“I felt like that entire winter I was just grinding my teeth; I was so mad at the world. I probably had one day off a month.”
That same year, Dickinson was called up to the New Zealand elite squad to trial for the Rio Olympics Men’s Four - he is the only person to have achieved this without making the RPC.
The crew narrowly missed out on qualifying at the Olympics last-chance regatta, but were told they could be called up due to a Russian doping scandal.
The IOC still allowed some Russian athletes to compete, and Dickinson travelled to Rio de Janeiro as a reserve for the Men’s Eight. He also previously won the U23 bronze coxed-four medal in Lithuania.
At times he felt like an impostor in a sport that is often criticised for being rooted in elitism. Top rowers often make their way through private schools and the high cost of the sport privileges wealthier athletes.
“I was always on the outside looking in.
“My mum was a solo mum with three kids, and I was really lucky that I had this really accessible, grassroots club that was $150 bucks for subs and I’d work through the summer to pay for it.”
Dickinson coached an Oxford charity outreach programme for students from non-traditional rowing backgrounds.
He found disrupting the status quo of the sport rewarding.
Most of the Whanganui students he now coaches have part-time jobs alongside school and rowing, and the club relies on volunteers to keep it running.
“In sport, you get what you deserve, but certainly some have a comfier ride to that destination than others.”
After not winning a medal at the Maadi Regatta for seven years, with Dickinson’s involvement, Whanganui High School won eight medals and were ranked as the fourth-best school in the country.
Dickinson was most proud of the club jointly winning the North Island Secondary Schools Derbyshire Shield - which goes to the school with the highest overall points at the North Island Secondary School Championships regatta.
Moving to Whanganui from the UK has felt like a homecoming.
His grandfather Colin Dickinson was an Olympic track cyclist from Whanganui and went to the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. His grandmother Margaret Edwards was also a sprinter. The couple first met at the Cooks Garden athletic track.
“I really respected him and through my dark days of sport, that’s someone I always drew strength from.
“I think about my time through sport and the thing that I’m most proud of is how I responded to adversity.”
He hopes to continue Aramoho Rowing Club’s recent success through focusing on developing the strong culture of the club and the internal competition between athletes.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
