An unconventional start to rowing

Legacy athlete Genevieve (Gen) Macky’s journey in rowing was, by her own admission, not a typical one.

“I guess unlike a lot of rowers, I didn’t actually set foot in a boat until after high school. It’s pretty common for rowers to have been training and competing for a large part of their secondary school years, but that wasn’t the case for me,” she says.

While she played a lot of sport at school, Gen says she’s always been drawn to sports that challenge her mentally and physically, but have a clear goal. And after seeing her brother compete in a rowing regatta, she knew she had to give it a go. 

Only 14 months later, Oamaru-born Gen was nominated for the Under-23 squad to compete at the 2010 World Rowing U23 Championships in Belarus. She then competed in the rowing eight in Amsterdam in 2011, the quad in Lithuania in 2012 and in the eight again in South Korea in 2013. 

Quite the rise for an athlete just four years into her sport.

“I think having not rowed as extensively as other rowers have in their younger years actually helped me,” says Gen. “Because I was a bit older when I started specialising in a sport, I wasn’t about to lose interest and I think that commitment to succeed was ingrained in me.”

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Overcoming a setback

Things were about to change when she got the call no athlete wants to hear.

“After the 2013 world champs I got the phone call to say I had been dropped from the eight. I was devastated,” Gen says.

“Being based in Cambridge at the time and surrounded by other rowers, it was really hard to watch everyone getting up early and going about their normal training and not doing that with them.”

She took a few months off to process the setback, during which she resumed her studies in accounting and human resource management. 

Ultimately, she decided she wasn’t done with rowing. “I gave it six months and realised I had more to give.”

She got stuck back into training, this time with a new goal in mind - to qualify in the eight for the 2015 world championships.

“I think having overcome the setback of being dropped made me more determined to get back into it again. I missed the feeling of competing, of really pushing my body to achieve something, and I missed the camaraderie of the squad and how good it feels to be out on the water together working to get to the finish line.”

Testament to her hard work, she made it to the 2015 World Championships, winning silver with the women’s eight and qualifying the boat for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. At the Olympics, she competed for the New Zealand Team in the coxless pair and won silver alongside Rebecca Scown, and came fourth in the women’s eight.

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Life after rowing

Still competitive at heart, Gen now focuses her energy on her young family, her career in banking, and giving back to the world of sport as a board member with Athletics New Zealand.

While she has no immediate plans to get back in a boat, she still likes to stay active and is grateful the Flex Fitness membership helps her continue to push herself physically.

“It’s really nice to have this support from Flex Fitness, even though I’m not officially competing anymore,” she says.

The goal posts may have shifted for Gen, but she’ll never not have that competitive drive. “You’re either in or out, there’s no in between!”

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Flex Fitness proud to support legacy athlete, rower Gen Macky

As an official partner of the New Zealand Team, Flex Fitness is thrilled to stand alongside the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and share our passion for fitness and excellence with the nation’s athletes.

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