Before dawn, while everyone else is fast asleep in their warm beds, Fergus Hamilton (OM 2017) is already on the water. The colder the conditions, the better.
“I just love being up early when it’s raining and freezing,” says Fergus, who recently qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the Belgrade World Rowing Championships. “Not everyone is on the water that early, but I am.”
Becoming a leader while far from home
Originally from the tiny town of Jindera, NSW, Fergus first tried his hand at rowing on a farm dam. “I remember it clearly because I saw a snake swimming next to me,” he says. “That didn’t bother me. I’ve loved rowing from the start.”
A Melbourne Grammar boarder since Year 9, Fergus was named Captain of Boats in 2017, the same year he leapt onto the world stage with his Junior World Championship win in the Men’s Double Sculls. After being recognised by the School with the prestigious Hone Medal, Fergus took on his next challenge: a degree in Anthropology at Yale. There, he served as Captain of the university’s rowing team in 2023.
“My role at Yale was to lead the team of around 50 rowers, contributing to the goal setting for the rowing program as a whole,” Fergus explains. “I needed to lead the way for everyone in terms of how to balance rowing and studying, and I helped the coaches with programming training as well.”
“It was a fascinating leadership opportunity,” says Fergus. “Day-to-day, I had my eye on how everyone was feeling, and helped decide where to focus. The Yale coaches ended up entrusting me to write the indoor program for the winter.”
His overseas achievements didn’t stop there. While at Yale, Fergus was also named First Team All American twice, First Team All-Ivy twice, and was a member of the Eastern Association of Rowing Crew of The Year twice. These honours arguably place him among the top eight rowers across all US universities during 2022 and 2023.
A relaxed attitude to making history
Now back in a boat with his former teammate, Jack Robertson (OM 2016), along with Tim Masters (OM 2009), Fergus will need to bring all his leadership skills to Olympic-level training as his crew prepares for the Men’s Coxless Four. “I try to lead by showing up and putting my best foot forward,” he says.
And put his best foot forward, he has. Earlier this year, Fergus, Jack, and Tim were all part of the Men’s Eight crew that won the King’s Cup—the premier rowing event in the Australian National Championships. “There’s so much history there,” Fergus says of the race that was first run in 1878. “It was really special to win a race that’s so important to everyone in the community.”
If the pressure of the upcoming Olympics is weighing on Fergus, he isn’t letting it show. “You train four years for that one day, those couple of minutes in the race, but I’ve found the best way to go about things is just to stay pretty relaxed,” he says. “That’s the hardest part about our sport, I think—to be going 110% on the water but to stay composed. If you get that part right, you’re probably going to do pretty well.”
All of Melbourne Grammar is behind this year’s Olympic rowers, but Fergus admits he hadn’t yet considered what the mood might be in our boarding house when his boat takes to the water. “It’s really special that there are three Melbourne Grammar boys in the same boat,” he says. “I hadn’t thought about it until now, but I guess watching the race in School House is going to be pretty awesome.”
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.
