Samuel Loch

Samuel Loch (born 26 June 1983) is an Australian rower. Loch studied and rowed at both the King's School in Sydney and Princeton University from which he graduated in 2006. He competed in both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Loch began his rowing at The King's School, Parramatta and was part of the First VIII crew in 2001 that won the AAGPS Head of the River. This crew also contained fellow future Australian senior national team rowers Nicholas Hudson and Matt Ryan, and went on to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.

Loch made his Australian team debut at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. Competing in the Men's Coxless Four, his crew placed 12th.

The following year he made his Olympic debut in Beijing, China as part of the Men's Eight crew which placed 6th.

Loch continued internationally in the Men's Eight, with a 7th placing at the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland. In 2010 he won his first World Championship medal (Bronze) at the 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand. Loch moved into the Men's Coxless Four at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia where he also won a Bronze medal.

At the London Olympic Games, Loch was in the seven seat of the Australian Men's Eight which placed 6th in a thrilling final where all boats were overlapping at the finish line.

In 2013, Loch took a break from international competition and during this period set a 24-hour tandem world record on the Concept 2 rowing machine (ergometer) with Matt Ryan. The pair covered 380.274 kilometres, maintaining an average split of 1:53.6 per 500 metres. The successful world record attempt was also a fundraiser for the Leukaemia Foundation and raised almost $20,000 AUD for the charity.

Domestically Loch has also enjoyed great success as a member of the New South Wales Kings Cup crew. Loch was a member of the crew in 2008 which defeated holders, Victoria, by just 0.21 seconds in a win that saw New South Wales start their own winning streak from 2008 to 2014 inclusive. Loch recorded 6 wins in this event from 2008 to 2013.

In 2015, Loch placed 2nd at the World Indoor Rowing Championships behind Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba.

Loch is the current world record holder for 1000 metres on the Concept 2 Ski Erg with 2:54.4 set in early 2016. In July 2016, Loch also broke an 11-year-old world record on the Concept 2 Rowing Ergometer for 1000 metres with a time of 2:39.5. In December that year, Loch produced yet another record breaking performance, 'Most Metres Rowed in One Minute' on Concept2 rower, with 425m (a 500m split of 1:10.5).