CHATHAM ISLAND
Image Credit: Rowing Celebration
From Chatham Islands to the World... 08
A I R C H AT H A M S . C O . N Z // S U M M E R 2 0 1 9
New Zealand has a long history of achievement in world-class rowing, and Tristan Gregory-Hunt grew up watching heroes like Mahé Drysdale and Robbie Manson on the rowing world stage. Now the young Chatham Islander is not only competing against them, but is a hot tip for a spot in the 2020 Olympics. Living on an island means being around boats, but the rowing bug never really bit while GregoryHunt was growing up on Chatham Island. “My father and grandfather had crayfishing boats, so we were often out on the water,” he says, “but rowing wasn’t really in the picture too much. It wasn’t until I’d moved to Saint John’s College in Hastings in 2008 for secondary school that I got into it. There was a ‘give it a go’ rowing course hosted there by the local rowing club, and my parents said I should try it - and I was pretty much hooked from then on.”
