Jack Lopas (born 5 October 1998) is a New Zealand rower. He is nominated to compete at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in the

double sculls A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

in a team with Chris Harris.

Early life

Lopas was born in 1998 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. Rowing runs in the family, with his grandfather Geoff Lopas representing his country at the

1978 World Rowing Championships Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

in the

quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand. Rac ...

and going to the Olympics as a reserve rower. His parents met at the Christchurch rowing venue Kerr's Reach; that part of the

Avon River / Ōtākaro The Avon River / Ōtākaro ( and ) flows through the centre of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and out to an estuary, which it shares with the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, the Avon Heathcote Estuary / Ihutai. Course The Avon follows a me ...

where clubs and schools have their boathouses. He received his education at

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

. In 2017, he went to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

to study American History. In May 2021, his younger brother Edward was selected as a representative rower for New Zealand's U19 squad.

Rowing career

Lopas took up rowing in 2013 and is a member of the Canterbury Rowing Club. Rowing for his school, he came third in the U16 coxed quad scull at the March 2014

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 ...

and says that this bronze medal made him "addicted to rowing". At his first New Zealand National Championships in February 2015, he came fourth in the U19 double scull. He was chosen to represent New Zealand at the 2015

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 December of the year in which he reaches the age of 1 ...

in junior men's double scull in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, and he came second in the B-final. At the February 2016 New Zealand National Championships, he came first in the U19 double scull. At the

2016 World Rowing Junior Championships The 50th World Rowing Junior Championships were the 50th edition and were held from 24 to 28 August 2016 at the Willem-Alexander Baan in Rotterdam, Netherlands in conjunction with the World Rowing Championships and the World Rowing U23 Championshi ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands, he won gold in the junior men's double scull teamed up with Lenny Jenkins, a rival from

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, whi ...

who beat him in three boat classes at the 2015 Maadi Cup. At the February 2017 New Zealand National Championships, he came first in the U20 single scull, first in the U22 quad scull, and second in the U22 double scull. At the July

2017 World Rowing U23 Championships The 13th World Rowing U23 Championships was the 13th edition of the World Rowing U23 Championships and was held from 19 to 23 July 2017 at the Complex Greben Kanal in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria, he won gold in the quad scull. Lopas moved to the United States for university study in 2017, choosing Yale as they have a heavyweight rowing team. It was

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 ...

's policy to not select athletes for the national squad if they were based overseas. Lopas and fellow New Zealander Ollie Maclean, who studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, were the first rowers where Rowing NZ made an exception. The team was sent to the

2019 World Rowing U23 Championships Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

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, United States, where they won silver behind an Italian team. When the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

hit, Lopas took time off from Yale to return to New Zealand in November 2020. Having gone through managed isolation, he joined the New Zealand squad in early January 2021. At the February 2021 nationals, he won two senior titles: in single scull and, teamed up with Tom Mackintosh, in double scull. The New Zealand rowing squad for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was announced in June 2021 and Lopas was teamed up with double-Olympian Chris Harris in the double scull.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopas, Jack 1998 births Living people New Zealand male rowers Rowers from Christchurch People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Yale University alumni Olympic rowers for New Zealand Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics