Sonia Waddell is a New Zealand athlete. She represented her country at a World Junior Championship in hurdles before becoming a rower, in which sport she was twice an Olympic competitor and where she won silver at a World Rowing Championship. She later competed as a cyclist and won medals at a UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship as a sighted guide.
Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the World Rowing Federation. World Rowing predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
Alf John Hansen is a retired rower from Norway. Early in his career, he received two Norwegian sport awards shared with his brother Frank. Towards the end of his career in 1990, he was the inaugural recipient of the Thomas Keller Medal, the highest honour in rowing. His international rowing career spanned more than two decades.
Beate Schramm is a German rower and Olympic gold medallist. Between 1986 and 1991, she won four senior world championship titles, after having previously twice been junior world champion. She won gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the quad sculls event for East Germany, but missed the A final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the single sculls event when she competed for Germany. She was national rowing champion a total of six times; four times in East Germany and twice German champion after the reunification.
Michelle Denise Darvill is a retired rower. Born in Toronto, she first competed for Canada, but later change allegiance to Germany. She was world champion in three different lightweight boat classes, once for Canada and twice for Germany, and represented Germany at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Since 2009, she has been coaching the Canadian under 23 women's team.
Maria Elisabetta Sancassani is an Italian female competition rower. A gold medal winner at the 2005 Mediterranean Games she twice represented her native country at the Summer Olympics, in 2004 and 2008. She began competing as a lightweight in 2012 and won the women's lightweight double scull in 2013 with Laura Milani, both at the European Rowing Championships and the World Rowing Championships.
Stephanie Charlene Cooper-Foster, best known under her maiden name Stephanie Foster, is a former New Zealand rower.
Virginia Lee is an Australian former rower. She was a four-time national champion, a 1992 world champion and an Olympic bronze medal winner who competed in both sweep oared and sculling events in the lightweight division.
Philippa June Baker, now known by her married name Philippa Baker-Hogan, is a former New Zealand rower and politician. She was the first New Zealand woman to win a gold medal at World Rowing Championships and won gold at world championships on two more occasions. She has twice represented New Zealand at the Olympics. She has received numerous awards for her rowing success and in 2012, she and fellow double sculler Brenda Lawson were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. A trained radiographer, she manages her husband's medical practice. She has been a Whanganui District Health Board and Wanganui District Council member since 2004 and 2006, respectively, and was a mayoral candidate in 2010. She is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party.
Brenda Catherine Lawson is a New Zealand rower. She was twice world champion in women's double sculls with Philippa Baker, and they were both inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.
Fiona Paterson is a New Zealand rower.
Sophie MacKenzie is a New Zealand Olympic rower and, together with Julia Edward, double world champion in lightweight double sculls.
Julia Edward is a New Zealand rower, a two time world champion in the women's lightweight double sculls.
Ursula Grobler is a South African competitive rower who resides in Pretoria, South Africa.
Jackie Kiddle is a New Zealand rower.
Brooke Donoghue is a New Zealand rower. She has twice won the world championship in the double scull alongside Olivia Loe, is the incumbent world champion, and won a silver medal in this boat class at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her new rowing partner, Hannah Osborne. As of 2021, she has won ten premier national rowing championships.
Ou Shaoyan is a Chinese lightweight rower.
Andrea Re is an Italian lightweight rower. With eight gold medals at World Rowing Championships, he is one of the most successful rowers ever. He represented Italy at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, USA.
Lucy Spoors is a New Zealand rower. She is a 2019 world champion winning the women's eight title at the 2019 World Rowing Championships.
Angela Herron is a retired American lightweight rower. She won a gold medal at the 1984 World Rowing Championships in Montreal, Canada, with the lightweight women's eight; this was the only year that this boat class competed at World Rowing Championships. At the 1986 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, she won a bronze medal in the lightweight women's single scull. At the 1987 World Rowing Championships in Copenhagen, she became world champion in the lightweight women's four. At the 1991 World Rowing Championships in Vienna, she came fourth in the lightweight women's single scull.
