The New Zealand men's eight that won Olympic gold in Tokyo got back in a boat together for the Head of the Charles in Boston, and raced the Men's Championship Eights on Sunday 18 October 2026.
They finished 31st of 37 crews in 14:25.426, according to the results on RegattaCentral. Holland Acht, the Dutch world champion eight, won in 13:32.835. Harvard were second in 13:33.393 and Cambridge third in 13:36.084. row2k's race report had the Dutch winning by about half a second, with the top ten crews finishing within 10 seconds of each other over the 3 miles.
Who was in the boat
JRN's preview called the entry a reunion crew from the group that won gold in Tokyo. It named Hamish Bond, with his three Olympic golds and eight world titles, Ollie Maclean, who was a travelling spare for the Kiwi team in Tokyo, and Matt Macdonald, back in the stroke seat. Only Maclean and Macdonald have raced at World Rowing level since the Paris Olympics. JRN put the rest in various levels of retirement.
Race director Brendan Mulvey told the Boston Globe that the crew reached out to the regatta themselves, and that he was sure there were options in New Zealand that didn't mean going around the world to race.
“Those guys are doing it. That's really special.”
Shaun was in the boat. Before the race, in a reel from Boston, he kept expectations low:
“We can paddle pretty well at 28, but none of the boys have been in the boat for a very long time apart from maybe two.”
And after it:
“We are there for a fun time, not a fast time.”
Why it matters
The time is the least interesting number here. A crew that hadn't raced together in five years, most of them long out of a boat, lined up against the world champions anyway.
That's the part younger rowers should hold onto. Shaun's message to them, from the same reel:
“The friendships that you make, the crews that you're a part of now, are the ones you'll talk about 10, 20, 30, 40 years later.”
If you're a junior or uni rower in a tough season, he's written more on this in why rowing sets you up for life, win or lose. For the story of how this crew won in Tokyo after blowing its heat, read Shaun's account of that week. And for coaches and captains, the crew culture playbook has eight plays from the Kiwi eight, in Shaun's words.
Sources: Men's Championship Eights results, Head of the Charles 2026 (RegattaCentral); HOCR Sunday Men's Champ Eight: Battle Royale (row2k, 19 October 2026); 2026 Head of the Charles: Men's Championship Eight Preview (JRN, 13 October 2026); Head of the Charles: Sam Melvin edges two-time men's singles champ Finn Hamill (Boston Globe)
