In 1972 eight New Zealand rowers, later nicknamed ‘the golden eight’, took home the gold at the Munich Olympic Games. As they stepped onto the podium and were presented their medals in Germany, their families were proudly cheering them on all the way back home.
Arlene Baldwin, the sister to one of the men’s rowing eight, Trevor Coker, the seat 2 rower in the sweep-oar boat, recalls being in New Zealand when the race took place. The memories of the team and of Trevor would later prove poignant, particularly for Arlene. But in September 1972, Arlene, along with the rest of New Zealand, were focused purely on the results from the Oberschleißheim Regatta Course.
Now a resident of Ryman’s Jane Mander Village in Whangārei, Arlene reflects on Trevor’s rowing career and legacy. Arlene, who was 24 at the time, remembers her and her family’s excitement as they listened to the Olympic Games coverage.
“My sister-in-law, who was married to Trevor, was on the Interislander ferry and when the captain found out that she was trying to listen to the race, he put the radio on and invited her up to the command deck,” Arlene says.
“I was a ward sister at Christchurch Hospital, and we listened to the radio while I was doing the ironing. So, we heard the race, but of course it didn't air on TV until a few days later because everything was so delayed,” she laughs.
New Zealand’s 1972 Olympic Games rowing eight. From left: Gary Robertson, Trevor Coker, Athol Earl, Lindsay Wilson, John Hunter, Dick Joyce, Wybo Veldman, Tony Hurt and Simon Dickie.
When the eight took out the race, Kiwi pride at the glorious win was felt from all over the country. While the support for the sport was strong, getting to the event was a whole other story.
It was a real team effort to raise the funds to get the rowers over to Germany, Arlene says. “It wasn't funded the way they are today; they had to go and sell raffle tickets a couple of days a week. Trevor was actually a teacher at Christchurch Boys High School. He taught science, maths, and physics. So, he had to row and teach.”
For Arlene memories of the event, and the team, are looked back on fondly. In 1981 Trevor sadly died at 31 from a brain tumor, leaving behind his wife and young son, with whom Arlene still holds a close relationship with.
From a young age Arlene has loved watching sports. Trevor and Arlene’s father, Frederick, was a regional rower, and from an early age the six kids would watch their father’s races on the Whanganui (formerly the Wanganui) River . Their mother Ella would even sew them outfits to match the colours of their father’s club, the Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club, essentially forming their own cheerleading squad!
“She used to make the boys green and gold t-shirts and put us girls in little gold dresses with gold bows in our hair, and we would be taken to the riverbank to watch the rowing. All my life I've followed sports, we were a sporting family, really. Everyone played sports.”
Eventually Frederick got to watch his own son row at Lake Karapiro, the internationally renowned rowing venue, and win national titles. After the 1972 games, Trevor took home a bronze medal with the eight at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. He won the New Zealand national rowing championships in the rowing fours in 1974, 1975, and 1976, and with the eight in 1976.
Along with his Olympic Games and rowing championship teams Trevor won the Supreme Halberg Award at the Halberg Awards in 1971 and 1972, named after Auckland village namesake Murray Halberg, the middle-distance runner and three-time Olympic Games gold winner.
Trevor Coker poses with his Supreme Halberg Award.
Trevor’s legacy lives on through the Trevor Coker Memorial Shield which is awarded to the top New Zealand Secondary School Boys under-18 quad each year, and the skiff used at the 1972 games can be seen on display at the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland.
After his Olympic Games wins, Trevor coached rowing and taught at Priory Grammar School for Boys, a prestigious boys’ school in Shropshire, England. A couple of years after Trevor died Arlene visited the school that he taught and rowed at. “I met one of his friends and he took me down to the boat shed. They have named the boat that the boys won in, the Trevor Ivan Coker boat. So, there's plenty of lovely memories over there.”
Arlene moved into Jane Mander Village two years ago, making this year’s Olympic Games the first year in which she gets to watch the games with the support of other residents. She’s excited to create her very own ‘Olympic Village’.
“When there's something special on down at the main area of Jane Mander, they put the big screen up and we enjoy getting together for the conviviality of it because other people are there to share it with.
“I think that we're very lucky to live in Jane Mander Village. We're getting older, and it just makes sense. We've made some nice friends here and we enjoy it.”
As New Zealand’s most successful Olympic Games sport with 29 medals, Jane Mander Village residents will be on the edge of their seats cheering on this year’s rowers.
Ryman Healthcare is a proud partner of the New Zealand Team. Residents from all over the country will be getting behind their favourite athletes including residents from Edmund Hillary Village who will have their fingers crossed, as they support Kate Haines, granddaughter of village resident Lizzie Panckhurst, in her Olympic Games debut. Kate has been selected for the New Zealand rowing team, to compete in the women’s pair.
