Oceania ‘Oceana’ Mackenzie is a sport climber and Olympian who was awarded a Tier 2 Scholarship within the 2022 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Oceana was born in Heidelberg, Germany, in 2002 and moved to Australia within a few months of her birth. As an eight-year-old she went to a climbing gym with one of her five sisters and immediately found a love for climbing. She began competing in junior events and qualified for state and national championships in various disciplines.
In 2018, Oceana made her first Australian team and finished in the top 20 at world cup events and at the world championships. A year later, she became the first Australian female to make the final of the Boulder World Cup in more than ten years, and finished in sixth place.
Sport Climbing challenges climbers to excel in the disciplines of Lead, Speed and Boulder, which all require vastly different physical ability, technique and mental approach. Thus, Oceana dedicated herself to improving across all three disciplines, and in 2020 she made history. She won the Combined Oceanic Continental Championships and became the first female to represent Australia in Sport Climbing at an Olympic Games. She finished 19th in Tokyo after only three years of international competition.
Oceana now plans to perfect her skills in the diverse disciplines of Sport Climbing, and to enjoy more success at world cup events and the world championships, as well as the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. When not competing and training, she enjoys baking and training young climbers.
“I am extremely privileged to receive a Scholarship from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame! it is going to be very helpful for my training and preparations for competitions. I am excited to be able to chat/work with athletes who have has so much experience and have so my knowledge about sport.” – Oceania Mackenzie on being selected as a 2022 Tier 2 Scholarship Holder
“You are lucky, you can improve a lot.”
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2018: IFSC Boulder Youth World Championships – 8th
- 2018: IFSC Wu Jiang Lead World Cup – 19th
- 2019: IFSC Meiringen Boulder World Cup – 6th
- 2019: IFSC Munich Boulder World Cup – 17th
- 2020: IFSC Combined Oceanic Continental Championships – 1st
- 2021: Tokyo Olympic Games (2020) – 19th
- 2022: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 2
