Alastair Isherwood (born 7 March 1975) is an Australian lightweight rower and a former world champion. He won a gold medal at the

1997 World Rowing Championships The 1997 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 August to 7 September 1997 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, France. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), ...

in Aiguebelette with the lightweight men's

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

. He later worked as a rowing coach.

Club and state rowing

Isherwood's senior club rowing was from the Banks Rowing Club in Melbourne and then the Melbourne University Boat Club. Isherwood was first selected to represent Victoria in the men's youth eight who contested the Noel F Wilkinson Trophy in the Interstate Regatta within the 1994 Australian Rowing Championships. He stroked that crew to victory. In 2001 and 2002 he rowed in Vctorian representative men's lightweight fours contesting the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta.

International representative rowing

In 1997 Isherwood made his senior Australian representative debut in the

Lyall McCarthy Lyall McCarthy OAM (born 19 May 1956) is a former Australian national champion lightweight rower and national rowing coach. He has coached Australian crews to gold medals at the World Rowing Championships and the Olympic Games. Club and state ...

coached men's lightweight eight. At the

in Aiguebelette, Isherwood rowed in the three seat of that boat to a thrilling final victory by 0.03 seconds with only 1.5 lengths separating the field. Isherwood won his first and only world championship title. In 1998 Isherwood rowed with his Victorian team-mate

Jon Berney Jon Berney (born 26 March 1976) is an Australian world champion lightweight rower. He won a gold medal at the 1997 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette with the lightweight men's eight. Club and state rowing Berney's was educated and too ...

from the '97 eight in a lightweight

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right h ...

. They won silver and then gold at two World Rowing Cups that year in Europe before racing that pair at the 1998 World Championships in Cologne to a fifth place finish.Isherwood at World Rowing
/ref> In 2001 Isherwood raced with Samuel Beltz in a lightweight

at the World Rowing Cup IV and then at the

2001 World Rowing Championships The 2001 World Rowing Championships were held from 19 to 26 August 2001 at Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Medal table References {{Authority control World Rowing C ...

in Lucerne he finished in tenth place in the pair with Beltz and in sixth place in the men's lightweight eight. It was his last Australian representative appearance.

Coaching career

After competitive retirement Isherwood took up coaching at school, club, national and international levels. He was the head coach at the

Mercantile Rowing Club The Mercantile Rowing Club is based in Melbourne, Australia on the Yarra River. It was founded in 1880 and has occupied its current site since 1885. More than 40 Mercantillians have represented Australia at Olympic Games. Club history A group o ...

at the 2011 Australian Rowing Championships and has coached national title winning crews.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isherwood, Alastair 1975 births Living people Australian male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia 20th-century Australian sportspeople Place of birth missing (living people)