Simon Walker is a farmer from Pahīatua and was also an umpire in rowing at the Olympics in Paris.
Simon Walker is a farmer from Pahīatua and was also an umpire in rowing at the Olympics in Paris.
When Simon Walker was asked to umpire rowing at the Paris Olympics, it was like all his “ducks lined up”.
The Pahīatua-born and bred farmer has had a long history with rowing, starting when he was just a teenager at Whanganui Collegiate, when his team won the Maadi Cup.
That was 1974.
With working on the family farm and other occupations, rowing sort of fell by the wayside for a few years, and it wasn’t until his son Matt got into it that Simon got back into the sport.
Simon says he did as most parents do, being there to support his son, cheering him on and helping to run regattas.
“You go through the learning, tick off regattas, world cup, under-19 [etc] before you can be nominated.”
Monika Kuczma and Simon Walker at the Paris Olympics where they both served on the jury for World Rowing.
Rowing New Zealand are able to nominate two names of different genders they could put forward for World Rowing to then decide out of the 150 countries that participate in rowing, and the list was then pared down to just 20 for the jury in Paris.
Simon believes it all lined up, from umpiring in the World Championships in Serbia and Masters in South Africa last year to working as a boat driver during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
That involved a variety of jobs, including driving for a water quality inspector.
“That might have helped me get the nod for Paris as well.”
Simon Walker with some of the members of the NZ Rowing team at the Paris Olympics.
His time spent at Paris was his one and only chance to be an umpire at the Olympics and he believes it’s the pinnacle of his career.
“It’s so cool,” he says. “The Olympics is as good as it gets.”
Simon Walker from Pahiatua watching the rowing event at the Paris Olympics.
Getting to umpire the women’s eight final was also a huge honour.
Simon’s role as an international umpire has given him opportunities to “rub shoulders” with like-minded people involved in water sports, such as kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington.
But that’s not the only connection Simon has with kayaking, since his father’s half-brother was Geoff Walker, who, along with Ian Ferguson, was in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
What he loves about the sport is that it also lets him spend time with “happy, healthy people” and while not everything always goes according to plan, it’s still well worth it.
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Simon Walker on The Country below:
Simon says his involvement in the sport adds a “totally different dimension” to his other role in life – that of a farmer and part-time tour guide.
He is the fourth generation on the family business, a sheep and cattle farm, on a property just out of Pahīatua and has no plans to be anywhere else.
He enjoys the lifestyle. “It’s easy living, we’re close to great services and amenities.”
