How Maadi forged an Olympic triathlon champion
Photo: Photosport
Hamish Carter may be best known as the man who struck men’s triathlon gold at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Yet it is no exaggeration to say the foundations for his success were forged during his time as a schoolboy rower at Auckland Grammar, where he claimed a pair of Maadi Cup silver medals in the late 1980s.
“My time rowing and working towards the Maadi Regatta each season really shaped me as a person,” explains Carter. “Everything I took into training; the foundations were laid when I was a rower. It was an incredible experience to go through. I still think I trained harder for the Maadi Cup than I did for the Olympic Games.”
Inspired to take up rowing at the age of 13 by his elder brother, Tom, who rowed at Auckland Grammar, the sport instantly connected with the highly motivated teenager. He enjoyed the challenge of the sport and the friendships formed on and off the water, while also embracing the discipline required to wake at 4.30am to make it to the Tāmaki Estuary for training.
“We were travelling to this nasty piece of water in the school vans in the dark on cold mornings, but it didn’t faze us at all. We just got stuck in.
“Rowing was transformative. It is an incredibly intense sport, which requires huge commitment. It really takes over your life. We smashed it every day, and we learned so much about what we could handle and what our breaking point was.”
Carter also praises the huge role played by the coaching team led by Bryan Goss and Barry Cleal. He insists taking a group of novices on such a journey in a highly technical sport required a huge commitment on their behalf. The future triathlon great, who also claimed World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals, acknowledges their huge influence.
“The coaches are with you every step of the way and their guidance and coaching is a massive part of what shapes the whole experience,” adds Carter, 55.
At his first Maadi Regatta in 1986 he recalls competing in a wooden boat called Sir Williamson Stevenson and he vividly recalls the excitement of competing at the premier schools rowing regatta in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“The size and energy of the event is something else,” he adds. “You have this huge range of abilities, from novices to rowers competing in the Maadi Regatta. It is phenomenal to watch. We had a lot of fun, but there were also a lot of tears and blow-ups. It stirs up the full range of emotions.”
Carter claimed gold in the Boys U17 Eight at the 1987 Maadi Regatta on Lake Karāpiro and, for his senior years, the Auckland Grammar crew set their sights on gold in the Maadi Cup.
Training phenomenally hard, the crew went into the Maadi Cup in both 1988 and 1989 with very high expectations. However, on both occasions - with Carter in the stroke seat - Grammar were beaten by Christ’s College and had to settle for silver.
Hamish Carter, in the stroke seat of the Auckland Grammar U18 Boys Coxed Eight, leads the field in the 1988 Maadi Cup final. The crew would ultimately settle for silver, with Christ’s College taking gold.
While the passage of time has eased the pain, there is little doubt about his emotions at the time.
“It was devastating,” he says. “We wanted to win and, after we didn’t, it felt like the world had dropped from underneath us. It had been ingrained in us for so long that we were going to win. But we weren’t fast enough and we had to accept that we got second. We came to respect what Christ’s had achieved, but we were gutted we didn’t win. It took a long time to get over.”
Carter continued rowing for another year, but transitioning to lightweight rowing because of his size did not hold the same appeal. With a desire to one day compete at the Olympic Games, he quit the sport to focus on triathlon.
Given the outstanding career he went on to enjoy as a triathlete, it is hard to argue that it was the wrong decision. Yet he fully acknowledges the pivotal role his rowing background and his accomplishments at the Maadi Regatta played in his future success in triathlon.
“I took the six minutes of intensity of a rowing race into a two-hour triathlon race,” he explains. “That drive and commitment from rowing had become naturally ingrained in me, and that then flowed through triathlon. It formed an amazing foundation and, for that reason, rowing is a very special sport.”
Proud of his accomplishments as a schoolboy rower and the success he enjoyed at the Maadi Regatta, he would encourage other students to take on the challenge.
“It is so much more than the rowing on water,” he adds. “It gives you a holistic experience which allows you to grow as a young person. It is a huge challenge, but kids who throw themselves into it get so much from it.”
Carter’s story is a powerful example of how rowing can help grow great New Zealanders - building not only sporting ability, but the resilience, discipline, teamwork and confidence that can carry young people into leadership and life well beyond the boat.
Hamish Carter second from right, front row. Auckland Grammar School's Boys U18 Coxed Eight 1988-1989.
Steve Landells
Steve Landells is an experienced communications specialist and sportswriter with more than 25 years' experience. He is currently a proud dad of a rower who competes for St Peter's College, Auckland.
