Sjoerd Hamburger is a rower from the Netherlands, who competes in the single scull. Hamburger was born and raised in Oldeberkoop where he played korfball and was involved in training for triathlons. When he was 18 he moved to Utrecht to study and started rowing in an Eight at the Orca Rowing Club. The Orca Men's Eight won a silver medal at the European Youth Championships that year. In 2003 Hamburger rowed in the Orca Coxed four which came sixth at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships. On the advice of his coach Peter van der Noort, Hamburger started training in the Scull and thanks to a successful performance at the Dutch National Championships he was selected to take part in the World Cup. At the end of the year Hamburger won the bronze medal at the Under-23 World Championships. In December 2004 he was nominated alongside Meindert Klem and Eva de Jong as a Netherlands Talent Athlete. Later that month he became European Ergometer Champion. In March 2005 Hamburger was recognised as the Netherlands most talented athlete. During the World Cup finals in Luzern he finished in sixth position and during the semi finals he broke the Dutch national record to scull 6:46.32. Two weeks later Hamburger became World Under-23 Champion in Amsterdam. At the Senior World Championships in Japan in September he reached 7th position after winning the B-final. In 2006 Hamburger achieved 8th position in the World, and managed to beat his own Dutch national record. During the first World Cup meeting of 2007 he came sixth in Linz. With a 7th position at the second World Cup in Amsterdam he showed greater stability in his performance. Thanks to a fifth position in the World Cup finals in Luzern Hamburger earned himself a nomination for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The first World Cup of the 2008 season gave Hamburger an 8th spot in Munich. This was followed by a 7th place in the second World Cup in Luzern. After that he went to a training camp in South Korea to prepare for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Hamburger was also a member of the 2009-winning Oxford University Boat Club first eight that won the 155th University Boat Race on 29 March 2009. A year later he became the first non-English speaking foreigner to hold the position of President of the Oxford University Boat Club but was part of the losing crew in the 156th University Boat Race on 3 April 2010. He is one of the tallest rowers ever to have competed in the Boat Race, standing at 206 cm and weighing 100 kg. Whilst at Oxford, Hamburger rowed in the Oriel College 1st VIII in Summer Eights, bumping Pembroke College to finish 2nd on the river. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was part of the Dutch men's eight who finished in 5th place.
