Lily Jacoba van den Broecke (born 8 January 1992) is a British rower who competed at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

as the

coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...

in the mixed coxed four for Great Britain, and won the gold medal.

Personal life

Lily van den Broecke was born on 8 January 1992 in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, England. She is tall and weighed when she competed. She went to primary school at St Thomas' CE in Winchelsea East Sussex and moved to Oxford for secondary school. She was a student at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, belonging to

University College, Durham University College, informally known as Castle, is the oldest constituent college of Durham University in England. Centred on Durham Castle on Palace Green, it was founded in 1832 by William van Mildert, Bishop of Durham. As a constituent ...

more commonly known as Castle. Lily studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She now works at the British Film Institute in London and has a keen interest in film, art, and aesthetics. Lily maintains a fondness for classical music and spends much, if not most, of her spare time composing hymns for the recorder.

Rowing

She began rowing when she attended Headington School, Oxford. After competing in

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

for four years she tried out as a

cox Cox or COX may refer to: Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** Cox Automotive, an Atlanta-based busines ...

. In 2009, she coxed the junior women's eight crew to fourth place at the

Australian Youth Olympic Festival The Australian Youth Olympics Festival (AYOF) is an international multi-sport event organised by the Australian Olympic Committee for athletes from 13 to 19 years of age. The first event was held in 2001. Editions # 2001 Australian Youth Olympi ...

and a gold medal at the

Coupe de la Jeunesse The Coupe de la Jeunesse is an international rowing regatta rowed over 2,000 m every year. It was founded in 1985 and is open to rowers who are 18 or under by the end of the current calendar year. It is a two-day team event, with points awar ...

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

, France. In 2010, she won a gold medal coxing the junior women's eight at the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 Decemb ...

in Račice, Czech Republic. This was the first ever junior women's gold medal for the Great Britain Rowing Team. In 2011, she competed at the

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 ...

held at

Lake Bled Lake Bled () is a lake in the Julian Alps of the Upper Carniolan region of northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a tourist destination. The lake is from Ljubljana International Airport and from the capital ci ...

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

, Slovenia. She won a gold medal in the LTAMix4+ event coxing a crew of

Pam Relph Pamela Lillian Relph MBE (born 14 November 1989) is a British adaptive rower who won gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics, thus becoming the first double gold medallist in Paralympic rowing. Personal life Relph was ...

Naomi Riches Naomi Joy Riches Order of the British Empire, MBE, DL (born on 15 June 1983) is a British Adaptive rowing, adaptive rower who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Personal life Ric ...

, James Roe and David Smith. They completed the one kilometre course in a time of three minutes, 27.10 seconds, finishing nearly five seconds ahead of runners-up Canada. The result qualified a boat for Great Britain into the

in London. The crew repeated their gold medal result at the Munich World Cup event in 2012. She was selected to cox the crew of

, James Roe and David Smith in the mixed coxed four event for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The c ...

. The event took place between 31 August and 2 September at

Eton Dorney Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built Rowing (sport), rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, ...

in Buckinghamshire, and the GB crew won the gold medal. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to rowing and Paralympic sport.
Cabinet Office

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van den Broecke, Lily 1992 births Living people People from Lambeth Sportspeople from the London Borough of Lambeth English female rowers Rowers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers from London Alumni of University College, Durham Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire British coxswains (rowing) Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Great Britain Durham University Boat Club rowers Paralympic medalists in rowing 21st-century English sportswomen

Personal life

Rowing

See also

References