Rhys's Story
Western Australian Rhys Grant made Olympic debut in the Men’s Single Sculls. Grant qualified the boat for the Australian Olympic Team by finishing second at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta held in Lucerne, Switzerland in May 2016.
Grant came out at his first Olympic regatta firing, securing back-to-back 2nd place finishes in his heat and quarter final. Grant was drawn in lane five in his semi-final needing a top three finish to progress to the A-Final. After a powerful start, the Australian looked in control of his race and was sat in third for the majority of the first three quarters of the semi-final. As the others began to pull ahead, Grant, giving everything he had with every stroke, was passed in the final 500m by Belarus who snapped up the final A-Final spot. Grant finished 3rd in the B-Final.
The Western Australian Rowing Club member, is a qualified civil engineer and works part-time for a design firm while also pursuing his rowing career.
Grant began rowing at school in 2000, and first represent Australia at junior level in 2004 in the Junior Men’s Four at the Junior World Championships in Spain. Grant made his senior World Championships debut competing in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls in 2014
Grant’s nickname is Mr President, after he won the Interstate Men’s Single Sculls Trophy, The President’s Cup, in 2013, (first West Australian in 30 years to do so), an achievement he backed up in 2016 ahead of the qualification regatta.
Grant’s father, Guy, was a member of Australia’s Ice Hockey team in the late 1970s and 1980s.
