Interview Series - Brian Morpeth
How did you start rowing?
I was lucky that rowing was alive and well when I arrived at Sacred Heart College in Richmond Road, Ponsonby. The College leased a boatshed in Westhaven which was subsequently demolished to make way for the new Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1954.
West End Rowing Club was operating from St.Marys Bay at the time and they very kindly allowed us to store our skiffs in their shed and even provided us with a coach Bill Engles . Bill was the stroke of the West End eight that represented New Zealand in the 1950 British Empire Games a Karapiro (now known as the Commonwealth Games) and the next year Ted Smith the bowman of the same eight was our coach.
What was your first crew and who was in it?
A few I remember were my good friend Frank Hall ( Brother Marcel), Frank Crotty, who rowed for Union Wanganui and represented NZ at the Empire games in Edinburgh and the late Dudley Storey who went on to gold medal fame and became a tireless worker promoting the sport of rowing throughout the country.
Was your first crew any good?
We thought we were pretty good but I think our best finish was a 3rd place in the Head of the Harbour regatta - so as they say we had plenty to work on.
Who was your 1st coach?
My first coach when I left college and came back to Whakatane was Cyril Molesworth.
Cyril had developed a unique rowing stroke that was quite different to my experience with the West End , Eric Craies way of rowing. Eric favoured a straight back then a "strike" into the water, a lay back and a quick "hands away". Cyril taught us to "roll" into the catch, drive through then pull the body back up at the end and "squeeze" the finish. This "Molesworth" way of rowing coupled with Cyril’s determination (he only wanted to coach "winners") would be the catalyst to the outstanding run of redcoats the Whakatane Club won through the 70s.
Who at that time was your sporting hero?
Jimmy Hill and Don Rowlands. They had so many battles in the single sculls races –they were the giants of rowing in my day.
My favourite boat to row in is.....
I rowed with Tom Reid in a very good Junior four and also loved rowing a pair with the late Noel Mills but I still really enjoyed the thrill of eight oar rowing –the boat just goes so fast.
What was your BEST race?
My best race was in an Empire games trial race on the Sunday after the NZ Championships in Wanganui in 1958? West End had won their redcoats on the Saturday and needed to have a comfortable win in a trial to stake their rights to represent New Zealand.
At the time crews going to Empire or Olympic games were chosen mainly AS A CLUB CREW so in these trials the selectors were also considering selecting a COMPOSITE crew in the eights to train at Karapiro. I was in the 3 seat of a crew stroked by Max Weston and coxed by Bob Page both from West End and both annoyed they had been dropped from the West End eight that won redcoats on the Saturday. As soon as we rowed away from the bank we could tell that we were sitting in a very fast boat and Max and Bob made it quite clear before the race they knew we had a good chance of knocking off the West End crew.
West End jumped out to about a length lead and we both soon left the 3rd trial crew behind. I was in awe at the skills of Bob Page and Max and our boat was really flying. About 200metres to go Bob Page really got stuck into us and stroke by stroke we pulled back the redcoat crew. We kept gradually moving up on them and at the finish we were only 6 inches behind. I knew then that would be the fastest crew I would ever row in. Great.
What was your WORST race?
I was half way down the rowing course at our local boxing day regatta in front of a big local crowd and going quite nicely until I caught a crab and fell out of my singles. Unlike other scullers I had no clue as to how to get back in so I very unceremoniously swam my single over to a nearby beach. Very embarrassing.
Who would you most like to row in a boat with?
Sir Steve Redgrave in a very fast eight.
If you didn’t row what other sport would you have chosen?
I enjoyed my rugby immensely playing for St.Josephs in Whakatane (now Marist). I found that when I was part of Tom Reid’s training system which involved a run from the Rex Morpeth park, up to the top of the gorge, down to the Wairere stream, then up to the trig station......then......back to Rex Morpeth park(whew!). I was so fit I could run all day on a rugby field and our St.Jos team won a couple of titles in the process.
Where do you live now?
After 78 years living in Whakatane, Maureen and I have moved to a retirement village in Katikati. Instead of looking down on Otarawairere Bay we now have a great view across the upper Tauranga Harbour to Matakana Island in the distance. Life is good.
Tell us a bit about your family
My mother and father lived most of their lives in Whakatane and Dad was the Mayor of Whakatane for 15 years. He just loved his time on the council and he was very proud of his involvement with both rowing and golf in particular.
Maureen and I have 3 sons – Ian, Gregory (deceased) and Steven. Ian lives in Sydney with Karen and children Jordan, Tyler and India – Ian has looked after setting up the clubs website and keeping it running for the last 5 years. Steven had 10 years living in Toronto, Canada and is now back in New Zealand and living in Auckland.
KIA KAHA.
