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| Born | David Marsden Rodger (1955-06-18)18 June 1955 (age 70) Hamilton, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Dianne Rodger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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David Marsden Rodger (born 18 June 1955) is a former New Zealandrower who won an Olympic bronze medal.
Rodger was born inHamilton, New Zealand.[1] Rodger was first selected to represent New Zealand in New Zealand Rowing's first Junior eight crew in 1973 with team members David Symmons,Peter Dignan, Ross Lindstrom, Graham Hamilton, Peter Rowbotham, Graham Hill, Greg Ball and Frank Sheehan finishing fifth atNottingham, England. He then represented New Zealand in the u23 class of a tour of Australia winning all races. 1974 saw his first foray at elite level in the NZ eight finishing third at theLucerne World Rowing Championships in Switzerland. He rowed in the same boat class in the1975 World Rowing Championships inNottingham, Great Britain, and won a bronze medal.[2] At the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal he was a member of the eight along withTony Hurt,Ivan Sutherland,Trevor Coker,Peter Dignan,Lindsay Wilson,Joe Earl andAlec McLean andSimon Dickie (cox).
The1977 World Rowing Championships saw Rodger secure second spot in the coxless four with Ivan Sutherland,David Lindstrom andDes Lock under new coachHarry Mahon.[3]1978 saw another third in the men's eight at his home course ofLake Karapiro, New Zealand. 1979 was a compulsory rest and marriage toDianne Zorn, a leading New Zealand athlete. Rodger was selected for the coxed four to compete at the1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow but did not go due to theOlympics boycott.1981 saw Rodger gain a seat back in the elite men's eight as stroke but also saw Rodger for the first time relinquish a top three spot as he'd scored in previous world championships. However, the next year with Rodger in the six seat saw the NZ eight catapult from seventh in 1981 to world champions in 1982 and 1983. At the1982 World Rowing Championships atRotsee, Switzerland, he was the stroke.[4] At the1983 World Rowing Championships atWedau inDuisburg, Germany, he was in seat three.[5]
At the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles he was a member of the eight which finished fourth. His wife competed in thewomen's 3000 metres, and that year they were the first husband and wife to compete for New Zealand at the same Olympic Games. After the disappointment of a fourth place at the Olympic Games, Rodger continued a further year in the eight in 1985 only to come fourth again, this time in the two seat. Some[who?] believe that if Rodger had been in the six seat in both the Olympic eight and the 1985 eight the crew results could have been more golden but of that is now speculation or part of the rowing story time.[citation needed] The resulting fourth and continued placement in the two seat saw Rodger retire from rowing and join the1987 America's Cup inFremantle, Western Australia. Rodger enjoyed being part of a group of people who built and sailed the first fibreglass 12 metre yacht (KZ3) in the 12 metre world championships finishing fifth as a grinder and the first of five rowers to join the America's cup andTeam New Zealand at a later stage.
Rodger now coaches, encouraging deep burn and sixty-minute ergs, as well as eating yoghurt and drinking milk straight after training. He has been quoted as saying "if you were like me you would be viewing milk as a food and not as a liquid" and "you'll see that I'm really a sheep in wolf's clothing" and "a joke's a joke, a poke's a poke......no poke, no joke." He is well respected for making awkward jokes about his New Zealand accent, relying heavily on the correlation between 'six' and 'sex'. His son Logan is now attempting to follow in his father's footsteps as a budding young rower and member of the Waikato Regional Performance Rowing Centre.
In 1982, the 1982 rowing eight crew was named sportsman of the year.[6] The 1982 team was inducted into theNew Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.[7]
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| Preceded by | New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1982 With:Tony Brook,George Keys,Les O'Connell,Mike Stanley,Andrew Stevenson,Chris White,Roger White-Parsons,Andy Hay | Succeeded by |
