Stuart A. MACKENZIE

Stuart MacKenzie began his rowing career at King's School in Sydney. He contested the 1956 Australian single sculls championship because he felt Australian great, Merv Wood, was a bit old for Olympic selection. MacKenzie won that championship easily and represented Australia at the 1956 Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the single sculls, although he was well beaten by the Soviet's Vyacheslav Ivanov. Most of his fame is attributed to his success at Henley where he won the Diamond Sculls for six straight years, 1957-62. In 1959, he became the first man to win both the single and double sculls at Henley. In two of the Diamond Sculls championships, MacKenzie avenged his Olympic defeat to Ivanov. MacKenzie was also European single sculls champion in 1957-58 (both times defeating Ivanov), and won the Empire Games single sculls in 1958. Although a great champion, he is considered one of the most unpopular rowers ever at Henley. Among his other antics, he once stopped in mid-race to adjust his cap, allow his opponent to catch up, and then rowed away easily to win. Very late in his career, he rowed eights for England.