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Kate Allen (nee Slatter) OAM

Adelaide University Boat Club (SA), (AIS 1991-2000)

Kate Allen (nee Slatter) is one of the great athletes of Australian rowing. Not only a superb rower who was Australia’s first women’s rowing Olympic Champion, but one who used her opportunities well and appreciating those her helped her along the way. She is a world and Olympic champion and three time Olympian.

The magazine ‘Light Blue’ of her secondary school Geelong Grammar summarised her school sporting career as follows:

The woman who is widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest female rowers did not begin her rowing career on the Barwon River. In fact, Kate Slatter took up an oar on Corio Bay, soon after her Year 12 exams. Although her athletic prowess was evident at school, where she won the John Landy triathlon three times and earned colours for swimming and cross country, Kate admired the rowers from the riverbank. But at the University of Adelaide in 1989, she pursued the interest that had started on Corio Bay and the rest is history.

Kate fondly remembers this year 12 opportunity to try rowing at school and realised that this was her sport. As mentioned, she took up rowing in earnest at Adelaide University where she undertook her tertiary study and where her family lived. As a natural rower with great athletic abilities, she was rapidly identified as excellent talent and matched with other emerging rowers through the South Australian Sports Institute.  In 1990, this group, went onto to win both the National Championship under 23 Four and the Interstate Championship Youth Four. These championships remain a great rowing memory for her, and she couldn’t believe it at the time.

In her generous style, Kate speaks highly of those who supported her along the way. In Adelaide, her coach Robyn Grey Gardiner and the work of Barbara and Simon Gillett were particularly singled out.

By this stage she was too old for juniors but was still tested by AIS physiologist Alan Hahn for the AIS development group. Kate was then offered a scholarship to the AIS in Canberra where she remained until after the 2000 Olympic Games, some 10 years later. During that time, she was recognised with the 1995 AIS Athlete of the Year and then in 2002, placed on the AIS Best of the Best List, a great honour. Kate’s admiration of the work of Alan Hahn is obvious in our discussions. It is also obvious as Kate and Megan named their 1996 Olympic boat in his honour.

At the AIS she developed well with the other emerging talented athletes. She admired the technical abilities of those like Jodie Dobson and Fleur Spriggs and the raw excellent ability of Megan Still, then fresh out of juniors. Paul Thompson coached them with Kate swapping sides and steering to be able to row with Megan. Given their lack of experience, Paul set realistic but challenging goals and they responded superbly. She is again generous in her praise of others, crediting good coaches and good fellow athletes as the key to success. She then mentions more of the other excellent rowers around her such as Emy Snook, Courtney Johnstone to name a couple mentioned. Kate again highlights the work of others and particularly Paul Thompson. Paul developed as quickly as his athletes as he only commenced in 1990 at the AIS when Peter Shakespear left. Paul was excellent, and fully used the best skills that the AIS could offer to assist him and his athletes – dieticians, physiologists, psychologists, strength and condition experts, etc. Special mention of biomechanist Peggy McBride was made.

Her World Championship participation came in 1991 quickly followed by becoming a finalist in the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Her first World Championship medal was earned in 1994, her first World Championship in 1995 and then an Olympic Championship in 1996. Along with pair partner Megan Still, they became Australia’s first women’s Olympic Rowing Champions.

Their approach to racing in 1996 was interesting – highly professional but also maintaining a sense of fun, overcoming challenges with broken bones and chronic fatigue and the expectation of performing well in the Olympics being the reigning world champions.

Still and Slatter wanted to ease the pressure and enjoy every moment.  To add some fun Still found some Mickey Mouse cartoon hats and presented Slatter with this to wear in their Olympic races.  They were about bringing the joy and fun back to their rowing.   With no outside sponsorship being allowed in the Olympics (even though the girls paid for these hats and never had any money from Walt Disney) their hats were taped up on the pontoon dock as they set out to race.  You can just see mickey mouse on their hats in the Olympic photos!  Their professionalism was also required on the day of the finals, when the team received a bomb threat at 5am and had to evacuate the accommodation. They managed the altered preparation with ease and ‘did the job’ becoming Olympic Champions.  

In 1997 she was awarded an OAM for services to rowing and then in in 2002, inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (Athlete Division).

Kate also received the AIS vocational and educational award as she managed to train and complete at Worlds and Olympics whilst undertaking a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Commerce, sometimes at the perils of potentially losing her scholarship, when her lab sessions clashed with her training.  Training won out and Kate is grateful to Adelaide University and then ANU for their support.   What Kate did show was that a balanced athlete performs well when not only having sport as their outlet.  Kate wasn’t finished with education adding an MBA post Olympics and more recently a PGDip in Personalised Nutrition.

Kate would often give her medals away after national titles and commonwealth regattas to inspire and be enjoyed by the next generation.  Much to her mother’s disbelief as she rarely got to see these medals!  She has however kept her Olympic and world championship medals!

Kate’s record is one of great achievement and she is one of the best rowers Australia has ever produced.

Sport Australia Hall of Fame website reports as follows:

Kate Allen (Slatter) OAM was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 as an Athlete Member for her contribution to the sport of rowing.

Slatter is widely regarded as Australia’s leading female rower. Since winning her first national championship in 1990, Slatter won 16 national titles and attended three Olympics Games and five World Championships.

With only 12 months experience, yet a wealth of ambition and drive, Slatter became a member of the first Australian women’s rowing crew since 1984 to make an Olympic final. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the crew finished sixth in the final.

