 At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Marcks and Slatter in the coxless pair, prevailed over an equally fancied American crew with a 0.39 seconds margin to claim the first Olympic title by an Australian women’s crew.It was a tremendous day for Australian rowing as the girls' gold medal was matched by the Oarsome Foursome of Ginn, Tomkins, McKay, Green and was supplemented by a silver medal from the men’s coxless pair making it the best day for Australian rowing at an Olympic regatta till 2008.Upon Marcks' 1996 retirement, Slatter was determined to go again and needed to find a new pair partner to build a campaign for Sydney 2000.