Alan Cotter (born 24 November 1956) is a retired New Zealand rowing coxswain. He was the High Performance Director for

Rowing New Zealand Rowing New Zealand is the sports governing body for rowing in New Zealand. Its purpose is to provide leadership and support to enable an environment of success for the New Zealand rowing community. This includes secondary schools, clubs, masters ...

from 2008 to 2018. Cotter was born in 1956 in

Ngāruawāhia Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato River, Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Rang ...

. He won medals with the men's eight at the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

(bronze) and

1979 World Rowing Championships The 1979 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August – 9 September 1979 at Bled in Slovenia, Yugoslavia. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table This table does not include th ...

(silver). He was selected as cox for the men's eight to compete at the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

but did not compete due to the Olympics boycott. Cotter later worked as a rowing coach. This included coaching the men's coxed four who won silver at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

. In December 2008, he succeeded

Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson (born 17 July 1969) is a former New Zealand Rowing (sport), rower who became a sports administrator. He is the current chief executive officer of Cycling New Zealand, the country's umbrella body embracing all national bike and cy ...

as High Performance Director for Rowing New Zealand; Matheson had not returned to New Zealand from the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

after receiving an offer from

Rowing Australia Rowing Australia (RA) is the governing body for the sport of rowing in Australia. Established in 1925, it is the only organisation recognised by the Federation Internationale des Societies d’Aviron (FISA), the Australian Sports Commission ...

. He faced funding pressure from

High Performance Sport New Zealand Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) (Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand. Their subsidiary High Performance Sport New Zealand deals with elite athletes. Legislati ...

after missing the target of five rowing medals at the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where only three medals were won. He resigned from Rowing New Zealand in August 2018 over allegations of bullying.

References

1956 births Living people New Zealand male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Coxswains (rowing) Rowing coaches People from Ngāruawāhia Rowers from Waikato 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-rowing-bio-stub