Australian Team Profile
The Australian rowing team will create history in Beijing when it becomes the first nation to field a team in each of the 14 events.
With so many rowers competing, Australia will be aiming to claim its best-ever haul at an Olympics. The previous best was in Atlanta when it collected two gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
At the 2007 World Rowing Championships, which also served as Olympic qualification, Duncan Free and 'Oarsome Foursome' member Drew Ginn claimed gold in the coxless pair. They will enter the Olympics full of confidence and start as favourites to win the race.
The men's eight will feature James Tomkins, who will be amazingly contesting his sixth Olympics. The 42-year-old won gold in Athens for the coxless pair and bronze in Sydney in the same event. Tomkins was also a member of the famous 'Oarsome Foursome' who won gold in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.
With the turmoil surrounding women's rowing due to Sally Robbins' infamous lie down in the Athens Olympics, Australia's female rowers will be keen to put that disappointment behind them. Sarah Tait is the sole survivor from the eight that limped into last place in Athens and with her new team-mates, that crew will be looking to medal.
Perhaps Australia's best chance at grabbing gold in women's rowing, Amber Halliday and Marguerite Houston, will head into the lightweight double scull chock full of confidence. The duo finished first at the 2007 World Rowing Championships and just recently finished third behind Germany and Canada at the World Cup event in Poland.
All 14 rowing events will be held at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park with the preliminary rounds scheduled for August 9 to 14, with the finals on August 16 and 17.
Australia has enjoyed a long and proud history in the sport, collecting eight gold, nine silver and 12 bronze medals since Australia first sent rowers to the Stockholm Games in 1912. At the Athens Games in 2004, Australia won one gold, one silver and two bronze, which was a slight improvement on the three silver and two bronze achieved in 2000.
Previous Australian Rowing Medallists:
Gold:
James Tomkins / Drew Ginn (coxless pair) 2004
Silver:
Men's lightweight four (Glen Loftus, Anthony Edwards, Ben Cureton and Simon Burgess) 2004
Women's coxless pair (Kate Slatter, Rachael Taylor) 2000
Men's lightweight coxless four (Darren Balmforth, Simon Burgess, Anthony Edwards, Robert Richards) 2000
Men's eight (Daniel Burke, Jaime Fernandez, Alastair Gordon, Brett Hayman, Robert Jahrling, Michael McKay, Nicholas Porzig, Christian Ryan, Stuart Welch) 2000
Bronze:
Women's lightweight quadruple sculls (Dana Faletic, Rebecca Sattin, Kerry Hore and Amber Bradley) 2004
Men's eight (Stefan Szczurowski, Stuart Reside, Stuart Welch, James Stewart, Geoff Stewart, Boden Hanson, Mike Mckay, Steve Stewart and Michael Toon) 2004
Men's Coxless Pair (Matthew Lang, James Tomkins) 2000
Men's Coxless Four (Ben Dodwell, Bo Hanson, Geoff Stewart, James Stewart) 2000
Australian Olympic Rowing Team:
Men:
Sam Beltz - Lightweight Double Scull
Scott Brennan - Double Scull
James Chapman - Coxed Eight
Roderick Chisholm - Lightweight Coxless Four
Sam Conrad - Coxed Eight
David Crawshay - Double Scull
Ben Cureton - Lightweight Coxless Four
David Dennis - Coxed Eight
Anthony Edwards - Lightweight Coxless Four
Duncan Free - Coxless Pair
Tom Gibson - Lightweight Double Scull
Drew Ginn - Coxless Pair
Peter Hardcastle - Single Scull
Francis Hegerty - Coxless Four
Tom Laurich - Coxed Eight
Sam Loch - Coxed Eight
Brendan Long - Quad Scull
James Marburg - Coxless Four
Cameron McKenzie-McHarg - Coxless Four
James McRae - Quad Scull
Christopher Morgan - Quad Scull
Daniel Noonan - Quad Scull
Marty Rabjohns (Cox) - Coxed Eight
Matthew Ryan - Coxless Four
Todd Skipworth - Lightweight Coxless Four
Jeremy Stevenson - Coxed Eight
Stephen Stewart - Coxed Eight
James Tomkins - Coxed Eight
Women:
Natalie Bale - Coxed Eight
Amber Bradley - Quad Scull
Sarah Cook - Coxless Pair
Kim Crow - Coxless Pair
Pauline Frasca - Coxed Eight
Sarah Heard - Coxed Eight
Amber Halliday - Lightweight Double Scull
Kerry Hore - Quad Scull
Kate Hornsey - Coxed Eight
Marguerite Houston - Lightweight Double Scull
Amy Ives - Quad Scull
Sally Kehoe - Coxed Eight
Liz Kell - Coxed Eight
Sonia Mills - Double Scull
Elizabeth Patrick (Cox) - Coxed Eight
Brooke Pratley - Coxed Eight
Phillipa Savage - Single Scull
Catriona Sens - Double Scull
Sarah Tait - Coxed Eight
Zoe Uphill - Quad Scull