Gillian Margaret Campbell (born 21 August 1960) is an Australian former representative

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

. In the six seasons from 1988 to 1993 she was consistently in the top-tier of Australian heavyweight women scullers winning ten national sculling titles and one sweep-oared championship title. She competed in the women's double sculls event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Club and state rowing

Gillian Campbell's senior rowing was from the

Leichhardt Rowing Club Leichhardt Rowing Club formed in 1886 is one of the oldest rowing clubs in Sydney, Australia. The clubhouse has occupied sites on Port Jackson's, Iron Cove at Leichhardt since 1886. Leichhardt is an all-level competitive and recreational rowing c ...

in Sydney and later when she made national training squads she raced in Australian Institute of Sport colours. She was

Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...

's first female club captain, serving from 1988 to 1992. Campbell first made state selection for New South Wales when she was picked as the 1988 single scull representative contesting the Nell Slatter trophy 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 ...

- she placed second. The following year she again contested that event placing sixth and in 1992 she placed third. In 1991 at the annual Interstate Regatta in the New South Wales women's heavyweight four she contested and won the ULVA Trophy. This was before the elite heavyweight women raced for the Queen's Cup. In 1993 & 1994 she again rowed in the New South Wales women's four for the ULVA Trophy, placing second on both occasions. Campbell first competed for national titles at the

in 1988 when she raced in Leichhardt colours in all three open women's sculling classes. She won the double and quad sculls championships and placed third in the single. The 1989 Australian Championships were interrupted by cyclonic conditions but not before the open women's single scull final was raced in which Campbell placed second. By 1990 she was racing in crews with Jenny Luff with whom she would share national success and pair up for World Championships and Olympics. They won 1990 national titles in the double and the quad and Campbell finished 2nd in the single. At the Australian Rowing Championships in 1991 she was the victorious Australian Champion in all three women's heavyweight sculling classes. She was recognised as the New South Wales Oarswoman on the Year for the 1988/89 and the 1990/91 seasons.PLC rowing at Leichhardt
/ref> In 1992 Campbell placed second in the single scull and racing in AIS colours with Luff, won the double and the quad. In 1993 she placed third in her single scull national title attempt and second in the double scull rowing with Adair Ferguson. She won her eleventh and final Australian title that year in a composite selection quad scull. Campbell had rowed in every Australian championship winning women's quad scull contested between 1988 and 1993.

International representative rowing

Campbell's first Australian representative selection came in 1990 when with Jenny Luff as the current Australian double scull champions they were selected to race the double at the

1990 World Rowing Championships Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

in Lake Barrington, Tasmania. They placed fifth.Campbell at World Rowing
/ref> 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 en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Posta ...

in Vienna, Luff and Campbell slipped down the rankings and finished seventh overall. By the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Luff and Campbell were still seen as superior to all other domestic crews and were selected to race the double at Barcelona. They missed the A final and finished eight overall. It was Campbell's last Australian representative outing.

Coaching career

Campbell was a Physical Education Teacher at Pymble Ladies College during her rowing career and was instrumental in the

's 1992 decision to open its facilities to a school rowing program with PLC. That co-operative arrangement and the broader Sydney rowing Competition for Girls' Independent Schools is still flourishing as of 2022. Gillian and her husband Mark Campbell coached crews at Pymble Ladies College from the 1990s through to 2012. PLC first eights coached by Campbell won the NSW Schoolgirls Head of The River successively from 2000 to 2009 and in 2012.Rose Evans Memorial Trophy
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Gillian 1960 births Living people Australian female rowers Olympic rowers of Australia Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people)