Sailing champions Mathew and Rike Belcher welcomed their first child on September 4, and have named their son Anton Rolf.

Mathew or “Mat” Belcher is an Olympic Gold Medallist in the 470 class Dinghy. Mat carried the flag during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and won gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, with fellow crew member Malcolm Page. Mat was named Australian Sailor of the Year last month, and recently won the (male) World Sailor of the Year Award – just the second Australian to have won the award in 19 years.

Friederike or “Rike” Belcher (nee Ziegelmayer) is an Olympian sailor, also a world champion in the 470 class. She has competed both for Australia, and her native Germany.

Local cricketer Matt Scheiser welcomed his daughter Ella last month. Matt plays for the Port Douglas Mudcrabs in Queensland.

Northern Ireland’s motorcycle racer, Jonathan Rea, and his Australian wife Tatia, welcomed their first child on September 27, and have named their son Jake Elijah [pictured]. Jonathan competes in the Superbike World Championships for Castrol Honda, and has been named Irish Motorcyclist of the Year three times. Tatia is from Philip Island in Victoria, and she and Jonathan live on the Isle of Man.

Bookmakers Luke and Claire Behrmann welcomed their first child on September 24, and have named their son Noah. Luke is the managing director of the Behrmann Group in Sydney.

Golfer Steve Jones welcomed his son Jackson in August. Steve is from Victoria.

Chef Ben Willis, and his wife Andy, welcomed their first child on July 7, and named their daughter Chloe. Ben owns the Aubergine restaurant in Canberra, which won the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Regional Restaurant of the Year.

Australasian International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Brett W. Smith, and his wife Taryn, welcomed their daughter Zara in May. Brett has been a professional fighter for five years, and is an electrical foreman on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Author Felicity Castagna welcomed her son Zain this year. Felicity teaches writing in the community, and at the University of Western Sydney, where she is a doctoral candidate. She recently launched her first novel, a story for young adults set in Parramatta called The Incredible Here and Now; she completed writing it the same day she went into labour with her son, who the book is dedicated to.

AFL footballer Michael Walters, and his partner Marnie Tyers, welcomed their daughter Laila last year. Michael has been playing for the Fremantle Dockers since 2009, and as a junior player won the Kevin Sheehan Medal as the best player in the Under 16 Championship. Michael and Marnie are currently expecting another child.

NRL football player James Tamou, and his partner Brittney McGlone, welcomed their first child in August, and have named their son Brooklyn Knox.

James is originally from New Zealand, and moved to Australia when he was 13. He has played for the North Queensland Cowboys since 2009, and in 2010 he was named their most improved player. He has played for the New Zealand Maori team, and has recently represented both Australia and New South Wales. Currently James is in England for the Rugby League World Cup, playing for the Australian national squad.

Brittney is a full-time professional athlete, a 400-metre hurdler at the Australian Institute of Sport. One of her hobbies is running in stilettos, and she has won all four races that have been held in Australia – two of them for Guinness world records. She has also been entering fashion-on-the-field competitions on race days since she was a teenager, and last year was crowned Myer Face of Canberra Racing.

(Photo from Facebook)

Author and media personality Kathryn Eisman, and her husband Siimon Reynolds, welcomed their first child on October 13, and have named their daughter Capri Mirabelle. Capri Reynolds was born at 7.51 am weighing 3.8 kg (8 lb 8 oz) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Capri’s birth was announced on Twitter.

Kathryn was born in Sydney and studied journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney before moving to New York City. She started out at WNBC’s morning news show, Today in New York. She has hosted several lifestyle/entertainment shows, and been a reporter on morning shows on Channels Ten and Seven. She is the author of several books, such as How to Tell a Woman by Her Handbag, is columnist on several magazines, including Cleo and Men’s Health, and a blogger for websites such as Yahoo!

Siimon is an Australian business mentor, motivational speaker, and author of self-help books such as Why People Fail. He was one of Australia’s youngest self-made millionaires, making his fortune by 21, and was part of the advertising group behind the notorious “Grim Reaper” AIDS campaign in the 1980s.  He is chairman of website group OMG. Siimon and Kathryn were married in Palm Springs, California, in 2011.

(Photo of Kathryn and Siimon from the Sydney Morning Herald)