Eric Murray rivers of gold

Up before the crack of dawn, even in the middle of winter, Eric Murray has taken to his sport like a rower to water. Recently, JON RAWLINSON caught up with this world-renowned Olympian and one half of the famous ‘Kiwi Pair’.

While most of us are well aware of laurels well earned by former Pukekohe High student, Eric Murray, he treasures the journey at least as much as the destination.

“Actually, my biggest sporting highlight was probably playing golf with Steve Williams the other day,” he laughs. “Seriously, though, there’s nothing bigger to achieve than Olympic Gold, but it’s not the be all and end all. It’s not the actual [medal winning] race so much as looking back on the journey it took to get there.”

Eric’s extraordinary run resulted in eight World Rowing

Championships gold medals as well as two Olympic golds with his long-time crewmate,

Hamish Bond – London (2012) and Rio (2016).

“When you’re coming through there are plenty of things you tick off along the accomplishment route – the first time you make a rep’ team, selected into the team, first at world champs, first medal, it’s all a part of the journey.”

Most recently, Eric and Hamish were named Team of the Decade (for the 2010s) at the 2021 Halberg

Awards; adding to five Halbergs (two Supreme and three Team of the

Eric Murray and former rowing partner, Hamish Bond

good as gold at Rio. Photo Steve McArthur, www.vigour.nz

Year Awards) from prior years.

“I feel like I’ve been out of the game for a while now but things still result from what we achieved, which is great. The [2021] Halberg really does top it all off nicely. I think people still struggle to believe how well we did – I still struggle to believe it myself.”

How did they do it? Was it all down to talent?

“The biggest ‘talent’ in any athlete is attitude; the will to turn up, day in and day out, and do your best every single time. We harp on about hard work, but it’s more about work done well, which wasn’t just about us – we couldn’t have achieved what we did [on the water] without a huge number of people around us,” he says.

“We knew we were good, but I wouldn’t say it was expected when we won the [men’s coxless] four in 2007. From that point we knew, if we lived up to our capabilities, we’d either finish in front or close to it.”

‘In front’ was usually the order of the day for Eric and Hamish!

Forming a lasting bond with Bond, Eric was (ironically) pleased to see the back of him, in competition that is. he laughs. “Hamish was a phenomenal beast who just wanted to be the best, no matter what it took. I guess I complemented that; we both drove each other harder. If you put two people who believe they are the best in the same crew, it’s going to work.”

While success begets success, success must also surround it; with New Zealand rowing running strong, Eric and Hamish benefited from training and competing regularly against other top crews.

“We got to test ourselves against the rest of the team quite often. It’s a weird thing, sport is mostly about experimentation – you prepare and train, compete, think about what went right and what went wrong, then go back and do it all over again.”

Greater than the sum of its parts, this sporting duo needed to work hard although, interesting, winning itself proved an advantage.

“Because we weren’t losing, we didn’t have to ask ourselves some of the hardest questions, about how much effort we were putting in,” Eric says.

“Losing form is easy and it’s a struggle to find the magic again. You can spend a week going down a rabbit hole doing something that’s not quite right then it takes a month trying to set things right so, our main focus was making sure we didn’t lose form.”

Good form was certainly evident on the water. However, Eric confesses his winning run began with a somewhat sluggish start.

“When I was in school [Pukekohe High], I was looking for a sport to keep me fit over summer – I played first XV rugby until my final year. A few people said I should give rowing a go, so I did and was... bloody terrible at it! But I stuck with, got better and carried on.”

Although Pukekohe High is not exactly famous for producing rowing greats, Eric claimed some Maadi Cup regatta honours, including an Under-17 national title. “When I was in school [Pukekohe High], I was looking for a sport to keep me fit over summer. A few people said I should give it a go, so I did and was... bloody terrible at it! But I stuck with, got better and carried on.”

“We finished second or third on the points table one year so we had a good team at the time, which also included [future World Championship silver medallist], Paula Twining. The school has won some events at the regatta in the past but schools really need a big numbers of kids rowing – it’s highly competitive.”

Although Eric is now living in Cambridge, he was born in Hastings, moved to Manurewa with his family and, shortly afterwards, to Bombay. My parents then built a house in Bombay, which is where I grew up, going to Bombay Primary. When we [includes his sister, Fiona] flew the roost, my parents [Annette and Peter] sold their little five-acre lifestyle block and moved to Pukekohe Hill; they’ve been there ever since,” he says.

“My parents were massive supporters but they never pressured me. They would’ve spent about 25 grand on international travel without even setting foot on a plane. When, finally, I didn’t need [their money], they were able to come along too. They came to a few of the world champs and the Olympics. I guess that’s the best any parents can do for their children.”

To be the best may have involved the utmost dedication but, when asked about the sacrifice, Eric stops me in my tracks.

“Any athlete you hear saying representing your country is a sacrifice needs a slap!” he laughs. “It’s a privilege to represent your country. We just went about trying to be the best and, I guess, that’s what we became.”

TOKYO – NZ’S FLOAT HOPES

So long as the Olympic torch blazes in Tokyo (from late July), it’s a safe bet Kiwi rowers will be setting the water alight, rowing legend, Eric Murray, expects.

“Our women’s programme is on fire, so I’d say most of our medals will come from them. As for the guys, there’s not many who would make you think we’ve got some money in the bank but there’s some young talent coming through, which is good.”

Although the final team will be named on June 9, New Zealand will field a number of boats across various classes, with such star crew as Hamish Bond, Emma Twigg, Zoe McBride and more.

