THE SPORT OF ROWING coming fifth. The women’s races were dominated by the Eastern Bloc, and the Australian crew were proud to be the fastest four from the West. “In 1984, the coxed-four of Robyn Grey-Gardiner, Karen Brancourt, Margot Foster and Susan Lee, coached by Bill Dankbaar, became the first Australian women to win an Olympic medal. They fought all the way to win a well-deserved Bronze. “In 1985 at the World Championships in Hazewinkel, Queensland’s Adair Ferguson won the Lightweight Women’s Singles title, becoming Australian’s first World Champion woman rower. The following two decades saw a series of World and Olympic Medalist Australian lightweight women under a variety of coaches including Harald Jährling,6454 Romanian Adrian David and Ellen Randell from UTS Haberfield. “Between 1984 and 1990, no Australian heavyweight women made an A final at the World Championships. In 1988, no women’s crews were deemed to be fast enough to be selected by the Australian Rowing Council for the Seoul Olympics. However, at the same time it had been recognised that better identification of woman rowers could lead to more success. With an eye to the future, the Australian Institute of Sport devised a plan. “In 1987, Dr. Alan Hahn and rowing coach Peter Shakespear went through rowing schools identifying rowers who had the physical characteristics of winning internationals. Dr. Hahn had done some research on Australia’s top rowers to identify leading anthropometric and physiological parameters. Rowers were identified and brought into the Australian Institute of sport for training. “Australia’s first woman representative at the World Junior Championships was 6454 See Chapter 154. Nepean Rowing Club’s Marilyn Kidd in 1982. In 1987 with better talent identification and more regimented training, the four of Gabrielle Menzies, Celia Patterson, Fleur Spriggs, Courtney Johnstone and Georgia Green, coached by Peter Shakespear became Australia’s first Junior Women’s Medalist with a Bronze. In 1989, the coxless-four of Sam Stewart, Ballanda Sack, Anna McFarlane and Courtney Johnstone, coached by Ellen Randell, became the first women’s crew from the West to win a Junior World Gold Medal. “Encouraged by the success amongst rowing schools, the scheme was expanded to non-rowing schools. Again Peter Shakespear and Alan Hahn were involved along with Australian Institute of Sport Head Coach Reinhold Batschi. Paul Thompson was brought in to coach the group, and in 1988 it was rolled out. Slatter and Still “In a New South Wales country town near Canberra called Queanbeyan, a school girl called Megan Still was identified. She was developed through juniors and paired up with Kate Slatter at the Australian Institute of Sport. Slatter had learned her rowing at Adelaide University. “These two rowers made the 1992 Olympic Team and rowed in a young coxless-four with Jodie Dobson and Emy Snook that made the final and came sixth. From 1988, where no rowers were selected, Barcelona saw two crews and their spare single racing. “The talent identification model was rolled out through the state institute network, which laid the base for some exceptional talent coming into the sport. Between 1987 and 2004, Australian women won twenty-four medals, eleven of them Gold, at the Junior World Championships. 1784
