Jaime Fernandez (rower)
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's rowing | ||
Representing  Australia
| ||
| Olympics Games | ||
 |
2000 Sydney | Men's eight |
Jaime Francisco Fernandez (born 4 April 1971) is a former Australian rower. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the men's VIII.
Early life and studies
Fernandez was born in Melbourne. He grew up in the remote mining town of Gove, Northern Territory, but moved to Adelaide for high school, where he attended Christian Brothers College. His main sporting interest at the time was Australian Rules Football, but he was required to participate in a summer sport as well, and he selected rowing. Fernandez was quoted in the Yass Tribune: "At school, we had to play a summer sport. I had a mate who did a bit of rowing… so I thought ‘ah well, I’ll give it a go' "[1]
He went on to study science at Adelaide University. During this time, he was recruited to the Adelaide University Boat Club when one of the regular members fell ill. He quickly rediscovered his love for the sport, and by the age of 19 was rowing for Australia.[2]
Representative rowing career
Fernandez competed in the Men's Eight at the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games, winning the silver medal at Sydney. He also competed in five World Rowing Championships ('93, '94, '95, '98, '99) and the 1994 Commonwealth Games, where he won the gold medal in the Men's four. He retired from rowing following the Sydney Olympics.[3]
In 2000 the Australian eight qualified for the Olympics and raced at two Rowing World Cups in the lead up campaign as well as at the Henley Royal Regatta where they raced as an Australian Institute of Sport eight and won the that year's Grand Challenge Cup. [4] At Sydney 2000 with Fernandez at stroke, the Australian eight won their heat in a pace that blew away the eventual gold medallists Great Britain. However in the final they started slowly and their late sprint home left them 0.8 seconds behind the the Brits at the line and to take the silver Olympic medal in a thrilling finish. [5] [4]
Post competitive rowing
In 1999, Fernandez married Mary-Jane Harding of Yass, New South Wales. In 2014 he became Deputy National Performance Director at Rowing Australia.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/local/news/general/sharing-the-olympic-spirit-jaime-fernandez-remembers/1238145.aspx?storypage=0
- ^ http://www.yasstribune.com.au/news/local/news/general/sharing-the-olympic-spirit-jaime-fernandez-remembers/1238145.aspx
- ^ http://www.rowingaustralia.com.au/athletes.asp?cmd=Details&ID=23
- ^ a b Fernandez at World Rowing
- ^ 2000 Olympics at Guerin Foster
- ^ http://canoe.org.au/2014/04/01/ais-commences-new-podium-coach-development-program-for-2014/
External links
- Jaime Fernandez at World Rowing
- Jaime Francisco Fernandez at Olympics.com
- Jaime Fernandez at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
  | This article about an Australian Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article relating to Australian rowing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Rowers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Australia
- Olympic medalists in rowing
- Australian male rowers
- ACT Academy of Sport alumni
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Australian Olympic medalist stubs
- Australian rowing biography stubs