Fergus Hamilton

VIC | Mercantile Rowing Club

Fergus Hamilton is a rising star in the world of Australian rowing. He comes from a rowing family where his father, Richard, represented Great Britain at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games. Fergus' passion for rowing began during his schooling years at Gippsland Grammar and Melbourne Grammar. As a boarding student, Fergus spent his school holidays back home honing his craft on the Murray River at the Corowa Rowing Club.

In 2015, he secured victories in the U17 single scull and U17 double sculls at the Victorian Championships. These were his first major achievements in the sport. Fergus would go on to represent Australia at the 2017 World U19 Championships hosted in Lithuania, where a world-class effort alongside his rowing partner, Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, earned the duo a gold medal in the double sculls.

Fergus' academic and sporting achievements would open up the opportunity to take a scholarship at Yale University, where he would eventually study Anthropology.

Fergus rowed in Yale University’s men’s heavyweight crews during his Freshman and Sophomore years but returned to Australia in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He returned to Yale to finish his studies in 2021 and was nominated as Yale heavyweight crew captain in 2023. From 2019 to 2023, Fergus competed in the Varsity VIII, achieving victories at prestigious events like the Head of the Charles, Eastern Sprints, and Yale Harvard regatta. His outstanding performance earned him recognition as an Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) All-American crew member and All-Ivy Crew honoree.

Whilst studying at Yale, Fergus helped stroke the Australian men’s eight team to a bronze medal at the 2022 World U23 World Rowing Championships. Transitioning to the senior level, he joined the Australian men’s pair in 2023. That year he would win the B final at the World Cup III event hosted in Switzerland and competed at the World Rowing Championships alongside Australian Olympian, Simon Keenan. The pair would go on to finish second in the B final.

Fergus made the shift to the men's four team at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II. The crew finished first in their heat and fourth in the final. Fergus has been selected in the Paris 2024 Olympic Team in the men's four and will become the second Olympian in his family when he competes in Paris.