Rowena Meredith (born 27 April 1995) is an Australian representative rower. She is an Olympic medallist, a multiple Australian national champion at both U23 and senior levels, was twice a medallist at underage world championships and has won four medals at World Rowing Cups. She competed in the Australian women's quad scull at Tokyo 2021 winning a bronze medal.

Club and state rowing

Born in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

England, Meredith was raised in Sydney, Australia and her senior club rowing was from the

Mosman Rowing Club Mosman Rowing Club is an all-level competitive and recreational rowing club on the North Shore of Sydney. Since 2007 the club's facilities have been wholly located at The Spit in Sydney's Middle Harbour, the northern arm of Port Jackson. Merca ...

till 2016 and then

Sydney University Boat Club Sydney University Boat Club is the rowing club in Sydney, Australia with the oldest charter having been formed in 1860 by the founders of the University of Sydney. It has had a boatshed presence in various locations on Sydney Harbour since 1886, ...

from 2017. Meredith's first state selection for New South Wales was in 2014 in women's youth eight contesting the Bicentennial Cup 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 rowed again in the New South Wales youth eight in 2015. For seven straight years from 2016 to 2023 she was selected in the New South Wales senior women's eight competing for the

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at the Interstate Regatta. Only the 2019 New South Wales eight was victorious. Meredith raced in Mosman colours in a NSW composite eight contesting the open women's coxed eight event at the 2015

.2015 Austn Championships
/ref> That year she also contested the U23 women's quad scull title and placed second. At the 2016 Australian Rowing Championships she raced in Mosman colours for the U23 single, double and quad sculls titles. By 2017 Meredith was racing for SUBC and she won all three national U23 sculling titles – the single, double and quad. At the 2018 Australian Championships Meredith contested the open single and double sculls, and competed in a Sydney University eight for the open women's eight title. In 2019 she placed second to

Genevieve Horton Genevieve Horton (born 6 January 1995) is an Australian rower, a dual Olympian, a junior world champion and an Australian national champion. She competed in the women's double sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics and is the 2019 Australian ...

in the Australian open women's single scull championship and won the open's women's coxed eight title in a composite selection crew. She won the open national double scull title at the 2022 Australian Rowing Championships (racing with Harriet Hudson) and in 2023 rowing with Tara Rigney.

International representative rowing

Meredith made her Australian representative debut at the 2015

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 Plovdiv where she rowed in the Australian quad scull to a silver medal.Meredith at World Rowing
/ref> In 2016 she was again in the Australian U23 women's quad scull and she stroked that crew to a sixth-place finish at the 2016

in Rotterdam. In 2017 she was selected in the Australian senior quad scull with Leah Saunders,

and Caitlin Cronin which won medals at two

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 ...

s in Europe. With Harriet Hudson changed out for Saunders they were eligible to compete underage and raced to a silver medal at the

in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Saunders came back into the crew for 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. The young crew took on a tightly packed field in the final at Sarasota and were fourth at the halfway mark with Poland in the lead followed by The Netherlands. As the crews sprinted for the line, the Australian quad featuring three senior team debutantes other than Horton, dropped back and finished in sixth place. Meredith and the quad stayed together into 2018 with

Olympia Aldersey Olympia Aldersey (born 26 July 1992) is an Australian rower. She is an Australian national champion, a dual Olympian and is the current World Champion in the coxless four. In 2014 she set a world's fastest ever time (6:37.31) in a women's doubl ...

changed out for Saunders. At the 2018 World Rowing Cup II in Linz, they rowed to a bronze medal and then a sixth placing at the WRC 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 they finished in seventh place. In 2019

Katrina Bateman Katrina Bateman (born 8 September 1992) is an Australian former representative rower. She is a ten-time Australian national champion, winning four national titles in the single year of 2015 and rowing in successful Victorian Queen's Cup crews f ...

returned to the Australian senior squad after a four-year absence and into the quad scull with Meredith, Fiona Ewing and Cara Grzeskowiak. They rowed to a fourth place at the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan and then to a bronze medal win at WRC III in Rotterdam. In that same crew Meredith was selected to race Australia's quad scull 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 quad were looking for a top eight finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. They placed fourth in the B-final for an overall tenth place finish and failed to qualify 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 ...

. Before those delayed Tokyo Olympics at the final Olympic qualification regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland in May 2021 in a crew with Caitlin Cronin, Harriet Hudson and Ria Thompson, she raced an Australian representative heavyweight quad, again attempting to qualify that boat. Victory in their heat and final saw them secure an Olympic berth. In

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Meredith rowed the two seat of the Australian quad. They placed fourth in their heat and then won the repechage to make the A final. They were behind the lead for much of the race but winds had blown up before the event and some crews struggled with their bladework in the chop. The Australian quad kept their composure and excellent technique and managed a bronze medal finish on the line. Meredith was selected in the Australian sculling squad to prepare for the 2022 international season and the 2022 World Rowing Championships. She raced at the

II in Poznan in the Australian women's quad scull and at the WRC III in Lucerne, in the double. At the 2022 World Rowing Championships at Racize, she rowed in the Australian quad scull to an overall sixth place finish. In March 2023 Meredith was again selected with Hudson, Thompson and Cronin as Australia's quad-scull for the 2023 international season.2023 Austn 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 they raced as Australia's W4X entrant. They made the B final and finished in overall eighth place. At 2023's RWC III in Lucerne, with Kathryn Rowan changed out for Ria Thompson, Meredith again raced in Australia's W4X. Again they finished 2nd in the B final for an overall eighth placing. At 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, Meredith, Hudson, Cronin and Rowan were selected to race Australia's quad scull. They placed 3rd in their heat and then 3rd in the A/B semi-final at which point they qualified an Australian W4X boat for the

2024 Paris Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

. In the A final the quad finished fifth, giving them a fifth place world ranking from the regatta.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Rowena 1995 births Australian female rowers Rowers from Sydney Living people Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing 21st-century Australian women Sportswomen from New South Wales