 Macfarlane and Stevenson on the way to gold in 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1992-09-27)27 September 1992 (age 33)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Cambridge, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||
| Education | Rangi Ruru Girls' School | |||||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Canterbury | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Eve Macfarlane (born 27 September 1992) is a retired New Zealandrower. Described as a "natural rower", she went to the 2009World Rowing Junior Championships within a few months of having taken up rowing and won a silver medal. She represented New Zealand at the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon as the country's youngest Olympian at those games. She was the2015 world champion in the women'sdouble sculls withZoe Stevenson. At the2016 Summer Olympics, they came fourth in the semi-finals and thus missed the A final.
Macfarlane was born in 1992[1] and grew up inParnassus, just north ofCheviot.[2] She was educated atRangi Ruru Girls' School inChristchurch where she was into many sports, including "netball, basketball, athletics, volleyball, touch, cross-country running".[3] She excelled at any sport she tried and Rex Farrelly, Rangi Ruru's long-term rowing coach, asked her if she wanted to try rowing, which she started in 2009.[1] Farrelly says that "there's very few natural rowers. Eve was one."[2] Gary Hay, one of the other rowing coaches at Rangi Ruru, describes her as a natural rower:[2]
She possessed the natural timing and rhythm you look for in a rower. She had all the obvious physical attributes, the length of her arms and legs, incredible reach and she's strong. She was made to row really, in terms of her physique.
— Gary Hay, rowing coach
Macfarlane competed for Rangi Ruru in the 2009 and 2010Maadi Cup national secondary school rowing championships, and was a member of the crews that won the Levin 75th Jubilee Cup (girls under-18 eights) and Dawn Cup (girls under-18 coxed fours) for the school in both years.[4][5] Her 2009 Maadi Cup appearance guaranteed her a place in the junior women's eight that went to theWorld Rowing Junior Championships in August 2009 inBrive-la-Gaillarde, France; within months of having taken up rowing, she won a silver medal at a World Rowing Junior Championship.[2][6]Zoe Stevenson andFrancie Turner were also in the boat.[6]
Macfarlane changed to a women's four and with Beatrix Heaphy-Hall, Jennifer Storey, andGrace Prendergast, she won gold at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships inRačice, Czech Republic.[7] At the2010 Summer Youth Olympics inSingapore, she won the B Final with Beatrix Heaphy-Hall in the junior women's pair.[8]
She changed to the elite class in 2011, having skipped theunder 23 class, and came under the guidance of national coachDick Tonks.[2] Tonks changed her from asweep rower to asculler and placed her in a women's quadruple scull.[3][2] The four, which includedSarah Gray,Fiona Bourke andLouise Trappitt, surprised themselves by winning bronze at the regattas inHamburg (Germany) andLucerne (Switzerland).[2][9][10] They maintained their form and won a bronze at the2011 World Rowing Championships atLake Bled inBled, Slovenia.[11]
In 2012, Macfarlane competed with the women's quad at regattas in Lucerne (Switzerland; fourth place) and Munich (Germany; fifth place).[12][13] The quad then went to the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon with a strong expectation for a medal when Trappitt "caught a crab" and snapped an oar at the 1500 m mark in the repechage. This cost the team their place in the final (they would have had to be within the first four but came last in the repechage), and they subsequently came first in the B final.[14][15][16] Macfarlane was New Zealand's youngest representative in London.[3]
In 2013, Macfarlane was part of the women's eight. At regattas inSydney (Australia) and Lucerne (Switzerland), they came fifth and sixth, respectively.[17][18] At the2013 World Rowing Championships held atTangeum Lake inChungju, South Korea, the eight came first in the B final.[19]
Macfarlane did not race in 2014.[1] At regattas inVarese (Italy) and Lucerne (Switzerland) in 2015, she competed in thedouble sculls withZoe Stevenson, winning gold in both finals.[20][21] The pair went to the2015 World Rowing Championships held atLac d'Aiguebelette inAiguebelette, France, and again won gold.[22] Stevenson and Macfarlane qualified for the2016 Summer Olympics, but were beaten in the semi-finals by the US by 5/100 into fourth place, thus missing the A final.[23] In November 2016, both Macfarlane and Stevenson announced that they would take the 2017 rowing season off.[24] Macfarlane announced her retirement from elite Rowing on 26 October 2021.
Macfarlane lives inCambridge to be close toLake Karapiro for her rowing training. She holds a Diploma in Art and Creativity with honours, obtained through extramural study at the Learning Connexion inWellington.[25]