In 1994, Slatter’s bronze medal in the World Championships, and her two silver medals at the Commonwealth Regatta in Canada, solidified her position as one of Australia’s most talented rowers. With her partner Megan Still, they went through 1995 undefeated in national and international competition, culminating in winning the World Championships in Finland. In doing so, the pair became the first Australian female rowers to win a world title in an Olympic rowing event.

Fresh from victory at the Amsterdam International Regatta in June 1996, the pair clinched Olympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by 0.39 of a second, becoming the first Australian female crew in history to do so.

When Still retired after winning gold in Atlanta, Slatter was left with four years to find another partner to repeat the feat in Sydney. She chose her new partner Rachael Taylor after rowing with her in the women’s eight boat at various international competitions including the World Championships in 1998. The pair claimed bronze at the 1999 World Championships in Canada behind Romania and Canada.

At the 2000 World Cup in Lucerne, they won silver behind Romanians Georgeta Damian and Doina Ignat and beat the Canadian combination of Emma Robinson and Theresa Luke. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the pair won silver in the women’s coxless pairs, with Slatter retiring from the sport soon after.

Life after rowing 

Following her retirement from rowing, Kate worked in finance and accounting with both EY and Westpac remaining involved with the Australian Olympic Committee’s Winning Attitude seminar series (2000-2008) supporting and inspiring the next generation.   Kate also went to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a team mentor alongside John Eales and Steve Waugh.   Kate’s remained involved in sport, from lobbying to have national anthems played at the World Championships at the FISA conference in 2001; helping set up the Rowing Australian Athletes Commission and been a member of the Rowing Australia Board and Australian Sports Commission Board.

In 2009 Kate moved to London when her English husband secured a new job, planning to go back into finance after settling in. This was prevented when their eldest son, Charlie, started have seizures daily.  Tragedy struck the family when Charlie, then aged only 10 years old and after a history of multiple seizures, suffered a fatal seizure. Her marriage broke down a year later. Kate has stayed in London raising her two daughters.  

Kate now uses her diverse professional background of bringing up her family, elite sports, banking and accounting, and most recently nutritionist qualifications, to design bespoke mentoring, coaching and nutritional solutions for her clients and still continues to play it forward by mentoring and helping the next generation of athletes. 

Kate’s athletic abilities have been passed onto the next generation with her daughters both active sportswomen. Her eldest, herself a talented rower, will spend a gap year in Australia. Kate misses Australia – the beaches, the birds, Adelaide, and generally anything Australian. She anticipates returning when her youngest has finished school.

Known rowing record of major races

1990 – National Championships, Women’s Under 23 Four, two seat – First

1990 – Interstate Championships, Bicentennial Trophy, two seat - First

1991 – AIS scholarship holder for the first time

1991 – Victorian Championships, Women’s Four, two seat - First

1991 – National Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke – Third

1991 – National Championships, Women’s Four, two seat – First

1991 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, two seat – First

1991 – World Championships, Women’s Four, stroke - Eighth

1991 – World Championships, Women’s Eight, stroke - Twelfth

1992 – National Championships, Women’s Four, stroke – First

1992 – National Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke – Fourth

1992 – Olympic Games – Women’s Four, stroke - Sixth

1993 – National Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke – First

1993 – National Championships, Women’s Four, stroke – First

1993 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, stroke – First

1993 – World Championships, Women’s Four, stroke - Sixth

1994 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, stroke – First

1994 – Commonwealth Regatta, Women’s Four, three seat - Silver

1994 – Commonwealth Regatta, Women’s Eight, six seat - Silver

1994 – World Championships, Women’s Eight, six seat – Sixth

1994 – World Championships, Women’s Four, three seat – Bronze

1994 – World Championships, Women’s Eight, six seat - Sixth

1995 – National Championships, Women’s Four, stroke – First

1995 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, six seat – First

1995- World Championships- Women's Pair stroke- Gold

1995 – AIS Athlete of the Year

1995- World Championships- Women's Eight four seat - Eighth

1996 – National Championships, Women’s Four, stroke – First

1996 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, six seat – First

1996 – Olympic Games, Women’s Pair, stroke – First

1996 – Australian University Championships, Women’s Four, stroke

1996 – Australian University Championships, Women’s Eight, stroke - First

1997 – Awarded Medal of the Order of Australia

1999 – National Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke – First

1998 – Commonwealth Regatta, Women’s Four - First

1998 – Commonwealth Regatta, Women’s Eight - First

1999 – National Championships, Women’s Four, three seat – First

1999 – National Championships, Women’s Eight, stroke – First

1999 – World Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke - Bronze

2000 – National Championships, Women’s Pair, stroke – First

2000 – National Championships, Women’s Four, two seat – First

2000 – Interstate Championships, Queen’s Cup, stroke – Second

2000 – Olympic Games, Women’s Pair, stroke – Silver

2002 – AIS Best of the Best List

2002 – Inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame (Athlete Division)

2002-04 – Rowing Australia Board member

Andrew Guerin
September 2024

Sources:

• Interview with Kate Allen, July 2024
• Author’s own records including this website and recollections as 1991, 1992 and 1996 team manager
• Sport Australia Hall of Fame website extracted 3rd November 2023 - Kate Allen (Slatter) | Sport Australia Hall of Fame (sahof.org.au)