Rosemary Popa

Rosemary Popa (born 30 December 1991) is an Australian national champion rower, Olympic gold medalist, and former rower for the University of California, Berkeley. A dual citizen of Australia and the United States, she has represented both countries at World Rowing Championships, twice winning medals for Australia. She won the Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2018 Henley Royal Regatta in the Australian women's eight. In 2021, she was selected to represent Australia in the coxless four event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won the gold medal.

Personal Born in Melbourne, Victoria, both of Popa's parents were Australian Olympic medallists in rowing. Her father Ion Popa had rowed for Romania before defecting to Australia in 1978. He was a 1986 world champion, a dual Olympian and won bronze in the Australian men's eight at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Rosemary's US born mother Susan Chapman won Australia's first Olympic medal in women's rowing – a bronze in the coxed four at Los Angeles.

Club and college rowing Rosemary Popa was educated at Caulfield Grammar School where she took up rowing. Her senior club rowing in Melbourne was from the Banks Rowing Club. Her father Ion had a long association with Banks Rowing club.

Popa first made state selection for Victoria in the 2009 youth eight contesting the Bicentennial Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. She rowed again in the Victorian youth eight in 2010.

Popa won a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley and rowed for the California Golden Bears at the NCAA Championships in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 graduating with a degree in Sociology in 2014. She won the pair at the 2012 US U23 World Championships trials. She finished fourth in the varsity eight at the 2011 NCAA Championships and finished fifth in the varsity eight at the 2012 NCAA Championships. In 2011 she won gold in the UC varsity eight at the 2011 Pac-10 championships.

Following her return to Australia, Popa was selected in the 2018 Victorian state women's senior eight to contest the Queen's Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. She crewed that Victorian eight in its 2018 Queen's Cup victory. That year she also crewed a composite Australian selection eight who won the women's eight title at the Australian Rowing Championships and in a composite Australian selection four she won the 2018 women's coxless four national title.

In 2019 Popa was in the Victorian senior women's eight who were finally beaten in the Queen's Cup by New South Wales after a fourteen year Victorian hold. In 2021 she stroked the Victorian women's eight to a Queen's Cup victory.

International representative rowing United States Popa made her United States representative debut in a quad scull at the 2011 World Rowing U23 Championships in Amsterdam where she rowed to a seventh place.

Australia Popa came into Australian selection contention in 2015. She was vying for a seat in the Australian women's eight and the coxless four. She raced in both boats at two World Rowing Cups that year. At the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette she rowed in the four seat of the Australian eight to second in the B final for an overall seventh-place finish. In 2018 Katrina Werry was changed out for Popa and the world champion four started their 2018 international campaign with a gold medal win at the World Rowing Cup II in Linz, Austria. The following week back in the coxless four, Popa won another gold at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne. The eight were looking for a top five finish at the 2019 World Championships to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. They placed second in their heat, came through the repechage and led in the final from the start and at all three 500m marks till they were overrun by New Zealand by 2.7secs. The Australian eight took the silver medal and qualified for Tokyo 2020.

By the time of national team selections in 2021 for the delayed Tokyo Olympics, Popa had forced her way back into the Australian coxless four, which had qualified for the Olympics on 2019 performances. Popa was selected to race that boat with Annabelle McIntyre and the experienced Olympians Lucy Stephan and Jessica Morrison. This combination had won the 2021 Australian national title in the women's coxless four. In Tokyo the four won their heat rowed two hours after Morrison and McIntyre's heat in the pair, and progressed straight to the A final. In the final they led from the start, were challenged hard to the finish by the Dutch crew but took the gold in an Olympic best time.