James Rook (rowing)

Last updated

James Rook
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1997-11-18) 18 November 1997 (age 26)
Education Scotch College Melbourne
Sport
CountryAustralia
Sport Rowing
Event(s)Coxed pair, Eight
ClubMelbourne University Boat Club
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals Tokyo 2020 W8+
National finalsKing's Cup 2017-19, 2022
Queen's Cup 2021
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2017 Sarasota Coxed pair
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2019 Ottensheim Eight
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Plovdiv Eight

James Rook (born 18 November 1997 in Victoria) is an Australian national representative rowing coxswain. He is an Olympian and a medallist at the 2017, 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships and a winner of the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta. He is notable for becoming in 2018 the first Australian male coxswain to steer a representative Australian female crew under the FISA gender-neutral coxswain selection policy change of 2017. He coxed the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. [1] [2]

Contents

Club and state rowing

Rook was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne where he took up rowing. His senior coxing was from Mercantile Rowing Club.

He was first selected to represent Victoria in the men's youth eight who contested the Noel F Wilkinson Trophy in the Interstate Regatta within the 2016 Australian Rowing Championships. [3] In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 he coxed the Victorian senior men's eight contesting the King's Cup at the Australian Interstate Regatta. [4] [5] In 2021 he coxed (and co-coached) the Victorian women's eight to a Queen's Cup victory at the Australian Interstate Regatta. [6]

In 2021 in the stern of a National Training Centre eight, he won the open women's eight title at the Australian Championships. [7]

International representative rowing

Rook was first selected to represent Australia in the senior men's squad of 2017 who raced at the World Rowing Cups II and III in Europe before contesting the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota USA. At those World Championships, Rook coxed the Australian coxed pair of Angus Widdicombe and Darcy Wruck to a silver medal. [8] He also steered the Australian men's senior eight in Sarasota to an overall eighth placing. [8]

In 2017 FISA announced a number of new rule changes, including voting for coxswains to become gender neutral. In 2018 Australian selection processes embraced this new policy resulting in Rook being selected to steer the Australian women's senior eight for the World Rowing Cup II of 2018 and Kendall Brodie of Sydney Rowing Club being selected to cox the Australian men's senior eight. [9] The women's eight with Rook in the stern started their 2018 international campaign with a bronze medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. [8] In their second competitive outing of the 2018 international season in a national selection eight and racing as the Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Centre, after Rowing Australia patron, Gina Rinehart, Rook steered the 2018 Australian women's eight to a Remenham Challenge Cup victory at the Henley Royal Regatta. [10] At the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv the Australian women's eight with Rook at cox, won their heat and placed third in the final winning the bronze medal. [8]

In 2019 Rook was again picked in Australian senior sweep squad for the international season. He coxed the Australian women's eight to their gold medal win at Rowing World Cup II in Poznan and to a silver medal at WRC III in Rotterdam. [8] Rook was then selected to cox Australia's women's eight at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. [11] The eight were looking for a top five finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. [12] They placed second in their heat, came through the repechage and led in the final from the start and at all three 500m marks till they were overrun by New Zealand by 2.7secs. The Australian eight took the silver medal and qualified for Tokyo 2020. [8]

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics the Australian women's eight were placed third in their heat, fourth in the repechage and fifth in the Olympic A final. [8] Had they managed to maintain their time of 5:57:15 that they achieved in their repechage they would have beaten the winners, Canada, by nearly two seconds and won the gold medal. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "2021 Australian Olympic Crews" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "Firmed Australian 2021 crews". Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  3. ↑ "2016 Australian Championships". Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "2017 Australian Championships at Guerin Foster". Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "2019 Interstate Regatta Results". Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "2021 Interstate Regatta Results". Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  7. ↑ 2021 Australian Championships
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rook at World Rowing
  9. ↑ Gender Neutral coxing selections
  10. ↑ "2018 Australian Henley victories". Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  11. ↑ 2019 WRC entry list
  12. ↑ "2019 World Championship selections". Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
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