Christopher Sherratt White (born 9 September 1960) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

and Olympic Bronze medallist at the

1988 Summer 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 represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. He is described as "one of the giants of New Zealand rowing" and with 38 national titles, holds the record for most domestic rowing titles in New Zealand.

Life

White was born on 9 September 1960 in Gisborne, New Zealand. Richard White, an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, was his father. He was a member of the Waikato Rowing Club and in the 1980/81 rowing season, he became national champion in the coxed pairs, pairing with Greg Johnston and Noel Parris as cox. He first represented New Zealand at the

1981 World Rowing Championships The 1981 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 1981 at Oberschleißheim Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim near Munich, West Germany. Medal summary Men's events Women's events ...

Oberschleißheim Oberschleißheim (, , in contrast to " Lower Schleißheim") is a municipality in the district of Munich, and a suburb to Munich in Bavaria, in southern Germany. It is located 13 km north of Munich (centre). As of 2005 it had a population o ...

outside of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany, where he rowed with the eight. With the New Zealand eight, he won world championships in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Rotsee __NOTOC__ The Rotsee (previously known as Rootsee) is a natural Rowing (sport), rowing lake on the northern edge of Lucerne, Switzerland. It is regarded as one of the best rowing venues in the world. Description and location The lake and its sur ...

, Switzerland and at

Wedau The Wedau Regatta Course is an artificial rowing/canoeing lake in Duisburg, Germany. The Course was built in 1935 and has hosted numerous international watersports events since its construction. Including the 1983 World Rowing Championships. It ...

, Germany, respectively. White competed at the

1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in the eights which finished fourth. At the

1988 Olympics 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

, White won Bronze in the coxed four along with George Keys, Greg Johnston,

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...

and

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing musi ...

(cox). At the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in the coxless four, he finished fourth and thirteenth, respectively. In 1986 he won Silver medals in the coxed four at both the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. At the

1995 World Rowing Championships The 1995 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 28 August 1995 at Lake Kaukajärvi, Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakel ...

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

, Finland, White won a Silver medal in the coxed four, with Murdoch Dryden,

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 ...

, Chris McAsey, and Michael Whittaker as cox. White has won a total of 38 National Rowing titles, easily the most in New Zealand. He was on the athletes' support staff for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and has been on the New Zealand Olympic Committee’s athletes commission for eight years. He is also the manager of Olympic and World Champion rowers Caroline and

Georgina Evers-Swindell Georgina Emma Buchanan Earl (born 10 October 1978 in Hastings, New Zealand), better known under her maiden name Georgina Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Caroline E ...

. In 1982, the 1982 rowing eight crew was named sportsman of the year. The 1982 team was inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

in 1995. In the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

, White was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to rowing.

References

External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Chris 1960 births Living people New Zealand male rowers Olympic rowers for New Zealand Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in rowing Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists in rowing Rowers at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen