Erin Kennedy MBE
Cox // Para-Rowing Squad
Date of Birth: 5th Aug 1992 (30 years old)
Club: Leander Club
Height: 160cm
Hometown: Wantage
Paralympian gold medalist Erin Kennedy (née Wysocki-Jones) brings a wealth of high level coxing experience to the senior squad.
Cox of the victorious Oxford women’s blue boat in 2014, Erin joined Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames to continue coxing after her studies.
She was spare for the Paralympic Mix4+ in Rio 2016 and trialled for the Senior Women’s 8+ in the 2017 Season. March 2017 saw her steer a women’s eight of returning Olympians to victory at the Women’s Eights Head of the River Race. She then coxed GB’s women’s eight to fourth at the European Rowing Championships in Racice.
She moved across to trial for the Paralympic programme in the 2018 season and was selected for the World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Erin coxed the crew to their eighth consecutive World Championship gold medal in a hard fought race against their main rivals, the USA.
Erin was once again selected for the coxing seat for the 2019 Season and steered the crew to two gold medals at the International Para Rowing Regatta in Gavirate, Italy. At the 2019 World Championships, the PR3Mix4+ dominated the field to win the event by 12 seconds, whilst also claiming a qualification spot for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where she coxed her boat to a gold medal. The crew also won the European Championships in 2021.
In 2022, she won gold again in the PR3 Mixed 4+ at World Cup I and the European Championships, after which she took time out to focus on treatment for breast cancer.
After receiving the all-clear, she coxed the PR3 Mixed 4+ to victory again at the European Rowing Championships in 2023.
Success is 5% brains, 95% consistency
On The Water
GB Competitive Record
| Year | Event | Position | Boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | European Rowing Championships Bled, SLO |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2022 | European Rowing Championships Munich, GER |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2022 | World Cup I Belgrade, SRB |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2020 | Paralympic Games Tokyo, JPN |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2021 | European Rowing Championships Varese, ITA |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2019 | Gavirate | PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2019 | World Rowing Championships Linz Ottensheim, AUT |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2018 | World Rowing Championships Plovdiv, BUL |
PR3 Mix4+ | |
| 2017 | European Rowing Championships Racice, CZE |
4 | W8+ |
- Year:
- 2023
- Event:
- European Rowing Championships
Bled, SLO - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2022
- Event:
- European Rowing Championships
Munich, GER - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2022
- Event:
- World Cup I
Belgrade, SRB - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2020
- Event:
- Paralympic Games
Tokyo, JPN - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2021
- Event:
- European Rowing Championships
Varese, ITA - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2019
- Event:
- Gavirate
- Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2019
- Event:
- World Rowing Championships
Linz Ottensheim, AUT - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2018
- Event:
- World Rowing Championships
Plovdiv, BUL - Position:
- Boat:
- PR3 Mix4+
- Year:
- 2017
- Event:
- European Rowing Championships
Racice, CZE - Position:
- 4
- Boat:
- W8+
Beyond the Boat
Music: My music taste is pretty rogue, from Stormzy to West End Musicals. Basically anything that resonates with me and I can sing along to.
Films/TV: Anything Marvel
Hobbies: I am the team’s resident baker, I also love gardening and have an allotment and in lockdown I picked up sewing!
Dream dinner guests: Elizabeth I, Sandi Toksvik and my giant extended family
Sports I follow: International Rugby, Tennis, Formula 1
If I wasn’t a rower…. I would be running my own business
Sports I’d like to compete in… Tennis!