Oarsome Foursome
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's rowing | ||
 |
2016 Rio de Janeiro | Coxless four |
|
2012 London | Coxless four |
 |
1996 Atlanta | Coxless four |
|
1992 Barcelona | Coxless four |
| World Championships | ||
|
1998 | Coxed four |
|
1998 | Coxed pair |
|
1998 | Coxless pair |
|
1991 | Coxless four |
|
1990 | Coxless four |
The Oarsome Foursome is the nickname for an Australian men's rowing coxless four crew who competed with a clear lineage between 1990 and 2012 - winning two Olympic gold and one silver medals, two world championships as a coxless four and an additional world championship titles in a coxed boat. Members of the Oarsome Foursome when split into pairs placed 1st and 2nd in the 1998 World Championships and won gold at the 2008 Olympics.
They first achieved success seated as Nick Green (bow), Mike McKay (two), Samuel Patten (three) and James Tomkins stroke, when they won gold at the 1990 World Rowing Championships in Lake Barrington. They were coached by Noel Donaldson a former Victorian and national representative coxswain who had taken to coaching after competitive retirement. Donaldson encouraged periods of relaxation within the crew's training regime and it's been reported that the rowers spent the morning of that final indulging in a relaxed round of golf.
Patten was replaced by Andrew Cooper in 1991 and another World Championship was won in Vienna in 1991. Around this time were accused by former Norwegian coach Thor Nilsson of not being serious enough about their training.
In lead-up races before the 1992 Olympics the crew's dominance was challenge by fours from the Netherlands and the USA but after a seat swap by Donaldson between Cooper and Green and the adoption of the new short "cleaver" blades they won gold at Barcelona 1992 and became household names crowned Moomba Monarchs (popularly called Kings of Moomba) and appearing in television advertisements for the Australian canned fruit brand Goulburn Valley.
Andrew Cooper retired in 1995 and Drew Ginn took the bow seat. In that combination they won a second Olympic gold medal at Atlanta 1996 cementing their popularity and fame and elevating the profile of rowing in Australia.
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