Kevin O'Brien OAM

Ballarat City Rowing Club and Wendouree Ballarat Rowing Club (VIC)

Kevin has provided a lifetime of service to the sport, primarily as a coach, but also as a rower and club administrator. His sons have also caught the bug with Chris becoming a gold medal winning Olympic coach and elite high performance manager and head coach.

Kevin's work was recognised in 2026 being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia. His citation was for services to rowing and his details were as follows.

School Rowing

Coach, St Patricks College, 1950-1960 and 1966-2010.

Former Coach, Melbourne Girls Grammar.

Former Coach, Loreto College.

Former Coach, Ballarat High School.

Former Coach, Lauriston Girls School.

Ballarat City Rowing Club

Former Coach.

Captain, Ballarat City Rowing Club, 1952-1958.

Rowing Clubs

Coach, Wendouree-Ballarat Rowing Club.

Former Coach, Horsham Rowing Club.

Awards and Recognition include:

Tom Rodda Award, Victorian Oarsmen and Women’s Association, 2012.

Accredited Level 3 Rowing Coach, Rowing Australia.

Andrew Guerin
July 2026

Sources

Australian Honours Search Facility - extracted 7th July 2026
Rowing Australia website news item 8th June 2026

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
These contents of this history are copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. However given that the purpose of the history is to assist rowers and rowing clubs, written permission is not required for non-commercial usage by rowers and rowing clubs provided acknowledgement is made.

Disclaimer: Whilst extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied, the editors take no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from inaccuracies contained in this work.