Fred Strachan

Last updated

Fred Strachan
QSM
Personal information
Birth nameFrederick Strachan
Born (1923-08-17) 17 August 1923 (age 101)
New Zealand
OccupationSports coach
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportRowing
ClubNorth End Rowing Club

Frederick Strachan QSM (born 17 August 1923) is a New Zealand retired rowing coach.

Contents

Biography

Strachan was born on 17 August 1923. [1] Beginning in 1944, he has been a member of the North End Rowing Club (NERC) in Dunedin. He was a provincial representative rower for the Otago Rowing Association in 1948. [2] He was involved in rowing for seven decades and 70 rowers coached by him have represented New Zealand internationally. [3] In the 1960s, Strachan was one of the few rowing coaches who supported women's rowing. [4]

In 1960, Strachan coached a coxed four at NERC that was the first boat for the club to win a national championship. [2] He was a selector for Rowing New Zealand from 1964 to 1988. [2] In the late 1960s, Strachan promoted greater use of science in high performance sport. [5] He was selector for the 1968 coxed four that had been intended as potential substitutes for the 1968 New Zealand eight but who ended up being nominated as a separate team and returned with gold from the 1968 Summer Olympics. [6] He was selector of the New Zealand eight that won gold at the 1971 European Rowing Championships and gold at the 1972 Summer Olympics. [5] He was the manager of the 1972 New Zealand Olympic rowing team. [2] Strachan later mentored Hamish Bond, who credits Strachan with having turned him into an elite rower. [7]

Strachan has officiated for FISA, the World Rowing Federation, at the 1964 Summer Olympics, 1968 Summer Olympics, 1970 World Rowing Championships, 1972 Summer Olympics, 1976 Summer Olympics, 1978 World Rowing Championships, and 1981 World Rowing Championships. He retired from FISA in 1988 when he hit the age barrier. [2] He retired from coaching after the support boat that he piloted in October 2015 ran into a rowing boat, injuring two of the student rowers. [8] Maritime New Zealand laid charges in connection with the crash. [9]

Strachan celebrated his 100th birthday on 17 August 2023. [10] Rowing New Zealand compiled a number of tributes from the rowing community. For example, Hamish Bond said: [11]

Fred is an encyclopedia of rowing knowledge, constantly producing random printouts and photocopies of East German training philosophies. If it was written, he had read it.

Honorary roles and awards

Strachan was president of Rowing New Zealand from 1985 to 1990, in which year he was awarded life membership. He is vice-patron of Rowing New Zealand. [2] In the 1991 New Year Honours, he was awarded a Queen's Service Medal (QSM) for community service. [12] At the 2005 Halberg Awards, Strachan was awarded a lifetime achievement award. [13] In 2019, he was awarded the Sir Don Rowlands Medal by the New Zealand Rowing Association. [14] Strachan received the lifetime achievement award at the 2022 New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards. [15]

Private life

Strachan was known as a "confirmed bachelor". After Kate Gow, a member of the Auckland University Women’s Rowing Club, moved to Christchurch, she got together with Strachan. They married in the 1970s at the St Joseph's Cathedral in Dunedin. [11] Strachan lives in Twizel, which is close to Lake Ruataniwha. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Happy 99th birthday Fred Strachan". Rowing New Zealand. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fred Strachan QSM". North End Rowing Club Inc. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Brown, Timothy (4 December 2014). "Coach, 91, says age no factor in schoolboy rowing 'freak accident'". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  4. ↑ Hay, Andy (16 November 2023). "The force of nature who tore a trail through rowing". Newsroom . Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  5. 1 2 Bidwell 2010, p. 56.
  6. ↑ Bidwell 2010, p. 20.
  7. ↑ "Hamish Bond interview". World Rowing Federation . Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "Settlement reached over rowing incident". Otago Daily Times . 10 February 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  9. ↑ "Rowing coach charged over crash". Otago Daily Times . 26 November 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2024– via The New Zealand Herald.
  10. 1 2 "Tributes flow as legendary New Zealand rowing selector Fred Strachan turns 100". Stuff . 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Said About Fred". Rowing New Zealand. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "No. 52383". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 31.
  13. ↑ "2005". Halberg Awards . Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Fred Strachan awarded Sir Don Rowlands Medal". Rowing New Zealand. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Fred Strachan receives lifetime achievement award". Rowing New Zealand. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2023.

