Jane Robinson (born 12 December 1969 in

Cobden, Victoria Cobden is a town located 200 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia named in honour of Richard Cobden. At the 2006 census, Cobden had a population of 1,813. At the 2001 census, Cobden had a population of 1,419. History Th ...

) is an Australian former rower - a national champion, three-time World Champion and triple Olympian. She competed at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in 1996, 2000 and 2004; and at

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non- Olympic years is the highlight of ...

in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, and 2003. She won World Championships as both a sculler and a sweep-oared rower. She attended Toorak College in Mount Eliza, Victoria.

Club and state rowing

Robinson's senior rowing was from the Melbourne Rowing Club where she started as an adult novice. She made her first state representative appearance for Victoria in the single sculls competition - racing for the Nell Slatter Trophy - in the 1995 Interstate Regatta at the

Australian Rowing Championships Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

. She represented for Victoria again in that event in 1996 and 1997. Following the 1996 Summer Olympics she took a scholarship 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 th ...

. She represented Victoria again at the national level in 2000 winning the Queen's Cup that year in the Victorian women's

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art * The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the ...

. From 2001 at the annual Interstate Regatta she rowed in ACT crews, figuring in ACT representative eights from 2001 to 2004.

International rowing career

Although she was a reserve for the Australian women's

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat 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 hand. ...

who competed at the

1995 World Rowing Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, Robinson's first international representative regatta was 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, ...

in that same boat. She beat out the veteran Australian sculler

Adair Ferguson Adair Janelle Ferguson (born 5 October 1955) is an Australian former World Champion lightweight rower. She became Australia's first female world champion rower in 1985 in only her second year of rowing. Club and state rowing Ferguson had repre ...

for the bow seat in the quad who finished ninth. Robinson became the first Melbourne Rowing Club female member to row at an Olympics.MRC History
/ref> In 1997 Robinson represented in both World Rowing Cups in Europe in a

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

with Gina Douglas in the lead up to 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 Lac d'Aiguebelette, France. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), ...

in Aiguebelette, where Douglas and Robinson made the final and finished in overall sixth place. In 1998 she moved into the Australian

who again performed credibly winning medals in that years World Rowing Cups. The quad with Robinson in the three seat placed third at Cologne 1998 and Robinson won a bronze - her first World Championship medal. Robinson and the coach Steve Evans were the only two to hold their roles in the quad into 1999. They only achieved a tenth place at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne and their eleventh-place result at the 1999 World Championships in St Catharine's was therefore consistent. In 2000 at the State and national representative level Robinson moved into sweep-oared boats. She made the Australian women's eight and stroked the crew to places at two World Rowing Cups in the lead up to the Olympics. For the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

Robinson was honoured to be the first Melbourne Rowing Club member to stroke an Australian Olympic crew. They finished in a credible fifth place in the final. Robinson was selected in the Australian squad for the 2001 international tour. In their first competitive outing of the 2001 season, racing as an

selection eight at

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

, Robinson won the 2001 Henley Prize for women's eights (from 2002 this event was renamed the

Remenham Challenge Cup The Remenham Challenge Cup is a rowing event for women's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to female crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may combine to ma ...

). She was then selected in two Australian senior crews for the World Rowing Cup IV regatta in Munich Germany. The

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat 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 rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on t ...

won that regatta and the Australian eight placed second but were on track for possible World Championship success. A month later at the

2001 World Rowing Championships The 2001 World Rowing Championships were held from 19 to 26 August 2001 at Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Medal table References {{Authority control World Rowing C ...

in Lucerne, Switzerland Robinson rowed at four in the Australian women's heavyweight crew stroked by Kristina Larsen to win Australia's first ever women's eight World Championship title.Robinson at World Rowing
/ref> With their excellent pre-Championship form Robinson doubled-up with Jo Lutz, Julia Wilson and Victoria Roberts in the coxless four and also won gold. Robinson came home in 2001 as a dual World Champion and a member of the first Australian crew to win the women's eight event at Henley. With just one seat change the Australian women's eight stayed together into 2002. Their European campaign ahead of the World Championships saw them take a bronze medal at the Rowing World Cup II in Lucerne and silver at the Rowing World Cup III in Munich. At the 2002 World Championships in Seville Spain, the Australian eight won their heat but were beaten out by the US by 0.45 seconds in the final. The Australians with Robinson again in the four seat just held out the Germans and Lutz won her fourth World Championship medal - a silver. In 2003 Robinson returned to sculling. She secured a seat in the competitive Australian women's quad with Dana Faletic, Kerry Hore and Amber Bradley, coached in Canberra by

Lyall McCarthy Lyall McCarthy OAM (born 19 May 1956) is a former Australian national champion lightweight rower and national rowing coach. He has coached Australian crews to gold medals at the World Rowing Championships and the Olympic Games. Club and state ...

. The crew performed well in the lead up winning at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. At the 2003 World Championships in Milan the quad won their heat in an impressive time. They sculled the final perfection leading at every mark. At the 1500m they had an unbeatable 3.45 second margin and finished more than 2 seconds ahead of Bulgaria. The quad won the gold and Robinson in the bow seat had her third and final World Championship title . Robinson made her third and final Olympic appearance at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. She qualified a double scull with Donna Martin. They finished fourth in their heat, third in repechage and made the B final for an overall ninth-place finish. It was Robinson's last Australian representative event.

Rowing palmares

Olympic Games

W4x two seat – ninth *

W8+ stroke – fifth *

W2X stroke - ninth

World Championships

* 1995 Tampere W4x reserve * 1997 Aiguebelette W2X stroke – sixth * 1998 Cologne W4x two seat - bronze * 1999 St Catharine's W4x stroke - eleventh * 2001 Lucerne W8+ four seat – gold * 2001 Lucerne W4- bow - gold * 2002 Seville W8+ four seat - silver * 2003 Milan W4x bow – gold

National Interstate Regatta

*1995 Interstate women's single scull (VIC) – fourth *1996 Interstate women's single scull (VIC) – third *1997 Interstate women's single scull (VIC) – third *2000 Interstate women's W8+ (VIC) five seat – first *2001 Interstate women's W8+ (ACT) six seat – third *2002 Interstate women's W8+ (ACT) six seat – fourth *2003 Interstate women's W8+ (ACT) six seat – fifth *2004 Interstate women's W8+ (ACT) stroke – fourth

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Jane 1969 births Living people Australian female rowers Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Australia ACT Academy of Sport alumni World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia 21st-century Australian women Sportswomen from Victoria (Australia)