Virginia Lee (born 6 April 1965) is an Australian former rower. She was a four-time national champion, a 1992 world champion, a dual Olympian and an Olympic bronze medallist who competed in both sweep oared and sculling events in the lightweight division.

Club and state rowing

Lee was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. Her senior 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. Merc ...

in Sydney. On eight occasions from 1986 to 1996 she represented New South Wales, racing for the Women's Lightweight Four Championship (the Victoria Cup) 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 ...

. Her crews won the championship in 1995 and 1996. They crossed the line first in 1988 but were disqualified for a doping infringement. In 1995 and again in 2000 Lee won the Australian national lightweight single sculls title.

National representative rowing

World championships

She was selected to national representative honours for the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and

1987 World Rowing Championships The 1987 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 to 30 August 1987 in Copenhagen, Denmark while it was "outrageously windy". Medal summary Medalists at the 1987 World Rowing Championships were: Men's ...

in the women's lightweight

four 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

who came fourth both times. At the

1992 World Rowing Championships The 1992 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 13 to 16 August 1992 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since 1992 was an Olympic year for rowing, the World Championships did not include Olympic events schedule ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada, she won a world championship in the lightweight four, with

Marina Cade Marina Cade (born 9 September 1969 in Melbourne) is an Australian former representative rower. A lightweight sweep oar rower and later a sculler, her senior rowing was with the Melbourne University Boat Club. She was a 1992 world champion. Club ...

Deirdre Fraser Deirdre Fraser is an Australian former World Champion lightweight rower. Club and state rowing Fraser took up rowing in 1986 at the Bendigo Rowing Club and rowed for that club until 1990. When she began to represent at state and national level ...

, and

Liz Moller Elizabeth Moller is an Australian former World Champion lightweight rower. Club and state rowing Moller rowed from Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) for the Canberra Rowing Club. She first raced at the Australian Rowing Champi ...

. At the next world championships in Račice 1993, her Australian lightweight four finished in fourth place. The following year at Indianapolis 1994, she raced in a lightweight

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly s ...

which finished seventh. At the 1995 World Rowing Championships in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, Finland, Lee was again part of the lightweight four, but the boat did not start. At those same championships she also competed in the lightweight women's

with Joanne Morgan and where they placed fourth. At the 1999 World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, she partnered with

Sally Newmarch Sally Newmarch (born 2 June 1975), now known as Sally Callie, is an Australian former rower – a four-time national champion, a medal winning national representative who competed at World Rowing Championships from 1993 to 2004 and a three time ...

in the lightweight double scull to win a bronze medal.

Olympics

At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, USA, she partnered with

Rebecca Joyce Rebecca Susan Joyce (born 12 September 1970 in Melbourne) is an Australian former rower, a sculler in the lightweight division. She was a five-time national champion, a 1995 world champion and Olympic medal winner. Club and state rowing Joyce ...

and won bronze in the lightweight women's double sculls. At the

2000 Summer Olympics 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 ...

in her home city of Sydney, she again competed with Newmarch in a lightweight double scull and they came fourth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Virginia 1965 births Living people Australian female rowers Sportswomen from New South Wales Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Rowers from Sydney Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games