Luke Letcher (born 11 June 1994) is an Australian representative rower - a national champion, an underage world champion and an Olympian. He won a world title at the 2016

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic s ...

in Australia's U23 quad scull. He raced in the Australian men's quad scull at the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

to a bronze medal.

School, club and state rowing

Letcher began rowing aged 13 at

Radford College Radford College is an independent school, Anglican, coeducational day school, located in Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Founded in 1984, the college is named after Bishop Lewis Bostock Radford. It has a non-selective enrolme ...

in the ACT and his senior rowing has been from the Black Mountain Rowing Club, Canberra. He won a junior national title in a schoolboy coxed quad at the 2011

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 ...

. He won the national U19 single and quad scull titles in 2012, while still at school and racing for Radford College, and national U23 titles in all three sculling boat classes at the 2015

now racing in Australian selection crews in Black Mountain RC colours. From 2014 to 2016 Letcher competed for the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Boat Club (where he was studying engineering) at the national university championships winning single and double sculls events in 2015 and 2016. He was the 2016 ANU Sports Star of the Year. Letcher's first state selection for the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

was in the 2015 men's eight competing for the King's Cup as well as the single scull for the President's Cup at the National Interstate Regatta. In 2016 and 2017 Letcher was again the ACT representative single sculler at the Interstate regatta. He took the silver medal in 2017. In 2017 Letcher won the Australian quad scull championship rowing in a composite selection crew with

Caleb Antill Caleb Antill (born 8 August 1995) is an Australian representative rower. He is an Olympian, a multiple Australian national champion, was a 2016 U23 world champion and has represented at World Rowing Championships, winning medals in 2018 and 2022 ...

, Hamish Playfair and David Watts. In 2021 he again won an Australian championship title in the open men's quad scull.Guerin-Foster 2021 Australian national championship results
/ref>

International representative rowing

Letcher made his Australian representative debut in the quad scull at the World Junior Rowing Championships in 2012. In 2014 he was selected as Australia's single sculler for the

in Varese. In 2015 he rowed with Thomas Schramko in a double scull at the

. In 2016 at the

in Rotterdam, Letcher rowed in the three seat to an U/23 World Championship gold medal in the quad scull with Thomas Schramko,

and Robert Black.Letcher at World Rowing
/ref> In 2017 Letcher was selected in Australia's senior squad and rowed a double scull with David Watts at two World Rowing Cups in Europe and then at the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to host ...

. In 2018 Letcher rowed in the Australian quad at two World Rowing Cups and in the single scull at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

in Plovdiv Bulgaria. In 2019 Letcher was selected in the Australian senior men's squad for the international representative season. At the WRC II in Poznan he rowed in a double scull with David Bartholot and World Rowing Cup III in Rotterdam he rowed at six in the Australian eight. By the time of national team selections in 2021 for the delayed Tokyo Olympics, Letcher had forced his way into the Australian quad scull, which had qualified for the Olympics on 2019 performances. Letcher was selected to race that boat with

Cameron Girdlestone Cameron Girdlestone (born 29 April 1988) is an Australian representative rower. He is a five-time Australian national champion, a medalist at World Championships, a dual Olympian and an Olympic silver and bronze medallist. He raced in the Aus ...

and Jack Cleary in the other seats.Rowing Australia 2021 Olympic Team
/ref> This combination had won the Australian national title in the quad in 2021. In Tokyo the quad won their heat and progressed straight to the A final. They were behind the lead for much of the race but winds had blown up before the event and some crews struggled with their bladework in the chop. With Letcher in the stroke seat Australian quad kept their composure and technique and managed a bronze medal finish on the line.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Letcher, Luke Living people 1994 births Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing 21st-century Australian people Place of birth missing (living people) People educated at Radford College