| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | Stephanie Charlene Foster (1958-09-02)2 September 1958 (age 67) Morrinsville, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 71 kg (157 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Stephanie Charlene Cooper-FosterMBE (born 2 September 1958), best known under her maiden nameStephanie Foster, is a former New Zealandrower.
Foster was born in 1958 inMorrinsville, a provincial town in theWaikato region of New Zealand.[1] She was involved in many sports. After her family moved to Auckland, she attendedPapakura High School.[2]
Foster had a cousin who was a rower. She listened with her parents to the radio of the1972 New Zealand eight winning gold at theMunich Olympics. Soon after, she was asked to try rowing because a team was one rower short. She agreed and joined the Auckland Rowing Club.[2]
Foster first competed internationally at the1978 World Rowing Championships atLake Karapiro, New Zealand.[3] With the women's coxed four and the women's eight, she won both B-finals.[4][5] At the1981 World Rowing Championships atOberschleißheim, Germany, she came fifth in the women's single scull.[6] At the1982 World Rowing Championships inLucerne, Switzerland, she won a bronze medal in the single scull.[7]
She represented New Zealand in the single scull event at the1984 Olympics, coming seventh overall in thesingle scull. At the1986 World Rowing Championships atNottingham in the United Kingdom, she won a bronze in the women's double scull withRobin Clarke.[8] She was the flagbearer at the1986 Commonwealth Games at both the opening and the closing ceremonies, and won golds in the women's single scull and in the women's double scull withRobin Clarke.[2]
In the1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Foster was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire, for services to rowing.[9]
She married the rower Brett Cooper while she was still competing internationally. She uses her married name apart from rowing, where she goes by her maiden name. They have two sons who also took up rowing. The family lived for three decades at Lake Rotoiti followed by a short stint inGore, before settling inWedderburn in the 2020s.[2]
