Rachel Lovell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rachel Lovell
Personal information
NicknameRach
NationalityAustralian
Born (1978-03-20) 20 March 1978 (age 46)
Evesham, United Kingdom
Height169 cm (67 in) (2012)
Weight61 kg (134 lb) (2012)
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportCanoeing
EventK-4 500 m

Rachel Lovell (born 20 March 1978) is an Australian kayak racer. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the K-4 500 m event.

Personal[edit]

Nicknamed Rach, Lovell was born on 20 March 1978[1][2] in Evesham, United Kingdom and spent her childhood in south west London.[1] She is a former Brit.[3] She attended primary school at Fladbury School in Worcestershire, United Kingdom before going to high school at Pershore High School in Worcestershire, United Kingdom.[1] She then went to the University of Kingston from 1996 to 1999 where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Radiography.[1][2] Lovell is married to canoe coach Geoff Lovell, and has two children.[2] She has step-brothers (Stephen and Andrew) who were world champions in canoe.[2] She moved to Queensland in 2008, and became an Australian citizen in 2009.[4] As of 2012, she lives in Sunshine Coast, Queensland[1] suburb of Buderim.[2]

Lovell is 169 centimetres (67 in) tall and weighs 61 kilograms (134 lb).[1]

Canoeing[edit]

Lovell took up the sport when she was seven years old because she wanted to be like her step brothers.[2] She is a member of the Sunshine Coast Canoe Club.[1][2] She has a canoeing scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport.[1][2] She has been coached by Geoff Lovell, her husband, for 15 years.[1][2] Since moving to Australia and returning to the sport in 2010, her training is based in Sunshine Coast, Queensland.[1][2][4]

In 2003, Lovell won a bronze medal K1 200m at the European Championships.[2] She tried to earn selection to the Great Britain team for the 2004 Summer Olympics but missed selection.[4] She was a member of the Great Britain national canoe team in 2005 and 2006.[2] She quit canoeing in 2008 after she failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics as a member of Great Britain Olympic team because of a pregnancy,[4] only taking up the sport again in 2011.[2][4]

Lovell finished 3rd in the K4 500m and 5th in the K2 200m event at the 2011 World Cup 1 in Poznań, Poland.[1] She finished 5th in the K1 200m event at the 2011 World Cup 2 in Račice, Czech Republic.[1] She finished 5th in the K4 500m event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.[1] She finished 1st in the K4 500m and 3rd in the K2 500m event at the 2012 Oceania Championships in Penrith, Australia.[1] She finished 1st in the K4 500m event at the 2012 National Championships in Penrith, Australia.[1]

Lovell was selected to represent Australia at 2012 Summer Olympics in the K-4 500 m event.[3] She made her Olympic debut as a thirty-four-year-old.[2] Before the start of the Games, she and her canoe teammates trained in Italy at the AIS European Training Centre located in Varese.[5][6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "London 2012 - Rachel Lovell". Australia: Australian Olympic Committee. 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Rachel Lovell". Canoe Australia. 20 March 1978. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b Lefort, Cecile. "Olympics-Brigden-Jones paddles from Manly surf to London waters". Reuters. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Steele (21 July 2012). "Crew's peaking at the right time". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  5. ^ Flood, Naomi. "London Olympics — Naomi Flood: Settling into life at our Italy base". The Manly Daily. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  6. ^ Flood, Naomi. "London Olympics — Naomi Flood: The big day is racing ever closer". The Manly Daily. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rachel_Lovell&oldid=1167390539"