A Long Tall Mix of Ginn and Tomkins

World Champions 2003: Ginn & Tomkins
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It’s business as usual in Melbourne, Australia, for FISA’s 2003 male crew of the year, Drew Ginn and James Tomkins. Ginn works at the Blue Earth Institute and Tomkins is a banker at Westpac Bank. 

Juggling work with rowing is the reality of Australia’s top rowing duo that began as a coach-athlete relationship 13 years ago and grew to be one of the fastest pairs in the world. 

To follow is a taste of the talent of Ginn and Tomkins. 

Tomkins has managed to squeeze in two Olympic gold medals as a member of Australia’s Oarsome Foursome and an Olympic bronze in the pair. He also has seven World Championship golds dating back to 1986 and covering every sweep event. 

Ginn was still riding BMX bikes as a sprightly 11-year-old representative for Australia when Tomkins won his first World Championship gold. Ginn at 29 years old has an international career that stretches back to 1995 and an Olympic gold as a member of the Oarsome Foursome at the 1996 Olympics. 

Ginn’s rowing destiny was sealed when his maths teacher spotted him as a potential rower. Amongst the coaches at Ginn’s high school, Scotch College, were Oarsome Foursome members James Tomkins and Andrew Cooper. ?I liked their approach to training. They were into surfing and enjoying themselves off the water. As a young athlete that appealed,? says Ginn. Seeing the foursome win at Barcelona set the spark alight and cemented it for Ginn and rowing. 

Ginn debuted internationally in 1995 with the Australian men’s eight. Later that same year he was elevated into the Oarsome Foursome to replace a retiring Andrew Cooper. The following year Ginn stood on the winner’s dais at the Atlanta Olympics. 

This was the beginning of an international medal collection that included World Championship bronze in the eight in 1997, silver and gold in 1998 and another gold in 1999.  

Ginn and Tomkins were on track for the 2000 Sydney Olympics in a pair. But their track was cut short when Ginn ruptured a disc in his back while doing squats. Ginn went through rehabilitation with all intentions of still rowing at the Olympics, but a second rupture put him out of the lead-up regatta for the Olympics ? the 2000 World Cup at Lucerne. Team reserve, Matt Long, was then brought into the pair. The Tomkins-Long duo placed an impressive third at Sydney while Ginn watched from the sidelines. 

?At that stage I thought rowing was over for me,? says Ginn who went ahead and completed back surgery. However Ginn began to throw some sculling into his rehabilitation programme. ?I started to think I could compete again,? says Ginn. Meanwhile Tomkins was taking careful note. ?James talked to me about unfinished business and it spurred me on,? says Ginn. ?We didn’t finish (rowing) on a note that we wanted to.? 

By 2002 the duo were back in business. 

Ginn and Tomkins international comeback came at the 2002 World Cup in Lucerne and it sent shock waves through the sports world when they beat reigning World Champions, Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell of Great Britain. 

At the World Championships in Milan in 2003, Ginn and Tomkins took gold and the Brits finished in fourth. Both Ginn and Tomkins retain much respect for their opposition. ?Pinsent and Cracknell raise the standard and that’s exciting,? says Ginn. ?You want to race the best guys, you don’t want to go into a soft event,? adds Tomkins. 

As a team Ginn and Tomkins have complete respect for each other and despite the nine-year age difference there is no hierarchy in the boat. As a combination Tomkins says they both have the same attitude. Their physiologies are similar with tall lean frames and mirror image rowing styles. The duo also match each other in their family lives both having a baby born in 2002. Their hobbies overlap as well. ?I’m right into surfing so we spent time together before we rowed together,? says Ginn. ?I’ve had a few beers with James over the years,? he adds.