David Crawshay

David William Crawshay (born 11 August 1979) is an Australian former rower, an eleven-time national champion, an Olympic champion and medalist at World Championships. He represented Australia in rowing at three consecutive Olympic games from Athens 2004 to London 2012.

Club and state rowing Born in Carlton, Victoria, Crawshay attended Melbourne Grammar School. His senior rowing has been with the Mercantile Rowing Club based on the Yarra River in Melbourne. In 2013, 2014 and 2015 he rowed in the Victorian men's senior eight competing for the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. The 2015 crew were victorious. Crawshay was initially selected to represent Victoria in the President's Cup single scull at the 2016 Interstate Regatta, but following the announcement of his retirement from international competition he was replaced by Karsten Forsterling.

In Mercantile colours he contested the Australian open men's single sculls title at the Australian Rowing Championships on a number of occasions. He won that title in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012 and he placed second in 2006 and 2010. Paired with Scott Brennan he won the open men's double scull championship in 2011.

International representative rowing World Championships Crawshay made his Australian representative debut in 2000 at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne in a quad scull. That same year he competed at the World Rowing U23 Championships in an Australian quad which won silver. He raced again in 2001 at the U2 World Championships in a quad scull and won bronze. That same year Crawshay also competed in Australia's senior quad scull at the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne for a tenth-place finish. He held his seat in the Australian quad for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in Karapiro and rowing with Noonan and Karsten Forsterling, James McRae, the crew finished third and took the bronze medal.

In 2011 he again rowed with Scott Brennan in a double scull as they prepared for the Olympic year, they raced at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne to a seventh place and at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled to a fourth placing.

Olympics Crawshay's first Australian Olympic selection was for the 2004 Athens when he was selected in the Australian quad scull with Scott Brennan, Duncan Free and Shaun Coulton. They arrived at the Olympic Games as favourites, having won the World Cup in Lucerne. They qualified in the heat for the semi-final despite a crab early in the race. In the semi-final they started well enough but could not maintain the same boat speed as their competitors in the second five hundred. In the end they were in fourth place at every 500m mark and missed the final. In the B final they had to defeat the Sydney gold medallists Italy and the fancied Swiss and Estonians. They broke free of Italy with 650m to go and then held off the fast finishing Swiss and Estonian crews. They had sufficient reserves to hold off the final challenges to win the B final ending the regatta in seventh place.

With unfinished business from Athens, Crawshay teamed up again with Scott Brennan in the men's double sculls for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. They rowed perfect races in the heat, semi final and final to finish with a gold medal and an Olympic championship.

Brennan and Crawshay teamed up again for 2012 London. They finished second in the B final for an overall eighth place in the 2012 Olympic rankings.