BRAKE Michael

New Zealand

Rowing

Date of Birth: 22 Oct 1994

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Place of birth: AUCKLAND

Birth Country:

New Zealand

Place of residence : CAMBRIDGE

Residence Country:

New Zealand

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Rowing	Men's Eight NZL New Zealand	1

Schedule

Change

Location	Event	Status
Sea Forest Waterway	Men's Eight Heat 2 #60	Finished
Sea Forest Waterway	Men's Eight Repechage 1 #104	Finished
Sea Forest Waterway	Men's Eight Final A #130	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Olympic Games

Year	Location	8+
2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	6

World Championships

Year	Location	2-	8+
2019	Linz, AUT	2	-
2018	Plovdiv, BUL	5	-
2017	Sarasota, FL, USA	-	6
2015	Aiguebelette-le-Lac, FRA	-	4

World Cup

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
1	Pair	2018	Lucerne, SUI	6:32.93
2	Pair	2019	Poznan, POL	6:39.49
3	Pair	2019	Rotterdam, NED	6:59.69

Legend
DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, EXC - Excluded

Nickname:

Hand Brake ["My mates thought it would be funny to hurt my feelings."]. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Hobbies:

Golf, investing in property, woodworking. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Occupation:

Athlete

Education:

Civil Engineering - University of Auckland, New Zealand

Languages spoken:

English

Club name:

North Shore Rowing Club [Auckland, NZL]

Coach:

Tony O'Connor

Injuries:

In early 2018, he broke his wrist after slipping and falling while cleaning his parents' apartment. He recovered in time to compete at the 2018 World Cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland, in July that year. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021; rowingnz.kiwi, 20 Jun 2019; sportzhub.com, 04 Apr 2019)

Start:

He took up rowing at age 12 in his first year at Westlake Boys High School in Auckland, New Zealand. His brother James also rowed at the school. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021; rowingnz.kiwi, 01 Sep 2018; nzherald.co.nz, 06 Sep 2012)

Reason:

He followed his father into the sport. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Ambition:

To win gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Hero:

New Zealand rower Shaun Kirkham, his parents. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Influence:

New Zealand rower Eric Murray. (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Philosophy:

"Nine times out of 10 a race is won before it starts. Training and preparation is everything." (Athlete, 19 Jul 2021)

Award:

He received Auckland University's 2015 Maori Sportsperson of the Year award. (northharbourclub.co.nz, 01 Oct 2015; auckland.ac.nz, 01 Oct 2015)

He was named Auckland Rowing Association's 2014 Junior Male Rower of the Year. (northharbourclub.co.nz, 01 Oct 2015; auckland.ac.nz, 01 Oct 2015)

General Interest

General
INJURED TOGETHER
In early 2018 he and crewmate Tom Murray both suffered broken bones within days of each other. Brake broke his wrist while cleaning his parents' apartment, while Murray broke multiple toes while being towed behind a boat on an inflatable water toy. "My story's a rather boring one. I wasn't doing anything like being towed behind a boat at 50km per hour [like Murray's accident]. I was simply cleaning up at my parents' rental property, and I slipped on a wet surface. The chances of broken bones in the team are quite slim. But the fact it was within five days - the chances are just so incredibly slim that we should be laughing." After they won a silver medal together in the men's pair at the 2019 World Championships in Linz-Ottensheim, Austria, he said the duo recovering from their injuries at the same had boosted their self-belief. "It's given us a lot of confidence in our process." (msn.com, 04 Sep 2019; tvnz.co.nz, 13 Jun 2018; RowingChat YouTube channel, 14 Apr 2018)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos