Lucy Stephan

Raised in the Victorian country town of Nhill, Stephan's senior rowing was from the Melbourne University Boat Club. She attended Ballarat Grammar in Victoria, where she found her passion for rowing. Stephan graduated in 2009. Stephan was first selected to represent Victoria in the women's youth eight in 2011 contesting the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. From 2012 to 2018 she rowed in Victoria's seven consecutive successful senior women's eights who won the Queen's Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. She stroked those Victorian eights to victory in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018. In 2021, 2022 and 2023 she was again in Victorian women's eights for their successive Queen's Cup victories, she stroked the 2023 crew. At the Australian Rowing Championships in 2022 she won another national title – the women's eight – in a composite Australian selection crew. With Katrina Werry she won the women's national coxless pair titles at the 2022 and 2023 Australian Rowing Championships. At the 2023 Australian Rowing Championships she also won the coxless four national title in an all MUBC crew. ==International representative rowing==

Stephan was first selected for Australian representation in a coxless four contesting the 2012 World Rowing U23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. Stephan stroked the four to a silver medal. After the Olympics Stephan continued to compete at the highest level and in 2017 she was selected at bow in Australia's coxless four with Molly Goodman, Katrina Werry, and Sarah Hawe. They competed at the World Rowing Cups II and III and as a crew, they didn't lose a race in the international season. With Katrina Werry changed out for Rosemary Popa the world champion four stayed together into 2018 and started their 2018 international campaign with a gold medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. The following week back in the coxless four, Stephan won another gold at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. The four were looking for a top eight finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. They won their heat and semi-final, thereby qualifying the boat for Tokyo 2020. This combination won the 2021 Australian national title in the women's coxless four. In Tokyo the four won their heat rowed two hours after Morrison and McIntyre's heat in the pair, and progressed straight to the A final. In the final with Stephan making the race calls from the bow, they led from the start, were challenged hard to the finish by the Dutch crew but took the gold in an Olympic best time. She rowed in Australian women's coxless four at the World Rowing Cup II in Poznan to a gold medal victory. At the Rowing World Cup II in Varese, Italy they raced as Australia's W4- entrant. They made the A final and won a bronze medal. At 2023's RWC III in Lucerne, that unchanged four again raced the W4-. In the A final they led through to the 1800m mark but were overrun by Romania and finished with the silver medal. Their two medal wins at RWC II and III won them the 2023 RWC points score trophy for the W4-. That crew was selected intact as Australia's coxless four for the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade Serbia. They placed second in their heat. They placed 3rd in the A/B semi-final at which point they qualified an Australian W4- boat for the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the A final the four finished fifth, giving them a fifth place world ranking from the regatta. ==Accolades==

In the 2022 Australia Day Honours Stephan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. ==Personal life==

Stephan completed a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University. ==References==