
Jason Waterhouse grew up on Sydney's Northern Beaches, learning to sail at Middle Harbour Yacht Club, and turned a family connection into one of Australian sailing's most enduring partnerships. He and his cousin Lisa Darmanin, just ten weeks apart in age, first teamed up ahead of the 2009 Youth Worlds and have sailed together ever since.
After years of climbing the international ranks, the cousins announced themselves on the biggest stage at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where the Nacra 17 made its debut. They came home flying in the double-points medal race to snatch silver, finishing just a single point behind Argentina's Santiago Lange and Cecilia Carranza Saroli, an agonisingly narrow margin that nonetheless confirmed Waterhouse among the world's elite multihull helms.
Waterhouse has since become a fixture of professional foiling sailing, competing in the America's Cup and SailGP arenas alongside his Olympic campaigns. With a second Games behind him at Tokyo 2020, he remains one of the most experienced and respected catamaran sailors in the world.
Lisa Darmanin is one half of one of sailing's most successful family partnerships, having raced the Nacra 17 with her cousin Jason Waterhouse since the pair were teenagers. Both grew up on Sydney's Northern Beaches and trained out of Middle Harbour, and their closeness on and off the water became a defining strength of the crew.
Darmanin crewed the Australian boat to a stunning silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Nacra 17's first Games, losing out on gold by just one point in a thrilling medal race. The pair backed it up with a second Olympic campaign at Tokyo 2020, cementing their place among the leading crews of the class's first decade.
Beyond the Olympics, Darmanin has carried her skills into professional foiling, including SailGP, and stands as a role model in a class built around equal billing for male and female sailors. Together she and Waterhouse remain one of the most recognisable names in Australian sailing.