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How Maadi forged an Olympic triathlon champion
Photo: Photosport
Hamish Carter may be best known as the man who struck men’s triathlon gold at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Yet it is no exaggeration to say the foundations for his success were forged during his time as a schoolboy rower at Auckland Grammar, where he claimed a pair of Maadi Cup silver medals in the late 1980s.
“My time rowing and working towards the Maadi Regatta each season really shaped me as a person,” explains Carter. “Everything I took into training; the foundations were laid when I was a rower. It was an incredible experience to go through. I still think I trained harder for the Maadi Cup than I did for the Olympic Games.”
Inspired to take up rowing at the age of 13 by his elder brother, Tom, who rowed at Auckland Grammar, the sport instantly connected with the highly motivated teenager. He enjoyed the challenge of the sport and the friendships formed on and off the water, while also embracing the discipline required to wake at 4.30am to make it to the Tāmaki Estuary for training.
“We were travelling to this nasty piece of water in the school vans in the dark on cold mornings, but it didn’t faze us at all. We just got stuck in.
“Rowing was transformative. It is an incredibly intense sport, which requires huge commitment. It really takes over your life. We smashed it every day, and we learned so much about what we could handle and what our breaking point was.”
Carter also praises the huge role played by the coaching team led by Bryan Goss and Barry Cleal. He insists taking a group of novices on such a journey in a highly technical sport required a huge commitment on their behalf. The future triathlon great, who also claimed World Championship and Commonwealth Games medals, acknowledges their huge influence.
“The coaches are with you every step of the way and their guidance and coaching is a massive part of what shapes the whole experience,” adds Carter, 55.
At his first Maadi Regatta in 1986 he recalls competing in a wooden boat called Sir Williamson Stevenson and he vividly recalls the excitement of competing at the premier schools rowing regatta in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“The size and energy of the event is something else,” he adds. “You have this huge range of abilities, from novices to rowers competing in the Maadi Regatta. It is phenomenal to watch. We had a lot of fun, but there were also a lot of tears and blow-ups. It stirs up the full range of emotions.”
Carter claimed gold in the Boys U17 Eight at the 1987 Maadi Regatta on Lake Karāpiro and, for his senior years, the Auckland Grammar crew set their sights on gold in the Maadi Cup.
Training phenomenally hard, the crew went into the Maadi Cup in both 1988 and 1989 with very high expectations. However, on both occasions - with Carter in the stroke seat - Grammar were beaten by Christ’s College and had to settle for silver.
Hamish Carter, in the stroke seat of the Auckland Grammar U18 Boys Coxed Eight, leads the field in the 1988 Maadi Cup final. The crew would ultimately settle for silver, with Christ’s College taking gold.
While the passage of time has eased the pain, there is little doubt about his emotions at the time.
“It was devastating,” he says. “We wanted to win and, after we didn’t, it felt like the world had dropped from underneath us. It had been ingrained in us for so long that we were going to win. But we weren’t fast enough and we had to accept that we got second. We came to respect what Christ’s had achieved, but we were gutted we didn’t win. It took a long time to get over.”
Carter continued rowing for another year, but transitioning to lightweight rowing because of his size did not hold the same appeal. With a desire to one day compete at the Olympic Games, he quit the sport to focus on triathlon.
Given the outstanding career he went on to enjoy as a triathlete, it is hard to argue that it was the wrong decision. Yet he fully acknowledges the pivotal role his rowing background and his accomplishments at the Maadi Regatta played in his future success in triathlon.
“I took the six minutes of intensity of a rowing race into a two-hour triathlon race,” he explains. “That drive and commitment from rowing had become naturally ingrained in me, and that then flowed through triathlon. It formed an amazing foundation and, for that reason, rowing is a very special sport.”
Proud of his accomplishments as a schoolboy rower and the success he enjoyed at the Maadi Regatta, he would encourage other students to take on the challenge.
“It is so much more than the rowing on water,” he adds. “It gives you a holistic experience which allows you to grow as a young person. It is a huge challenge, but kids who throw themselves into it get so much from it.”
Carter’s story is a powerful example of how rowing can help grow great New Zealanders - building not only sporting ability, but the resilience, discipline, teamwork and confidence that can carry young people into leadership and life well beyond the boat.
Hamish Carter second from right, front row. Auckland Grammar School's Boys U18 Coxed Eight 1988-1989.
Steve Landells
Steve Landells is an experienced communications specialist and sportswriter with more than 25 years' experience. He is currently a proud dad of a rower who competes for St Peter's College, Auckland.
