Geoffrey Raymond Horan (born 18 May 1960) is a retired New Zealand

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

Early life

Horan was born in 1960 in

Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...

. He received his education at

Otumoetai College Otumoetai College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Tauranga, New Zealand. The school opened in February 1965 with 206 students from years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) to serve the western suburbs of Tauranga. ''Otumoetai'' is cla ...

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

Rowing career

Starting his career as a high school and club rower at 15, New Zealand, At the

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 ...

regatta in 1977, Horan won the New Zealand schoolboy single

scull Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, it ...

s title, and came second in the U18 coxed four, with his younger brother Allan Horan as a crew member. He joined the Waikato rowing club in 1978 and enjoyed many years of success at New Zealand Championships, firstly in pairs rowing at senior level, then in eights at the Premier "red coat" level. He was first selected for New Zealand as a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

of the 1979 "Colts" under-21 team coxed eights, against N.S.W.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and won the series. In 1980 Horan was once again selected as stroke for the "Colts" eight, successfully defending the series. Horan represented New Zealand in the

coxless pair A coxless pair, abbreviated as a 2- and also known as a straight pair, is a racing shell 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 ...

, with his brother Allan Horan, at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly 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 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They came ninth in the competition. He is listed as New Zealand Olympian number 449. He was once again selected as stroke for the New Zealand eight 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 Heindonk, Belgium. Medal summary Medalists at the 1985 World Rowing Championships were: Men's events ...

Hazewinkel The Hazewinkel is a 2000-meter rowing and regatta course belonging to Sport Vlaanderen in Heindonk, municipality of Willebroek, near Mechelen, Belgium. The site consists of a finish tower, boathouses, a cafeteria, and eight basic huts that ho ...

, Belgium. The crew missed a medal, beaten by the United States to fourth place. Horan retired from rowing in 1986 after six straight years of New Zealand titles in the eight oar from 1981 to 1986.

Personal life

Horan's wife Gay was a competitive rower, representing Australia 1981 lightweight coxless pair and 1982 lightweight coxed four, and then moved to New Zealand and competed for her husband's country in 1983. Horan has worked as a steel fabricator and they have lived in Papua New Guinea before moving to Thailand in 1996. Gay Horan established a coaching programme for rowing while there. A lightweight women's quad scull team from Thailand competed at the

2010 World Rowing Championships The 2010 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 October to 7 November 2010 on Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, New Zealand. The annual week-long rowing (sport), rowing regatta was or ...

Lake Karapiro Lake Karapiro () is an artificial reservoir lake on the Waikato River at Karapiro, south-east of Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge in New Zealand's North Island. The lake was formed in 1947 by the damming of the Waikato River to store water for ...

, New Zealand.Gay Horan coached Thailand on and off over 10 years . The Thai team came sixth in their event.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horan, Geoff 1960 births Living people New Zealand male rowers Olympic rowers for New Zealand People educated at Otumoetai College Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand Rowers from Waikato 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen