Christopher Sherratt White (born 9 September 1960) is a former New Zealand rower and Olympic Bronze medallist 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 city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. He is described as "one of the giants of New Zealand rowing" and with 38 national titles, holds the record for most domestic rowing titles in New Zealand.

Life

White was born on 9 September 1960 in Gisborne, New Zealand. Richard White, an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

, was his father. He was a member of the Waikato Rowing Club and in the 1980/81 rowing season, he became national champion in the coxed pairs, pairing with Greg Johnston and Noel Parris as cox. He first represented New Zealand at the

1981 World Rowing Championships The 1981 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 1981 at Oberschleißheim outside Munich, West Germany. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Referenc ...

in Oberschleißheim outside of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, Germany, where he rowed with the eight. With the New Zealand eight, he won world championships in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

and 1983 at Rotsee, Switzerland and at

Wedau The Wedau Regatta Course is an artificial rowing/canoeing lake in Duisburg, Germany. The Course was built in 1935 and has hosted numerous international watersports events since its construction. Including the 1983 World Rowing Championships. I ...

, Germany, respectively. White competed at the 1984 Olympics in

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 ...

in the eights which finished fourth. At the 1988 Olympics, White won Bronze in the coxed four along with George Keys, Greg Johnston, Ian Wright 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 music ...

(cox). At the 1992 Olympics in

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 c ...

and the

1996 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 498,7 ...

in the coxless four, he finished fourth and thirteenth, respectively. In 1986 he won Silver medals in the coxed four at both the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...

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 ...

the World Rowing Championships in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. At the

1995 World Rowing Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strikes ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

, Finland, White won a Silver medal in the coxed four, with

Murdoch Dryden Murdoch Dryden is a New Zealand rower. Dryden is the son of New Zealand Olympic rower Alistair Dryden and grandson of New Zealand amateur wrestling champion and Empire Games silver medallist Jim Dryden. At the 1995 World Rowing Championships ...

Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson (born 17 July 1969) is a former New Zealand rower who became a sports administrator. He is the current chief executive officer of Cycling New Zealand, the country's umbrella body embracing all national bike and cycling organisati ...

, Chris McAsey, and Michael Whittaker as cox. White has won a total of 38 National Rowing titles, easily the most in New Zealand. He was on the athletes' support staff for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and has been on the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s athletes commission for eight years. He is also the manager of Olympic and World Champion rowers

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

and

Georgina Evers-Swindell Georgina Emma Buchanan Earl (born 10 October 1978 in Hastings, New Zealand), better known under her maiden name Georgina Evers-Swindell, is a former New Zealand rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Caroline E ...

. In 1982, the 1982 rowing eight crew was named sportsman of the year. The 1982 team was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. In the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various ...

, White was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, for services to rowing.

References

External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Chris 1960 births Living people New Zealand male rowers Olympic rowers for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand