paris

by Andrew Hamilton

In mid-February Hayden Sargeant

(Class of 2018) was slogging through pre-season with the Bull Sharks, squeezing in surfs around his burgeoning career in construction and watching with envy as the Aussie 7s embarked on the qualification process for the Paris Olympics. Fast forward to May and he was in a gold jersey at Twickenham as the current 7s became the first Australian men’s side to gain automatic Olympic selection after an action-packed afternoon at the home of rugby. The Aussies needed to stay ahead of Samoa on the points table to join New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and France as automatic qualifiers – and it looked like they had blown it.

They were relegated to the seventhplace playoff after conceding a try after the hooter in a devastating 22-19 loss to France, which left them relying on other results to go their way.

When Samoa lost 10-7 to Argentina in the semi-finals, the Aussies were able to claim the last automatic place for Paris by thumping the British 34-5 to finish just one point ahead of Samoa who must now go through the Oceania regional qualifiers.

“That day was a wave of emotions to say the least,” Hayden said.

“We didn’t make it easy for ourselves that’s for sure, so we are extremely grateful and excited.

“To be the first Australian men’s 7s team to gain automatic qualification is quite special and I think it says a lot about this squad.”

The 25-year-old is a noted speedster but even he has had trouble keeping pace with his career trajectory since earning a last-minute call-up as an injury replacement for a World Rugby Sevens Series tournament back in February.

The Bond University Bachelor of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying graduate has taken up a full-time contract with Rugby Australia. “I’m starting to find my groove within the team; 7s is a sport where you really have to be playing together to gain trust and an understanding of how everyone plays,” he said.

Ben Armbruster (pictured) elevated himself into the upper echelon of Australian swimmers at the Australian Swimming Championships in April.

A member of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games national team, Armbruster is now the national champion in the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke.

The Bachelor of Sport Management student’s time of 23.05 in the 50m butterfly was an all-comers record and is the fastest time by an Australian