Joshua Hicks

Western Australian Josh Hicks is a veteran of the Australian men's rowing squad. He rowed with the Swan River Rowing Club at the junior level before also representing Western Australia in the youth eight in 2009.

Josh made his Australian debut later that year when he travelled to France for the Junior World Rowing Championships, claiming a silver medal in the men’s four.

The following year Josh was offered a collegiate rowing scholarship with Harvard University. In 2011, he rowed in Harvard's senior varsity eight.

Josh’s senior international career commenced in 2014 when he competed for Australia in the men's eight at the World Rowing Cup II as well as the World Championships.

He continued his career with the men's eight as they looked to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics. Competing at the ‘Regatta of Death’, Australia needed a top two finish in the final to qualify for the Games and finished fourth - meaning there was no Australian men's eight at the Games for the first time since 1948.

The following years represented a change of pace for Josh, who moved into the men's four. He found substantial success, winning back-to-back World Championship gold medals in 2017 and 2018. The continued dominance of the team led to their commendation as World Rowing Male Crew of the Year for 2018.

In 2019, Josh was selected in Australian men's sweep squad which was casting an eye towards the Tokyo Olympics. He linked up with Sam Hardy in the men's pair at the 2019 World Championships. The duo finished third overall, which qualified the boat for the Olympics.

Josh and Sam started fast at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing first in their heat to qualify for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan from there on with a fourth-place finish in the semi-finals denying them a chance at a medal.

Josh returned to the men's eight for the 2023 international season. Silver at the World Rowing Cup II was followed by a fantastic performance at the World Rowing Cup III where the team won gold against the favoured Great Britain.

In May of 2024, Josh competed once again at the World Rowing Cup II, as the Australian team claimed fourth place.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Josh was part of the men's eight crew that qualified the boat for the men's A Final via repechage. But in another cruel twist of fate for Josh, he was withdrawn medically from the crew on the day of the final with gastroenteritis and replaced by Tim Masters. The men's eight crew finished sixth in the A Final.

In September 2024 Josh was elected to the Australian Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.