The retirement of Nick Green in 1998 saw the
Oarsome Foursome disband, leading to a new
dominant crew coached by Donaldson, this time
a pair. “Ginn and Tomkins blew everyone away,”
recalls Donaldson of the former World and Olympic
champion combination. “Of all the crews I’ve seen,
that pair was probably the most talented boat the
country has ever sent away. Their record speaks
for itself.”
management, to do all that and keep an eye on
making boats go fast, I was probably out of my
league.”
Nonetheless, under Donaldson’s rein, Australia
qualified crews in all 14 boat classes for the Beijing
Olympic Games, yielding a medal return of two
golds and one silver – second on the regatta
medal tally.
In 2010, Donaldson took the reins of Australia’s
men’s eight, a boat class in which Championship
success has eluded Australia in recent years. With
a youthful squad, Donaldson will be targeting
Australia’s first world title in the big boat since 1986
and looking further ahead to a first Olympic gold
medal in the Blue Riband event. The challenge
is there, but Donaldson is shy about accepting it.
Four years after Donaldson had been appointed
national men’s head coach in 2000, Australia had
risen to be the number one ranked men’s rowing
nation at the Athens Olympic Games.
In 2009, Donaldson returned to the position of
national men’s head coach to work with the men’s
sweep squad at the Australian Institute of Sport.
“You could say it is the ideal job. It’s the culmination
of the past 20 years in some respects. I have
management responsibilities, I have a leadership
role, and I have the practical coaching role. A step
down or sideways – whatever you call it, that
doesn’t matter- the more important thing is that
rowing in Australia is better,” insists Donaldson, full
of praise for the appointment of New Zealander
Andrew Matheson to his former post of High
Performance Director.
“I’m not drawn by the result, but I am drawn by
the process. Everybody knows we’ve never won
Olympic gold in the men’s eight, but if we start
worrying about that result without making every
individual in the squad better, then we’ll miss out
altogether.”
The next Olympic cycle saw Donaldson promoted
to Rowing Australia’s High Performance Director,
a position he has no regrets about accepting, but
upon reflection would not do again.
It’s this systematic approach – one of setting goals
and moving through each step – that has brought
him success in the past, and we will likely see him
continue to do so in the future.
■ Tom Nickson
“Although I had a background through my
hospitality training in management and financial
