Melanie Wilson (born 25 June 1984) is a British rower who competed for the GB rowing team.
/ref> At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she competed in the Women's quadruple sculls. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she won a silver medal in the women's eight.

Biography

Born in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Wilson spent her early years in Japan and Hong Kong before moving to the UK in 2002 to take an honours degree in Biochemistry and Genetics at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. She was educated at Island School in Hong Kong. After graduating she spent 6 months in

Kilifi Kilifi is a town on the coast of Kenya, northeast of Mombasa by road. The town lies on the Kilifi Creek and sits on the estuary of the Goshi River. Kilifi is the capital of Kilifi County and had a population of 122,899 during the 2009 census. ...

, Kenya working on research into malaria under the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme. In 2007, she completed a master's degree in Biochemical Engineering at UCL before enrolling in

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

to sit for a post-graduate degree in medicine.GB Rowing
/ref> After she was selected to join the GB Rowing team she suspended her medical studies in 2010 to focus on competing for a place in a GB boat in the London 2012 Olympics. Following the London Olympics she resumed her medical studies and withdrew from full-time competitive rowing in September 2013. She graduated in July 2014 and returned to full-time rowing with the aim of competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Initially selected for the GBRowing quadruple sculls she was moved into the eight in early 2016 and selected to compete in this boat class at Rio de Janeiro in June 2016. She retired from international rowing after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to continue her medical career.

Career

2011

In Munich at the first World Cup of 2011 Wilson, in the absence of injured Anna Watkins, raced with

Katherine Grainger Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a Scottish athlete. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion for Great Britain. She served as Chancellor of Oxford Broo ...

in the women's double and won a gold medal, with clear water between them and the boats of USA and Belarus in silver and bronze positions respectively. Wilson moved into the women's quadruple scull for the Lucerne World Cup, where she won a silver medal. At 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, Wilson raced in the women's quadruple scull with crewmates Debbie Flood, Beth Rodford and Annabel Vernon, finishing 7th. This was sufficient to qualify the boat for the 2012 London Olympics but a below form finish and a result which Wilson described as 'the biggest disappointment of my life'.

2012

At the 2012 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials held on 10/11 March at Eton/Dorney, Wilson finished 5th in the women's single scull. She was subsequently selected to race in the quadruple scull at the Belgrade World Cup in May 2012. In the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics Wilson then competed in the World Cup quadruple scull races at Lucerne and Munich. At the 2012 London Olympics at Dorney Lake, Eton Wilson raced with Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton and Beth Rodford in the GB quadruple sculls boat. The boat qualified for the A Final but failed to deliver a competitive performance in the finals and finished outside the medals in 6th place.

2013

In 2013 Wilson raced in a single scull at the Eton Dorney World Cup, where she won the B Final, then in the Women's Eight at Lucerne, finishing fourth, and again in the Women's Eight at the World Championships in South Korea where the boat finished fourth.

2014

In October 2014 Wilson, rowing with

Emma Twigg Emma Kimberley Twigg (born 1 March 1987) is a New Zealand Rowing (sport), rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's single sculls, fourth Olympics in Tokyo in Jul ...

from New Zealand, won the 2014 British Rowing Senior Championships double sculls at Nottingham. In November 2014 Wilson won the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the The Championship Course, Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the ...

on the River Thames.

2015

On 14 March 2015 Wilson was part of the composite crew that won the

Women's Eights Head of the River Race The Women's Eights Head of the River Race (WEHoRR) is a processional rowing race held annually on the Tideway of the River Thames in London on the Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. A mirror of the Eights Head of the River for ma ...

on the River Thames in London, setting a time of 18:58.6 for the 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km)

Championship Course The Championship Course is a stretch of the River Thames between Mortlake and Putney in London, England. It is a well-established course for sport rowing, rowing races, particularly the The Boat Race, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. The course ...

from

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

. The crew comprised:

Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower. As a member of the Great Britain rowing team, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champ ...

– Army RC; Helen Glover – Minerva-Bath RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC;

– Marlow RC; Melanie Wilson; Caragh McMurtry – Southampton Coalporters ARC; Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Oxford Brookes University BC; Jessica Eddie – London RC; cox Phelan Hill –

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior ...

.WEHORR Results = 2015
Wilson competed in the GBRowing women's quadruple sculls through the 2015 World Rowing regatta program. The boat's best performance came at the European Rowing Championship event at Poznan in Poland where it finished fourth in the A Final. At the Olympic qualifying World Championship event at Aiguebelette, France the boat could only manage a 2nd place in the B Finals and therefore failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

2016

Wilson moved into the GBRowing Women's 8 boat in 2016. In the run up to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics the crew achieved successive podium finishes at Brandenburg (European Championship – Gold medal), Lucerne (World Cup – Silver medal) and Poznan (World Cup – Silver medal). In June 2016 Wilson was selected to row in the GB women's eight at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. She won a silver medal in the women's eight at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

World Rowing results

References

External links

*
Melanie Wilson – Rowing (From Daily Echo)

London 2012: Melanie Wilson powers into women’s quadruple sculls final – Olympics Sport – London24

London 2012: Melanie Wilson crashes to last place finish in quadruple sculls – Olympics Sport – London24

London 2012: Disaster for Melanie Wilson as Team GB come last in Women’s Quadruple Sculls heat – Olympics Sport – London24
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Melanie 1984 births Living people British female rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Southampton People educated at Island School Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of University College London Alumni of Imperial College London Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing