Josh Hicks

NSW | Sydney Rowing Club

Joshua Hicks started rowing when he was 14 by his own admission - because his school was next to a river. A talented junior athlete, Hicks was also a champion cross country runner.

Hicks competed at the Junior World Championships in 2009, earning a silver medal as part of the men’s four. He also took silver at the 2012 U23 World Championships. At this time, Hicks was completing a degree at Harvard University in the United States on a collegiate rowing scholarship.

In 2014, Hicks was selected as part of the men’s eight, competing at the Lucerne World Cup and the World Championships in Amsterdam, while in 2015 he was named as reserve for the Australian Men's Eight. In 2016, Hicks competed in the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in the Men's Eight, and was later named as the Men's Sweep Reserve for the Australian Rowing Team. He competed at World Rowing Cup 2, in 2016, in the stroke seat of the Men's Four, where the crew won a silver medal.

In 2016/17, Hicks joined the Reinhold Batschi Men's NTC and was selected to race the Men's Four at World Rowing Cups 2 and the World Championships, while he raced in the Men's Eight at World Rowing Cup 3. He went on to win gold in the Men's Four at the 2017 World Championships, the first time in 26 years that Australia had won the boat class. In 2018, Hicks was once again named in the Men's Four, where he raced at World Cups 2 and 3, winning gold. He then went on to win back-to-back World Championships in the boat class at the 2018 World Rowing Championships, was named as part of the 2018 Male Crew of the Year by World Rowing (alongside his Men's Four team mates) and won the Grand Challenge Cup as part of Australia's Men's Eight at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta.

In 2019, Josh was selected in Australian men's sweep squad which was casting an eye towards the Tokyo Olympics. He linked up with Sam Hardy in the men's pair at the 2019 World Championships. The duo finished third overall, which qualified the boat for the Olympics.

Josh and Sam started fast at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing first in their heat to qualify for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan from there on with a fourth-place finish in the semi-finals denying them a chance at a medal.

Josh returned to the men's eight for the 2023 international season. Silver at the World Rowing Cup II was followed by a fantastic performance at the World Rowing Cup III where the team won gold against the favored Great Britain.

In May of 2024, Josh competed once again at the World Rowing Cup II, as the Australian team claimed fourth place.

Josh currently sits in the two-seat of the Men's Coxed Eight.