James Alexander Stewart (born 15 December 1973) is an Australian former

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

- a national champion, an U23 world champion and a three-time Olympian.

Rowing brothers

James's twin brother Geoff was also a three time Olympic rower (1996, 2000, 2004). Their younger brother

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

rowed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. They became the first trio of brothers to represent Australia in rowing at the same Olympics when they all rowed at Athens 2004 to a bronze medal in the men's eight. The brothers were all educated at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1984–1991), and took up rowing coached by Olympian and fellow Old Newingtonian Michael Morgan and deputy headmaster Robert Buntine. In his remarkable representative rowing career, on all six occasions that James Stewart won a world championship or Olympic medal, he was racing with his brother Geoff who won the same medal.

Club and state rowing

James Stewart's senior club rowing was from the UTS Haberfield Rowing Club on Sydney's

Iron Cove Iron Cove is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately due west of Sydney's central business district. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Birchgrove, Balmain ...

. Stewart's first state representative selection for New South Wales came in 1992 in the youth eight who contested and won the Noel F Wilkinson Trophy at the Interstate Regatta within the

Australian Rowing Championships The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...

From 1994 to 2004 he rowed in eleven consecutive New South Wales men's senior eights competing for the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. Only the 2004 crew was victorious, with the Stewart brothers suffering a long period of Victorian King's Cup dominance.

International representative rowing

James made his Australian representative debut in 1994 competing at the

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is ...

in Paris in a coxless pair with his twin brother Geoff. They rowed to a silver medal 1/3 of a second behind the winning Italians.J Stewart at World Rowing
/ref> In 1995 at the

in Groningen the brothers took the gold medal in the coxless pair. In 1996, James and Geoffrey were seated as the bow pair of the Australian men's eight who competed in at the

Atlanta 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, ...

. That crew made the A final, but placed sixth. The brothers continued rowing at the highest level into 1997 and raced in the senior men's eight at two World Rowing Cups and at the

1997 World Rowing Championships The 1997 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 August to 7 September 1997 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, France. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federatio ...

in Aigubelette, France. James was in the five seat of the eight for their bronze medal result in the final. Their 1997 international season also included a campaign at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

where as an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

crew they contested and won the 1997

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

. In 1998, Australia's

Oarsome Foursome The Oarsome Foursome is the nickname for an Australian men's rowing coxless four 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 a ...

were in their first year of a post-Olympic comeback and they raced in various coxed combinations at 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 World Rowing Federation, FISA, back then International Rowing Fede ...

in Cologne. This enabled the Stewart brothers with Bo Hanson and

Ben Dodwell Benjamin Philip Dodwell (born 17 April 1972 in Melbourne) is an Australian former rower - a nine-time national champion, a triple Olympian, Olympic medal winner and representative at World Rowing Championships. Club and state rowing Dodwell wa ...

to boat as the coxless four. They contested two World Rowing Cups that year in Europe and at the World Championships came up against the gun British crew of

James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British rowing and endurance athlete, double Olympic gold medalist and winner of six world championship titles. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours ...

Tim Foster Timothy James Carrington Foster, MBE (born 19 January 1970) is an English rower who won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Career He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the World Rowing Junior ...

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports b ...

and

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...

. The Australian four fared admirably to finish in fourth place in the final, 0.19 seconds behind the French silver medallists. The Stewart brothers and the Australian 1998 coxless four stayed together in 1999 and raced at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. But the bulk of champion British four also rowed on and at the

1999 World Rowing Championships The 1999 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 22 to 29 August 1999 at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal ...

in St Catharines, the Australian crew won their heat and semi final. In the final they met the British four of Cracknell, Pinsent, Redgrave and

Ed Coode Edward R. Coode, MBE (born 19 June 1975) is a British rower, twice World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist. Early life Born in Cornwall in 1975, Coode boarded at Papplewick School and Eton College. He studied marine biology at University o ...

who foreshadowed what was planned for the Olympic Games and took the gold with James Stewart and the Australians winning silver. Dodwell, Hanson and the two Stewart brothers held their seats and their combination into the 2000 Olympic year. They raced at two World Rowing Cups in Europe and then at the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

they again came up against the same champion British four they'd met in 1998. The British went out the fast in the first 500m and maintained the lead thereafter. The Italians got into 2nd place in the second 500m and also held that spot. The Australians left their run till the 3rd 500m and could never recover to better than third place. The Australian's took bronze and Steve Redgrave's fairytale five Olympic gold medal came true. In the new Olympiad James Stewart didn't represent internationally at any World Championships or World Cups but he timed his 2004 Olympic selection run perfectly and for the

2004 Athens The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

James and Geoff were seated in the engine room of the Australian men's eight at four and five with their brother Stephen stroking the crew. They raced well to a bronze medal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, James 1973 births Living people People educated at Newington College Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowing coaches World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Australian twins Rowers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales