The Path to Paris

The Path to Paris

Written by Kloe Phelan

Photography by Yianni Aspradakis and Chona Kasinger

Old Boys Patrick Holt ‘16 and Logan Ullrich ‘17 made waves rowing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, for Australia and New Zealand respectively. Their achievements are a testament to a balance of hard work, a love of good food, and downtime with friends. However, that’s not where it all began. The two were immersed in rugby and cricket growing up, so ball sports nearly vetoed.

At the crossroads of deciding on a secondary school, little Patrick and Logan had some pivotal decisions to make, and influencing those decisions were family, friends and injuries.

Patrick Holt made the switch to BGS in Year 6 and, moving out of an arts-heavy school, he embraced his new life at BGS by taking up cricket and rugby.

“Mum remembers me coming home happy all the time. I thought the baggy cap was the best thing ever.”

Just as he had settled into his new teams and began making a name for himself, the excitement was put on pause when Patrick succumbed to a pesky heel injury.

“The doctor said I couldn’t play cricket for a year.”

Devastated at the idea of change, but influenced by his eldest brother who was rowing at State High, Patrick considered rowing as a good way to stay active while he was injured.

Growing up in a household dominated fiercely by rugby and cricket meant a hard conversation with dad loomed.

“[Dad] said absolutely not. Too early mornings and we live too far away from the sheds,” Patrick laughed.

Come and Try Rowing Day nearly didn’t happen for Patrick, still struggling with the idea of changing sports.

“It was such an uncomfortable experience at first. I remember two people holding me, trying to teach me the safety position. I flipped five times.”

Able to smile about it now, Patrick remembers being gradually persuaded by this new team dynamic.

“You’re on the water, in the sun, so you’re happy. You realise you have to work together. That was really something.”

As he stuck out the first year of rowing, Patrick’s love for the water sport grew exponentially - even with the “Strange smell of marine petrol.”

Rowing eventually transformed from a stopgap for injury between cricket seasons into a primary fixture in Patrick’s schedule.

In his senior year at school, Patrick’s eight—including Logan Ullrich—were eager to place at one particularly renowned competition - the Head of the River.

“Everyone will remember you for it. You almost want it too much and get too nervous,” he said.

Despite the immense combined potential in that boat, the crew missed out on the pennant by two metres. But falling short did not stop them.

[Dad] said absolutely not. Too early mornings and we live too far from the sheds.

After success with the 2018 Queensland state rowing squad, Patrick moved to New South Wales to study business and engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney.

With nowhere to live, Patrick received a fortuitous accommodation offer from none other than multi-Olympic medallist and UTS Head Coach, Tim Mclaren. This would later become one of Patrick’s most pivotal relationships.

UTS eventually picked up on Patrick’s disposition and in 2021 they offered him a position at the UTS Haberfield Rowing Club.

Under Tim Mclaren’s guidance, Patrick went on to place at both the Australian and World Rowing Championships multiple times.

As positive experiences continued to stack up, Patrick gladly accepted a position in the elite athlete program at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), moving to the frosty capital.

“It was amazing, but super cold out on the Lake [Burley Griffin]. My first day was negative three degrees… It stings at first, but you sort of learn to let it spur you on.”

Patrick admits that while the long-awaited experience was exciting, it was also stark and isolating.

COVID meant he was the only person living at the AIS for rowing, and continuing study with UTS online meant it wasn’t long before he began missing the benefits of onsite study.

Determination earned him his first taste of the Olympics, selected as a non-travelling reserve for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

After Tokyo subsided, Patrick graduated from the business portion of his dual degree and returned to UTS to chip away at the engineering side, while honing into the World Championships. His team placed second in 2022 and first in 2023.

Patrick didn’t see slowing down on the cards, but the nonstop nature of jumping between UTS summer semesters and spending the better part of each year in Canberra eventuated in burn out.

“I love studying at UTS... But you can’t be nominated and a part of the Australian team if you’re not in Canberra because they have a centralised system. It was challenging.”

It stings at first, but you sort of learn to let it spur you on.

Thankfully, his UTS coach Tim McLaren was highly supportive and became his confidant. This relationship—one Patrick wishes he embraced much earlier— helped him to achieve a better sense of balance.

“[Tim] really encouraged me to take a step back and embrace the small wins.”

Leaning into McLaren’s mentorship was a wise move for Patrick whose approach became more sustainable, vastly improving his trajectory towards Paris 2024.

When the 2024 Australian team was finally announced, Patrick couldn’t have been happier to finally don the green and gold.

“Getting your kit is like Christmas,” he grinned.

Casting his mind back to the one-kilometre mark at Vaires-sur-Marne, he said, “We were side by side with the competition. I looked out beyond the boat and thought, ‘This is awesome.’”

While Patrick didn’t bring home a medal this time, he is already training for chapter two—Los Angeles 2028—and being slung back into normalcy has proved humbling.

“Everyone has been so good to us, so supportive - except my tutors who treat you like any other person,” the Olympian laughed.

