Pauline Bird-Hart (born 31 July 1957) is a British retired

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 ...

who competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Rowing career

Bird married fellow national champion rower Michael Hart in late 1976, then competing as Pauline Hart until 1980. She was part of a composite quadruple sculls crew, that 1974 National Championships. Later that year she participated in the

1974 World Rowing Championships The 1974 World Rowing Championships was the fourth World Rowing Championships. It was held from 4 to 8 September 1974 (for men) and from 29 August to 1 September 1974 (for women) on the Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. The event was significantly ...

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 ...

, which was the inaugural championships for women. Competing in the quadruple sculls event the crew were eliminated in the heats. She won the double sculls with Jackie Darling, rowing for a Civil Service and Weybridge Ladies composite and the quadruple sculls, at the 1975 National Rowing Championships, followed by the

1975 World Rowing Championships The 1975 World Rowing Championships was the fifth World Rowing Championships. It was held from 21 to 30 August at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham, England. Medal summary Medalists at the 1975 World Rowing Champions ...

in Nottingham, where the crew finished 9th overall after a third-place finish in the B final. She was selected to represent Great Britain in the women's coxed fours event at the 1976 Olympics, with Diana Bishop,

Clare Grove Clare M Grove (born 24 November 1953) is a former British rower who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Grove started rowing in 1971 at the Barn Elms Boathouse, while at St Mark's School in Fulham. She was part of a coxed four c ...

, Gill Webb and

Pauline Wright Pauline D Wright (born 2 December 1954) is a retired British rowing cox who competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Wright participated in the 1974 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne which was the ...

, where they finished in eighth place. In 1977 she was part of the double scull that reached the final and finished fifth at the

1977 World Rowing Championships The 1977 World Rowing Championships was the 6th World Rowing Championships. The championships were held from 19 to 28 August 1977 on the Bosbaan rowing lake in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Medal summary About 556 rowers from 28 countries competed ...

in Amsterdam. This was the first time that a British women's crew had reached a world final. She won the 1977 National Championships and 1978 National Championships double sculls title rowing for Kingston with

Astrid Ayling Astrid Ayling (née Hohl; born 9 December 1951) is a retired German and British rower. She competed for Great Britain at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics. Rowing career In 1975 she finished fourth in the double sculls for ...

and the single sculls title in 1978. At the 1979 National Championships she was part of the composite crew that won the quadruple sculls. In 1980 she went to her second Olympic Games when as part of the women's coxed four, the crew finished in sixth place. As part of the double sculls with Sandy Lutz she won the national title, at the 1983 National Rowing Championships. She represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and won two

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

s in the eight and the coxless pair with Flo Johnston, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. She won another national title in 1987 in the double sculls with Julia Spence rowing for the

Tideway Scullers School Tideway Scullers School is a rowing club on the Tideway of the River Thames next to Chiswick Bridge in Chiswick, London. The club previously held the headship for the Head of the River Race (2009), the largest UK eights event, and the senior s ...

at the 1987 National Championships.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird-Hart, Pauline 1957 births Living people British female rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people) Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games