David Porzig (born 11 April 1974, in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n-born, former Australian representative former rower. He is a former Australian national champion, a medalist at World Rowing Championships and a winner of the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

Club and state rowing

Porzig learned to row at

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in Johannesburg. In 1989, Porzig's family emigrated to Perth, Australia, where he continued to row at

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to b ...

. Porizg first made state selection for Western Australia in the 1993 West Australian senior eight contesting the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. Porzig rowed in further West Australian King's Cup eights crew in 1994, 1995, 1996. Like his brother, Porzig applied for and won a scholarship to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in Canberra. During his senior Australian representative years, Porzig was selected in

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

eights to contest the King's Cup at the Interstate Regatta. He stroked the ACT eight of 1997 to a King's Cup victory and stroked two more ACT eights in 1998 and 1999. In his seven consecutive King's Cup appearances – whether for Western Australia or the

– Porzig rowed each one in a crew with his older brother Nick Porzig.

International representative rowing

Porzig made his national representative debut in the Australian men's eight in 1997. He raced at two World Rowing Cups in Europe that year and then at the

as an

crew the eight contested and won the 1997

. Porzig then finished his 1997 debut international season in the four seat of the eight when they competed at the

1997 World Rowing Championships The 1997 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 August to 7 September 1997 at Lac d'Aiguebelette, France. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), ...

in Aiguebelette and won a bronze medal.Porzig at World Rowing
/ref> Porzig continued on in the eight for the

1998 World Rowing Championships The 1998 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 9 to 18 September 1998 in Cologne, Germany. The World Rowing Championships are organized by FISA, the International Rowing Federation. Medal summary Men's e ...

in Cologne where they rowed to a sixth placing. In 1999 the crew raced at the World Rowing Cup III before contesting the

1999 World Rowing Championships The 1999 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 22 to 29 August 1999 at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal ...

in St Catharine's Canada where they missed the A final and finished in seventh place. His brother Nick, after a one-year break, returned to the Australian eight in 1997 and they raced together in that boat in 1998 and 1999.

Surfboats

In stillwater retirement Porzig took up surfboat rowing. He was in a North Cottesloe Beach SLSC boat with

Jonathan Fievez Jonathan Fievez (born 25 April 1978 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian former rower. He was a junior world champion, national champion and was a medalist at World Rowing Championships. State and club rowing Fievez first made state se ...

(another international representative stillwater rower) which won the open men's surfboat category at the World Surflifesaving Championships in Victoria in 2006. He contested and won the open men's surfboat category at the Australian national titles racing for North Cottesloe Beach SLSC in the consecutive years of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. As of 2018 Porzig was still competing in master's events in surfboat rowing.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porzig, David 1972 births Living people Australian male rowers Sportspeople from Cape Town World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia People educated at Hale School