[2] She was educated at Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch where she was into many sports, including "netball, basketball, athletics, volleyball, touch, cross-country running".

[6] Macfarlane changed to a women's four and with Beatrix Heaphy-Hall, Jennifer Storey, and Grace Prendergast, she won gold at the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championships in Račice, Czech Republic.

[3][2] The four, which included Sarah Gray, Fiona Bourke and Louise Trappitt, surprised themselves by winning bronze at the regattas in Hamburg (Germany) and Lucerne (Switzerland).

[12][13] The quad then went to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a strong expectation for a medal when Trappitt "caught a crab" and snapped an oar at the 1500 m mark in the repechage.

[1] At regattas in Varese (Italy) and Lucerne (Switzerland) in 2015, she competed in the double sculls with Zoe Stevenson, winning gold in both finals.

[22] Stevenson and MacFarlane qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but were beaten in the semi-finals by the US by 5/100 into fourth place, thus missing the A final.

She holds a Diploma in Art and Creativity with honours, obtained through extramural study at the Learning Connexion in Wellington.