News

Former Cambridge University coach Grant Craies is the newly appointed Head Coach of the 70-strong Otago University Rowing Club. Craies began coaching in 1994 after representing New Zealand and winning championship gold medals in 1993.

Craies’ coaching highlight to date has been his assistant coach position at the Cambridge University Boat Club in 2005. “It was an intense time preparing crews for the annual boat race against Oxford … But it was a fantastic experience.” Allegedly, around 140 million people worldwide watch the Cambridge vs. Oxford boat race. During Craies’ three-year time at Cambridge, the team won one race and lost two.
Given Craies’ family history with rowing, it is unsurprising he is so involved with the sport. His mother, Hilary Vaundrey, was in the first New Zealand women’s rowing team to compete internationally. Craies’ father, Eric Craies, was the coach of the team that won silver medals at both the 1950 and 1962 Empire games. “Dad is a rowing legend. He taught me to scull when I was eight.”
One of Craies’ personal goals in his new appointment is to get students who rowed at high school back into the sport, as well as to encourage novice rowers to give the sport a go. “I want to prove to students that they can reach high levels of sport while completing academic degrees.”
Currently, the squad is preparing for the Regional Performance Centre trials in September. In August, Craies will select a team to compete in the Moscow International Universities Golden Boat Regatta.
The previous Head Coach was Glen Sinclair, who is also the Chief Executive of the club.