THEY entered the room one-by-one – almost discreetly – but there was nothing low-key about the reception they were about to receive.
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Wangi Wangi has turned out in droves to celebrate the Olympic success of sailing mates Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.
The dynamic duo came home with silver medals draped around their necks after edging out Germany and staving off fourth-placed Denmark in the men’s 49er overall standings.
It is the second time the mates from Wangi have sailed to Olympic success after capturing gold in the London games.
On Wednesday night, about 200 people packed Wangi RSL to congratulate the pair who learnt to sail on Lake Macquarie.
Wangi has been Outteridge and Jensen’s biggest cheer squad.
Both men revealed it was media coverage of Wangi’s support in the lead-up to the medal race that filled them with pride.
“We’ve had so much support from this community for a very long time,” Outteridge said.
“The fact that they’ve all come out here on a rainy Wednesday night to welcome us home – and the massive night where everybody turned up at two in the morning [to watch the race] – it just shows what a great community we have out here.”
The men signed autographs, posed for hundreds of photographs and handed their silver medals around the club as locals sought to feel a slice of Olympic glory.
“You’ll never touch an Olympic medal again,” one man remarked.
“Gold and silver in Wangi – who would have thought,” said another.
Outteridge said the Rio Olympics “felt different” to London as they had come from behind in the standings instead of starting in front.
But he said they “battled away” and “held the nerve” to overtake the pack bar New Zealand, which came first by a long way.
“The Kiwis sailed probably the best we’ve ever seen them sail in their careers,” Outteridge said.
“But we just battled away, ground everyone back and held the nerve.
“To get silver – we were stoked, we were really happy with it.”
Jensen said they would spend some time on Hamilton Island before flying to Bermuda in preparation for the America’s Cup.
“We’ll try and finish that off – tick that off – and about this time next year we’ll be working out what we do next,” he said.
Wangi RSL Amateur Sailing Club’s Jody Shiels said “everybody was proud” of “the mates from Wangi”.
“A couple of mates – you couldn’t ask for a better combination,” he said.
“They are the pride of Wangi.”
