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Jaime Francisco Fernandez (born 4 April 1971) 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 ...
. He was a national champion, a three-time Olympian and an Australian representative at five
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 ...
. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the men's eight.


Early life and studies

Fernandez was born in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. He grew up in the remote mining town of
Gove, Northern Territory The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Gove ...
, but moved to
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
for high school, where he attended Christian Brothers College. His main sporting interest at the time was
Australian Rules Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
, but he was required to participate in a summer sport as well, and he selected rowing. Fernandez was quoted in the Yass Tribune: "At school, we had to play a summer sport. I had a mate who did a bit of rowing… so I thought 'ah well, I'll give it a go'." He later studied science at the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
. During this time, he was recruited to the
Adelaide University Boat Club The Adelaide University Boat Club is a rowing club affiliated with the University of Adelaide. The club was founded in 1881, and in 1896 helped to form the Adelaide University Sports Association. The main clubrooms, donated by Robert Barr Smith ...
when one of the regular members fell ill. He quickly rediscovered his love for the sport, and by the age of 19 was rowing for Australia.


State and club rowing

Fernandez made his first state crew for South Australia in the 1991 South Australian men's eight contesting the King's Cup 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 ...
. He raced again in South Australian King's Cup crews in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and stroked those crews in 1992, 1993, 1994. After accepting a scholarship to the
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 ...
and during his senior Australian representative years, Fernandez raced the King's Cup in
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
crews. He rowed in the five seat of the ACT eight in 1997 to a King's Cup victory and rowed in three more ACT eights in 1998, 1999 and 2000.


International representative rowing

Fernandez' Australian representative debut came at the
1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...
when he was selected amongst a number of other new faces in the men's eight. They rowed to a fifth placing in the Olympic final. In 1993 Fernandez rowed in the four seat of the men's eight who competed at the
1993 World Rowing Championships The 1993 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 5 September 1993 at Račice, Czech Republic. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References {{World Rowing Cham ...
on Racize, Croatia and placed fourth. By this time he was in residence at the
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 ...
and training with the Australian heavyweight sweep-oared squad under head coach
Reinhold Batschi Reinhold Batschi OAM (born 20 August 1942 in Sânpetru, Brașov County, Romania) is a former Romanian rower and leading Australian rowing coach. He was the inaugural Head Coach of the Australian Institute of Sport's rowing program and Head Coa ...
. In 1994 Batschi selected Fernandez and Nick Porzig in an Australian coxed four with David Weightman, Shane McLaughlin and with
Brett Hayman Brett Hayman (born 3 May 1972 in Melbourne) is an Australian three time world champion, a dual Olympian and an Australian national champion rowing coxswain. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics steering the Australian men's eight ...
on the rudder. They placed fifth at the
World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
in Indianapolis. That four also contested and won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Regatta in Ontario, Canada held alongside the
1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...
. In 1995 Fernandez was back in the Australian eight where he would stay for the rest of national representative career. At the
1995 World Rowing Championships The 1995 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 28 August 1995 at Lake Kaukajärvi, Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakel ...
in Tampere Finland and stroked by Rob Scott they finished overall eleventh. Fernandez, Porzig,
Hayman Hayman is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Al Hayman (1847–1917), business partner of Charles Frohman in ''Theatrical Syndicate'' *Andy Hayman, CBE, QPM (born 1959), retired British police officer, ...
, Rob Jahrling, 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 ...
remained in the Australian eight into the 1996 Olympic year and were joined in the crew by the Stewart
twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...
and the New South Wales pair of
Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...
and Wearne taking over in the stern end. At the
1996 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, ...
the Australian eight rowed to a sixth place. Following a post-Olympic break Fernandez stepped back into the five seat of the eight for 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 where they rowed to a sixth placing. In 1999 the crew raced at the World Rowing Cup III before contesting 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 Catharine's Canada where they missed the A final and finished in seventh place. In 2000 the Australian eight qualified for the Olympics and raced at two Rowing World Cups in the lead up campaign as well as 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 they raced 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 ...
eight and won that year's
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 ...
. At Sydney 2000 with Fernandez at stroke, the Australian eight won their heat in a pace that blew away the eventual gold medallists Great Britain. However, in the final Great Britain returned the favour and blew the Australian eight away in the first 1500 metres and having started slowly their late sprint home left them 0.8 seconds behind the Brits at the line and to take the silver Olympic medal in a thrilling finish.Fernandez at World Rowing
/ref> Fernandez retired from rowing following the Sydney Olympics.


Post competitive rowing

In 1999, Fernandez married Mary-Jane Harding of
Yass, New South Wales Yass () is a town on the periphery of the Southern Tablelands and South West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia. The name appears to have been derived from an Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" (or "Yharr"), said to mean 'running ...
. In 2014 he became Deputy National Performance Director at Rowing Australia. in 2021, he was inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame. In November 2023, he was indicted into the
University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...
Sports Walk of Fame.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Jaime 1971 births Living people Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Australian male rowers ACT Academy of Sport alumni Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from the Northern Territory University of Canberra alumni