Joshua Dunkley-Smith

Joshua Dunkley-Smith took up rowing at the age of 15 at Geelong College and first competed at a major international competition when he was fourth in the men’s eight at the 2009 U23 World Championships. He was on his first senior A team the same year, finishing seventh with the men’s eight at the World Championships in Poland. He went on to claim bronze in the eight in 2010 and then won his second bronze in the four in 2011.

Dunkley-Smith was joined by William Lockwood, James Chapman and three-time Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn in the men’s four in 2012. The crew showed strong signs when they won silver in World Cup 2 in Lucerne at the end of May, and then gold at World Cup 3 in Germany. At the 2012 Olympic Games, they won their heat by almost three seconds, setting a new Olympic record, before finishing second behind the British in the semi-final. The final was extremely close, with the Australians finishing just 1.22 seconds behind Great Britain to take silver.

Since London, accompanied by a new crew, Dunkley-Smith continued to enjoy success in the men’s four, with medals at multiple World Cups as well as silver and bronze at the 2013 and 2014 World Championships respectively.

Dunkley-Smith’s mother, Addy Bucek is a dual Olympian in sailing – 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games. He travelled with his mother to the Olympic Games and grew up familiar with the life of an athlete which inspired him to become an Olympian himself.

In 2016, Dunkley-Smith was named in the Men’s Four.