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Michael Brake

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Michael Brake
Brake in 2021
Personal information
Born(1994-10-22)22 October 1994(age 29)
Auckland,New Zealand
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight88 kg (194 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportRowing
EventCoxless pair
Medal record
Men'srowing
RepresentingNew Zealand
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Eight
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Ottensheim Coxless pair

Michael Brake(born 22 October 1994) is a New Zealandrower.[1]He is a dual Olympian and won Olympic gold atTokyo 2020.

Brake has been rowing internationally since 2012 and in that year, won a world championship at theWorld Rowing Junior Championships.At the2014 World Rowing U23 Championships,he won silver. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he competed with the New Zealand eight and competed in the same boat class at 2020 Tokyo. In the interim Olympiad, he competed internationally in the coxless pair and won silver at the2019 World Rowing Championshipspartnered withTom Murray.Domestically, he has won seven national premier rowing titles. Brake, who is fromAuckland'sNorth Shore,is studying towards a civil engineering degree fromAuckland University.

Early life[edit]

Brake was born inAuckland,New Zealand.[2]He received his education atWestlake Boys High Schoolon the city's North Shore in the suburb ofForrest Hill.He took up rowing in 2008 at his school aged 13. He is studying civil engineering at theUniversity of Auckland.[3]

Career[edit]

After taking up rowing in 2008, it was not until 2012 that Brake first competed at theNew Zealand Rowing Championshipsas a member of the North Shore Rowing Club. He competed in two boat classes in finals and won both races: one with the club eight and the other with the U19 coxed four.[4]Brake was selected for the New Zealand junior rowing team based on those results and he first rowed internationally at the 2012World Rowing Junior Championships,which were held inPlovdiv,Bulgaria, in conjunction with the2012 World Rowing Championships.The coxed four, which includedTom Murrayand coxswainSam Bosworth,won gold at that regatta.[5][6]

At the February 2013 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three senior boat classes, and came second with the eight and won gold with both the coxless pair and the coxless four.[7]This being his final year at his secondary school, he did not participate in international rowing.[3]

At the February 2014 New Zealand rowing championships, he competed in five boat classes, including his first appearance in the premier class.[a]In the coxless pair, he competed (with different partners) in both the U20 and U22 categories and won gold and bronze, respectively. In the U20 coxless four, he won silver. In the U22 eight, he won gold. In the premier eight, he came fourth.[9]Based on this performance, he was picked for the country's U23 team and competed at the2014 World Rowing U23 ChampionshipsinVarese,Italy, where he won silver with the U23 coxed four.[5]

At the February 2015 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three boat classes and won his first national title in the premier men category. With the U22 coxless four, he won gold. With the premier eight, he came fourth. He picked up his first premier title with the coxed four, with different team members to those he won silver with at the world championships the previous year.[10]He was called into the elite team for the year and went to the 2015 World Rowing Cups II and III with the eight, inVarese(Italy) and at the SwissRotsee,respectively. They came fourth in Italy and won bronze in Switzerland. At the2015 World Rowing Championships,the men's eight was beaten for a bronze medal by the Netherlands by 0.13 seconds.[5]This result qualified this boat class for the2016 Rio Olympics.[3][11]

At the February 2016 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three boat classes. With the U22 coxless pair, he won gold. In the premier eight, he won silver. With the premier coxed four, he defended his national title.[12]Internationally, he remained a member of the New Zealand eight. In preparation for the Olympics, they travelled to the 2016 World Rowing Cup II on the Swiss Rotsee, they came fifth. At the World Rowing Cup III inPoznań,Poland, they won bronze.[5]The team came sixth at theOlympic competitioninRio de Janeiro.[13]The last time a New Zealand eight had even qualified for the Olympics had been at the1984 Los Angeles Olympics,32 years prior.[14]

At the 2017 New Zealand rowing nationals at Lake Ruataniwha, he competed with the premier coxed four but the team did not complete the A-final.[15]Although the New Zealand national rowing team competed at 2017 World Rowing Cups II and III in Europe, Brake did not participate but was announced for the New Zealand eight at the2017 World Rowing ChampionshipsinSarasota, Florida.The eight finished in sixth place.[5][16]

Tom Murray(in thebow) and Brake (asstroke) competing in 2019

At the February 2018 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three premier boat classes. He won gold with the coxless four, bronze with the eight, and came fourth with Cameron Webster in the coxless pair.[17]For international rowing, Brake was teamed up withTom Murrayin the coxless pair. Within five days around Easter 2018, both of them broke bones; Brake broke his wrist when he slipped on cobblestones and Murray broke a toe when he had a mishap on asea biscuit.Brake had plates inserted to stabilise his wrist. Whilst they travelled to2018 World Rowing CupII inLinz-Ottensheim,Austria, they did not compete.[18][19]At the 2018 World Rowing Cup III at the Rotsee, they won gold. At the2018 World Rowing ChampionshipsinPlovdiv,Bulgaria, they came fifth.[5]

