Eric Verdonk

The Eric Verdonk Memorial Regatta is a celebration of the life and career of Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club’s former coach.

Eric, who died at the age of 60 in 2020, was head coach at TGS Rowing between 2017-2020 and made a huge impact as he resurrected a programme which had fallen away.

Eric was made a life member of the club in 2020 and is a former Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games medallist in the single sculls event.

He won bronze at the Olympics in Seoul in 1988 and bronze at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games in 1986. He also won a bronze medal in the 1990 world championships in Tasmania.

Eric won seven consecutive New Zealand single sculls national championships between 1987 and 1993. He also won six New Zealand double sculls national championships, with four different partners.

Eric won the Maadi Cup as a student at Westlake Boys’ but didn’t take up rowing seriously in the single sculls event until the age of 27. He was known as a perfectionist and an extremely hard worker.

Andy Hay, a former New Zealand representative coxswain, described Eric as “a very kind man with a huge heart, someone who would always make time to pass on his knowledge and experience, and a mentor to so many”.

Paula Halliday was TGSRC Club President from 2017 – 2023 and looks back fondly on her time with Eric:

Eric joined Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club as Head Coach in 2017, at a time when both of us were stepping into new roles, he into coaching at school level, and me as a first-time Club President. We learned together, challenged each other, and built something special side by side. It was, in every sense, a partnership.

Working with Eric was equal parts inspiring and entertaining. He was meticulous, uncompromising, and utterly driven to excellence. He had an instinct for performance and a relentless focus on improvement, whether it was the alignment of a rigger, the feel of a blade through the water, or the mindset of a young athlete preparing to race. He demanded the best because he knew what the best looked like, and he believed our club could get there.

Under his leadership, Eric brought back something that had been missing — our PRIDE. He reignited belief in what Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club could achieve, and in the process, reshaped our standards, our ambition, and our results.

During his tenure, we became Auckland Champions, the best co-educational club in the North Island, winning four national titles and setting a New Zealand record. But Eric’s true legacy was the culture he created, one that celebrated hard work, accountability, and determination. He knew every athlete by name, remembered their strengths and weaknesses, and took personal satisfaction in seeing them improve. His legendary “ten-minute” speech at our first prizegiving, which lasted well over an hour, captured everything about him. He spoke about every athlete and volunteer individually, acknowledging their growth, effort, and contribution. He made every person feel part of something important.

Eric was a force, passionate, exacting, and fiercely committed to the pursuit of better. He taught us not just how to make the boat go faster, but how to think like competitors, to push ourselves, and to take pride in excellence.

Beyond rowing, Eric was a devoted husband, father, and now a grandfather. The same drive and commitment that defined him on the water were mirrored in the way he approached life, with intensity, purpose, and heart.

At Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club, his name now graces one of our boats, a fitting tribute to a man who became part of our story forever.

I have enormous respect for Eric, for his standards, his brilliance, and his absolute belief in what was possible. It was an honour to have worked alongside him, to have learned from him, and to have shared in the journey of building something lasting together. His legacy will forever glide alongside us on the water, in every crew that rows with the pride he brought back to our club.