Elizabeth "Lizzy" Patrick (born 2 March 1985) is an Australian
rowing coxswain – a national champion, world champion and a dual Olympian. From 2005 to 2014 she was the prominent coxswain in Australian women's rowing, steering every Australian representative senior women's eight raced at a premier international regatta in that decade.
Personal
Born in Melbourne, Australia
Patrick attended Canterbury Primary School and
Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
("For God and for Home")
, established =
, type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding school
, denomination = Uniting
, slogan = "MLC girls become world-ready women"< ...
. From 2003 to 2006 she took a degree in Exercise and Sport Science at
Deakin University.
[ Patrick is tall, weighs and is married to rowing coach Peter Kupcis.][
]
Club and state rowing
Patrick took up coxing at school at Methodist Ladies' College, Melbourne
("For God and for Home")
, established =
, type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding school
, denomination = Uniting
, slogan = "MLC girls become world-ready women"< ...
. Her senior club rowing was from the Melbourne University Boat Club.
Patrick's first state representative selection came in 2004 to the Victorian youth eight contesting the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. Patrick was selected in Victorian senior women's eights to contest the Queen's Cup at the Australian Championships on nine consecutive occasions from 2005 to 2014. She steered all nine of those crews to victory.
In Melbourne University colours she coxed eights contesting the women's heavyweight national Australian titles at the Australian Rowing Championships from 2005 to 2010. She was in the stern of a composite Victorian eight who won that title in 2009.
International representative rowing
Patrick's first Australian representative selection was as coxswain to the Australian senior women's eight in 2005.[ They performed at the World Rowing Cups I and II in Europe before travelling to Gifu, Japan where at the ]2005 World Rowing Championships
The 2005 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 August to 4 September 2005 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The international rowing season usually ends wi ...
they won the gold and a World Championship title.[Patrick at World Rowing](_blank)
/ref> For the next three years the Australian women's eight was at least half-filled with Victorian rowers from that state's champion Queens Cup crews and Patrick too kept a hold on her seat and on the rudder ropes of that senior representative boat.
She steered the Australian eight's campaign at two 2006 World Rowing Cups in Europe before the 2006 World Rowing Championships
The 2006 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 27 August 2006 at Dorney Lake, Eton, Great Britain.
Medal summary
Men
Non-Olympic classes
Women
Non-Olympic classes
Wettbewerbe des Pararuderns ...
at Eton, Dorney where they beat Germany in the first heat for a place in the final. They went on to finish third and win bronze.[ In 2007 Patrick was again in the stern at both Rowing World Cups and for the World Championships. She called their races to a fifth place at World Cup I and fourth at the World Cup II. At the 2007 World Championships in Munich she steered them to a fourth placing.]
Prospects looked good for the Australian women's eight in the 2008 Olympic year. They won at the World Rowing Cup I in Munich and finished second at World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne with Patrick on the box in both campaigns. However at Beijing in 2008 in spite of expectations, the crew steered by Patrick, finished sixth overall.
In the lead up to the Beijing Games, she carried the Olympic torch as it passed through Australia.[
From 2009 to 2011 Patrick remained Australian's most successful female coxswain steering consistent domestic Queen's Cup wins, however in those years no Australian heavyweight senior women's eight was sent to a World Championship or World Rowing Cup regatta. The eight selected for the ]2012 Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
named themselves the "Motley Crew". and began their campaign with an Olympic qualification regatta in Lucerne. With new stroke Phoebe Stanley and Patrick communicating at the stern end, the Australian women's eight set a time of 6 min 12.36 secs and qualified for the London Olympics.[ They raced in Europe to a fourth place in World Cup II in Lucerne and fifth at World Cup III in Munich] and participated in a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport European Training Centre in Varese, Italy. Ultimately the crew was disappointed with their sixth-place finish at the London 2012 Olympic regatta.
Patrick kept competing at the elite level after the London Olympics and coxed the 2013 Australian women's senior eight who raced in a home World Rowing Cup in Sydney toa first placing. That crew was selected for the 2013 World Rowing Championships
The 2013 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 25 August to 1 September 2013 at Tangeum Lake
Tangeum Lake is an artificial lake at Chungju in South Korea. in Chungju Korea and placed fifth. Lizzy's final Australian representative appearance was in 2014 in the women's eight who raced at the World Rowing Cup III and then contested the 2014 World Rowing Championships
The 2014 World Rowing Championships were the 44th edition of the World Rowing Championships and were held from 24 to 31 August 2014 at Bosbaan, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the second occasion on which the event had been held in Amsterdam, or ...
. They placed tenth overall.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, Elizabeth
Living people
1985 births
Australian female rowers
Olympic rowers for Australia
Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Rowers from Melbourne
World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia
Australian coxswains (rowing)
21st-century Australian women
Sportswomen from Victoria (state)