Athol Macdonald (born 3 September 1953) is an Australian former 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 ...

. He was a four-time national champion who competed at World Championships and in the men's eight event at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Club and state rowing

Raised in South Australia, Macdonald's senior rowing was from the Adelaide Rowing Club where his younger brother Chester was also a successful senior rower. Athol first made state selection for South Australia in 1973 in the men's eight which contested 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 rowed in two further South Australian King's Cup eights in 1974 and 1975 stroking the 1975 crew to a second place. By 1976 Macdonald had relocated to Sydney and was rowing from the

Mosman Rowing Club Mosman Rowing Club is an all-level competitive and recreational Rowing (sport), rowing club on the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore of Sydney. Since 2007 the club's facilities have been wholly located at The Spit, New South Wales, The Spit in S ...

. He made state selection for New South Wales in 1976 in the four seat of the men's eight which contested and won the

at the Interstate Regatta within 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 ...

. He rowed in another King's Cup winning New South Wales crew in 1978 and then in the New South Wales eights of 1979. At the 1975 Australian Championships Macdonald rowed in Adelaide colours in a composite South Australian four which contested and won the coxed four national title. The 1976

saw an open men's eight event contested (distinct from the King's Cup) and MacDonald rowed in an all-Mosman crew to win that title. In 1981 with Sydney's John Sivewright and coxed by Stephen Dadour, Macdonald won the national coxed pair title at the

International representative rowing

MacDonald made his Australian representative debut at the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

. The Australian men's eight for the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

was mostly that year's King's Cup winning New South Wales crew excepting Malcolm Shaw in the two seat and Brian Richardson at bow. With Macdonald rowing at three they commenced their Olympic campaign with a heat win in a new world record time and progressed to the final. In the heat Shaw suffered a collapsed vertebra which saw him out of the eight and replaced by

Peter Shakespear Peter Shakespear (born 27 September 1946) is an Australian rowing (sport), rower. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics. Shakespear is married to Wilma Shakespear, a former Australia national netball team, Austral ...

, the reserve. In the final the Australians finished fifth.Macdonald at World Rowing
/ref> MacDonald was out of the eight for the

1977 World Rowing Championships The 1977 World Rowing Championships was the 6th World Rowing Championships. The championships were held from 19 to 28 August 1977 on the Bosbaan rowing lake in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Medal summary About 556 rowers from 28 countries competed a ...

but for the 1978 Championships in Lake Karapiro, the successful New South Wales King's Cup eight was again selected and was composed of all Sydney Rowing Club men excepting MacDonald and his Mosman club-mate Gary Uebergang. The Australian eight placed second in their heat, third in the repechage and in the final finished fourth being edged out for third by the host nation New Zealand.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Athol 1953 births Living people Australian male rowers Olympic rowers for Australia Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian sportsmen