The Oarsome Foursome is the nickname for an Australian men's

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 ...

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on t ...

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 additional world championship titles in coxed boats. Members of the Oarsome Foursome when split into pairs placed first and second in the

1998 World Rowing Championships The 1998 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 9 to 18 September 1998 in Cologne, Germany. The World Rowing Championships are organized by FISA, the International Rowing Federation. Medal summary Men' ...

and won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

1st combination

They first achieved success seated as Nick Green (bow), Mike McKay (two), Samuel Patten (three) and James Tomkins stroke, when they won gold 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. They were coached by Noel Donaldson a former Victorian and national representative coxswain who had taken to coaching after competitive retirement. Donaldson encouraged periods of relaxation within the crew's training regime and it's been reported that the rowers spent the morning of that final indulging in a relaxed round of golf.Foursome described at Austn Sports Hall of Fame
/ref>

2nd combination

Patten was replaced by

Andrew Cooper Andrew Dollman Cooper (born 23 December 1964) is a former Australian Olympic Champion and World Champion rower. He is a national champion, dual Olympian and two-time World Champion who achieved success as a member of Australia's " Oarsome Fo ...

in 1991, and another World Championship title was won in Vienna 1991. Around this time they were accused by former Norwegian coach Thor Nilsson of not being serious enough about their training. In lead-up races before the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

the crew's dominance was challenged by fours from the Netherlands and the USA but after a seat swap by Donaldson between Cooper and Green and the adoption of the new short "cleaver" blades they won gold at Barcelona 1992 and became household names crowned '' Moomba Monarchs'' (popularly called ''Kings of Moomba'') and appearing in television advertisements for the Australian canned fruit brand

Goulburn Valley The Goulburn Valley is a sub-region, part of the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The sub-region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. T ...

3rd combination

Andrew Cooper retired in 1995, and

Drew Ginn Drew Cameron Ginn OAM (born 20 November 1974) is an Australian five-time world champion rower, a four time Olympian and triple Olympic gold medallist. From 1995 to 1998 he was a member of Australia's prominent world class crew – the coxless f ...

took the bow seat. In that combination they won a second Olympic gold medal at Atlanta 1996 cementing their popularity and fame and elevating the profile of rowing in Australia. Following a break in 1997 they returned to World Class Rowing in 1998 winning gold at the 1998 Cologne World Championships as a

coxed four A coxed four, also known as a 4+, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one ...

steered by Brett Hayman. At those same championships McKay and Ginn took silver as a

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 ...

and Green, Tomkins and Hayman were also crowned World Champions in a

coxed pair A coxed pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of two rowers, each having one oar, and a cox. One row ...

. The Australian coxless four at

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, contained no members of any previous Oarsome Foursome although Tomkins won a bronze medal with Matthew Long in a coxless pair. Again at Athens 2004 the coxless four contained all new faces while Tomkins and Ginn took gold in a pair and Mike McKay rowed in the VIII. At Beijing in 2008 Tomkins rowed in the six seat of the Australian VIII while Ginn won gold in a coxless pair with

Duncan Free Duncan Seth Free (born 25 May 1973) is a retired Australian rower and Olympic gold medallist. He is dual Olympian and two-time world champion who represented Australia at four world rowing championships in both sculls and sweep oared boats. He ...

. In 2004, they released a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

titled ''Oarsome Foursome Fitness'' - a general fitness training guide not necessarily aimed at rowers (although there is a section on perfecting your rowing stroke).

4th variation

London 2012 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 ...

provided a single link to the previous Foursomes when he was selected in the two seat of Australia's coxless four with James Chapman, Josh Dunkley-Smith and Will Lockwood.Advocate 2012
/ref> That combination won the Olympic silver medal.

References

{{Reflist Australian male rowers Nicknamed groups of Olympic competitors Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Rowing crews Quartets