City keys for Liesl Tesch

Paralympic gold medallist Liesl Tesch of Woy Woy was presented with the Keys to Gosford City by mayor Cr Lawrie McKinna on Wednesday, October 17, in a surprise ceremony at the Erina Leagues Club

Liesl had been invited to address the Erina Chamber of Commerce at their monthly luncheon and said she was totally unaware that she would be awarded the Keys to the City.

Mayor Cr McKinna said that the presentation of the Key to the City was kept secret.

"We wanted this award to be a surprise for Liesl.

"She has had a wonderful couple of years since beginning her sailing career and hopefully this can be the cherry on top of a very successful 2012.

"Following her retirement from wheelchair basketball, she took up sailing in January 2011 and had a rapid rise to success.

"Liesl placed third in the 2011 and 2012 World Championships and has taken out multiple international World Cup meets with her partner Daniel Fitzgibbon in the SKUD 18 Class.

"Her strive for Paralympic gold was achieved in London 2012, an effort that both Liesl and the entire Central Coast community should be proud of," said Cr McKinna.

"Liesl has had an international career across two sports, captaining the Australian Women's Wheelchair Basketball team, picking up silver medals in Sydney and Athens as well as bronze in Beijing.

"Her recent success on the water demonstrates her versatility and wide ranging skills as an elite athlete.

"She is a fantastic representative of the Central Coast and role model within our community.

"Her success at the highest level is the result of hard work and dedication and I hope this award can go some way to show how proud we are of Liesl," he said.

Media Release, 17 Oct 2012

Lawrie McKinna, Gosford Council