“At the Olympics, there’s no more time for practice,” says Jack Robertson (OM 2016), now near the end of a gruelling training and racing schedule to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “In some ways, it’s good if you make mistakes at other events, so that come the Games, you get it right.”
Having started at Melbourne Grammar in Prep, Jack ended his time at the School as Captain of Boats, winning Head of the River in 2016. Teammate Fergus Hamilton (OM 2017) was a member of that winning crew, and the two will row together again in Paris. “When we found out we’d be rowing together again, we just laughed,” Jack says. “It’s definitely been fun to be back in the same boat.”
Crew dynamics make the difference
More than any other factor, Jack’s rowing philosophy hinges on the crew’s connections with one another. “For me, the love of the sport has less to do with the physical side of things, and more to do with the challenge of creating a group of individuals who gel,” he explains. “Having everyone on the same page—that’s what’s going to make our boat go faster than the other boats.”
Jack and Fergus are now training alongside experienced Olympian Tim Masters (OM 2009) to complete in the Men’s Coxless Four. “Tim’s probably seen just about all there is to see in Olympic and international rowing, so to have someone like that in our boat, aside from the fact that he’s an amazing guy, is pretty invaluable,” says Jack.
Stroking their boat is Alexander Hill OAM, Olympic gold and silver medallist. “Hilly is the most decorated Olympian in the entire team; he is a living legend,” adds Jack. “It is not lost on me that I get to learn from, and race with, him. To have the defending Olympic champion anchoring our boat in the stroke seat is an opportunity beyond the wildest dreams of any schoolboy rower.”
Jack strongly believes that each member of a rowing crew has their own contribution to make. “I’m not always going to be the strongest guy in the boat, but I’m probably more vocal than others,” he says. “I really enjoy encouraging others to bring out more from them, or helping them to stay calm. Rowing training can be a rollercoaster of emotions, so I like to help everyone get into a headspace where they feel confident. That’s what I find most fulfilling.”
Perfecting the balancing act
Given the demands of rowing training, Jack is familiar with the warning that expecting academic and sporting success as well as a social life may not be realistic. But his achievements so far challenge that assumption, with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Sociology from Oxford University to his name.
“People say you can’t do everything, but I kind of think you can,” Jack explains. “At university, I always found that studying and rowing went hand-in-hand. By the time I was doing my Masters, I had a pretty good sense of when I needed to prioritise studying or social time and when I needed to put rowing first.”
Jack has clearly been able to strike the right balance, having won several academic awards at Berkeley, including the Golden Bear Achievement Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest GPA on a team, in both 2020 and 2021. He was also named as part of the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association All-American First Team as a Berkeley senior. At Oxford in 2022, he was a member of the crew that won the prestigious Boat Race against Cambridge.
Despite his continued rowing success, Jack says the prospect of Olympic competition hasn’t always been at the forefront of his mind. “Even when I was at uni, it hadn’t occurred to me that going to the Olympics might be possible,” he says. “It’s a bit hard to believe that this is my opportunity to represent my country. Olympians are who you look up to when you’re a kid, so to be continuing that legacy is very humbling.”
Read more about the other Old Melburnians representing Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games:
You can view a list of all Melbourne Grammar School Olympians here.
