Georgina's Story
Born in Melbourne in 1972, Georgina Peele, who also competed as Gina Douglas, built an Olympic rowing career across both sweep rowing and sculling. Peele was 23 when she competed at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games in the women’s eight and 27 when she returned for Sydney 2000 in the women’s single sculls, a shift that reflected both versatility and staying power at the highest level. Her family also had a strong rowing background, with her father, David Douglas, having rowed for Australia at the Olympic Games.
Peele’s Olympic story was marked by two fifth-place finishes in very different events. In Atlanta, she was part of the Australian women’s eight that progressed through the repechage to the A final, where the crew finished fifth. Four years later, on home water at Penrith, she rowed through the heats, repechage and semi-final to reach the women’s single sculls final, again placing fifth. To finish fifth at two Olympic Games, and in two separate rowing disciplines, marked Peele as one of Australia’s notable oarswomen of her period.
