The 23-year-old, who was born and raised in Christchurch, attended Five Forks School in North Otago alongside her sister for a short period during the 2011 earthquakes.
Despite being there for less than a year, her connection remains strong as her aunt and uncle, Jane and Blair Smith, still live there.
That’s why when she took to the water at the Paris Olympics last month as part of the victorious New Zealand Women’s K4 crew, the small rural community was right behind her.
The school even held a delayed watching party for the 500m final.
Yesterday, she returned to school for a visit.
With gold medal in hand, she spoke to the pupils, including her cousin George who is in year 8 at the school, and answered their questions.
Brett also presented pupils medals of their own from a school Olympics day.
"It’s pretty cool to be back and see the kids again. It’s a lot different from when I was here, going to school", she said.
It was really heartwarming for her to hear and see the community still supporting her.
"Slowly hearing more little tidbits of information about the support is pretty cool."
School visits were "one of the cooler" aspects of her career.
"I haven’t done a lot of it pre-Olympics, but I love seeing kids."
The entire school was stoked to have her visit, Five Forks principal Belinda Brosnan said.
"It’s just so cool that she’s been part of Five Forks’ history and continues to be part of our future."
