Micheen Barbara Thornycroft (born 26 June 1987), is a Zimbabwean female rower. Born in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, she competed at the

2012 Summer 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 ...

and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the

single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to minimi ...

events for the national team. Thornycroft's achievements in the sporting discipline have seen her being nominated for the ANSA (Annual National Sports Award) Sportswoman of the Year Award twice, in 2013 and in 2015.

Early life and education

Thornycroft was born on 26 June 1987 in

, Zimbabwe. She has an older sister, Roseanne, and a younger brother, Patrick. Initially home-schooled for Grade One, Thornycroft went to

Springvale House Springvale House Preparatory School (commonly known as Springvale or Springvale House) is an independent, preparatory, boarding and day school in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe that was established in 1952. The school shares facilities with Peterh ...

, an independent school in

Mashonaland East Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.35 million (2012). Marondera is the capital of the province. Geography Districts Mashonaland East i ...

for primary schooling and on to

Peterhouse Girls' School , location = , province = Mashonaland East , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , type = Independent, boarding, high school , denomination = Anglican , patron = Saint Peter , founded =1987 , sister_school = Peterhouse Boys , over ...

, another independent school also in Mashonaland East, for her secondary education. Peterhouse was the school where she began

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

and met her coach, Rachel Davis. Thornycroft did her tertiary education in South Africa. At

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, Eastern Cape, she read human kinetics and ergonomics, and ichthyology and fisheries studies for her undergraduate education. She then did her Honours in ichthyology and fisheries studies. Thornycroft was also president of the Rowing Club and in 2009, she won the Sportswoman of the Year Award at the Rhodes University Sports Council Awards Dinner. Afterward, she went on to do a postgraduate in Teaching at the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Te ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, Gauteng. She married fellow Zimbabwean Olympic rower

Peter Purcell-Gilpin Peter Purcell-Gilpin (born 4 July 1994) is a Zimbabwean rower who competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Early years Purcell-Gilpin was born into a family of farmers in Zimbabwe. He suffered from a muscular condition that left him unable to play ...

in 2019 after years of serving as training partners.

Career

2011

In November, Thornycroft qualified for the

2012 London Olympic Games 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 ...

by finishing first in the women's single sculls at the Africa Continental Qualification Regatta held in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Egypt. Male counterpart, James Fraser-Mackenzie, also qualified for the Olympics after the finishing second in the Final B race at the same

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

2012

In the buildup to the Olympic Games, Thornycroft went on to compete in the Paulo D'Alorja regatta held in Italy, she attained sixth place in Final A race. At the

World Rowing 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

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, (from the 25th-27 May) Thornycroft finished tenth overall. She participated in the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup III, held in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany (from the 15–17 June) and came first in the Final C race (a non-medal race) and thirteenth overall. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain, Thornycroft managed to attain fourteenth place overall as she finished second in the Final C race.

2013

In 2013, Thornycroft raced at the World Rowing Cup in Sydney and attained first place in the Final B race (a non-medal race). She had training camps in Italy and Germany before participation at 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.

Chungju Chungju (충주시) is a city in North Chungcheong province, South Korea. Uamsan is a mountain located within the outskirts of the city. The city is famous for the annual martial arts festival held in October. Also of note, former UN Secretary-G ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

where she finished fourth in the Final B race. Micheen won gold at the African Rowing Championships in the single sculls in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

2014

In April, Thornycroft came out sixth at the Paulo D'Alorja regatta held in Italy. In June, at the World Rowing Cup II in Aiguebelette, France, Micheen finished second in the Final C race. 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 ...

held in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Thornycroft achieved a second-place finish in the Final D race and nineteenth overall. She was one of ten Zimbabwean athletes to receive an Olympic Solidarity scholarship to aid preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Micheen came first in the women's single sculls event at the 10th African Rowing Championships (which ran from 16–18 October) held at the Boukerdane Dam in Sidi Amar, Tipaza, a town in northern Algeria.

2015

In a bid to intensify her preparations for the qualifying phase to compete in the

hosted by

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in Brazil, Thornycroft moved to

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, the South African capital, so as to train at the High Performance Centre (HPC), at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

, a renowned sport science and training facility. Thornycroft trained under the guidance and coaching of Roger Barrow, South African National Rowing coach credited with coaching the South African M4x (Men's lightweight coxless four) crew that won gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Under Barrow's tutelage, Thornycroft set her personal best three times (at the SA Rowing Championships, World Rowing Cup III and the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the Int ...

). She won gold at the women's single sculls at the SA Rowing Championships and attained Final B race finishes at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland and the World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France where she was fifth and sixth respectively. Micheen came first in the women's single sculls event at the 2015 African Continental Qualification Regatta in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and as a result, qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

2016

In February, Thornycroft participated in the women's single sculls event at the Buffalo Regatta in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, Eastern Cape, South Africa, where she finished first.

Recognition

Thornycroft was nominated for an ANSA (Annual National Sports Award) Sportswoman of the Year Award in 2013, with two other nominees,

Cara Black Cara Cavell Black (born 17 February 1979) is a Zimbabwean former professional tennis player. Black was primarily a doubles specialist, winning 60 WTA Tour and 11 ITF doubles titles. A former doubles world No. 1, she won ten major titles. By ...

(tennis player) and Rachel Goromonzi (hockey player) also being recognised as deserving of the award. The event was held at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare on 11 December. Thornycroft received a silver medal for the accolade whilst Black and Goromonzi received gold and bronze medals respectively. In 2015, Thornycroft was again nominated for an ANSA Sportswoman of the Year Award. The other nominees were

Kirsty Coventry Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...

(swimmer) and Helen Costa Sinclair (bodybuilder). The award show was on 16 December, hosted by the Sports and Recreation Commission at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. The accolade was given to Helen Costa Sinclair.

Philanthropy

In 2012, Thornycroft was part of a team of rowers taking part in the rowing edition of the Ubunye Challenge. The 24-hour rowing challenge was an initiative expecting to raise £250,000 to finance educational projects in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

References

External links

* * * on WorldRowing.com * on

Sports-Reference.com Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro- ...

* with School Sports Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornycroft, Micheen 1987 births Living people Zimbabwean female rowers Alumni of Peterhouse Girls' School Rhodes University alumni University of Johannesburg alumni Zimbabwean people of British descent White Zimbabwean sportspeople Sportspeople from Harare Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Zimbabwe