.png?width=200&height=111&name=RA%20Logo%20450%20x%20250%20(4).png)
.png?width=450&height=250&name=RA%20Logo%20450%20x%20250%20(4).png)
Written by Nick Jones
Australian rowing made history at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 when Margot Foster AM OLY, with her fellow crew members Robyn Grey-Gardner (Bow Seat), Karen Brancourt (Two Seat), Susan Chapman-Popa (Three Seat), and Susan Lee (Coxswain), won Australia’s first-ever Olympic rowing medal for women.
The crew’s Bronze in the Women’s Coxed Four 40 years ago was a landmark achievement, marking the beginning of a new era for Australian women’s sport.
Foster, who stroked the crew, has reflected on the journey that led to the historic moment and its lasting impact on women’s rowing in Australia.
The path to selection began with the 1984 Australia Rowing Championships at Lake Barrington in Tasmania, followed by the final selection trial in Launceston.
“I think I’d won all the selection races,” Foster said. “Then we had to go to Launceston for the final ergo, which was almost the worst part of the whole selection process. The ergos back then were horrible. Big, orange and made a shocking noise, screeching at you.”
Once selected, Foster and her crew mates headed to a training camp in Adelaide, where they worked with coach William ‘Bill’ Dankbaar to prepare for the Olympic challenge ahead.
“We lived in Glenelg and trained twice a day at West Lakes [South Australia] in the waters of the Port of Adelaide,” Foster said, highlighting the camaraderie among the crew members.
Before heading to Los Angeles, the team spent some time in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport, staying in a university residential college in the time before the AIS residences were built, before embarking on the long flight to Los Angeles.
“We stayed in billeted accommodation with a family in Ojai [California] not far from the competition venue inland from Santa Barbara,” Foster said, adding that the team had their own cook who prepared all their meals as they focused on the final preparation for the regatta.
The 1984 Olympics brought both excitement and challenges.
The rowing competition was held at Lake Casitas, north of Los Angeles, where the conditions were demanding.
“All races started at 8am because of the crosswind that blew up around 10am every day. Bill, had been getting us up earlier and earlier to get used to the early starts.”
Foster vividly remembered the day of the final; August 4, 1984.
“It was a very shiny, warm morning, very still at eight o’clock when our race started. I remember our cox, Sue, telling us halfway through the race that we were coming third, and I thought, ‘well, that’s good’. At the finish she still believed we’d come third."
However, the joy of securing a medal was briefly overshadowed by a mix-up.
"Soon after a group of Olympic officials came over in their boat and told us we had finished fourth."
“Every ounce of Olympic spirit drained out of me at that moment,” Foster said.
Fortunately, the officials quickly corrected their mistake.
“Another boat came by and told us we had, in fact, come third. After that, we were all happy, and receiving our medals and flowers made it all worthwhile.”
Foster said the strength of the international field at the time was strong, even though women’s rowing at that level was only in its infancy.
“It was the third Olympics for women’s rowing having been admitted for the first time in Montreal 1976. Moscow 1980 was boycotted because of the war in Afghanistan and 1984 was similarly boycotted in a tit-for-tat response. Nonetheless the competition was robust.”
“Romania won, Canada was very good and came second, and we just beat the Americans.”
“The commentary on our race was very US-focused. I watched the video not long ago and you can’t even see us until the end, with our bowball bobbing up at the bottom of the screen from an almost obscured lane six. The commentators proclaimed confidently that the US came third and then, without taking a breath, announced that we, Australia, came third”, she said.
The atmosphere at Lake Casitas was celebratory and her dual water polo Olympian father was both very happy and very relieved. “I found out afterwards that Dad couldn’t watch the race and had to be told the result after we’d finished!”
Foster believes that the Bronze medal helped pave the way for future generations of Australian women rowers.
“There was support from the Australian Rowing Council for women to compete, which was fairly enlightened compared to other sports.
“Marathon running for women was only admitted in 1984 and waterpolo for women came in 2000 in Sydney so, rowing was ahead in many ways.”
Foster said that the path to public appreciation for rowing, and women’s rowing particularly, remained challenging with the Olympics providing the most prominent spotlight for 7 days every 4 years and there remained much work to do.
For Foster, rowing was always about choice and balance.
She combined her athletic career with her legal practice.
“I fitted rowing around working because I had finished my Law and Arts degrees at the University of Melbourne by the time I got selected for the first Victorian crew.
“I started my own legal practice at the same time, which was probably crazy, but I managed to do both.”
This balanced approach extended to her training regime, which was intensive but sustainable.
“We trained 12 times a week in the lead-up to the Games mostly rowing but also weights and some running. But rowing wasn’t ridiculously early — usually around 6:30am on the Yarra in Melbourne and 5.30pm in the evenings. That allowed me to have balance between rowing, work and everything else in life.”
As a mentor and role model, Foster’s advice to young rowers is simple.
“Dream of representing Australia at the Olympics or Paralympics,” she said.
“Stick at it, even when you think you’re rowing really badly. Listen to your coaches, find as many moments as you can to enjoy it (even when it’s tough), and most importantly, maintain balance in your life.”
Reflecting on her own experiences, Foster shared one of her greatest joys in rowing: “There’s nothing better than having those perfect strokes in a boat that’s absolutely flying”.
“That’s what it’s all about — feeling really confident in your technique and constantly searching for the perfect stroke.”
Foster’s rowing career not only secured Australia’s first Olympic women’s rowing medal but also opened doors for future generations of female athletes.
“If I hadn’t been made to go rowing, by my friends at Trinity College at uni when I was in third year, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I wouldn’t have done any of the things I’ve done since.
"I couldn’t have done any of it without my fellow rowers in Melbourne Uni and Victorian teams, my parents, friends and of course my Olympic team mates including our reserve Jacqui Marshall, so a big thanks to everyone."
Forty years on, Foster remains a champion for women in sport, balancing her roles in sports governance and as a board director among myriad other activities and opportunities.
.jpg?width=290&name=ARC%20Headshots%20(29).jpg)