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BSociol, GradCertIT

Australian National Representative Rower

At 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s 2007-2011

Jacinta Edmunds is an Australian national representative rower who is a twice Australian champion and was a medallist at the 2018 and 2019 World Rowing Championships.

She started rowing at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s in Year 8 and later became a member of the First VIII, racing together with her sister and champion rower, Maddie Edmunds. Jacinta made her Australian representative debut in a junior squad scull at the 2012 Junior World Championships in Plovdiv.

Jacinta attended the University of California Berkeley on a rowing scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Sociology in 2017. While at UC Berkeley, she competed at four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, placing second in the varsity eight and winning the team title in her senior year.

After graduating from UC Berkeley, Jacinta returned to Australia with the goal of representing Australia at the 2020 Olympics. In order to do, she had to trial to become a part of the Gina Hope Rhinehart women's National Training Centre in Penrith. She was invited to join the centre in 2017 and has been training there ever since.

In 2018, Jacinta was selected to race at Henley Royal Regatta in the women's VIII and the Australian VIII made up of the women's four and half of the women's VIII.

In 2018, Jacinta was selected into the women's VIII as well as another Australian VIII made up of the women's four and half of the women's VIII, that was to race at Henley Royal regatta. 

Competing at the 2018 World Cup 2, they placed third in the final becoming the first Australian VIII to medal overseas since the early 2000s. Jacinta raced this regatta with chronic appendicitis. Following the regatta and travels back to Italy, Jacinta’s condition deteriorated and she was hospitalised with a gangrenous appendix and was unable to compete at Henley Royal Regatta or World Cup 3. However, she returned to the international stage for the world championships where she raced in seventh seat of the women's VIII and placed third in the final. 

In 2019, Jacinta was again selected for the Australian women's VIII competing at World Cup 2 in Poznan, Poland. Despite the American crew being favourites to win, the Australian team blasted out of the start and lead the race the entire way to the finish. Jacinta said: “This was something that was pretty incredible for us and Australian rowing in the women's VIII category, as the USA has been a powerhouse in this category.” At World Cup 3 they placed second to New Zealand. 

In 2020, Jacinta was selected to race in the Australian VIII and to be a part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic team. However, the selected crew and team were not put forward to the Australian Olympic Committee, meaning they will have to retrial to make the Olympic team in 2021. 

Currently, Jacinta is training at the National Training Centre in Penrith aiming to make the Olympic team and be competitive on the world stage. She recently completed a Graduate Certificate in OT and plans to take some down time from studies to focus on training.

Of her time on the 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s rowing team, Jacinta said: “I learnt what it meant to be a good teammate. This has been something that has helped me through not only the last few years and other life experiences but throughout the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a difficult time for everyone world-wide and we athletes are no exception. Although the perspective of the situation is not lost on us, it is a difficult time. Our small world has lost all purpose and remains uncertain. The biggest thing that I have learnt in this time is that we all need to be there for each other.”