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Elise was one of the youngest Australian sailors at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games but showed maturity beyond her years, mastering the challenging conditions to win gold in the 470 women alongside Tessa Parkinson. Elise and Tessa had sailed together since the youth level, winning gold at the 2004 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship. Elise took some time away from sailing post Beijing, gaining her commercial pilot’s license, before teaming up with Belinda Stowell at the end of 2011. The pair won their first regatta together, Sail Melbourne, before going on to finish ninth at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships. They then went on to finish seventh at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sarah Cook represented Australia at the World Under 23 Rowing Championships (then known as the Nation's Cup) in the Women's Four event. The event was held in Poznan, Poland. The crew won silver.
In 2005, Cook competed in the same event, hosted in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Days before the regatta, she fell ill with a throat infection and had barely recovered before racing commenced. The crew finished sixth. The year ended with an invitation to the senior women's squad at the Australian Institute of Sport. Despite further injuries (broken sternum after a motor vehicle accident) which kept her out of the boat for two months, she won selection into the Australian Senior Women's Eight for the 2006 World Championships at Eton, UK, where the crew won bronze.
In 2007, Cook and pair partner Kim Crow won the National Championships in the Women's Pair and gained selection for Australia in this event as well as the Women's Eight. After winning Gold at the first Rowing World Cup in Linz, Austria and Bronze at the second World Cup in Amsterdam, the Netherlands The pair went on to place 4th in both the Eight and the Pair at the World Championships in Munich, Germany and in doing so qualified both boats for Australia for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The final Olympic selection trials were held in February 2008. Sarah Cook and Kim Crow achieved selection in the Australian W2 for the Beijing Olympics.
Cook and Crow then backed up their defence of national championships holders of W2 by dominating the A final on Friday, 7 March 2008. Cook and Crow stroked two competing fours, Cook with a composite crew and Crow with MUBC crew to win silver and gold respectively; the results were reversed in W8+ final with Cook in a composite crew winning gold and Crow winning silver. The results speak of the versatility of these two outstanding Australian rowers and their underlying competitiveness and inherent ability to be relaxed and comfortable, either rowing with each other or against each other.
At the Beijing Olympics Cook and Crow competed in the Women's Pair and placed 10th.
The 2009 Australian Rowing Championships showed a strong testament to her versatility with Cook securing bronze in the single at the King's Cup regatta. Cook combined with Sally Kehoe claiming gold in the double at the national championships, as well as winning Silver in the Women's Eight for Sydney University Boat Club.
Cook and Crow again impressed selectors in 2009 and led the field to secure selection as the Australian pair for the 2009 World Championships in Poland. Cook and Crow went on to place 5th at the Championship in their first International race back since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In 2010 Cook represented Australia in the Women's Pair at the Lucerne World Cup placing 4th, and then went on to compete in the Women's Four at the Rowing World Championships on Lake Karapiro in New Zealand where they won Silver. In 2011 however, she made the switch to sculling and has been selected in the Australian Women's Quad Scull to compete at Henley, the Lucerne World Cup, and the World Championships and Olympic Qualification regatta in Bled, Slovenia.
