Sonia Waddell

Sonia Waddell
Personal information
Birth nameSonia Scown
Born (1973-02-19) 19 February 1973 (age 51)[1]
Spouse
​
(m. 1998)​
Relative(s)Alistair Scown (father)
Rebecca Scown (cousin)
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Women's rowing
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2001 Lucerne Quadruple sculls
Women's track cycling
Para-cycling World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Montichiari Time trial

Sonia Waddell (née Scown; born 19 February 1973) is a New Zealand athlete. She represented her country at a World Junior Championship in hurdles before becoming a rower, in which sport she was twice an Olympic competitor and where she won silver at a World Rowing Championship. She later competed as a cyclist and won medals at a UCI Para-cycling Track World Championship as a sighted guide.

Private life

Waddell is the daughter of former All Black Alistair Scown and sister of rugby player Hayden Scown. In 1998,[2] she married fellow rower Rob Waddell.[3][4] Rower Rebecca Scown is her cousin.[5]

Sports career

Athletics

Waddell represented New Zealand in the 400 m hurdles at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.[6]

Rowing

She first represented her country in rowing at the 1995 World Rowing Championships in Tampere, Finland, where she came ninth in the women's quadruple sculls.[7] From 1997 onwards, she competed in the single sculls, and at the World Rowing Championships in 1997, 1998, and 1999, she placed tenth, tenth, and fifth, respectively.[8][9][10] At the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, she continued to compete in the single sculls, placing sixth and fifth, respectively.[1][11][12]

She won a silver medal in the 2001 World Rowing Championships in the quadruple sculls,[13] alongside Paula Twining and twins Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell.[14] In the 2003 World Rowing Championships, she competed in the single sculls and came seventh.[15]

Cycling

In 2011, she won the New Zealand Cycling Time Trial Championship.[16]

At the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships she took one gold and one bronze as a pilot, with teammate Jayne Parsons.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sonia Waddell-Scown". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Top Kiwi marriages made in sport". Stuff.co.nz. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Rowing's golden couple dream of life off water". The New Zealand Herald. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  4. ^ Wilson, Lib (18 September 2013). "Waddell's in-laws living Cup challenge". Waikato Times. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Rebecca Scown". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  6. ^ "NZ's queen of rowing working at full stretch". The New Zealand Herald. 25 September 1999. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  7. ^ "(W4x) Women's Quadruple Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  8. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  9. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  10. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  11. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  12. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Rowing: Quadruple sculls continue silver championships". The New Zealand Herald. 27 August 2001. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  14. ^ "(W4x) Women's Quadruple Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  15. ^ "(W1x) Women's Single Sculls - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Waddell takes the title". Cyclingnews.com. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  17. ^ Kilgallon, Steve (4 July 2010). "Team-building all about blind faith". The Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 12 November 2011.