Olympia Aldersey

Last updated

Olympia Aldersey
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1992-07-26) 26 July 1992 (age 32)
Rose Park, Australia
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
CountryAustralia
Sport Rowing
ClubAdelaide Rowing Club
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals Tokyo 2020 W8+
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2019 Ottensheim Coxless four
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Amsterdam Double sculls
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2017 Sarasota Double sculls
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Belgrade Eight
World Championships (U23)
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2012 TrakaiQuadruple sculls
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2010 Singapore Coxless pair
World Championships (junior)
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg2010 RačiceCoxless four

Olympia Aldersey (born 26 July 1992) is an Australian rower. She is an Australian national champion, a dual Olympian and was a 2019 World Champion in the coxless four. In 2014 she set a world's fastest ever time (6:37.31) in a women's double scull over 2000m, a record which has stood since. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. [1] [2]

Contents

Personal

Aldersey was named Olympia by her parents as she was born during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. [3] In 2011, she graduated from St Peter's Girls School. She studied at the University of Adelaide, South Australia.

Club, youth and state rowing

Aldersey's senior rowing has been from the Adelaide Rowing Club and later the UTS Haberfield Rowing Club in Sydney. She competed in the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival [4] where she won gold in the women's coxless pair and eight and silver in the coxless four. [5]

Aldersley was first selected to represent South Australia at age seventeen in the women's youth eight in 2009 contesting the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. [6] She made three further South Australian youth eight appearances in 2010, 2011 and 2012. In 2010 she also rowed in the South Australian senior women's eight competing for the Queen's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. South Australia didn't enter eights for the Queen's Cup in 2011, 2012 or 2022 but in 2014 she was back in the five seat of their senior women's eight and she raced six further Queen's Cups between 2014 and 2023. [7] She stroked the 2023 South Australian eight. [8]

Aldersey competed as South Australia's single scull representative racing for the Nell Slater Trophy in the Interstate Regatta in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019. [9]

In 2017 in Adelaide Rowing Club colours she won the national double scull (with Madeleine Edmunds) and the quad scull titles at the Australian Rowing Championships. [10] In 2021 in a National Training Centre eight she won the open women's eight title at the Australian Championships. [11]

International representative rowing

Aldersley first represented Australia internationally in 2010 at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Racice, Czech Republic where she won a bronze medal rowing a double scull with fellow South Australian Emma Basher. They also won silver that year at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. [12] [3]

In July 2011 Aldersey competed at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Amsterdam and placed fourth in the final of the women's coxless pair. [13] [14]

At the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam Aldersey raced in Australia's double scull with Sally Kehoe. They finished third in the final and won the bronze medal. During the preliminary racing Kehoe and Aldersey set a world-record time for 2000m of 6:37.31. This record has stood since.

Aldersey was a member of the Australian women's eight who initially missed qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics but received a late call up following the Russian drug scandal. WADA had discovered Russian state sponsored drug testing violations and the IOC acted to protect clean athletes and set strict entry guidelines for Russian athletes resulting in most of their rowers and nearly all of their crews being withdrawn from the Olympic regatta. The crew had dispersed two months earlier after their failure to qualify but reconvened, travelled at the last minute to Rio and borrowed a shell. They finished last in their heat, last in the repechage and were eliminated. [15]

Aldersley continued to row at the highest world level into 2017 but moved into a double scull with Madeleine Edmunds. They contested two World Rowing Cups in Europe before winning a bronze at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida. In 2018 at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Aldersey was in Australia's women's quad scull which placed third. [16]

In 2019 Aldersey was picked in Australian women's sweep squad for the international season. In an effort to qualify the women's eight for the 2020 Olympics, selectors made some changes between the coxless four and the eight. Molly Goodman moved into the eight and Aldersey was selected at bow in the Australian women's coxless four. She rowed in that crew to a bronze medal at RWC II in Poznan and to a gold medal at WRC III in Rotterdam. [16] Aldersey, Werry, Hawe and Stephan were selected to race Australia's coxless four at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria. [17] The four were looking for a top eight finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. [18] They won their heat and semi-final, qualifying the boat for Tokyo 2020. [16] They led the final from start to finish, took the gold medal and regained the coxless four world champion title. [16] [19]

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics the strong Australian pair of Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre were asked to double up in the pair and the four. Olympia moved into the Australian women's eight who placed third in their heat, fourth in the repechage and fifth in the Olympic final. [16] 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. [20]

