Rebecca Scown (born 10 August 1983) is a Silver and Bronze Olympic medalist

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 ...

from New Zealand. Together with Genevieve Behrent, she won the silver medal in the women's coxless pair 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 ...

. At the same Olympic games she doubled up to compete in New Zealand's first ever Olympic women's eight placing 4th. Previous to this with

Juliette Haigh Juliette Anne Haigh (born 4 August 1982), also known by her married name Juliette Drysdale but better known by her maiden name, is a retired professional Rowing (sport), rower. Haigh was born in 1982 in Auckland, New Zealand. Her parents are Pe ...

, she won the bronze medal in the women's coxless pair 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 ...

. Juliette and Rebecca won gold in the women's pair at the

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

regatta in Lucerne, 2010 and at the

2010 World Rowing Championships The 2010 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 October to 7 November 2010 on Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, New Zealand. The annual week-long rowing (sport), rowing regatta was or ...

at Lake Karapiro and the

2011 World Rowing Championships The 2011 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 28 August to 4 September 2011 at Lake Bled, adjoining the Slovenian city of Bled. The annual week-long rowing regatta is organized by World Rowing Federatio ...

in Bled. Rebecca created history stroking the New Zealand's women's eight at the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette-le-Lac in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by ...

where they won the first ever silver medal for New Zealand in the event, and in doing so qualified the eight for the Olympic Games in Rio. After winning a bronze medal with the New Zealand women's eight 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 ...

, she retired from the sport.

Personal life

Scown was born in

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was establishe ...

in 1983. Sonia Waddell (née Scown), a fellow competitive rower, is her cousin. Her uncle

Alistair Scown Alistair Ian Scown (born 21 October 1948) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He has five caps as an All Black. All his test appearances were in 1972. Scown is known for being a player involved in what has been described as "the greatest try o ...

(Waddell's father) is a former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. She completed her schooling at

Wanganui Collegiate School Whanganui Collegiate School is a state-integrated, coeducational, day and boarding secondary school located in Whanganui, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. Affiliated with the Anglican Church, it is the third oldest school in ...

. She participated in a number of extra-curricular activities during her schooling years, most notably

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

which she took up during her final years at

. Her teachers saw potential in her and allowed Scown to participate in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Regatta for Collegiate. Scown was accepted to the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

to study both

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

and completed her

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

Marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

before moving north to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in the

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

to begin her career as a full-time

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. Since the completion of her degree, Rebecca has also achieved a

postgraduate diploma fILE:Prédio Pós Graduação IMECC Unicamp.jpg, The State University of Campinas, as well as many Brazilian universities, offer Postgraduate courses in Brazil A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PGD) is a postgraduat ...

Sport Management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

Rowing career

During her summer holidays, Scown would go home to

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

and compete in the

Rowing New Zealand Rowing New Zealand is the sports governing body for rowing in New Zealand. Its purpose is to provide leadership and support to enable an environment of success for the New Zealand rowing community. This includes secondary schools, clubs, masters ...

Summer season. In 2005, which was her final year at University, she received a

trial and was named a member of the New Zealand Under-23 Women's

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell 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 h ...

with fellow members Bess Halley, Darnelle Timbs, and Clementine Marshall. Scown and her crew mates competed at the Under-23 World Championships in Amsterdam and won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

. In 2006, Scown rowed for the Union Boat Club in

and the Central Regional Performance Centre, gaining a number of places at the

Championships on

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for ...

. She was then named as a member of the New Zealand Women's Rowing Eight to compete at the

2006 World Rowing Championships The 2006 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 27 August 2006 at Dorney Lake, Dorney, Great Britain. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Pararowing The Pararowi ...

in Eton, England. The crew came in 7th. A year later, Scown competed at the

2007 World Rowing Championships The 2007 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 26 August to 2 September 2007 at Oberschleißheim Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim near Munich, Germany. Medal summary Men's events Non-Olympic classes ...

in Munich, Germany as part of the New Zealand Women's Rowing Eight. However, once again, Scown and her crew returned home empty-handed as they came in 9th. Scown was later named as the stroke of the New Zealand Women's Eight which was sent to the

Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification Qualification rules A nation may earn up to 1 boat in each of the 14 Rowing events. Note that though crew members' names are given below, for boats which qualified at the 2007 World Championships the crew racing at the Olympics is not required to ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Poland, however, her crew was unsuccessful in their bid to qualify for the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

. 2009 provided the opportunity for her to secure a seat in the New Zealand Women's Pair. Scown was named in the boat with fellow eight-rower Emma Feathery and the pair competed at two World Rowing Cup events, winning both world cups and becoming World Rowing Cup leaders for their event in 2009. They went on to compete in the

2009 World Rowing Championships The 2009 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 23 to 30 August 2009 at Lake Malta, Poznań, Poland. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), and hel ...

, Poland, and found themselves in one of the closest races of the regatta; there was only 1 second within the first three crews in the race and Scown and Feathery came in third, winning the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. In 2010, Juliette Haigh who was in the New Zealand Women's Pair from 2004 to 2008 returned to the event and partnered with Scown in the boat. The pair competed at two World Rowing Cup events and convincingly won both finals and the World Rowing Cup leadership jerseys, making them favourites for the

to be held at

in November 2010. She won a silver medal at the

with the women's eight, qualifying the boat for the

2016 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 ...

. She also competed in the

coxless pair A coxless pair, abbreviated as a 2- and also known as a straight pair, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each ...

in Rio and with Genevieve Behrent won silver, beaten by the reigning Olympic champions

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 ...

and Helen Glover of Great Britain. Behrent announced in November 2016 that she would take a break in 2017, hence Scown will need a new rowing partner. Scown rowed with the women's eight in 2017 and won a bronze medal at the

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. Scown will take the 2017/18 rowing season off, and will review her involvement in rowing during that time.

References

External links

* * * *
Video interview
with Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh {{DEFAULTSORT:Scown, Rebecca Living people New Zealand female rowers 1983 births University of Otago alumni Sportspeople from Hāwera Rowers from Whanganui Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for New Zealand Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School Massey University alumni 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen