| Rachel Lovell | |
| Nickname: | Rach |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Residence: | Sunshine Coast, Queensland |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1978 |
| Birth Place: | Evesham, United Kingdom |
| Height: | (2012) |
| Weight: | (2012) |
| Country: | Australia |
| Sport: | Canoeing |
| Event: | K-4 500 m |
Rachel Lovell (born 20 March 1978) is an Australian kayak racer. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the K-4 500 m event.
Nicknamed Rach, Lovell was born on 20 March 1978[1] in Evesham, United Kingdom and spent her childhood in south west London.[1] She is a former Brit.[2] She attended primary school at Fladbury School in Worcestershire, United Kingdom before going to high school at Pershore High School in Worcestershire, United Kingdom.[1] She then went to the University of Kingston from 1996 to 1999 where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Radiography.[1] Lovell is married to canoe coach Geoff Lovell, and has two children. She has step-brothers (Stephen and Andrew) who were world champions in canoe. She moved to Queensland in 2008, and became an Australian citizen in 2009., she lives in Sunshine Coast, Queensland[1] suburb of Buderim.
Lovell is tall and weighs .[1]
Lovell took up the sport when she was seven years old because she wanted to be like her step brothers. She is a member of the Sunshine Coast Canoe Club.[1] She has a canoeing scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport.[1] [3] She has been coached by Geoff Lovell, her husband, for 15 years.[1] [3] Since moving to Australia and returning to the sport in 2010, her training is based in Sunshine Coast, Queensland.[1] [3]
In 2003, Lovell won a bronze medal K1 200m at the European Championships.[3] She tried to earn selection to the Great Britain team for the 2004 Summer Olympics but missed selection. She was a member of the Great Britain national canoe team in 2005 and 2006.[3] She quit canoeing in 2008 after she failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics as a member of Great Britain Olympic team because of a pregnancy, only taking up the sport again in 2011.[3] [4]
Lovell finished 3rd in the K4 500m and 5th in the K2 200m event at the 2011 World Cup 1 in Poznań, Poland.[1] She finished 5th in the K1 200m event at the 2011 World Cup 2 in Račice, Czech Republic.[1] She finished 5th in the K4 500m event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.[1] She finished 1st in the K4 500m and 3rd in the K2 500m event at the 2012 Oceania Championships in Penrith, Australia.[1] She finished 1st in the K4 500m event at the 2012 National Championships in Penrith, Australia.[1]
Lovell was selected to represent Australia at 2012 Summer Olympics in the K-4 500 m event.[2] She made her Olympic debut as a thirty-four-year-old.[3] Before the start of the Games, she and her canoe teammates trained in Italy at the AIS European Training Centre located in Varese.[5] [6]