Bruce Hick (born 20 August 1963 in

Rockhampton, Queensland Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

) is an Australian national champion, three time World Champion and dual Olympian lightweight rower. He represented Australia over a fifteen-year period and rowed at ten

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

Club and state rowing

A sculler, Hick's senior rowing started from the Leichhardt Rowing Club in

. He first began contesting national championships events at 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 ...

in 1985 in an u/23 single scull – he placed second. By 1987 Hick had relocated to Canberra. He represented the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

Boat Club in a lightweight pair and a lightweight four at the 1987 Australian Championships. The next year he rowed in ANU colours in a composite lightweight four and a lightweight eight. From 1989 Hick was sculling and he contested the Australian national lightweight sculls championship rowing for the Canberra Rowing Club. He placed third that year. He eventually won the national single sculls title in 1992 – tieing for first place with his representative partner Gary Lynagh and then outright in 1996. He raced in the New South Wales representative men's lightweight four who contested the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta in 1987 (to victory) and in 1988. He contested the heavyweight singles sculls championship – the President's Cup – representing New South Wales in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

International representative rowing

World Championships

Hick's first national representative selection was to the 1985 Match des Seniors in

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan ''comarca'' " Pla de l'Estany". Although an established industrial centre many of th ...

Spain – the equivalent at the time of today's

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 ...

. Hick stroked an Australian heavyweight double scull for fourth place. His first senior Australian representative selection was in the men's lightweight eight for Copenhagen 1987 coached by

Rusty Robertson Russell Robertson (1927 – 17 February 1990), known as Rusty Robertson, was a New Zealand-born, world class rowing coach of New Zealand and later, Australian national representative rowing crews. He was the national rowing coach of New Zealand ...

. They placed eighth. The following year at Milan 1988 he was picked in the lightweight four. That crew rowed a brilliant semi final rowing down the Swedes to earn their place in the final. They battled well in the final but finished sixth. Hick was selected for Australia at Lake Barrington 1990 in the lightweight Australian

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each h ...

. Hick rowed with Gary Lynagh and two Tasmanians –

Simon Burgess Simon Burgess (born 11 September 1967 in Franklin, Tasmania) is an Australian national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and dual Olympic silver medal-winning lightweight rower. He represented Australia ten times at World Ro ...

and Stephen Hawkins – to a bronze medal. The following year at Vienna 1991 that same crew won gold and a World Championship title. They rowed through the field and won by 0.23 seconds. In 1992 Stephen Hawkins was selected in the Olympic heavyweight double scull and so the champion lightweight quad was broken up. At the 1992 lightweight World Championships Hick and Lynagh had success as a double winning the lightweight double scull world championship title. They repeated this feat at Racice 1993. By Indianapolis 1994 Lynagh and Hick were rowing in the lightweight

coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

with South Australians Andrew Stunnell and James Seppelt. They took the silver medal.Bruce Hick at World Rowing
/ref> Hick was back in the lightweight double scull for Tampere 1995 with Anthony Edwards – he stroked that boat to a bronze medal. Hick took a break after the 1996 Olympics and in 1998 competed at both World Rowing Cup events on the international calendar before teaming with his old partner Gary Lynagh to race a double scull 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 ...

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. They had a disappointing result, finishing second in the repechage and third in the C/D semi-final for an overall 12th placing. At St Catharine's 1999 Hick was paired up with Haimish Karrasch in the double scull. With Karrash in the stroke seat they won their heat and showed great form in the final into a tough head wind taking the silver medal behind the Italians.

Olympics

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, ...

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first saw lightweight events introduced to the Olympic regatta. With their great technical proficiency Hick and Edwards were selected again in the double scull and were expected to medal. The Swiss brothers

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and Markus Gier were favourites and Hick and Edwards placed third beaten out by 0.21 by the Dutch crew for the silver medal. For Sydney 2000 Hick was again paired with Haimish Karrash in the lightweight double scull with Hick setting the pace this time. They won their heat and looked comfortable in the semi-final until with 500 m to go they were unable to match the final sprint in a very tight race. They finished fourth and missed the final. They easily won the B final, placing seventh overall. Aged 37, this was Hick's last international appearance for Australia. Hick was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

in the

1994 Australia Day Honours The 1994 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1994 by the Governor General of Australia, Bill Hayden. The Australia D ...

for "service to rowing".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hick, Bruce 1963 births Living people Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Australian male rowers ACT Academy of Sport alumni World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen Sportspeople from Rockhampton Sportsmen from Queensland