Back-to-back title champion, Emiliqua East, has won the 2025–2026 Australian Ladies Champion Title at the AWPA Whipcracking Championships at the EKKA,
the Royal Queensland Show in Brisbane.
Emi, 26, is considerably proud she has managed to bring the title back to Victoria again and hopes to inspire younger whipcrackers to take up the sport.
“I knew the girls would come back strong this year,” Emi said of her competition.
“They’re the best in the country, they’re determined and talented.
“It was really brilliant.”
Emi had to complete 10 routines and a minute’s freestyle as flawlessly as possible, which she says is extremely hard on the body.
Emi trained hard for the event, her motivation stemming partly from
the memory of losing the same competition in 2021 by one point.
“That was rough, but I decided the next time I competed there I’d win by a clear margin.”
Which she’s now done twice.
Emi said the last Victorian name on the women’s perpetual trophy before hers in 2019 was Diana Hurley’s, who won the title in 1993 and 1994.
“I was really proud of myself this year, my long-time coach from Queensland was in the crowd, and so was my mum and my partner.
“I stayed strong through my whole routine and
my training paid off in
real time.”
Emi, who works at the Gippsland Grain Store, practiced in a shed sometimes in minus degrees after getting home and feeding all her animals.
“I had to push myself,”
she said.
“The month before the competition I was very focussed, I had a goal.
“I tried to eat right, lots of protein and water, to be able to train my muscles to last in the competition, we crack for 10 minutes straight.”
Emi, who has cracked whips since the age of six and started competing at nine, is now vice president of the Australian Whipcrackers and Plaiters Association.
“We really believe whipcracking has the ability to be an Olympic sport one day, and we want to promote it the best we can.
“It’s such a practical sport, there’s a lot of work and training to get your muscle memory.
“I’m hoping a whole lot of new people become interested in the sport as our whipcracking club gains momentum.”
Emi offers personal whipcracking lessons and runs clinics after every show she does, handing the kids whips and safety glasses.
“I’ve taught a lot of kids, I had 75 at Corryong one year, and 50 to 60 kids at the Dalgety Show.
“I teach four to six of them in 10-minute lots.”
Emi is headed to Woodstock Show in New South Wales this weekend for a demonstration and clinic.
“I love watching the kids’ faces light up when they manage to get a crack,”
she said.
“I get the same feeling at 26 when I learn a new routine!”
