| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 February 1993 New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Quadruple sculls, Eight | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Sydney Rowing Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National finals | Queen's Cup 2015-18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leah Saunders (born 7 February 1993) is an Australian former representative rower, a medallist at the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships.
Saunders was raised in northern New South Wales and first rowed from the Lower Clarence Rowing Club before coming to Sydney in 2011 and taking up at the Sydney Rowing Club.
She was first selected to represent New South Wales in the women's youth eight which contested and won the Bicentennial Cup in the Interstate Regatta at the 2012 Australian Rowing Championships. [1] In 2013 she rowed again in a victorious New South Wales youth eight. [2] For five consecutive years from 2014 to 2019 she rowed in New South Welsh senior women's eights contesting the Queen's Cup at the Australian Interstate Regatta. [3] In 2019 that New South Wales Women's eight broke the 14 year Victorian stronghold and took a Queen's Cup victory. [4]
Saunders made her Australian representative debut in 2011 at the World Junior Rowing Championships at Eton Dorney. She raced in the quad scull which finished in overall tenth place. [5] In 2014 and 2015 she rowed in Australian quads at the World Rowing U23 Championships. [5] They placed seventh at Varese 2014 and took a silver medal at Plovdiv 2015. [5] Saunders first made the Australian senior women's squad in 2017 and raced in the women's quad at the World Rowing Cups II and III in Europe before contesting the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota USA. At those World Championships the quad made the A final and finished in sixth place. [5]
The women's eight with Saunders at bow started their 2018 international campaign with a bronze medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. [5] Then at the WRC III in Lucerne they finished fifth. At the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv the Australian women's eight with Saunders in the bow seat, won their heat and placed third in the final winning the bronze medal. [5] In 2019 Saunders was again picked in Australian women's sweep squad for the international season. She rowed in the bow seat of the Australian women's eight to a gold medal win at Rowing World Cup II in Poznan and to a silver medal at WRC III in Rotterdam. [5] Saunders was selected to race in Australia's women's eight at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. [6] The eight were looking for a top five finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. [7] 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. [5]
Molly Goodman is an Australian rower. She is a national champion, a dual Olympian and a world champion winning the 2017 world title in a coxless four. She stroked the Australian eight to victory in the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta. She stroked the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Genevieve Horton is an Australian rower, a dual Olympian, a junior world champion and an Australian national champion. She competed in the women's double sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and is the 2019 Australian national champion in the women's single scull. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Jack Hargreaves is an Australian representative rower and a world and an Olympic champion. He won consecutive world championships in the coxless four at the 2017 World Rowing Championships, then successfully defended that title at 2018 Plovdiv. He rowed in the three seat of the Australian men's coxless four to a gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sonia Mills is an Australian former rower – an Australian national champion, world champion and an Olympian. She had world championship success in both sculls and in sweep-oared boat classes. She competed in the women's double sculls event at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Rosemary Popa is an Australian national champion rower, Olympic gold medalist, and former rower for the University of California, Berkeley. A dual citizen of Australia and the United States, she has represented both countries at World Rowing Championships, twice winning medals for Australia. She won the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta in the Australian women's eight. In 2021, she was selected to represent Australia in the coxless four event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won the gold medal.
Alexander (Steve) Purnell is an Australian rower. He is an Olympic and national champion who has represented at underage and senior world championships. In 2018 in an Australian eight, he won the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. He rowed in the bow seat of the Australian men's coxless four to a gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sarah Pound is an Australian former representative lightweight rower. She is a three-time national champion and won a silver medal at the 2014 World Rowing Championships.
Georgia Miansarow is an English born, Australian representative lightweight rower. She is a three-time national champion and won medals at both World Rowing U23 Championships and senior World Rowing Championships in crewed sculling boats.
Georgia Nesbitt is an Australian former representative lightweight rower who made 10 representative appearaances for Australia between 2013 and 2022. She was an seven-time national champion and she won a silver medal at the 2017 World Rowing Championships. In 2022 prior to a serious cycling accident, she competed in Australian Road National championships and had qualified to participate in her age group at the 2023 Ironman World Championships in Helsinki.
Robert Black is an Australian rower. He is a national champion, a national representative in sculling and sweep-oared boats and twice an U23 World Champion.
Liam Donald is an Australian rower. He is a national champion, a national representative at world championships and was an U23 World Champion.
Georgina Gotch is an Australian former national representative rower. She was a four-time national champion and a medallist at the 2018 World Rowing Championships.
Georgina Rowe is an Australian national representative rower, an Olympian and medallist at the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships. She was a 2016 indoor rowing Australian champion and a winner of the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Jacinta Edmunds is an Australian former representative rower. She was twice an Australian champion and a medallist at the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships.
Hamish Playfair is an Australian rower. He is a four-time national champion and an Australian representative at World Rowing Championships.
Bronwyn Cox is an Australian representative, national champion and Olympic rower. She was a silver medallist at the 2019 World Championships and won gold and silver medals at Rowing World Cups in the 2019 international representative season. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Amanda Bateman is an Australian representative rower. She is a national champion, has represented at underage and senior world championships and is a 2021 Tokyo Olympian where she competed in the Australian women's double-scull.
Rowena Alice H. Meredith is an Australian representative rower. She is an Olympic medallist, a multiple Australian national champion at both U23 and senior levels, was twice a medallist at underage world championships and has won four medals at World Rowing Cups. She competed in the Australian women's quad scull at Tokyo 2021 winning a bronze medal.
Fiona Ewing is an Australian representative rower. She won three Australian national championship titles in 2019 and a bronze medal at a 2019 World Rowing Cup.
Caitlin Cronin is an Australian national representative rower. She is a national champion, won a silver medal at 2017 World U23 Championships and is an Olympian. She stroked the Australian women's quad scull at Tokyo 2021 to a bronze medal.
