Luke's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Rowing
Event: Men’s Quadruple Scull
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020 (bronze)
Coach: Mark Prater
Highlights: Bronze medal at Tokyo 2020. Winning gold in the 2016 U23 World Championships
Year Born: 1994
Born: Canberra, ACT
Junior Club: Radford College (Bruce, ACT)
About Luke
It was in Letcher’s third U23 World Championships team that the Canberra native medalled. Alongside Tom Schramko, Rob Black and Caleb Antill in 2016, Letcher won gold on the banks of Rotterdam, Holland, in a hardfought race.
The following year saw Letcher emerge into the national senior ranks, with the then 23-year-old accepting an invitation to Rowing Australia’s Reinhold Batschi National Training Centre. At Lake Burley Griffin, Letcher was under the infrastructure of Ian Wright, Mark Prater and Andrew Randell in the top competitive environment in the country where he continued to prepare for a prospective Olympic campaign.
Upon his entry to the National Training Centre, Letcher became a permanent fixture in the Australian Rowing Team and he competed in the Men’s Single Scull, Double Scull, and Quadruple Scull events.
He made his Olympic debut in the Men's Quadruple Scull alongside Cameron Girdlestone, Caleb Antill and Jack Cleary and 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 took the second 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.
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