Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (born 17 April 1980 in

Leongatha Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...

, Victoria) is an Australian former rower and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er. He is a dual Olympian who won a rowing

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. He represented Australia at twelve world championships.

Australian rules football

At the age of 18, he was drafted to the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

with pick 10 in the 1998 AFL pre-season draft. He spent 1999 in their reserves team but played no first grade games for the Bulldogs.

Club and state rowing

McKenzie-McHarg took up rowing at

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

, seated at seven in their winning crew for the 1998

Head of the River (Victoria) The Victorian Head of the River regatta is contested between the eleven Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS). The Head of the River is the oldest continuous schoolboy rowing event in the world, dating back to 1868, and throughout its hi ...

. Following his football foray he returned to rowing in 2005 from the Melbourne University Boat Club. In 2006 he teamed up with

James Marburg James Marburg (born 27 December 1982) is an Australian retired rower. He is a dual Olympian, Olympic silver medallist and has represented Australia at five World Rowing Championships. Education Marburg attended St Patrick's College, Ballarat. ...

to win the Australian national

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right h ...

championship beating out the fancied veteran duo of

Drew Ginn Drew Cameron Ginn OAM (born 20 November 1974) is an Australian five-time world champion rower, a four time Olympian and triple Olympic gold medallist. From 1995 to 1998 he was a member of Australia's prominent world class crew – the coxless f ...

and

Duncan Free Duncan Seth Free (born 25 May 1973) is a retired Australian rower and Olympic gold medallist. He is dual Olympian and two-time world champion who represented Australia at four world rowing championships in both sculls and sweep oared boats. He ...

. From 2001 to 2012 he was seated in Victorian senior men's VIIIs who raced for the King's Cup at the

Australian Rowing Championships Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

. Those crews won the blue riband event in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007.

National representative rowing

He gained selection in Australian VIIIs who competed at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2007 World Championships and considered that he was in contention for the Beijing Olympics. He made his Olympic debut in 2008 in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. McKenzie-McHarg was selected in the

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on th ...

alongside

and Sydney University boatmen Francis Hegerty and Matt Ryan. The crew won their event at the first world cup regatta in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

, Switzerland. The four then turned their attention to the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Poznan. Ryan was struck down by illness and had to be replaced for the race by Terrence Alfred and the crew achieved qualification for the Olympic Games. In

the crew led for a large part of the race before placing second behind the race favourites from Great Britain for a

. Following the 2008 Olympic year he continued to figure in contention for national selection and was picked in Australian crews for the next three world championships. At Poznan 2009 with his Olympic crewmates

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Hegarty Hegarty is an Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anton Hegarty (1892–1944), British athlete who competed in cross country * Antony Hegarty (born 1971), English singer-songwriter, lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons * Bi ...

and

Ryan Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

, he again took silver behind Great Britain. The following year he moved into the VIII which won bronze at the

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for the 96-megawatt Karap ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

At 2010 World Championships. At the 2011 World Championships in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, McKenzie-McHarg missed selection for the four and the Men's

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

which both qualified for the London Olympic Games. However he maintained a spot in the senior squad rowing a

with Tom Larkins to 7th place. For the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, McKenzie-McHarg regained his seat in the men's eight which finished sixth at

Eton Dorney Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie-McHarg, Cameron Living people Australian male rowers Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 1980 births People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Victoria (state) People from Leongatha World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia