Alan Geoffrey Grover (24 September 1944 – 12 May 2019) was an Australian representative rowing

coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...

. He was a six-time national champion and triple Olympian who steered Australian crews at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. Grover coxed at the elite level in Australia over an eighteen-year period from 1962 to 1980.

Club and state rowing

He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and attended Sydney Boys High. His senior rowing was from the

Sydney Rowing Club Sydney Rowing Club is the oldest rowing club in New South Wales, Australia formed in 1870. It has occupied its current site on Port Jackson's Parramatta River at Abbotsford, New South Wales, Abbotsford Point since 1874. The club has a focus on it ...

. He first made state selection for New South Wales in 1962 in the men's lightweight four which contested the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta. In 1965 and 1967 he was again in the stern of New South Wales Penrith Cup fours and he steered those crews to victory. In 1968 he coxed the New South Wales state eight to victory in 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 Interstate Regatta. He cemented his place in the stern of the New South Wales men's eight and steered those crews in the King's Cups of 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972. The 1972 crew was again victorious. After a long break he made a return to senior rowing in 1980 and that year again steered the New South Wales King's Cup eight. He coxed

crews in national title attempts at 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 ...

on various occasions - coxed fours in 1964 and 1980 (both champions); coxed pairs in 1966 (fourth place) and 1980 (champions).

International representative rowing

In 1964 Grover was selected as

of an Australian four which finished tenth in the coxed four event at the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

. Four years later he steered the Australian men's eight to a silver medal at the

1968 Mexico City Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. At the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

he was again in the stern of the Australian crew which finished in eighth place in the men's eight event.

Professional career

In business life Grover was a senior marketing employee at

Speedo Speedo International Limited is an Australian-British distributor of Swimsuit, swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England. Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1914 by Alexander MacRae, a Scottish emigrant, the company is n ...

from 1987 to 2012. He then joined the Australian Olympic Committee, again employed as a marketing professional.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grover, Alan 1944 births 2019 deaths Australian male rowers Australian coxswains (rowing) Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Rowers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian sportsmen