Caroline Frances Meyer (born 10 October 1978), better known under her maiden name Caroline Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand 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 ...

. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Georgina Evers-Swindell. In November 2005 she and her sister were named ''Rowing Female Crew of the Year'' by the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (officially FISA; ), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2 ...

(FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the

Thomas Keller Medal The Thomas Keller Medal is given by the World Rowing Federation (FISA) for an outstanding international career in the sport of rowing. It is the highest honor in rowing and is awarded to any athlete within five years of his/her retirement from the ...

Early life

Meyer was born in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, New Zealand, on 10 October 1978. She grew up on an orchard, and attended a Steiner School.

Career

The twins narrowly missed the qualification for the

2000 Summer 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 ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

; in the crucial race in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

where they had to come second in order to qualify, they came third. In 2001, she won silver at the World Championships in both the double and quadruple sculls. Together with her sister she won gold at both the 2002 and 2003 World Rowing Championships in the double sculls. She also won, again with her sister, the 2004 Olympic gold medal. Caroline was coached by Dick Tonks and represented Hamilton Rowing Club. In the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; ...

, she was made an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to rowing. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing, she and her sister won gold medals in the women's double sculls, beating the German double by 1/100 of a second, 7:07.32 versus 7:07.33. This was the first time in history that the women's double scull title had successfully been defended. She and her sister announced their retirement from rowing in October 2008. In December 2008, she and her sister won the Lonsdale Cup which is awarded by the

New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...

to the athlete/s who make the most outstanding contribution to an Olympic sport. They previously won the cup in 2003.

Personal life

In December 2009, Evers-Swindell married former Olympic rower

Carl Meyer Carl Meyer may refer to: * Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet (1851–1922), banker * Carl Meyer (rower) Carl James Meyer (born 3 September 1981) is a New Zealand rower. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics Th ...

. She now styles herself Caroline Meyer.

References

Sources

External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Evers-Swindell, Caroline 1978 births Living people New Zealand female rowers New Zealand twins Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing Waldorf school alumni Sportspeople from Hastings, New Zealand Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Thomas Keller Medal recipients