In March 2023 Aldersey was again selected in the Australian senior women's sweep-oar squad for the 2023 international season. [21] At the Rowing World Cup II in Varese Italy, Aldersey raced in the Australian women's eight. They led from the start in the A final and won the gold medal. [16] At 2023's RWC III in Lucerne, the eight was unchanged. In the final they led through to the 1500m mark but finished in third place for the bronze medal. [16] For the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade Serbia, the Australian women's eight was unchanged overall although Aldersey moved into the three seat. [16] They finished 2nd in their heat and then needed to proceed through a repechage which they won. In the A final they led through the first 1000m on a low rating of 37/38 but were rowed through by the high-rating Romanians and a fast finishing USA eight. The Australians won the bronze medal, a 3rd place world ranking from the regatta and Paris 2024 qualification. [16]

Related Research Articles

Rebecca Susan Joyce is an Australian former rower, a sculler in the lightweight division. She was a five-time national champion, a 1995 world champion and Olympic medal winner.

Rebecca Sattin is an Australian rower, a two time World Champion and Olympic medal winner. She had success at the elite world level as both a sculler and a sweep-oared rower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Kehoe</span> Australian rower

Sally Kehoe is an Australian former representative rower who was a national champion, three-time Olympian and a representative at multiple world championships. Since 2014 she has held the world-record time in the women's double scull over 2000m.

Jessica Hall is an Australian rower. She competed in the women's quadruple sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is a former U23 World Champion and World Record Holder in the Quad Sculls in 2012.

Madeleine Edmunds is an Australian rower. She is a five-time national champion and a 2016 Olympian.

Fiona Albert is an Australian rower. She competed in the women's eight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

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.

Lucy Stephan is an Australian rower. She is a multiple Australian champion, a 2016 and 2020 Olympian and a world champion who won a 2017 world title in the coxless four and regained that same world title in 2019. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics she set the pace from the bow seat of the Australian coxless four to a gold medal victory. She won the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta in the Australian women's eight.

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.

Katrina Werry is an Olympian and Australian national and two-time world champion rower. At the 2017 World Rowing Championships, she became world champion in the women's coxless four with Lucy Stephan, Sarah Hawe, and Molly Goodman. She regained that coxless four world championship title in 2019. She won the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta in the Australian women's eight. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Sarah Hawe is an Australian rower. She is an Australian national champion, an Olympian and a two-time world champion winning the 2019 and 2017 world titles in the coxless four. She was a winner of the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta in the Australian women's eight. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 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.

Annabelle McIntyre is an Australian national representative rower. She is an Olympic champion, a multiple Australian national champion and won medals at the 2019 World Rowing Championships and 2018 World Championships. She was selected as a 2021 Tokyo Olympian and doubled-up, racing both the Australian coxless pair and the coxless four. In the four she stroked the Australian crew to a gold medal victory.

Sean Murphy is an Australian representative lightweight rower. He is a 2018 Australian national champion; won bronze medals at senior and U/23 World Championships as a lightweight sculler; and in 2019 won two gold medals in lightweight sculling at Rowing World Cups in the international representative season.

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.

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.

Giorgia Patten is an Australian representative, Olympic and national champion rower. She is a national U23 and senior champion and has placed second at World U23 Championships. She rowed in the Australian women's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

References

  1. ↑ 2021 Australian Olympic Crews
  2. ↑ Firmed Australian 2021 crews
  3. 1 2 "Torrens Rowing Club News". News.torrensrowingclub.com. Retrieved 19 November 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "2009 AYOF". Ayof09.olympics.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 March 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "2009 Australian Youth Cup Regatta". Rowingaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "2009 Australian Championships". Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "2015 Australian Championships". Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  8. ↑ 2023 Australian Rowing Championships
  9. ↑ "Women's Interstate Sculling Championships – Australian Rowing History". Rowinghistory-aus.info. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  10. ↑ 2017 Australian Championships
  11. ↑ 2021 Australian Championships
  12. ↑ "Aldersey and Basher Silver – Singapore 2010". Daylife.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Rowing South Australia". Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  14. ↑ "Singapore Youth Olympics 2010: Olympia Aldersey". Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  15. ↑ "2016 Olympics at Guerin Foster". Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Aldersey at World Rowing
  17. ↑ 2019 WRC entry list
  18. ↑ 2019 World Championship selections
  19. ↑ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  21. ↑ 2023 Australian Squad announcement
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.