English rower
Timothy James Carrington Foster, MBE (born 19 January 1970) is an English rower who won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.[1]
Career
He began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the World Rowing Junior Championships in 1987 and 1988.[2] In the latter he competed in a pair with Matthew Pinsent.[1] He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two consecutive Junior Worlds. From there he proceeded into the senior squad.[1]
In 1993 he underwent back surgery but was straight back in the boat for the 1994 season, winning Bronze in the coxless four at the World Championships.[1] This boat stayed together until the 1996 Olympics, where they won Bronze.[1]
Following his Olympic medal, he continued his university studies at Oxford, competing in the 1997 Boat Race.[3]
In 1997 he won a seat in the coxless four alongside Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell.[1] In the run up to the Olympics, he again needed back surgery and time off after severing tendons in his hand by punching a window at a boat club party.[1] In August 2000, the month prior to winning gold in Sydney, a three-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever was broadcast.[1] This followed the coxless four team in the years leading up to the Olympics, including video diaries recording the highs and lows in the quest for gold.[1] Despite the problems Foster had had, he was in the final crew and they won the gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.[4] He was awarded an MBE for his part in this in 2001.[5][6]
After Sydney, he retired from international rowing, and retired as an active rower in July 2001.[1] After a stint coaching at the University of London Boat Club, he joined the UK Sport-sponsored Elite Coach Programme in 2004.[7] In January 2007, he became the head coach of the Swiss national rowing squad.[8] He remained in this role until 2012, and now works as a business coach.
Personal life
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Foster proposed to Joy Fahrenkrog, a four-time member of the United States Archery Team.[9] The pair met in 2000 while Joy was studying at the London School of Economics and rowing for the University of London Boat Club.[9] His brother Jason was the team manager for the England Rowing Team and head of rowing at George Watson's College, Edinburgh.[10]
