Geoffrey Peter 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

Geoffrey's twin brother

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

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 Athens 2004 may refer to: * 2004 Summer Olympics * 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internati ...

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 Geoff Stewart won a world championship or Olympic medal, he was racing with his brother James who won the same medal.

Club and state rowing

Geoff Stewart's senior club rowing was from the

UTS Haberfield Rowing Club UTS Haberfield Rowing Club in Sydney was formed as Haberfield Rowing Club in 1925. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's, Iron Cove at Dobroyd Point since 1926. The club had a senior and lightweight Sydney premiership & national com ...

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 King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

at the Interstate Regatta. He stroked the 2002 eight and only the 2004 crew was victorious, with the Stewart brothers suffering a long period of Victorian

dominance.

International representative rowing

Geoffrey 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 James. They rowed to a silver medal 1/3 of a second behind the winning Italians.G Stewart at World Rowing
/ref> In 1995 at the

in Groningen the brothers took the gold medal in the coxless pair. In 1996 Geoffrey and James 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 Australian 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. Geoffrey was in the two seat of the eight for their bronze medal result in the final. Their 1997 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 Geoff 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 Geoff 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 ...

Geoff and James 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.

Post competitive rowing

Geoff Stewart completed a Bachelor and a master's degree in education. He has either taught or coached rowing at

St Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys located in Riverview, a small suburb on the Lane Cove River on the Lower North Shore of Sydney. Established in ...

and

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

. In 2007 and 2008 he was the Men's Head Coach at

. Since 2011 he has taught and coached rowing at

Shore School The Sydney Church of England Grammar School (commonly known as Shore or Shore School) is an independent Anglican school for boys located on Sydney's Lower North Shore, New South Wales, Australia. The school operates across two campuses, offer ...

in Sydney. Geoff coached the Shore school 3rd and 4th IV to many victories alongside assistant coach Nigel CollinsGeoff Stewart LinkedIn
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Geoff 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