Nathan Cohen (rower)

Nathan Cohen

Nathan Cohen rowing
Personal information
Full name	Nathan Phillip Cohen
Nationality	New Zealand
Ethnicity	Jewish[1]
Born	(1986-01-02) 2 January 1986 Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
Alma mater	Canterbury University Massey University Otago University University of Waikato (BMS; 2012)
Years active	2000-2013
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Weight	192 lb (87 kg)[2]
Sport
Sport	Rowing
Event(s)	sculls
University team	Otago University Rowing Club
Club	Invercargill Rowing Club
Coached by	Calvin Ferguson[3]
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	World champion
Medal record Nathan Cohen Medal record Men's Rowing Competitor for  New Zealand Olympic Games Gold 2012 London Double sculls Rowing World Championships Gold 2010 Karapiro Double sculls Gold 2011 Bled Double sculls World University Games Gold 2006 Trakai Single sculls updated 30 October 2013

Nathan Phillip Cohen MNZM (born 2 January 1986) is a retired New Zealand rower. He is a two-time world champion, and won a gold medal in the Olympics.

In 2006, rowing single sculls he won a gold medal at the World University Games. In doing so, he became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the World University Games in any sport.

Cohen and his rowing partner won back-to-back gold medals in the men's double sculls at both the 2010 and 2011 World Rowing Championships. It was the first time a New Zealand premier double sculls combination had ever won a gold medal at the rowing world championships. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he and his partner won the gold medal in the men's double sculls, after breaking the Olympic best time in the heats.

In 2013, Cohen was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to rowing.

Biography

Early years

Cohen is Jewish,^[1] and was born in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. His father is Phil Cohen. His younger brother Hayden, exactly six years his junior, is also a rower.^[4][5][6] Hayden was the 2012 U23 World Champion in the double scull, and in 2013 partnered with Nathan in the quad scull, winning a silver medal in the first World Cup regatta held in Sydney.^[7]

Cohen grew up in Invercargill in Southland, and started rowing in 2000.^[6][8][9] He grew up racing on Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel, in the South Island of New Zealand, at the foot of alpine mountains.^[10]

2003–06; World University Games champion

Cohen won the boys under-18 single sculls event at the New Zealand Secondary School Rowing Championships in 2003, while attending James Hargest High School.^[6][11] He credits that with being his most memorable race, saying: "It showed me that if you wanted something enough and were willing to push yourself beyond all your perceived limits, anything was possible."^[10]

After graduating high school, he began studying for an engineering degree at Canterbury University.^[6] He later switched to studying for a commerce degree at Massey University, by correspondence.^[6][12] He attended Otago University, where he was a member of the Otago University Rowing Club. He is a member of the Invercargill Rowing Club, which honored him for his accomplishments by making him a life member.^[3][13][14]

In both 2003 and 2004, Cohen was second in the Junior World Rowing Championships in the single scull. In 2005, he won a silver medal in the World Rowing U23 Championships.^[3]

In the summer of 2006, rowing single sculls Cohen won a silver medal at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Belgium, a gold medal in the Commonwealth Rowing Regatta in Scotland, and a gold medal at the World University Games by 8 seconds in Lithuania.^[15][16] He became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at the World University Championship in any sport.^[16][17] In recognition of his accomplishment, Cohen was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award at the NZ Universities Blues Awards.^[18]

2007–11; World champion

In 2007, Cohen won a silver medal at the United States World Rowing Challenge in Oklahoma in men's single sculls.^[13] In 2007 and early 2008, he rowed with Matthew Trott in the World Rowing Championships in Munich, coming in sixth and securing a berth in the double sculls at the Olympics the following year.^[19][20]

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Shunyi, Beijing in August 2008, he and Rob Waddell rowed together. They finished fourth in the double sculls final, after they were paired together earlier that year.^[21][22][23]

Cohen won back-to-back world championships. He won a gold medal in the men's double sculls with rowing partner Joseph Sullivan at both the 2010 (at Lake Karapiro, by six hundredths of a second over Germans Hans Gruhne and Stephan Krüger, in 6:10.76) and 2011 World Rowing Championships (in Slovenia, in 6:22.63).^{[1][22][23][24]} It was the first time a New Zealand premier double sculls combination had ever won gold at the world championships.^[22]

In 2011, he won the 2011 New Zealand National Rowing Championships single scull title at Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel, with a time of 7 minutes, 3.97 seconds, to win the Sir Bernard Freyberg Cup.^[25][26] He beat out single scull world champion Mahé Drysdale by 7.46 seconds. He also won the double sculls with ex-partner Trott.^{[3][25][27][28]} He was named Sportsman of the Year in the 2011 University of Waikato Blues Awards.^[29]

2012–present; Olympic champion

At the 2012 Summer Olympics at Eton Dorney, Windsor, Cohen and rowing partner Sullivan won the gold medal in the men's double sculls, after a training regimen of 200 km each week on the water.^[22][30][31] They broke the Olympic record best time in the heats, with a time of 6:11.30.^[1][32]

In the finals they were in last place at the 500m mark, in fifth place at the 1000m mark, in fourth at the 1500m mark, and then sprinted as the line approached to take first for the victory, with a last quarter of 1:33.^[31][33][34] They won with a time of 6 minutes, 31.67 seconds.^[1] They finished ahead of the Italy's Alessio Sartori and Romano Battisti by 1:13 seconds, and Slovenian 2000 Olympic champions and 2004 silver medalists Luka Špik and Iztok Čop came in third.^[1] Cohen became the first person from Southland to win an Olympic medal for New Zealand.^[35] Cohen and Sullivan were awarded a Halberg Award for "New Zealand's Favourite Sporting Moment".^[36]

Cohen also obtained a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) from the University of Waikato in 2012.^[37]

Cohen was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2013 New Year Honours, for his services to rowing.^[38] That year he won the New Zealand national single sculls title at the 2013 New Zealand National Rowing Championships, again at Lake Ruataniwha, in a time of 6:57.76.^[3][39] He also won the New Zealand Male Rower of the Year Award.^[40]

Cohen began rowing the quadruple scull in 2013. His crew won a silver medal at the Sydney World Cup regatta.^[3]

In April 2013, Cohen suffered an irregular heartbeat in a series of training races.^[41][42][43] He subsequently withdrew in the midst of the World Rowing Championships in Chungju, Korea, in August due to a recurrence during the men's quad scull preliminary heats of an episode of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT).^[41][44][45] He is working with medical specialists to determine whether surgery or medicine is the best way to treat his condition.^[42][43] In December 2013, he announced his retirement from the sport due to this medical condition.^[46]

See also

• List of Jewish rowers

References

External links

• Nathan Cohen on Twitter
• Nathan Cohen at the International Rowing Federation
• Profile at sports-reference.com
• Bio & Q&A at Hudson Boat Works
• "Gold again for dominant double sculls duo" at stuff.co.nz