Joshua Hicks (born 29 April 1991) is an Australian 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 di ...
. He is an Olympian and a two-time world champion who won gold in the coxless four at the
2017 World Rowing Championships
The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida.
Host selection
During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to hos ...
and defended that title at
Plovdiv in 2018. He competed in the Australian men's coxless pair at
Tokyo 2021.
Club and state rowing
A Western Australian, Hicks was educated at
Trinity College, Perth
Trinity College is an independent school, independent day school for boys, located on the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River foreshore in East Perth, Western Australia. The school was established in 1962 when students from the city schools ...
where he took up rowing. He won a collegiate rowing scholarship to Harvard University. There he rowed in Harvard's senior varsity eight in his second year of 2011. Following his return from Harvard and a move to New South Wales, Hicks' senior club rowing was from the
Sydney Rowing Club
Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on its high performance and elite ...
.
Hicks' first state representation for West Australia came in 2009 when he was selected in the Western Australian youth eight to contest the Noel F Wilkinson 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 ...
. From 2014 to 2023 Hicks was selected in the Western Australian men's senior eights to contest the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. He stroked those WA eights in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
In 2019 he contested the men's coxless pair title at 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 ...
with
Sam Hardy Sam Hardy may refer to:
* Sam Hardy (actor)
* Sam Hardy (footballer)
Sam Hardy (26 August 1882 – 24 October 1966) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Football career
In 1902, Chesterfield manager Jack Hoskin beat Derby Co ...
and finished in third place. He again contested the coxless pair with Hardy at the 2021
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 ...
, also competed in the coxless four event and that year won a national championship title in
Sydney Rowing Club
Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on its high performance and elite ...
colours in the men's eight.
International representative rowing
Hicks made his Australian representative debut in a coxed four at the 2009
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 Brive-La Gaillarde. That four won a silver medal.
In 2012 at the
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 Trakai he raced in a coxless four and again took silver.
That 2012 four raced as an Australian selection crew at the 2012
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...
and won the
Stewards' Challenge Cup
The Stewards' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may combine t ...
.
Senior representative honours came in 2014 when he secured a seat in the Australian men's eight. He competed at the World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne and then at 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 ...
in Amsterdam where the eight placed seventh overall.
In 2016 Hicks was in the Australian men's squad who were unsuccessful in attempting to qualify for the
2016 Rio Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
at the final FISA qualification regatta. Following that attempt he raced in a coxless four and a coxless pair (with
James Medway) at two of the 2016 World Rowing Cups in Europe.
In 2017 Hicks was selected into the Australian men's coxless four with
Spencer Turrin
Spencer Alf Turrin (born 29 August 1991) is an Australian representative rower. He is a national champion, twice world champion, a dual Olympian and an Olympic champion. He competed and won medals in the Australian senior men's coxless four at ...
and
Alexander Hill who'd been medallists in the four at World Championships in 2014 and 2015 respectively and with newcomer
Jack Hargreaves
Jack Hargreaves OBE (1911–1994) was an English television presenter and writer whose enduring interest was to comment without nostalgia or sentimentality on accelerating distortions in relations between the city and the countryside, seeking ...
. They took gold at the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan and then raced in the Australian men's senior eight at the WRC III in Lucerne to a silver medal.
At the
2017 World Rowing Championships
The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida.
Host selection
During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to hos ...
in Sarasota Florida rowing as a four, they won their heat and semi-final. They flew out of the start in the final rating at 43 strokes per minute to be clear leaders at the 500m mark. They led at every mark and held off the fast finishing Italians. Australia had not won a men's coxless four world championship title since the
Oarsome Foursome
The Oarsome Foursome is the nickname for an Australian men's rowing coxless four crew who competed with a clear lineage between 1990 and 2012, winning two Olympic gold medals and one silver medal, two world championships as a coxless four, and ...
's 1991 win.
The world champion four stayed together into 2018 and started their 2018 international campaign with a gold medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. They repeated their 2017 tactic with a blistering rating of 43 from the start and kept it up above 40 for the rest of the race.
In an Australian selection eight and racing as the Georgina Hope Rinehart National Training Centre, in honour of Rowing Australia patron,
Gina Rinehart
Georgina Hope Rinehart (née Hancock, born 9 February 1954) is an Australian mining magnate and businesswoman. Rinehart is the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting, a privately owned mineral exploration and extraction company founded by h ...
, Hicks won the 2018
Grand Challenge Cup
The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...
at the
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...
. The fourth Australian men's eight to ever do so. The following week back in the coxless four, Hicks won another gold at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne.
At the
2018 World Rowing Championships
The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...
in Plovdiv, in the same combination as 2017, the Australian coxless four won their heat, their semi-final and just held off the fast-finishing Italians in the final to retain their world title. Hicks rowing in the bow seat, won his second world championship gold.
In 2019 Hicks was again selected in the Australian men's sweep squad for the international representative season. In an effort to qualify the men's pair for the
2020 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 ...
, selectors broke up the world champion four into other boats. At the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan Hicks was seated at three behind Turrin in the Australian eight which rowed to 5th place. At WRC III in Rotterdam Hicks rowed with
Sam Hardy Sam Hardy may refer to:
* Sam Hardy (actor)
* Sam Hardy (footballer)
Sam Hardy (26 August 1882 – 24 October 1966) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Football career
In 1902, Chesterfield manager Jack Hoskin beat Derby Co ...
in the number two Australian pair finishing in 7th place whilst Hill and Turrin took gold in the number one Australian coxless pair.
Hicks and Hardy were selected to race Australia's coxless pair at the
2019 World Rowing Championships
The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice in the Czech Republic, and Varese ...
in Linz, Austria. The pair were looking for a top eleven finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the
Tokyo Olympics. They were second in their heat, won their quarter-final and placed second in their semi-final, thereby qualifying the boat for
Tokyo 2020
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 ...
.
In the A-final they finished in third place behind the dominant
Sinković brothers
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
and took the bronze medal.
At
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in 2021 Hicks and Hardy dominated their heat powering though the Italians by the 1000m mark. Their fourth place in the semi-final caused them to miss the cut for the A final and in the B final the next day they again finished fourth to conclude their Olympic regatta performance in overall tenth place.
Full details.
In March 2023 Hicks was again selected in the Australian senior men's sweep-oar squad for the 2023 international season.
2023 Australian Squad announcement
/ref> At the Rowing World Cup
The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each even ...
II in Varese Italy, Hicks raced in the Australian men's eight. In the final after a slow start they rowed through most of the field and took second place and a silver medal. At 2023's RWC III in Lucerne, Hicks moved from the bow into the two seat of the Australian men's eight. In the final they rowed stroke for stroke with their fancied Great Britain rivals but then moved away at the 1000m mark and held on for a gold medal victory. For the 2023 World Rowing Championships
The 2023 World Rowing Championships were held from 3 to 10 September 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Medal summary Medal table
Non-Olympic/Paralympic classes
Men
Women
Pararowing
References
External links
Official websiteWorld Rowing websi ...
in Belgrade Serbia, the Australian men's eight was left unchanged and Hicks again raced in the two seat. They won their heat powering past the USA eight who had headed them at the 1000m mark. In the A final Australia and Great Britain traded the lead over the first 1000m, but beyond that point the result mirrored that of 2022 with Great Britain exerting dominance by the 1500m, fighting off a fast finishing Dutch eight who took silver and leaving the Australians with the bronze for the second successive year.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Joshua
1991 births
Living people
Australian male rowers
World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia
Olympic rowers for Australia
Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Harvard Crimson rowers
21st-century Australian people
Rowers from Perth, Western Australia
Sportsmen from Western Australia