Georgia Nugent-O'Leary (born 14 August 1996) is a New Zealand rower. She is nominated to compete at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in the

quad sculls A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand. Rac ...

Early life

Nugent-O'Leary was born in 1996 in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

. She is from Marton in the

Rangitikei District The Rangitikei District is a territorial authority district located primarily in the Manawatū-Whanganui region in the North Island of New Zealand, although a small part, the town of Ngamatea (13.63% by land area), lies in the Hawke's Bay Regio ...

. She received her schooling at

Nga Tawa Diocesan School Nga Tawa Diocesan School, also known as the Wellington Diocesan School for Girls, is a state-integrated, Anglican girls’ boarding school situated in the heart of the Rangitikei District. It is located just outside the township of Marton in N ...

, where she started rowing in early 2012. She is studying for a Bachelor of Science with a major in food science.

Rowing career

Nugent-O'Leary is a member of the Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club, which is based in the outlying suburb

Aramoho Aramoho is a settlement on the Whanganui River, in the Whanganui District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an outlying suburb of Whanganui. History The settlement was established on the river in the 1860s, ...

and which is affiliated to Nga Tawa Diocesan School. In March 2013, she joined

Jackie Gowler Jackie Gowler (born 7 June 1996) is a New Zealand representative rower. Biography Gowler was born in 1996. She received her secondary schooling at Nga Tawa Diocesan School in Marton. While at school, she took up rowing inspired by her elder ...

(who was at Nga Tawa Diocesan School in the same year) in the U18 double scull at the

Maadi Cup The Maadi Cup is the prize for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Boys' Under 18 Rowing Eights. More colloquially, it is the name given to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Regatta, at which the Maadi Cup is raced. The regatta is the large ...

held at

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for the 96-megawatt Karap ...

that year. Based on that result, she was sent to August 2014

World Rowing Junior 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 1 ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, where the New Zealand quad scull came sixth. She relocated to Blenheim to become a member of the Central Rowing Performance Centre. During 2015, Nugent-O'Leary rowed with Davina Waddy from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in the

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 ...

. In 2016, she made the team for the U23 women's eight. At the

2016 World Rowing U23 Championships The 12th World Rowing U23 Championships was the 12th edition of the World Rowing U23 Championships and was held from 21 to 26 August 2016 at the Willem-Alexander Baan in Rotterdam, Netherlands in conjunction with the World Junior Rowing Champions ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands, the team came fourth, beaten by the Russian team for the bronze medal by just 0.31 seconds. She was invited to join the 2016/17 summer squad but in the second week of training, she crashed on her bike, broke an arm and received a concussion that sustained itself for a long time. This crash forced an 18-month retirement from rowing. Returning to rowing in 2018 at the Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club, she competed in the February 2018 National Championships where she won silver in the senior single scull, beaten for the title by

Veronica Wall Veronica Wall (born 4 January 2000) is an elite New Zealand rower. She participated in the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships, 2016 and the 2017 World Rowing Junior Championships. In 2019/20, she studied at and rowed for Yale University but ...

. In 2019, she once again trained at the Central Rowing Performance Centre. At the February 2019 National Championships, she competed in three senior boat classes. She came fourth in the double scull (with Ruby Willis), won silver with the quad scull (with Willis, Nicola Baker and Kirstyn Goodger), and took out the national title with the eight. During 2019, she moved to Cambridge where most of New Zealand's elite rowers are based. At the February 2020 National Championships, she competed in the single scull and double scull (with

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. Private life MacKenzie was born in 1992 and grew up in the Waihopai Valley. Her parents ar ...

) and came fifth in both boat classes. This was her last competition before the country went into lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and the Olympic Games got delayed by 12 months. At the beginning of February 2021, Nugent-O'Leary was announced as part of the Rowing NZ elite team as part of the quad scull. Later that same month at the 2021 National Championships, she competed in four boat classes. In the cox scull, she came fifth. With the eight, she won bronze and with the double scull (with

Ruby Tew Ruby Tew (born 7 March 1994) is a New Zealand Olympic rower. Personal life Born in Wellington, she is the daughter of New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew. She received her secondary education at Queen Margaret College. She is studying towards a Ba ...

), she won silver. With the coxless four (alongside Jackie Gowler,

Kerri Gowler Kerri Leigh Williams (née Gowler; born 18 December 1993) is a New Zealand rower. She is a national champion, an Olympic champion and double medallist, a three-time world champion and a current (2019) world champion in both the coxless pair and ...

, and Phoebe Collier), she gained her second national title. When the Olympic rowing team for the Tokyo Olympics got nominated in June 2021, Nugent-O'Leary was confirmed for the quad scull team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent-OLeary, Georgia 1996 births Living people New Zealand female rowers People from Marton, New Zealand Sportspeople from Manawatū-Whanganui People educated at Nga Tawa Diocesan School Rowers from Whanganui Olympic rowers for New Zealand Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century New Zealand women