Shane Joseph O'Brien (born 27 September 1960) 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 gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, USA.

Early life

O'Brien was born in 1960 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. He received his secondary school education at

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

from 1974 to 1978, where he was

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

and captain of the rowing team.

Rowing career

Along with

Les O'Connell Leslie James O'Connell (born 23 May 1958) is a New Zealand former representative rower. He was a two-time world champion and an Olympic champion who won his Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in the men's coxless four ...

, Conrad Robertson and

Keith Trask Keith Charles Trask (born 27 November 1960) is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Early life Trask was born in 1960 in Hastings, New Zealand. Trask has a twin brother Paul. Thei ...

he won gold 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 ...

at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. O'Brien also competed 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 ...

, Scotland, winning a silver medal in the coxless four and a bronze medal in the eights. At the

1985 World Rowing Championships The 1985 World Rowing Championships refer to the World Rowing Championships held from 26 August to 1 September 1985 at Hazewinkel in Belgium. Medal summary Medalists at the 1985 World Rowing Championships were: Men's events Women's even ...

Hazewinkel The Hazewinkel is a 2,000 m rowing and regatta course belonging to Bloso in Heindonk, municipality of Willebroek, near Mechelen, Belgium. The site consists of a finishing tower, boathouses, a cafeteria and eight basic huts that house athl ...

in Belgium, he came fourth with the coxless four. He is listed as New Zealand Olympian number 482. His three medals were stolen in a burglary in 2006.

Teaching career

O'Brien is a trained teacher. In the late 1980s, he went back to his old school to teach there. He also taught at an

intermediate school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

in Auckland. He moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early 1990s where he worked as a teacher and coached rowing at

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

, Hammersmith. He worked closely with the Latymer Upper School boatman at the time, Coyne T. Mullen. In 1999, he went on to

Shiplake College ("The Example Teaches") , established = 1959 , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

, on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

south of

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

; he was the deputy headmaster there. One of the Shiplake College rowers who had trained under him,

Will Satch William Spencer Satch (born 9 June 1989) is a British Rowing (sport), rower and Olympic gold medallist. Rowing career Satch was educated at Shiplake College near Henley-on-Thames in southeast Oxfordshire. His rowing coach was New Zealand go ...

, went to win Olympic bronze at 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 ...

(

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 ...

) and gold four years later (

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 ...

). Before he left Shiplake College, a new

boat purchased by the school was named for O'Brien. He became headmaster of

Jumeirah English Speaking School Jumeirah English Speaking School is a British private school located in Dubai, UAE. Its original campus on Sheikh Zayed Road is a primary school; A second campus at Arabian Ranches has students from primary, secondary, and high school. As of D ...

(Dubai, UAE) in mid-2011, and director in September of 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Shane 1960 births Living people People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School New Zealand male rowers Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand in rowing Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Schoolteachers from Oxfordshire New Zealand schoolteachers British people of New Zealand descent Rowing coaches Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Emirati schoolteachers Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games