Walter Arthur Reginald Mackney (28 July 1905 – 4 October 1975) was an Australian representative rugby player and

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 ...

. He toured South Africa with the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

in 1933 and played in representative rugby sides till 1935. As a rower he was a national champion who competed in the men's eight event at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Early life

Mackney was born in the Bellingen district of New South Wales. With his father away at war, Mackney left school aged 13 and took a job as a timber-cutter in the Dorrigo timber camps. He learnt to drive a bullock team and then did itinerant farm work in Queensland.Mackney Profile Daily Telegraph Jan 1940
/ref> At age 20 he came to Sydney and joined the police force.

Rugby career

Mackney was introduced to rugby through the police force. He joined the Northern Suburbs Rugby Union and made the senior team in 1930. He represented New South Wales against Queensland in 1930, toured South Africa with the Wallabies in 1933 and made his Australian representative debut against the Springboks in the first Test at Cape Town in July 1933. He made two Test appearances against South Africa on that tour. He made two Bledisloe Cup appearances against New Zealand in 1934 The first was a victory in Sydney and with the second match a fortnight later being a draw, Mackney stands as a member of the first Wallaby squad to have won the Bledisloe Cup away from New Zealand. In 1935 he played in an Australian side against the New Zealand Maoris.

Rowing career and lineage

Mackney joined the

Mosman Rowing Club Mosman Rowing Club is an all-level competitive and recreational rowing club on the North Shore of Sydney. Since 2007 the club's facilities have been wholly located at The Spit in Sydney's Middle Harbour, the northern arm of Port Jackson. Merca ...

and made their senior eight in 1932 and 1933. He also rowed for the New South Wales Police club and along with three other Police rowers was selected to the New South Wales state eight which contested the 1935

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

. Mackney stroked that crew to victory. In 1936 the Police Club's eight dominated the Sydney racing season, the New South Wales state titles and won the Henley-on-Yarra event. They were selected in toto as Australia's men's eight to compete at the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

with their attendance funded by the NSW Police Federation. The Australian eight stroked by Mackney finished fourth in its heat, behind Hungary, Italy and Canada. It failed to qualify through the repechage to the final.Sydney Rows History
/ref> Wal's son

Kim Mackney Kim Mackney (born 5 February 1949) is an Australian former representative rower. He competed in the men's coxless pair event at the 1972 Summer Olympics. From school until the national elite representative level and onto a long world-class mas ...

was also an Australian Olympian rower who competed at

Munich 1972 The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. Kim rowed competitively into his sixties, was a stalwart member and President of the

Glebe Rowing Club Glebe Rowing Club is the third-oldest rowing club in continuous operation on Sydney Harbour and was established in July 1879 in Blackwattle Bay Sydney, Australia. It has occupied its current location at the foot of Ferry St, Glebe since the club's ...

and represented Australia at World Masters Rowing Championships.

Other sports

Wal Mackney reached the semi-finals of the Australian heavyweight boxing championships in 1928. He was a competitive member of the Queenscliff SLSC and later the Mona Vale SLSC. In 1940 he was selected in a Mona Vale surf-boat crew which made an overseas tour to Honolulu.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackney, Wal 1905 births 1975 deaths Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Australian rugby union players People from the Mid North Coast Australia international rugby union players Rugby union players from New South Wales Sportsmen from New South Wales Northern Suburbs Rugby Club players