Brian Vear (16 November 1937The Banks Rowing Club obituary has a date of birth of 25 January 1937, Sports-reference has 16 November 1937 - 18 February 2008) was an Australian representative

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 ...

who competed at two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. In later life he was a tireless organiser and convenor of regattas at state, national and international levels.

Club and state rowing

Vear was educated at

St Patrick's College, Ballarat St Patrick's College, sometimes referred to as St Pat's, Paddy's or SPC, is an independent Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in central Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded by the Congregation of Chr ...

where he took up rowing. He was a member of that school's first IV when they won the Ballarat Public Schools' Head of the Lake race in 1955. In Melbourne, Vear's senior club rowing was from the

Banks Rowing Club Banks Rowing Club is based in Melbourne, Australia on the Yarra River. Banks Rowing Club was founded in 1866. Presidents Notable members Notable members Include Olympic representatives *Walter Howell *Paul Guest (rower), Paul Guest *Brian ...

where he was a member and President from 1996 to 2006.Vear profile at Australian Rowing History
/ref> Vear first made state selection for Victoria in the 1963 men's eight which contested and won the

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

at the Australian Interstate Regatta. He also rowed in the victorious 1964 Victorian King's Cup eight and again in 1965 when they placed second.

International representative rowing

For the

1960 Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

a Victorian

coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

was selected as the 7th and last priority boat and on the basis of self-funding. Vear was picked in the bow seat of that crew with the others coming from various Melbourne clubs - Peter Guest, Peter Gillon and Kim Jelbart. The lack of coaching support provided to the team by the Australian Olympic Federation proved to be an issue. The four was eliminated at the repechage stage and there was no B final. For the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

that year's winning Victorian King's Cup eight was selected in toto as the Australian men's eight. They took a new Sargent & Burton racing shell to the Olympics but quickly saw that its design and technology was way behind the European built Donoratico and Stampfli shells used by the other nations. With Vear in the bow seat they raced in a borrowed Donoratico boat for the B final and rowed to an overall eighth place in the Olympic regatta.

Championships convenor

Vear had a role as the Victorian team manager for the interstate regatta in 1997 and from 2000 onward began to play a leading role in the organisation of the

Australian Rowing Championships The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...

and of Master Regattas at an International level. He was Chairman of the Organising Committee for the

in 2002, 2004 and 2007. He was President of the Australian Masters Committee for a period from 2001 and Chairman of the Organising Committee for the 2003 World Masters Games.

Notes

References

External links

Profile
at Australian Olympic Committee {{DEFAULTSORT:Vear, Brian 1937 births 2008 deaths Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Ballarat Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian sportsmen