Rowena Meredith
Rowena Meredith (born 27 April 1995) is an Australian representative rower. She is an 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.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 April 1995 (age 25) |
| Years active | 2008–current |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Rowing |
| Club | Mosman Rowing Club Sydney University Boat Club |
| Achievements and titles | |
| National finals | Queen's Cup 2016–19 |
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Club and state rowing
Meredith grew up in Sydney and her senior club rowing was from the Mosman Rowing Club till 2016 and then Sydney University Boat Club from 2017.[1]
Meredith's first state selection for New South Wales was in 2014 in women's youth eight contesting the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships.[2] She rowed again in the New South Wales youth eight in 2015. Then in 2016, 2017, 2018 [3] and 2019 she was selected in the New South Wales senior women's eight competing for the Queen's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. She rowed to a Queen's Cup victory in 2019.[4]
Meredith raced in Mosman colours in a NSW composite eight contesting the open women's coxed eight event at the 2015 Australian Rowing Championships.[5] That year she also contested the U23 women's quad scull title and placed second.[5] At the 2016 Australian Rowing Championships she raced in Mosman colours for the U23 single, double and quad sculls titles.[6] By 2017 Meredith was racing for SUBC and she won all three national U23 sculling titles – the single, double and quad.[7]
At the 2018 Australian Championships Meredith contested the open single and double sculls, and competed in a Sydney University eight for the open women's eight title.[8] In 2019 she placed second to Genevieve Horton in the Australian open women's single scull championship and won the open's women's coxed eight title in a composite selection crew.[9]
International representative rowing
Meredith made her Australian representative debut at the 2015 U23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv where she rowed in the Australian quad scull to a silver medal.[10] In 2016 she was again in the Australian U23 women's quad scull and she stroked that crew to a sixth-place finish at the 2016 U23 World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam.
In 2017 she was selected in the Australian senior quad scull with Leah Saunders, Genevieve Horton and Caitlin Cronin which won medals at two World Rowing Cups in Europe.[10] With Harriet Hudson changed out for Saunders they were eligible to compete underage and raced to a silver medal at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.[10] Saunders came back into the crew for the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida. The young crew took on a tightly packed field in the final at Sarasota and were fourth at the halfway mark with Poland in the lead followed by The Netherlands. As the crews sprinted for the line, the Australian quad featuring three senior team debutantes other than Horton, dropped back and finished in sixth place.[10]
Meredith and the quad stayed together into 2018 with Olympia Aldersey changed out for Saunders. At the 2018 World Rowing Cup II in Linz, they rowed to a bronze medal and then a sixth placing at the WRC III in Lucerne[10] At the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv they finished in seventh place [10]
In 2019 Katrina Bateman returned to the Australian senior squad after a four-year absence and into the quad scull with Meredith, Fiona Ewing and Cara Grzeskowiak. They rowed to a fourth place at the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan and then to a bronze medal win at WRC III in Rotterdam.[10] In that same crew Meredith was selected to race Australia's quad scull at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria.[11] The quad were looking for a top eight finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.[12] They placed fourth in the B-final for an overall tenth place finish and failed to qualify the boat for Tokyo 2020.[10]