At the February 2019 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three premier boat classes. He won gold with the coxless four and the eight, and bronze in double scull with Stephen Jones.[20]Continuing to row internationally with Murray, they won silver at World Rowing Cup II in Poznań and bronze at World Rowing Cup III inRotterdam,Netherlands. At the2019 World Rowing Championshipsin Linz-Ottensheim, Austria, they won silver, beaten by the Croatian Sinković brothersMartinandValentfor gold.[5]This result qualified this boat class for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[21]

At the February 2020 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in two boat classes. He came second with the coxless four and third alongside Webster in the coxless pair.[22]Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,there was no international rowing during 2020.[5]

At the February 2021 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in four boat classes. He became national champion with the coxless four and the eight. He won silver alongsideDan Williamsonin the coxless pair. He placed sixth in the quad scull.[23]In March 2021, Rowing New Zealand announced the elite team for the Olympic year and Brake was placed in the eight that had yet to qualify for the Games.[24]At the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta at the Rotsee in May 2021, the top two teams gained qualification (four teams competed) and the New Zealand eight won both the preliminary race and the final.[5][25]When New Zealand's Olympic team was announced in June 2021, Brake was confirmed to start with the eight.[26]He wongoldin themen's eights eventat the2020 Olympic Games.

National titles[edit]

National titles for senior rowers are known as Red Coats in New Zealand.[27]As of 2021, Brake has won seven premier Red Coats.

A red jerseyRed Coats – New Zealand premier national titles
Coxed four 2015, 2016
Coxless four 2018, 2019, 2021
Eight 2019, 2021

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Premier is the highest ability class and rowers can compete in this class once they have been accepted by one of the Regional Performance Centres (RPCs).[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^abc"Michael Brake".International Rowing Federation.Retrieved4 July2016.
  2. ^"Michael Brake".Olympedia.Retrieved7 July2021.
  3. ^abc"Michael Brake".Rowing New Zealand.Retrieved7 July2021.
  4. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2012]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  5. ^abcdefghi"Michael Brake".World Rowing Federation.Retrieved7 July2021.
  6. ^"Results: Senior / Junior World Champs".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  7. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2013]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  8. ^"Rules of Racing 2020".Rowing New Zealand.Retrieved7 July2021.
  9. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2014]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  10. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2015]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  11. ^Anderson, Ian (7 September 2015)."New Zealand eights surge into Olympic medal contention at world champs".Stuff.Retrieved7 July2016.
  12. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2016]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  13. ^Alderson, Andrew (14 August 2016)."Rio Olympics 2016: Gold for Mahe Drysdale".The New Zealand Herald.Retrieved7 July2021.
  14. ^"Tom Murray".Rowing New Zealand.Retrieved7 July2021.
  15. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2017]".Row IT.Retrieved7 July2021.
  16. ^Anderson, Ian (3 August 2017)."Two fours crews added to Rowing New Zealand team for world championships in US".Stuff.Retrieved7 July2021.
  17. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2018]".Row IT.Retrieved9 July2021.
  18. ^Leggat, David (31 May 2018)."Rowing: Pair over injuries in time for European tour".The New Zealand Herald.Retrieved9 July2021.
  19. ^"Men's rowing pair suffer broken bones within days of each other –" the chances are so incredibly slim "".1 News.13 June 2018.Retrieved9 July2021.
  20. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2019]".Row IT.Retrieved9 July2021.
  21. ^"Twigg and co help qualify more boats for Tokyo".Radio New Zealand.31 August 2019.Retrieved9 July2021.
  22. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2020]".Row IT.Retrieved9 July2021.
  23. ^"Results: NZ Rowing Champs [2021]".Row IT.Retrieved9 July2021.
  24. ^"2021 Rowing NZ Elite Men's Team announcement".Rowing New Zealand.23 March 2021.Retrieved9 July2021.
  25. ^"New Zealand rowers qualify men's eight for Tokyo Olympics".Radio New Zealand.17 May 2021.Retrieved9 July2021.
  26. ^Anderson, Ian (12 June 2021)."Hannah Osborne nabs double sculls spot in NZ rowing team for Tokyo Olympics".Stuff.Retrieved9 July2021.
  27. ^Edwards, Simon (29 February 2016)."Petone rowers' national success includes rare Red Coat for young cox".Hutt News.Retrieved7 July2021.

External links[edit]

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