Elizabeth Kell (born 9 July 1983 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

) is an Australian former rower, a national champion, world champion and an Olympian.

Club and state rowing

Kell was educated at

MLC School , motto_translation = Walk as daughters of the light , established = , type = Independent single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day school , gender = Girls , denomination = Uniting Church , oversight = , educatio ...

in Burwood, Sydney where she took up rowing. Her senior club rowing was from the Sydney University Women's Boat Club and the

Mosman Rowing Club Mosman Rowing Club is an all-level competitive and recreational rowing club on the North Shore of Sydney. Since 2007 the club's facilities have been wholly located at The Spit in Sydney's Middle Harbour, the northern arm of Port Jackson. Merca ...

. Kell made state selection in successive New South Wales crews contesting the 2001, 2002 & 2003 women's youth eight championship racing for the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the

Australian Rowing Championships Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

. Those crews were victorious in 2001 and 2002. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 Kell rowed in the New South Wales senior women's eight contesting the Queen's Cup at the Australian Championships. She also contesting the Women's Interstate Sculling Championship (the Nell Slatter Trophy) in 2006. In

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

colours she contested Australian national titles at the

on a number of occasions. In 2006 and 2007 she raced in all three sculling boats - the single, the double and the quad as well as being seated at seven in New South Wales composite eights. In 2008 she competed in the quad, in a pair and in a composite Australian selection eight which won the open women's eight national championship.

International representative rowing

Kell was still aged sixteen when she was selected to stroke the Australian junior quad scull contesting the 2000

Junior World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December of the year in which he reaches the age of ...

in Zagreb, Croatia. They finished in overall twelfth place Kell at World Rowing
/ref> The following year Kell was again selected to race at the Junior World Championships, this time at Duisburg, Germany in a

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly s ...

with Hally Hames. They won their repechage and comfortably qualified for the semifinal in the third fastest time. It was the Italians who surprised the Australians in the final in a good performance leaving the Australians out of the medals by 0.6 second. The Russians and Germans created a margin over the rest of the field leaving Kell and Hames battling for the bronze. They were in third place through most of the race but could not match the sprint of the Italians to the finish. In 2002 Kell was selected in a development quad who raced at the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne before then proceeding to the 2002

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic sur ...

in Genoa. The quad finished in overall second place, winning a silver medal and helping the Australian women's squad to successfully defend the overall women's trophy points tally at this regatta. In 2003 Kell rowed at her fourth underage World Championships the

in Belgrade. She contested the women's

with Sarah Outhwaite and brought home her first world championship medal. One month later Kell made her Australian senior selection debut racing in the double scull at the

2003 World Rowing Championships The 2003 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 25 August to 1 September 2003 on the lake Idroscalo at Milan, Italy. The international rowing season usually ends with the World Championship regatta. Apart f ...

in Milan with

Catriona Sens Catriona Sens (née Oliver) (born 2 April 1980 in Sale, Victoria) is an Australian former representative rower. She was a national champion, an underage 2002 world champion, a dual Olympian and won a silver medal at the 2006 World Rowing C ...

to a sixth placing. In 2006 Kell and Brooke Pratley took a double scull to the World Championships at Eton Dorney. In exciting racing they fought off their fancied British rivals

Georgina Georgina may refer to: Names *Georgina (name), a feminine given name Places Australia * Georgina, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland * Georgina Basin, a large sedimentary basin in Australia * Georgina River, a river ...

and

Caroline Evers-Swindell Caroline Frances Meyer (née Evers-Swindell, born 10 October 1978), 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 ''Rowi ...

(who had dominated the event from 2002 to 2005) to lead at the half-way point and hold on for an 0.8seconds victory over Germany. In an upset Kell and Pratley claimed their first and only senior world championship title. 2007 saw Kell forced out of Australian selection due to back pain from the long term effects of training. She undertook an operation and made a comeback late in 2007 in a campaign for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

. She trained and rehabilitated at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

Kell Operation
/ref> She was called back into national selection contention in the Olympic lead-up and rowed in the five seat of the Australian women's eight at two World Rowing Cups in Europe. At

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

she was again in the five seat of the women's eight. They placed sixth in Kell's last Australian representative appearance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kell, Elizabeth 1983 births Living people Australian female rowers Sportswomen from New South Wales Olympic rowers of Australia Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics People educated at MLC School Rowers from Sydney World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia 21st-century Australian women