Melanie Wilson (rower)
Melanie Wilson (born 25 June 1984) is a British rower who competed for the GB rowing team.[1][2] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed in the Women's quadruple sculls.[3][4]
Contents
Biography
Born in Southampton, Wilson spent her early years in Japan and Hong Kong before moving to the UK in 2002 to take an honours degree in Biochemistry and Genetics at the University of Nottingham.[2] After graduating she spent 6 months in Kilifi, Kenya working on research into malaria under the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme.[2] In 2007 she completed a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering at UCL before enrolling in Imperial College London to sit for a post-graduate degree in medicine.[5] After she was selected to join the GB Rowing team she suspended her medical studies in 2010 to focus on competing for a place in a GB boat in the London 2012 Olympics.
Wilson withdrew from full-time competitive rowing in September 2013 to resume her medical studies.
Wilson has a rowing scholarship from Imperial College London and competes at club level in the colours of Imperial College Boat Club. She lives in Hammersmith, London.[6]
Career
2011
In Munich at the first World Cup of 2011 Wilson, in the absence of injured Anna Watkins, raced with Katherine Grainger in the women's double and won a gold medal, with clear water between them and the boats of USA and Belarus in silver and bronze positions respectively. Wilson moved into the women's quadruple scull for the Lucerne World Cup, where she won a silver medal.[5]
At 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, Wilson raced in the women's quadruple scull with crewmates Debbie Flood, Beth Rodford and Annabel Vernon, finishing 7th.[5] This was sufficient to qualify the boat for the 2012 London Olympics but a below form finish and a result which Wilson described as the ‘the biggest disappointment of my life’.[6]
2012
At the 2012 GB Rowing Team Senior Trials held on 10/11 March at Eton/Dorney, Wilson finished 5th in the women's single scull. She was subsequently selected to race in the quadruple scull at the Belgrade World Cup in May 2012.[7] In the lead up to the 2012 London Olympics Wilson then competed in the World Cup quadruple scull races at Lucerne and Munich.
At the 2012 London Olympics at Dorney Lake, Eton Wilson raced with Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton and Beth Rodford in the GB quadruple sculls boat. The boat qualified for the A Final but failed to deliver a competitive performance in the finals and finished outside the medals in 6th place.
2013
In 2013 Wilson raced in a single scull at the Eton Dorney World Cup, where she won the B Final, then in the Women's Eight at Lucerne, finishing fourth, and again in the Women's Eight at the World Championships in South Korea where the boat finished fourth.
2014
In October 2014 Wilson, rowing with Emma Twigg from New Zealand, won the 2014 British Rowing Senior Championships double sculls at Nottingham.
In November 2014 Wilson won the Wingfield Sculls on the River Thames.
2015
On 14 March 2015 Wilson was part of the composite crew that won the Women's Eights Head of the River Race on the River Thames in London, setting a time of 18:58.6 for the 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course from Mortlake to Putney. The crew comprised: Heather Stanning – Army RC; Helen Glover – Minerva-Bath RC; Zoe Lee – Imperial College BC; Katherine Grainger – Marlow RC; Melanie Wilson; Caragh McMurtry – Southampton Coalporters ARC; Olivia Carnegie-Brown – Oxford Brookes University BC; Jessica Eddie – London RC; cox Phelan Hill – Leander Club.[8]
World Rowing Results
| Event | Venue | Class | Race | Position / Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 World Championships | Chungju Tangeum Lake, Korea | W8+ | Final A | 4th 06:11.80 |
| 2013 World Cup | Lucerne Rotsee, Switzerland | W8+ | Final A | 4th 06:04.84 |
| 2013 World Cup | Eton Dorney Lake, Great Britain | W1x | Final B | 1st 07:39.64 |
| 2012 Olympic Games | Eton Dorney Lake, Great Britain | W4x | Final A | 6th 06:51.54 |
| 2012 World Cup | Munich Oberschleissheim, Germany | W4x | Final A | 3rd 06:37.57 |
| 2012 World Cup | Lucerne Rotsee, Switzerland | W4x | Final A | 5th 06:23.73 |
| 2012 World Cup | Belgrade Sava, Serbia | W4x | Final A | 3rd 06:25.23 |
| 2011 World Championships | Bled Blejsko jezero, Slovenia | W4x | Final B | 1st 06:30.33 |
| 2011 World Cup | Lucerne Rotsee, Switzerland | W4x | Final A | 2nd 06:35.28 |
| 2011 World Cup | Munich Oberschleissheim, Germany | W2x | Final A | 1st 06:57.52 |
| 2010 World Cup | Bled Blejsko jezero, Slovenia | W1x | Final B | 3rd 07:52.52 |
| 2009 World Championships | Poznan Malta, Poland | W8+ | Final A | 5th 06:12.66 |
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Telegraph
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Melanie Wilson at WorldRowing.com from FISALua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 GB Rowing
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Imperial College Reporter
- ↑ GB Rowing
- ↑ WEHORR Results = 2015
External links
- Melanie Wilson at WorldRowing.com from FISA
- Melanie Wilson – Rowing (From Daily Echo)
- London 2012: Melanie Wilson powers into women’s quadruple sculls final – Olympics Sport – London24
- London 2012: Melanie Wilson crashes to last place finish in quadruple sculls – Olympics Sport – London24
- London 2012: Disaster for Melanie Wilson as Team GB come last in Women’s Quadruple Sculls heat – Olympics Sport – London24
