Andrew Dollman Cooper (born 23 December 1964) is a former Australian Olympic Champion and World Champion rower. He is a national champion, dual Olympian and two-time World Champion who achieved success as a member of Australia's " Oarsome Foursome" in 1991 and 1992.

Club and state rowing

Cooper's senior rowing was with 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 ...

in Melbourne and he was selected to train at the Australian Institute of Sport from 1986. Cooper competed at the National Regatta in Mercantile colours in coxless pair and in coxed and coxless four from 1986 to 1988 and in 1990. He won Australian national titles at those Australian Rowing Championships in 1986 in a coxless four; and in 1990 in both the coxed and coxless four with other members of the Oarsome Foursome. Cooper was selected in Victorian state representative King's Cup crews contesting the men's Interstate Eight-Oared Championship at the Australian Rowing Championships in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995. Cooper enjoyed the rare distinction of being victorious in every King's Cup he raced.

International representative rowing

Cooper's first national representative selection was to the 1985 Match des Seniors in Banyoles Spain - the equivalent at the time of today's World Rowing U23 Championships. Cooper rowed in the Australian men's eight to a silver medal. That same crew represented Australia in the men's eight selected for the 1985 Trans-Tasman U/23 regatta held on Lake Ruataniwha New Zealand. Cooper's senior call-up was into the men's eight who competed and took the gold at the

1986 World Rowing Championships The 1986 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 17 to 24 August 1986 at Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Medal summary Looking at the open weight classes only, East Germany was the most successful nation ...

in Nottingham, England. This was Australia's first and to date only, World Championship win the men's eight. That same year at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

in Edinburgh, in that same crew Cooper won gold in the Australian men's VIII. At the

1987 World Rowing Championships The 1987 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 to 30 August 1987 in Copenhagen, Denmark while it was "outrageously windy". Medal summary Medalists at the 1987 World Rowing Championships were: Men's ...

in Copenhagen, Cooper was in the bow seat of the Australian eight who took fourth place. He was moved to the three seat for the men's eight for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul who placed fifth. Cooper's teammates on that occasion were James Galloway, Hamish McLachlan, Mike McKay, Mark Doyle, James Tomkins, Ion Popa, Steve Evans, and Dale Caterson (cox). He would go on to enjoy great success rowing with Tomkins and McKay. In 1991 Cooper was in the Australian coxless four who won gold at the

1991 World Rowing Championships The 1991 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 19 to 25 August 1991 in Vienna, Austria. The regatta was held on the New Danube. Medal summary The finals were raced on Saturday and Sunday, 24 and 25 August ...

in Vienna along with Nick Green, Mike McKay, and James Tomkins. This was the second iteration of Australia's successful Oarsome Foursome. The same crew repeated this achievement taking gold the following year at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics. After a break the champion foursome returned to the water at state and national level in 1994 but were not ready for the 1994 World Championships. At the

1995 World Rowing Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strik ...

in Tampere Finland, the Oarsome Foursome represented again as a Coxless four seated as they'd been at Vienna and Barcelona. They finished fifth. This was Cooper's last international regatta in Australian colours.

Accolades

In 1999 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.Hall of Fame
/ref> In 2010 Cooper was inducted as a member of the Rowing Victoria Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Andrew 1964 births Living people Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia People educated at Brighton Grammar School Australian Institute of Sport rowers Olympic medalists in rowing Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian people Rowers from Melbourne Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Victoria (state)