Rowing: High achiever happy with low profile

Duncan Grant says the world champs at Lake Karapiro in November 2010 will be a career highlight. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Duncan Grant's CV is notable partly for what it contains, but also for what's missing.

In a world where Mahe Drysdale, the Evers-Swindell twins and other Olympic rowing luminaries have hogged the limelight in recent years, Grant's name doesn't usually warrant more than the odd sentence.

A pity. After all, he has won the world lightweight single scull title in each of the last three years and, if his discipline was on the Olympic programme, would most likely have at least one medal, probably gold, on his mantelpiece by now.

But Grant is luckless. There are only two men's lightweight disciplines at the Olympics - double scull, in which Storm Uru and Peter Taylor are current world champions, and the coxless four.

However he has a cunning plan to put right the gaping hole on his record at London in 2012.

When the lightweight four went on the European campaign this year it was a starting point for the idea of qualifying for London. A young crew new to elite international racing finished 15th overall. The Olympic class is restricted to 11 boats.

Grant fancies being part of that, assuming Uru and Taylor retain strong form and health. He would have looked at switching his focus next year, but Lake Karapiro and the world champs in November 2010, provided a strong lure to stay solo.

"That's probably going to be one of the highlights of my career," Grant said. "There's nothing better than to race in front of your home crowd and hearing pretty much everyone in the stands cheering for New Zealand."

Grant comes from farming stock at Winchmore, a few clicks west of Ashburton, and began rowing while attending Christ's College in Christchurch. After a couple of false starts, he got serious after finishing fourth in the world under-23 lightweight singles final in 2002.

The Rowing New Zealand selectors lost interest in the lightweights for a couple of years before Grant persuaded them he was worth a shot in 2006. His third placing at the worlds at Eton that year backed his argument.

His dominance in a class where athletes must be 72.5kg or lighter, is remarkable. He was dominant in the season just ended, which he believes was the hardest competition he has faced, winning the World Cup titles in Munich and Lucerne before the world champs at Poznan.

Grant missed the chance to go to the Athens Olympics five years ago through injury; he was in a three-cornered challenge two summers ago for a Beijing spot in the double with Uru and Taylor, but a mix of injuries meant he was below his best.

There's a hint of unfinished business about a man who is in the third year of a bachelor of e-commerce, but which has taken rather longer than the prescribed time to complete. Rowing has, ahem, got in the way. Still, "It's not the time it takes to get there, it's sticking in and getting it that's more important".

As for his low profile, Grant is distinctly unfazed.

"Honestly I don't really mind not being the centre of attention. It gives me a chance to get on and do the best I can in my sport. Obviously I don't get the added pressures that Mahe gets. I just enjoy getting out and rowing and representing my country."

He understands the rationale of both the national body and the Government funding agency.

"RNZ do put more emphasis into Olympic boats and that four-year cycle is their main focus," Grant said. "Results in those boats bring in the funding. The primary funding is by Sparc and obviously their primary objective is winning gold medals at the Olympics."

RNZ's summer training squad is named on Monday; the rowers are back in training on September 28. It will be a 13-month slog to the world champs.

If next year is to be Grant's single seat swansong, there could be no better finale than making it four world titles in a row. At home.

Then there's the small matter of rectifying that Olympic hole.

DUNCAN GRANT

Age: 29.
Discipline: Lightweight single scull.
World titles: 3 (2007, 2008, 2009).
Olympic Games appearances: 0 (competes in non-Olympic class).