4 minute read
From Chatham Islands To The World...
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 Gregory- Hunt 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.”
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A strict training regime started in 2009, and Gregory-Hunt hasn’t looked back since. It is a sport that demands dedication, discipline, and a solid understanding of the technical aspects of the boat, as well as peak physical fitness, but that is not what attracts Gregory- Hunt. “What I love about it is that you get to constantly challenge yourself. For me, there’s no-one out there that I’m racing against except myself, and I love that challenge even more than getting my head around the technical side of things.”
Gregory-Hunt’s first boat was named Rēkohu - the Moriori name for the Chatham Islands - but it was in his second boat, Morning Star, named after his grandfather’s crayfishing boat, that the early starts, long hours of training and dedication started to come together. Gregory- Hunt took home the gold medal in the 2017 New Zealand National Rowing Champs Club Single race, beating out 62 other Kiwi athletes in the process. Never one to rest on his laurels, he then joined the New Zealand Barbarians (#Bad Boys Rowing) at the 2019 Henley Royal Regatta and is now immersed in a strict training schedule to ensure he’s ready if he gets the nod to represent New Zealand.
As a lightweight (less than 75kgs), he had for years combined a demanding training schedule with an extremely strict dieting regime. Now that the Olympic Committee has done away with the lightweight-rowing category, he is starting an equally hard programme to build muscle in order to compete with bigger rivals.
The Olympic Committee has done away with the lightweightrowing category, he is starting an equally hard programme to build muscle in order to compete with bigger rivals.
“At the moment I’m doing over 20kms on the water each day, plus up to 20kms more on the machine. Then there are sprints of maybe 2kms to push yourself. That means getting up at 4:30am for training before work, and hitting it again after work. I’m developing as a heavy weight now, so that means a lot of work!”
Like so many young athletes in the process of making their passion a profession, Gregory-Hunt also has to juggle work commitments and getting as much time in the boat as possible. He’s currently working in Blenheim as an engineer while training at the nearby Central Rowing Regional Performance Centre, and is quick to acknowledge the support of where he works. “My employer Rigtec has been great, giving me the flexibility to do the training and compete. It’s a pretty intense time right now and having them behind me has been huge.”
Gregory-Hunt has a lot of people behind him - his family back on Chatham Islands for a start. “I’ve still got family on the Islands and all the people there have had a great impact on my life, being supportive of what I do today,” he says. “On the Chathams I found people accepted you for who you are - your strengths and your weaknesses, whether they be physical or other. The whole culture there is about being open and straight up - and growing up there and just always doing stuff outside with no cell phones makes a huge difference. I wouldn’t trade that for the world, and it really taught me how to challenge myself.”
As if taking on the world as a rower isn’t enough of a challenge, Gregory-Hunt has another string to his bow. An accomplished saxophonist, he attended the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University and has only recently completed an 18 month jazz performance degree. “ Music is another passion I picked up at Saint John’s.
Again, it’s about pushing yourself and trying to do better and better.”
With his focus firmly on the 2020 Olympics at the moment, the music will have to remain in the background for the time being, but taking that to another level is not something Gregory-Hunt intends to rule out for the future. “Possibly. Maybe. Why not. That would be another challenge to look at.”
And Tristan Gregory-Hunt is certainly up for a challenge.