When asked what he’d be doing in his time off, he said, “Can you guess? Golf, golf, and more golf. Spending as much time with friends and family as possible and having a laugh.”

Logan Ullrich was also introduced to rowing at the BGS Come and Try Day.

While he grew up in the water and was positively influenced by his father’s rowing, Logan was no more excited to make the change from ball sports than Patrick.

“The work was really hard at first. I didn’t like it that much because I was already doing pretty well at my other sports. Plus, I wasn’t used to using my limbs that way,” he said. But the unique sense of camaraderie made him curious.

“There was something special in the friendships being formed out beyond the knee-deep water… That made me so excited for high school,” Logan smiled.

Feeling clueless and uncoordinated for his first couple of seasons, Logan was glad rugby and rowing ran in alternating seasons.

I didn’t like it that much because I was already doing pretty well at my other sports. Plus, I wasn’t used to using my limbs that way.

In Year 11 (2016), Logan shared in Patrick’s loss at Head of the River, making him question his capabilities.

“Is this me as an athlete? Am I always going to underperform?” Logan said.

“Then you remember you’re in a boat with seven other guys and it’s a team effort... It’s definitely a bit of a tradition, but you have to realise it’s not the end.”

In his senior year, Patrick had graduated, and Logan had formed a critical bond with rowing peer, Miller Rowe ‘17.

“We weren’t in the same boat until the final year… but when we were, we sat together. That was a lot of fun and we experienced a lot of success rowing together after school,” Logan reminisced.

Leading up to their Under-19s win as a pair at Nationals, Logan and Miller “Were rowing out of a small 40-foot container right next to King’s College at the University of Queensland. It was just me, Miller, and Scott [Miller’s father] who coached us.”

That same little shed saw the duo go on to achieve victory in the Coxless Four at the 2018 Junior World Championships.

“Then I went to America and the rest is history.”

Except it wasn’t. Before jet-setting to the USA, Logan—a New Zealand citizen ineligible for HECS—had commenced at Queensland University of Technology, navigating the demands of study, training, and working enough hours to pay for his university fees.

“It was really exhausting and brought my priorities to a bit of an ultimatum,” Logan said.

That was until he received an irresistible offer.

Awarded a prestigious rowing scholarship at the University of Washington, he saw a way forward, continuing his study of food systems, nutrition and health whilst pursuing his Olympic dreams in a world-class environment.

You don’t get one without the other. You have to be able to contribute.

Reflecting on the opportunity that ultimately led to his selection on the 2024 New Zealand Olympic rowing team, Logan says sport was always his forte, but the classroom was not.

“I’m very proud to have got my degree,” he said.

“There are a few teachers who might not have thought I would, and I understand why now. It took a big change of habits.”

On what pushed him to persevere with both study and sports, he said, “You don’t get one without the other. You have to be able to contribute.”

Logan confesses that he’s reached his study quota for now, saying “While I have a big interest in food and how it all works, I think I’d rather keep learning through experience.”

“I had an amazing time with my rowing mates, though. That was extremely rewarding and motivating.”

Following the completion of his degree and missing his family and friends, Logan made the voyage back to New Zealand ready to represent his home country. No longer studying, he was able to lock in on Paris.

Fast forward to 2024 and Logan was named a member of the New Zealand Olympic team.

“[Receiving the news] was undoubtedly one of the most exciting things I’ve ever felt,” Logan said, “I was extremely proud.”

“I wasn’t in the Olympic village, so I don’t know what that was like, but it was great to be able to spend time with family and eat heaps of good food. You’ve got to eat heaps to be race-ready,” he laughed.

The athlete’s eyes lit up as he recalled pulling home silver for New Zealand, noting the visceral sensation of synchronicity in the Olympic boat.

“Unlike in rugby, the feeling of working well as a team is so exhilarating in rowing,” Logan said.

“You’re locked in together, physically strapped in together going through extreme physical exertion, but you don’t feel it.”

For Logan, accepting silver was an amalgamation of adrenaline, joy, frustration and acceptance. Streams of support from friends new and old brought him back down to Earth.

“Hearing the stories after the races about where people were when they were watching the races really put a smile on my face,” he said.

After a four-week break, Logan snapped straight back into the routine, mapping out a plan of attack for Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032.

He intends to use his university knowledge and practical experience leading up to the Olympics to create more content about the daily life of an athlete.

“I like producing stuff that I would have liked to watch. To think of a young Grammar rower watching that and getting inspired… I’d like to do that.”

When asked how he plans to spend his future downtime, Logan said, “Definitely time with family and snorkelling. I love the water; I’ll always be out there.”

Patrick and Logan are excited for the future of BGS athletes with Brisbane 2032 only seven years away. They remind us that good things take time and that there are many routes to success.

“Definitely put all your eggs in one basket and focus,” Logan said.

“Aim for balance and find a confidant early on. Whatever you choose, choose to enjoy it,” Patrick encouraged.