Related Research Articles

Simon Charles Dickie was a New Zealand rowing cox who won three Olympic medals.

Richard William Tonks is a former national New Zealand rowing coach and a former rower who won a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Through his coaching career he has coached crews to a total of 25 World Championship medals—including thirteen gold—and a total of seven Olympic medals—six of which were gold.

Athol John "Joe" Earl is a former New Zealand rower who won two Olympic medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Rodger</span> New Zealand rower

David Marsden Rodger is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic bronze medal.

George Keys is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic Bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Christopher Sherratt White is a former New Zealand rower and Olympic Bronze medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He is described as "one of the giants of New Zealand rowing" and with 38 national titles, holds the record for most domestic rowing titles in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Evers-Swindell</span> New Zealand rower

Caroline Frances Meyer, better known under her maiden name Caroline Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Georgina Evers-Swindell. In November 2005 she and her sister were named Rowing Female Crew of the Year by the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and in 2016 they became the first New Zealanders to be awarded the federation's highest award, the Thomas Keller Medal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamish Bond</span> New Zealand rower (born 1986)

Hamish Bryon Bond is a retired New Zealand rower and former road cyclist. He is a three-time Olympic gold medallist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He won six consecutive World Rowing Championships gold medals in the coxless pair and set the current world best times in both the coxless and coxed pair. He made a successful transition from rowing to road cycling after the 2016 Summer Olympics, focussing on the road time trial and winning a medal at the Commonwealth Games. He returned to rowing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning a gold medal in the men's eight. In 2024 he was a cyclor in the Team New Zealand team which successfully defended the America's cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Murray (rower)</span> New Zealand rower (born 1982)

Eric Gordon Murray is a retired New Zealand rower and gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, as well as at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. He won six consecutive World Rowing Championship gold medals in the coxless pair plus two other gold medals in the coxless four and coxed pair. In 2012 and 2014 he set two world best times in the coxless pair and coxed pair respectively, which as of 2021 still stand as the world's best in those boat classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Twigg</span> New Zealand rower (born 1987)

Emma Kimberley Twigg is a New Zealand rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July 2021. Previous Olympic appearances were in 2008, 2012, and 2016. She has retired from rowing twice, first for master-level studies in Europe in 2015 and then after the 2016 Olympics, disappointed at having narrowly missed an Olympic medal for the second time. After two years off the water, she started training again in 2018 and won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. Since her marriage in 2020, she has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Twigg won gold in the woman's single scull. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Twigg won Silver in the same event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Cohen (rower)</span> New Zealand rower

Nathan Phillip Cohen is a New Zealand rower. He is a two-time world champion, and won a gold medal in the Olympics. In 2006, rowing a single scull, he won a gold medal at the World University Games. In doing so, he became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the World University Games in any sport. Cohen and his rowing partner, Joseph Sullivan, won back-to-back gold medals in the men's double sculls at both the 2010 and 2011 World Rowing Championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he and his partner won the gold medal in the men's double sculls, after breaking the Olympic best time in the heats. In 2013, Cohen was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rowing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Sullivan (rower)</span> New Zealand rower

Joseph Sullivan is a New Zealand rower.

Philippa June Baker, now known by her married name Philippa Baker-Hogan, is a former New Zealand rower and politician. She was the first New Zealand woman to win a gold medal at World Rowing Championships and won gold at world championships on two more occasions. She has twice represented New Zealand at the Olympics. She has received numerous awards for her rowing success and in 2012, she and fellow double sculler Brenda Lawson were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. A trained radiographer, she manages her husband's medical practice. She has been a Whanganui District Health Board and Whanganui District Council member since 2004 and 2006, respectively, and was a mayoral candidate in 2010. She is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Stanley (rower)</span> New Zealand rower

Michael Rowland Stanley is a New Zealand sports administrator and former representative rower. He was a two-time world champion and represented New Zealand at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Stanley has since 2009 been the president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

Andrew Stevenson, also known as Herb Stevenson, is a former New Zealand rower.

The 1982 New Zealand eight was a double world champion team of rowers. The team won some significant awards for its successes.

Russell Robertson, known as Rusty Robertson, was a New Zealand-born, world class rowing coach of New Zealand and later, Australian national representative rowing crews. He was the national rowing coach of New Zealand from 1967 to 1976, and the national coach of Australia from 1979 to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 New Zealand eight</span> Rowing team

The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and Fred Strachan were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded as holding world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.