| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Stephanie Charlene Foster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 September 1958 Morrinsville, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Stephanie Charlene Cooper-Foster MBE (born 2 September 1958), best known under her maiden name Stephanie Foster, is a former New Zealand rower.
Foster was born in 1958 in Morrinsville, a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand. [1] She was involved in many sports. After her family moved to Auckland, she attended Papakura High School. [2]
Foster had a cousin who was a rower. She listened with her parents to the radio of the 1972 New Zealand eight winning gold at the Munich Olympics. Soon after, she was asked to try rowing because a team was one rower short. She agreed and joined the Auckland Rowing Club. [2]
Foster first competed internationally at the 1978 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand. [3] With the women's coxed four and the women's eight, she won both B-finals. [4] [5] At the 1981 World Rowing Championships at Oberschleißheim, Germany, she came fifth in the women's single scull. [6] At the 1982 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, Switzerland, she won a bronze medal in the single scull. [7]
She represented New Zealand in the single scull event at the 1984 Olympics, coming seventh overall in the single scull. At the 1986 World Rowing Championships at Nottingham in the United Kingdom, she won a bronze in the women's double scull with Robin Clarke. [8] She was the flagbearer at the 1986 Commonwealth Games at both the opening and the closing ceremonies, and won golds in the women's single scull and in the women's double scull with Robin Clarke. [2]
In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Foster was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to rowing. [9]
She married the rower Brett Cooper while she was still competing internationally. She uses her married name apart from rowing, where she goes by her maiden name. They have two sons who also took up rowing. The family lived for three decades at Lake Rotoiti followed by a short stint in Gore, before settling in Wedderburn in the 2020s. [2]
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.
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.
Georgina Emma Buchanan Earl, better known under her maiden name Georgina Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Caroline Evers-Swindell, and is a double Olympic gold medallist, having won at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. In November 2005 she and her sister were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the Thomas Keller Medal. She currently resides in Napier, New Zealand.
Caroline Frances Meyer, , better known under her maiden name Caroline Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Georgina Evers-Swindell. In November 2005 she and her sister were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the Thomas Keller Medal.
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.
Tina Manker is a German rower. She was junior world champion in 2006, U23 world championship, and world champion in the women's quad sculls elite class at the 2011 World Championships. She finished her rowing career after participating at the 2012 Summer Olympics in double scull. She trained as a teacher in German and English, first at the Humboldt University of Berlin and then at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. After several years teaching at Onslow College, where she also coached the rowing team, she now works for High Performance Sport New Zealand in Cambridge.
Donata Karalienė is a Lithuanian rower and Olympic bronze medalist at the Rio 2016 Games. She is also known for winning gold medals at the 2013 World Rowing Championships, and the 2012 and 2013 European Rowing Championships.
Eve Macfarlane is a New Zealand rower. Described as a "natural rower", she went to the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships within a few months of having taken up rowing and won a silver medal. She represented New Zealand at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as the country's youngest Olympian at those games. She was the 2015 world champion in the women's double sculls with Zoe Stevenson. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, they came fourth in the semi-finals and thus missed the A final.
Zoe McBride is a former New Zealand rower. She is a double world champion in the women's lightweight single scull. She is only the second New Zealand rower to win a double national championship in both the lightweight and premier single sculls.
Sophie MacKenzie is a New Zealand Olympic rower and, together with Julia Edward, double world champion in lightweight double sculls.
Ruby Tew is a New Zealand Olympic rower.
Robin Clarke is a retired New Zealand rower.
Olivia Loe is a New Zealand representative rower. She is a two-time world champion in the double scull and is the incumbent world champion winning gold at the 2019 World Rowing Championships with Brooke Donoghue. She has been selected in the New Zealand senior squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics but in a surprise move at the final crew selections Loe was replaced in the double scull by Hannah Osborne and selected to race the New Zealand women's quad-scull.
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.
Stuart Wilson is a retired British lightweight rower. He became world champion in the lightweight men's four at the 1979 World Rowing Championships. He moved to Australia in 1982 and competed for his adopted country at the 1984 World Rowing Championships.
Hannah Osborne is a New Zealand rower. A member of the national squad, she qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In a surprise move, she was selected in the double scull alongside Brooke Donoghue, displacing the reigning twice world champion Olivia Loe. Osborne and Donoghue raced to a silver medal in Tokyo.
Kirstyn Moana Goodger is a New Zealand rower. Originally from Auckland and now based in Cambridge, she took up rowing in 2005. She has won one international medal for New Zealand – a silver at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships in France. From 2011 to 2014, she rowed for the Washington Huskies while studying oceanography at the University of Washington. Upon her return to New Zealand, she joined the Wairau Rowing Club and is one of the premier rowers who belongs to the Central Rowing Performance Centre. Goodger has been an elite rower for the national squad since 2017. She has represented her country at several World Rowing Cups, the 2017 and the 2019 World Rowing Championships. At the latter regatta, she managed to qualify the women's quad scull boat category for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was chosen as one of ten rowers for the New Zealand women's eight and travelled to the Games with the team. The woman's eight squad would come away with a silver medal in the eight at the 2020 games. Goodger has won four premier national titles in the women's eight. She worked as a scientist and engineer for consultancy Beca in their ports and coastal team.
