Caroline Meyer

Caroline Frances Meyer ONZM (born 10 October 1978 in Hastings, New Zealand), better known under her maiden name Caroline Evers-Swindell, is a former New Zealand rower. She is 179 cm tall and 80 kg. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Georgina Evers-Swindell. In November 2005 she and her sister were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the Thomas Keller Medal.

The twins narrowly missed the qualification for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney; in the crucial race in Lucerne where they had to come second, they came third. In 2001, she won silver at the World Championships in both the double and quadruple sculls. Together with her sister she won gold at both the 2002 and 2003 World Rowing Championships in the double sculls. She also won, again with her sister, the 2004 Olympic gold medal. Caroline was coached by Dick Tonks and represented Hamilton Rowing Club.

In the 2005 New Year Honours, she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rowing.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she and her sister won gold medals in the women's double sculls, beating the German pair by 1/100 of a second, 7:07.32 versus 7:07.33. This was the first time in history that the women's double scull title had successfully been defended. She and her sister announced their retirement from rowing in October 2008.

In December 2008, she and her sister won the Lonsdale Cup which is awarded by the New Zealand Olympic Committee to the athlete/s who make the most outstanding contribution to an Olympic sport. They previously won the cup in 2003.

In December 2009, Evers-Swindell married former Olympic rower Carl Meyer. She now goes by the name Caroline Meyer.

Sources

• Butcher, Margot (2010). Golden Girls: Celebrating New Zealand’s six female Olympic gold medallists. Auckland, NZ: HarperSports/HarperCollins. pp. 84–105. ISBN 978-1-86950-892-0.