Tess Gerrand

Personal

Gerrand was born on 19 February 1988 in Sandringham, Victoria. She went to school at Cundletown Primary School before going to high school at Taree High School and Pymble Ladies College. From 2006 to 2010, she attended Yale University where she earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Economics. As of 2012, she lives in Johns River, New South Wales.

Gerrand is 184 centimetres (72 in) tall and weighs 83 kilograms (183 lb).

Rowing

Gerrand is a rower competing in eights races. She rowed for Yale University. One of her teammates was United States 2012 Summer rowing Olympian Taylor Ritzel. As a member of the eights boat, she won the NCAA Championships in 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2007, the team won the championships in the 2 km race with a time of 5 minutes 48 seconds. While at Yale, she was an All-American from 2006 to 2010. In 2008, she became the World Indoor Rowing champion in the collegiate and open divisions with a personal best time of 6 minutes 43.2 seconds in one race.

In Australia, Gerrand competes for the Sydney Rowing Club. She had her first call up to the Australian national rowing team in 2012. She finished 5th in the eight event at the 2012 World Cup 3 in Munich, Germany and 4th in the eight event at the 2012 World Cup 2 in Lucerne, Switzerland. As a member of the eights crew over the 2000 metres course, she helped set a time of 6 minutes 12.36 seconds, which qualified her and the rest of the team for the Olympics. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in rowing in the eights. Rowers in the eight boat have nicknamed their team the "Motley Crew". She earned selection on the boat after a battle between ten women for eight spots. Prior to going to London, she participated in a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport European Training Centre in Varese, Italy.