Spencer's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Rowing
Event: Men’s Four
Olympic History: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 (gold)
Coach: Rhett Ayliffe
Highlights: Gold medal at Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1991
Born: Maitland, NSW
Junior Club: St Joseph’s College (Hunters Hill, NSW)
About Spencer
Spencer Turrin made his Olympic debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He was selected alongside training partner Alex Lloyd to compete in the Men’s Pairs where the couplet finished sixth overall.
After returning from Brazil, Turrin was named to the Men’s Four for the 2017 World Rowing Cup 2 and World Championships, winning gold in the latter as the first Australian crew to take out the boat class in 26 years.
Turrin, along with crewmates Joshua Hicks, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill, successfully defended the Men’s Four World Championship title the following year, earning the quartet World Rowing’s 2018 Male Crew of the Year Award.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in July 2021, Turrin won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the Men's Four. Turrin joined Alexander Hill, Jack Hargreaves and Alexander Hill for a famous victory that saw Australia reclaim the title from the British who had been Olympic Champions for the past five Olympic Games, while breaking Australia's run of three consecutive Olympic silver medals in this boat class.
The crew were commanding in their Heat but were pushed to their limits in the Final. Their 1.62 seconds lead with 500-metres to go was ultimately reduced to just 0.37 of a second with the Aussies winning in an Olympic best time of 5 minutes 42.76 seconds from Romania and Italy. Fittingly, the result came almost 25 years to the day since Australia last won gold in this race at Atlanta 1996 and was part of ‘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 over the course of an hour 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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