Caitlin Cronin

Fast Facts

Sport: Rowing
Event: Women’s Quadruple Scull 
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020 (bronze)
Coach: John Keogh (Head Coach), Tom Westgarth, Ellen Randell
Highlights: Bronze medal at Tokyo 2020. Earning a silver medal at the 2017 U23 World Championships 
Year Born: 1995
Born: Brisbane, QLD 
Junior Club: Toowong Rowing Club (St Lucia, QLD)

About Caitlin

As a Brisbane native, Caitlin Cronin swapped her home city for Sydney at the conclusion of 2016, when she received her invitation to join Rowing Australia’s National Training Centre. It was in this same year that Cronin rowed in the Women’s Quadruple Scull at the U23 World Championships, marking her introduction onto the world rowing stage. 

Once on the banks of the Nepean River and under the expert tutelage of John Keogh, Tom Westgarth and Ellen Randell, Cronin began to represent Australia at multiple World Rowing Cups and an U23 World Championships in 2017, where she finished on the podium in each competition. 

Cronin made her Olympic debut as the stroke of the Women’s Quadruple Scull at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She joined fellow debutants Ria Thompson, Rowena Meredith and Harriet Hudson and won a bronze medal.

Having qualified their boat late for the Games by virtue of winning the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta, the crew faced a tough field and earned their position in the Final the hard way, via the repechage after they finished fourth in their heat.

In the repechage, the crew came up against USA, Italy, Great Britain and New Zealand in a tough race that required a top two finish to progress to the A-Final. The Olympic debutants crossed the line first and booked their position in the Olympic Final.

The Aussies maintained fifth position for the first 1500-metres of the Final but their composure and boat speed in tough conditions pushed them through to take the bronze, ahead of crews from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

The result came during the ‘the hour of power,’ a moment in time when Australia’s Men’s and Women’s Fours stormed home for gold and the Men’s and Women’s Quadruple Sculls claimed bronze. The four medals won by Australian rowing crews, along with swimmer Ariarne Titmus' gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle, contributed to the most successful period in the history of the Australian Olympic Team.