Olympics joy for Vanderwal

Cork-based basketball player Rachael Vanderwal’s dream of playing at the forthcoming London Olympics has come true.

The Canadian point-guard, who has lived on Leeside for seven years, was yesterday officially named in the 12-player Great Britain squad by the British Olympic Association (BOA), having trained for three years to make the team.

The UL SuperLeague Player of the Year, who teaches PE at North Presentation Secondary School in Cork city, has won almost 40 caps for GB in the last three years and was part of the first Great Britain ladies team to compete at a European Championships last year in Poland.

“It’s a dream come true, I couldn’t be happier right now,” said Vanderwal who will celebrate her 29th birthday next week.

“I knew I had made it early last week and we had to keep it quiet until the BOA officially announced it officially, so you can imagine it was hard trying to contain it! Hopefully now I can stay injury-free for the next few weeks,” she said.