Cameron's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Rowing
Event: Men's Quadruple Scull
Olympic History: Rio 2016 (silver), Tokyo 2020 (bronze)
Coach: Mark Prater
Year Born: 1988
State Born: Paddington, NSW
About Cameron
Cameron Girdlestone made his Olympic debut at Rio, winning a silver medal in an evenly balanced men’s Quadruple Scull crew that boasted experience and fresh talent.
He discovered the sport of rowing in 2003 when he made the switch from cricket and only two years later competed in the Men’s Four at the Junior World Championships in Germany.
The Sydney-sider contested the U23 World Championships in 2007 and then made his first senior team in 2014.
At the first World Cup of that year in Sydney, Girdlestone won gold in the Quad Scull, silver in the Pair and went on to compete in the Quad Scull at World Cup 3 and at the 2014 World Championships.
Girdlestone secured a silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in France, continuing to demonstrate the strength of the Australian men’s quad scull crew. The PDHPE teacher kicked off the 2016 season with a bang as he was crowned Male Single Scull Champion of Australia at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta.
Upon returning to Australia, Girdlestone undertook a brief hiatus from the sport before resuming life at Canberra’s Reinhold Batschi National Training Centre in 2018, where he continued to build and progress for another Olympic opportunity.
Shortly after his return to training on Lake Burley Griffin, Girdlestone was once again named in the Men’s Quadruple Scull for the 2019 World Rowing Cups, where he earned silver in the second iteration of the year’s tournament and ultimately qualified the boat for Tokyo.
Grouped with three different crewmates for his second Olympic campaign in Tokyo, Girdlestone emerged as a key leader of the quadruple scull crew, ready for an immense regatta in the Japanese capital. Along with Jack Cleary, Caleb Antill and Luke Letcher, he won a bronze medal, finishing behind the Dutch and British crews.
Needing a top two finish in their Heat to progress directly to the Final and avoid the repechage, the men faced a three-way battle with China and Great Britain for second position as the Dutch crew stormed ahead to take the win. Rating 42 in the final throws of the race, they crossed the line in second position and qualified for the Final.
Facing the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Estonia in the Final, the Aussies fought hard throughout the race and fought back in the second half of the course to take the bronze. The result came during ‘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.
Girdlestone was elected to the AOC Athletes' Commission at the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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