Stuart's Story
1937 -
At Melbourne 1956 Stuart Mackenzie, a supremely confident 19-year-old had won the right to represent Australia in the single sculls. In the trials, he had beaten Mervyn Wood, the Olympic champion from London 1948 and silver medallist at Helsinki 1952, to the position. On Lake Wendouree Mackenzie finished second to the similarly teenaged Russian, Vyacheslav Ivanov. Melbourne was the only time Mackenzie rowed at the Olympics with illness precluding his competing at Rome 1960. Ivanov went on to win the single sculls event at Rome and Tokyo 1964. Mackenzie did win the then unofficial world sculling championship, the Diamond Sculls at the Royal Regatta at Henley, six times in succession from 1957. His medal at Melbourne was the last time an Australian won a medal in the single sculls at the Olympics.
