Sophie MacKenzie

Sophie MacKenzie (born 31 March 1992) is a New Zealand Olympic rower and, together with Julia Edward, double world champion in lightweight double sculls.

Sophie MacKenzie
Personal information
NationalityNew Zealand
Born (1992-03-31) 31 March 1992
ResidenceBlenheim, New Zealand
EducationMarlborough Girls' College
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight57 kg (126 lb)[1]
Sport
ClubWairau[1]
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing  New Zealand
World Championships
2014 AmsterdamLW2x
2015 AiguebeletteLW2x
World U23 Championships
2012 TrakaiBLW2x
2013 LinzBLW2x
2014 VareseBLW2x

Private life

MacKenzie was born in 1992[2] and grew up in the Waihopai Valley. Her parents are Aiden and Alison MacKenzie, and she has a brother and a sister.[3] She attended Marlborough Girls' College in Blenheim[4] and being from a remote farm, she hasn't lived at home since age 13, but has either lived in flats or for board.[5] She is and continues to be a member of the Wairau Rowing Club,[6] despite having moved to Cambridge in 2012 to train at the national rowing centre.[5][3] MacKenzie is gluten-intolerant and for that reason, much of her food is homemade rather than bought. She promotes healthy food recipes through a website that she runs with her friend from school, Megan Craig, a squash champion.[5]

Rowing career

At the 2012 World Rowing U23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania, she won a bronze medal in the U23 lightweight women's double sculls with Georgia Hammond.[7] At the 2013 World Rowing U23 Championships in Linz, Austria, she won another bronze medal in the same boat class, this time partnered with Lisa Owen.[8] At the 2014 World Rowing U23 Championships in Varese, Italy, she became U23 world champion in this boat class with Zoe McBride.[9] A week before the U23 world championships, she was told that she would row at elite level at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with Julia Edward. Lucy Strack, Edward's previous partner, had missed selection in 2014.[5] MacKenzie and Edward had five weeks of training together before the world championships,[10] and they became world champions in the lightweight women's double sculls in August 2014.[11] Edward and MacKenzie repeated this feat at the 2015 World Rowing Championships.[12]

The 2016 rowing year did not start out that successful for Edward and MacKenzie, and at both World Rowing Cups that New Zealand attended that year, they came third, beaten by different nations at those regattas.[13][14][15] When they competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro later that year, they came fourth in the lightweight double sculls,[16] which was disappointing to them.[13] The following month, MacKenzie announced that she "needed a break" for 12 months. She would keep herself fit, but do some other activities that she had been interested in for some time,[17] including commencing her yoga teacher training with her friend Megan Craig.[18] Her rowing partner for the last few years, Edward, would also take a year off.[19] Both also took the 2018 rowing season off, but neither has announced their retirement.[20]

Awards

In 2013, she was voted Marlborough Sportswoman of the Year. In 2014 and 2015, she won the supreme award Marlborough Sportsperson of the Year.[3] In 2016, she was again vote Marlborough Sportswoman of the Year, beaten to the supreme award by rally co-driver John Kennard.[21] MacKenzie and Edward were team nominees in the Halberg Awards in both 2014 and 2015, but on neither occasion did they become finalists.[22][23]

gollark: Not on this save, I believe.
gollark: This is apparently my current save.
gollark: (However, I can)
gollark: (I will not actually do this)
gollark: Fine, I GUESS I can add zero width spaces to all words in ++help.

References
  1. "Sophie MacKenzie". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. "Sophie MacKenzie". Rowing New Zealand. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  3. Dawkins, Patrick (24 November 2015). "World-beater Sophie wins big again at Marlborough Sports Awards". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  4. "Sophie MacKenzie". New Zealand Secondary School Rowing Association. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  5. Anderson, Ian (3 October 2014). "Rower Sophie MacKenzie cooking up a storm". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  6. Jones, Peter (14 August 2016). "Marlborough rowers unable to claim medal". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  7. "(BLW2x) U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  8. "(BLW2x) U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. "(BLW2x) U23 Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  10. Anderson, Ian (6 May 2015). "Rowers Julia Edward and Sophie MacKenzie out to defend their world lightweight double sculls title". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  11. "(LW2x) Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  12. "(LW2x) Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  13. Gilhooly, Daniel (13 August 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: NZ women's pair claim silver medal, lightweight double miss out". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  14. "(LW2x) Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  15. "(LW2x) Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  16. "(LW2x) Lightweight Women's Double Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  17. Jones, Peter; Anderson, Ian (26 September 2016). "MacKenzie decides to take a break". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  18. Jones, Peter (31 August 2016). "MacKenzie takes time out after Olympic bid". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  19. Anderson, Ian (26 September 2016). "Rowing NZ's summer squad: World champion lightweights among notable absences". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  20. Anderson, Ian (23 November 2017). "World champions remain absent". The Press. p. B8. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  21. Jones, Peter (22 November 2016). "Kennard picks up top sports award". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  22. "Nominations announced for Halberg Awards". Radio New Zealand. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  23. Dawkins, Patrick (16 December 2015). "Sophie MacKenzie and Julia Edward up for Halberg Award". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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