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The GB Rowing Team is the high performance arm of British Rowing. Rowing is the nation’s most continuously successful Olympic sport, having won a gold medal in every Olympic Games since 1984, and has won six Paralympic golds since the sport was introduced to the Paralympic Games programme in 2008.
GB Rowing Team
Rower // Women's Squad Date of Birth: 28th Mar 1991 (31 years old) Club: Oxford Brookes University BC Height: 181.00 Hometown: Oxford
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Olivia Carnegie-Brown joined the ranks of GB Rowing Team Start programme graduates to win an Olympic medal after securing a historic silver with the women's eight at Rio 2016.
Olivia Carnegie-Brown developed her talent at the Reading Start Centre. She won international medals at junior and under-23 level.
She raced across a number of boats during the Rio Olympiad before firmly establishing herself in the eight in 2015, going on to win European Championships gold and Olympic silver the following year.
Olivia joined the ranks of GB Rowing Team Start programme graduates to win an Olympic medal at Rio 2016
©Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images
2016
Olympic Silver Medalist Women's Eight
European Champion Women's Eight
2014
European Silver Medallist Women's Eight
2012
World U23 Silver Medallist Women's Eight
European Silver Medallist Women's Pair
European Bronze Medallist Women's Eight
2009
World Junior Silver Medallist Women's Four
2008
World Junior Bronze Medallist Women's Four
Carnegie-Brown was once again selected in the women’s eight at the start of the 2016 season and helped to secure an eye-catching gold at the European Championships in Brandenburg, with GB surging through to take the victory in a perfectly judged race. Another thrilling late push at the Lucerne World Cup saw the GB eight go mighty close to overhauling the Olympic and World Champions from the United States and they won silver again at the World Cup in Poznan, this time behind New Zealand.
No British women’s eight had won an Olympic medal before Rio 2016 but Carnegie-Brown and her crew mates ended that wait as they took silver in a photo-finish after an epic race Olympic final that featured another trademark surge through the field in the second half of the race.
She raced in the women’s eight throughout 2015 and helped qualify the boat for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a fourth-placed finish at the World Championships in Aiguebelette.
The season started with fifth place at the European Championships in Poznan, with the GB crew looking well on course for a medal until a boat-stopping crab in the closing stages.
They hit back with impressive bronze medals at the Varese and Lucerne World Cups, twice going under six minutes at the first of those, before finishing less than a second shy of the podium in Aiguebelette.
The 2013 World Cup season saw Carnegie-Brown race in the women’s quad scull in Sydney, finishing fourth, and in the women’s pair at Eton Dorney, finishing fifth. She then switched to the eight for the Lucerne World Cup and the World Championships in Chungju, finishing fourth in both.
Carnegie-Brown remained in the eight for the 2014 European Championships in Belgrade and won a silver medal before partnering Monica Relph in a second women’s pair at the World Cup in Aiguebelette, finishing 11th. She then replaced the injured Lucinda Gooderham in the quad scull for the Lucerne World Cup, placing seventh, and was selected as a sweep spare for the World Championships in Amsterdam.
Her first GB Rowing Team experience came in the women’s four at the 2008 and 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships, where she won bronze and silver respectively.
Carnegie-Brown then helped the eight to a fifth-placed finish at the 2011 World Rowing U23 Championships in Amsterdam before making her senior debut in the same boat in 2012, winning a bronze medal in Belgrade. She switched to the women’s pair, finishing ninth in a second GB crew with Jo Cook at the Lucerne World Cup before teaming up with Caragh McMurtry to win a silver medal at the World U23 Championships in Trakai. They repeated that feat at the European Championships in Varese and also won bronze medals in the eight.
Club: Oxford Brookes University BC Boat: Women’s Squad Role: Rower Coaches: Paul Thompson, Robin Williams Learnt to Row: Reading RC Original Club(s): Reading RC/Reading University BC Original Coach(es): Eira Parry, Henry Bailhache-Webb
Carnegie-Brown began her rowing career as part of the GB Rowing Team’s Start programme while still at school in Caversham. She trained under the guidance of Eira Parry for three years before moving to Oxford Brookes University.
She describes herself as “a chronic tidier”, saying she always feels more relaxed when her house or room is clean and tidy. She enjoys travelling to explore new countries and experiencing different cultures.
Box sets, movies and studying for her personal training diploma keep her occupied on training camps and she relaxes by listening to Kygo remixes, although Beyonce is her music of choice for a good singalong with the girls. Beyoncé would also be one of Olivia’s dream dinner guests, along with Michael McIntyre and Sir David Attenborough.
She is Lottery funded through UK Sport.
