Growing up in a sporty family, David Crawshay didn’t follow his brothers into AFL but took up rowing in 1993 at Melbourne Grammar School.
Crawshay’s defining moment as he rose through the junior ranks was seeing the selection trials for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and knowing he wanted to embark on such a journey. He took his first World Cup medal in 2003 – silver in the men’s pair in Lucerne. And graduated to gold on the same course the following year in the quad sculls. Crawshay also made his Olympic debut in 2004, as part of the quad scull crew in Athens. The crew had a mediocre performance that saw them relegated to the B Final which they won. The performance drove Crawshay and one of his teammates, Scott Brennan, to seek another shot at Olympic glory.
Four years later, Crawshay and Brennan did just that – winning gold in the double sculls at the Beijing 2008 Games, on a day that was Australia’s most successful in Olympic rowing history. The pair attempted to defend their Olympic title in London but after having to come through the repechage, finished fifth in the semi-final and claimed second in the B Final.
In 2015, Crawshay was named in the Men’s Quadruple Scull alongside David Watts, Karsten Forsterling and Cameron Girdlestone. The crew went on to win a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships.