Joseph O'Brien (rower)

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Joseph O'Brien
Personal information
Born1 March 1998 (1998-03) (age 23)
EducationSt Joseph's, Hunters Hill
Years active2017-current
Sport
SportRowing
ClubSydney University Boat Club
Achievements and titles
National finalsKing's Cup 2019
Olympic finalsTokyo 2020 M8+
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Australia

Joseph "Jack" O'Brien (born 1 March 1998) is an Australian representative rower. He is an Australian national champion, has represented at under-aged and senior world championships and won two gold medals at World Rowing Cups in the 2019 international representative season. He rowed in the Australian men's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.[1] [2]

Club and state rowing[]

Born in Dubbo, New South Wales,[3] O'Brien was boarding at Tudor House School in Bowral from an early age and then attended St Joseph's College Hunters Hill where he took up rowing. [4] His senior club rowing has been from the Sydney University Boat Club.

O'Brien's first state representation for New South Wales came in 2017 when he was selected in the New South Wales youth eight to contest the Noel F Wilkinson Trophy at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships.[5] He stroked that crew to Interstate Championship victories in both 2017 and 2018.[6]

In 2019 O'Brien was selected in the New South Wales men's senior eight which won the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta.[7] At the New South Wales State Championships in February 2020 rowing with Jack Hargreaves, he won the men's elite pair. In 2021 he stroked the New South Wales men's eight to their second placing in the King's Cup. [8] At that year's Australian championships he stroked a composite coxless four of Australian representative squad oarsmen who finished 2nd in that national title event to another Australian selection trial crew. [9]

International representative rowing[]

O'Brien made his Australian representative debut in the coxed four at the World Junior Rowing Championships in 2016. They rowed to a fifth placing. In 2018 he was selected with Andrew Judge in a coxless pair to compete at both the World Rowing U23 Championships and the World Championships. They finished in seventh pace at the U/23 championships and in 13th place at the World Championships in Plovdiv. [10]

In 2019 O'Brien was selected in the Australian senior men's sweep squad for the international representative season. In an effort to qualify the men's pair for the 2020 Olympics, selectors broke up the Australian dual world champion coxless four into other boats giving O'Brien an opportunity in the four. Rowing with Tim Masters, Nicholas Purnell and Jack Hargreaves, O'Brien took the gold medal in the Australian coxless four at both the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan and at WRC III in Rotterdam. [10] O'Brien, Hargreaves, Hill, and Purnell were selected to race Australia's coxless four at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria.[11] The four were looking for a top eight finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.[12] They won their heat and semi-final, thereby qualifying the boat for Tokyo 2020. [10] Unexpectedly as race favourites, they finished last in the final for an overall world sixth place.[10]

By the time of national team selections in 2021 for the delayed Tokyo Olympics, Spencer Turrin regained the stroke seat in the Australian coxless four and O'Brien was selected to stroke the Australian men's senior eight which had also qualified on its 2019 international performances. [13] In Tokyo the Australian men's eight placed fourth in their heat, fourth in the repechage and sixth in the Olympic A final.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ 2021 Aust Olympic Crews
  2. ^ Firmed Aust 2021 crews
  3. ^ O'Brien at AOC
  4. ^ "Cerise & Blue", SJC OBU magazine July 2018
  5. ^ 2017 Austn Interstate C'ships
  6. ^ 2018 Austn Interstate C'ships
  7. ^ 2019 Interstate Regatta
  8. ^ 2021 Austn Interstate Regatta
  9. ^ 2021 Austn Championships
  10. ^ a b c d e O'Brien at World Rowing
  11. ^ 2019 WRC entry list
  12. ^ 2019 World C'ship selections
  13. ^ Rowing Aust 2021 Olympic Team

External links[]

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