When they do claim medals, however, their success will have been fuelled, in part, by many others, present and past. From coaching great, Dick Tonks, to trail-blazing rowers such as Philippa Baker, Brenda Lawson, Rob Waddell, Mahé Drysdale and the Evers-Swindell twins, the Tokyo rowers will be following a legacy of laurels.

At the Olympics alone, Kiwi rowers won 11 medals prior to the 2000 Athens games and 13 during or since.

“Since the mid nineties, our programme was built on ‘success breeds success’,” Eric adds. “The last 20 years has been exceptional in terms of the people we had and not just rowers at the top level.” Eric Murray on rowing machine.

Photo Steve McArthur, www.vigour.nz

INDOOR ROWING – THE INCREDIBLE & ACCESSIBLE

Achievement in some sports requires little more than the will to win; although rowing necessitates more than that, a (relatively) new version of the sport is making it more accessible than ever before.

“Indoor rowing is more accessible [than rowing], it’s all-inclusive, even easily adaptable for people with all sorts of disabilities,” former Olympic rowing champion, Eric Murray says.

“It’s good for seniors, in particular, as it is low impact and only as demanding as they need it to be. People in their eighties and nineties are competing on rowing machines just because they can!”

Essentially, indoor rowing involves people competing against each other on rowing machines.

Eric’s son, Zac, doesn’t compete but he does “hop on the rower from time to time”. As a patron for Autism NZ, it’s not surprising that inclusiveness and accessibility to sport are important to Eric. At first, I thought patronage meant handing over plenty of cash,” he laughs, “but it’s really about being a face for the organisation and helping connect dots with scarce resources from government to whatever we can get through the private sector and community.”

As opposed to outdoor or classic rowing, competitors don’t need a boat or even access to a river to participate in indoor rowing; all they need is a machine, and an internet connection to compete against others worldwide.

“Indoor rowing loses a little in terms of the art of rowing, just a fraction,” Eric says. “Although it can be a sport on its own, it’s also a great way to introduce people to rowing and identify talent which, otherwise, might be missed.”

The sport is versatile too, with changes to races lengths and age or weight classes implemented quickly.

Eric hung up his oars with regards to competitive rowing in 2017 but, as President of Indoor Rowing NZ, he is making his new post a winner. Unsurprisingly, he has indoor rowing records to his name, although doesn’t tend to compete these days.

Indoor rowing isn’t exactly ‘mainstream’ yet, but it has been gaining in popularity, especially with the pandemic hampering rowers from hitting the water.

“Lockdown [prevented] rowing but indoor rowing still carried on. Looking ahead, travelling overseas will still be tough so this is an amazing way for rowers to carry on training and even competing.”

As for the future of this sport, it could see participants going for gold at some of the world’s most prestigious sporting events.

“We’re trying to get indoor rowing to work more as a standalone sport, running [more] competitions and building the sport in general,” Eric adds. “Never say never; it has Olympic potential. However, it’s also a nice fit for esports, which were becoming more popular even before the pandemic.”

HEALTH ISSUES IN SENIOR DOGS

DR NIKKI FROST, senior vet at Franklin Vets Pukekohe, explains the impact of ageing on dogs.

Most people have heard the saying that one dog year is the equivalent to seven human years however, it really isn’t as simple as that as smaller dogs age more slowly than giant breed dogs.

This means that a small dog is considered as senior at 10-11 years, whereas giant breed dogs become seniors from the age of five years.

Common conditions seen in senior dogs include arthritis, heart conditions, reduced kidney function, dental disease, underactive thyroid, hearing and vision loss, cancer and senile changes.

Signs that your animal may be suffering from one of these conditions include:

• Limping or struggling to jump, sit or stand up • Changes in appetite or thirst • Exercise intolerance • Coughing • Increased panting • Sleeping more or changes in

their sleep patterns • Accidents in the house • Aggression • Changes in weight – either weight loss or weight gain • New lumps and bumps • Bad breath • Behaviour changes

However, animals can be very good at hiding illness and pain, so it is still important that they have regular senior checks with your vet.

These include a full health check and may include blood and urine tests. Studies have shown that one in five seemingly well senior animals will have abnormalities on senior blood screens. This increased to two in five for geriatrics.

Picking up disease early means interventions such as diet or medication can be put in place to help prolong your pet’s life as well as quality of life. Normal test results are to be celebrated and also provide a baseline for the future if your pet becomes ill or needs medication.

Senior Pet Consult Special 20% OFF

• June & July • Pets aged 7+ • Excludes weekends and vaccinations

KIDS BOOKS

WORLD FOLK TALES

Age-old fables from a wide range of cultures take on new life in this book. Including some tales Kiwi children may already know to more obscure stories, World Folk Tales is a veritable treasure trove complete with illuminating and enlightening illustrations.

Libby Kirkby-McLeod & Brent Larsen (illustrator): World Folk Tales | RRP $36 | Giltedge Publishing

OH, SO MANY KISSES

Featuring lively watercolour illustrations by illustrator, Jenny Cooper, this delightful padded board book makes for a perfect bedtime story for little ones. Showing that it’s not just mums, dads and grandparents who are good at cuddles and kisses, Oh, So Many Kisses proves cats, pandas, pigs and even frogs all enjoy snuggling up too.

Maura Finn & Jenny Cooper (illustrator): Oh, So Many Kisses | RRP $14.99 | Scholastic NZ

I TE TIMATANGA – IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning, there was Ranginui, the sky father and Papatuanuku, the earth mother. And, so the story of Aotearoa (and the rest of the world for that matter) begins. Resurrecting a classic of children’s literature, Scholastic NZ has released a very special, bilingual 20th anniversary edition of this book by acclaimed author/illustrator, Peter Gossage.