Ian Andrew Wright (born 9 December 1961) is a former New Zealand

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who won an Olympic bronze medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. Wright has won 31 national titles during his career. After his rowing career ended, he became a coach and his Swiss lightweight men's four team won gold at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. He is now Australia's head rowing coach announced in September 2016. He immediately coached the Australian men's four to a gold medal at the 2017 world rowing championships (Sarasota, Florida).

Rowing career

Wright was born in 1961 in

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, New Zealand. He moved to Hamilton and became a member of the

Hamilton Rowing Club Hamilton Rowing Club is based in Hamilton, New Zealand. It was formed in 1903. Hamilton Rowing Club is the home club of Caroline Evers-Swindell and Georgina Evers-Swindell, 2004 Olympic champions in the double, and Fiona Patterson, 2004 World Ch ...

. He had

Harry Mahon Harold Thomas Mahon (15 January 1942 – 19 May 2001) was a New Zealand rowing coach. He coached international crews from New Zealand, Switzerland, South Africa and Great Britain to success at World Championships and Olympic Games. He also coach ...

as his rowing coach. Wright won two medals at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He won silver with

Barrie Mabbott James Barrie Mabbott (born 19 November 1960) is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Biography Mabbott was born in 1960 in Carterton. He began rowing at Westlake Boys High S ...

in the coxless pair and bronze in the eight. At the

, Wright won bronze in the coxed four along with

George Keys George Keys (born 12 December 1959) is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic Bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Keys was born in 1959 in the Christchurch suburb of Burwood. He was a member of the Avon Rowing Club. At t ...

, Greg Johnston, Chris White and

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing musi ...

(cox). At the

1989 World Rowing Championships The 1989 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 2 to 10 September 1989 at Lake Bled near Bled in SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References {{Wo ...

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 ...

, Yugoslavia, he won a bronze in the men's four with

Bill Coventry William Michael Coventry (born 26 January 1967) is a former New Zealand rower. Coventry was born in Hamilton in 1967. He represented New Zealand at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the coxless four in a team with Campbell Clayton-Greene, Geoff Cott ...

Alastair Mackintosh Alastair Campbell Mackintosh (born 21 June 1968), incorrectly listed as Alistair MacIntosh by FISA, is a former New Zealand rower. He is the owner oNZROADwho offer the Jetmaster Road Maintenance truck, the ultimate solution for efficient road ...

, and

Campbell Clayton-Greene Campbell I. Clayton-Greene (born 26 March 1967) is a former New Zealand rower. He represented New Zealand at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the coxless four in a team with Geoff Cotter, Bill Coventry, and Neil Gibson, where they came seventh. At ...

. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Wright finished 11th in the coxed four. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, he came 13th in the coxless four. During his career, he has won a total of 31 New Zealand titles with the eight (12 titles), coxed four (7 titles), coxless four (7 titles), coxless pair (2 titles), and coxed pair (3 titles).

Coaching career

A teacher, Wright was involved in rowing coaching school and age-group at national level. He coached several

Maadi Cup The Maadi Cup is the prize for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Boys' Under 18 Rowing Eights. More colloquially, it is the name given to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Regatta, at which the Maadi Cup is raced. The regatta is the large ...

winning squads at both

St Paul's Collegiate School St Paul's Collegiate School is a private (independent) Anglican secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. Opened in 1959 originally as a boys only school, the school began admitting girls in years 12 to 13 in 1985, then girls in years 11 to 1 ...

and

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and gir ...

. He is described as "intense" and speaks his mind, which does not sit well with some people. He is held in high regard by those who have been coached by him. From 2005 to 2009, Wright was head coach at the

Melbourne University Boat Club Melbourne University Boat Club is a rowing club in Melbourne, Australia. Its clubhouse or "boat shed" is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 2000. According its website, the club claims to be "the oldest rowing club in Australia". In 2015, ...

. Wright worked for

Rowing New Zealand Rowing New Zealand is the sports governing body for rowing in New Zealand. Its purpose is to provide leadership and support to enable an environment of success for the New Zealand rowing community. This includes secondary schools, clubs, masters ...

as coach for the men's eight, and was head coach at the Waikato Regional Performance Centre with training at

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 ...

. In late 2014, Wright was appointed head national coach of Switzerland. He led the lightweight men's four to become the 2015 world champions. A year later, the same boat won Olympic gold at the

Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

. In September 2016, he was appointed head rowing coach for Australia's men. Within a year of Wright starting in Australia, the Australian men's four—consisting of Joshua Hicks,

Spencer Turrin Spencer Alf Turrin (born 29 August 1991) is an Australian representative rower. He is a national champion, twice world champion, a dual Olympian and an Olympic champion. He competed and won medals in the Australian senior men's coxless four at ...

Jack Hargreaves Jack Hargreaves OBE (1911–1994) was an English television presenter and writer whose enduring interest was to comment without nostalgia or sentimentality on accelerating distortions in relations between the city and the countryside, seeking ...

and Alexander Hill—won gold at the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to hos ...

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

. Until 2017, Australia had not won a World Championship in the Men's Coxless Four since 1991 in Vienna, Austria. In July 2018, Wright coached the Australian Men's Eight to a win in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. Beating the Romanian National Eight in the Final, Australia would also go on to claim the course record in a time of 5:53 while being in the arguably less-favoured Buckinghamshire lane. This same year at the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria the Australian Men's Four won another gold medal giving them back to back World Champion titles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ian 1961 births Living people New Zealand male rowers Olympic rowers for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Rowing coaches Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games