World and Olympic champion Eric Murray with his 3-year-old son Zachary.
World and Olympic champion Eric Murray with his 3-year-old son Zachary.
For top New Zealand athlete Eric Murray, Father's Day will be a chance to spend time with his son after nearly three months apart.
The Olympic gold medallist, who recently won two rowing World Championship golds in Amsterdam, was reunited with 3-year-old Zac when he returned to New Zealand onWednesday.
Murray is among many men across the country who will celebrate being a dad tomorrow - but for him, the long separation will make the day all the more poignant. "Father's Day is something special for every father out there, and it's just cool to have a little boy to celebrate that with," he said.
Murray left the country on June 12 and travelled around Europe before the World Championships on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam late last month. He and teammate Hamish Bond won the men's coxed pair and the men's pair, making them the current world and Olympic champions.
Murray said for him, coming home meant getting to spend more time with his son. "I guess with rowing and other Olympic sports you have to be away from your family so much, which is one of the sacrifices you make.
"But seeing the smile on his face and then playing with him for the last couple of days has been really cool. Just making sure we bond again."
Murray said for Father's Day this year, he will be happy to spend time with his family at their home in Cambridge.
"Being able to be at home and to be able to do things with the family - it is great to be able to do that in person, rather than on FaceTime or Skype on an iPad," he said.
Father's Day was also about celebrating his wife Jackie. "You almost really want to turn it around to be a Mother's Day celebration from me because she's the one that has been holding the fort while I have been away."
