Marine McBean’s first appearance on the international rowing scene was in 1986, when she came in third in the coxless pairs at that year’s Junior World Championships. She debuted in the senior edition in 1989 with a fourth-place finish in the coxless fours, alongside Kirsten Barnes, Kathleen Heddle, and Brenda Taylor, a feat that the quartet repeated the following year. From that point, however, with only one exception, McBean would not fail to reach the podium in a World Championship, Pan American, or Olympic event for the remainder of her career. In 1991 and 1992 she never lost a major race, winning gold in the coxless pairs and the eights at the World Championships and Olympic Games. Seeking individual glory, she was second in the single sculls at the 1993 World Championships, but returned to team rowing with a silver medal in the double sculls at the 1994 edition. She earned gold in the event at the 1995 World Championships, where she also captured silver in the quadruple sculls. That year she also took Pan American titles in both disciplines, and followed up with gold in the double and bronze in the quadruple at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She took the 1997 season off, but returned in 1998 by winning silver in the coxless fours and bronze in the eights at the World Championships. Her sole podium miss came at the 1999 World Championships, where she was sixth in the single sculls, and she was slated to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, but withdrew due to a back injury, subsequently retiring from the sport. Since then she has worked as a “Specialist in Olympic Athlete Preparation and Mentoring” with the Canadian Olympic Committee. Among her many honors are induction into the Canadian Olympic (1994) and Canada’s Sports (1997) Halls of Fame and she holds a degree in kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario.
Canada