23 Sep 2023
The "Octos" get their medals at the 2023 World Rowing Masters Regatta
We call them the “Octos”. Each year, the World Rowing Masters Commission acknowledges the participation of rowers aged 80 or more years with a small ceremony and a special medal. Yesterday night in Tshwane, the Organising Committee and the Masters Commission, led by Gary Bain – replacing the Chair of the Commission, Ron Chen – gave their medals to these amazing rowers, proving that age is just a number.
The oldest competitor, Odilon Maia Martins of Brazil, aged 94 years old, took the microphone to express his gratitude and happiness to be in South Africa. Then it was the “local hero”, John Price from Roodeplaat Rowing Club, that received a huge ovation from the crowd when he said that “rowing is a way of life”.
Find all photos of the ceremony here.
| 1 | Odilon Maia Martins | BRA | 1929-3-9 | M | Clube de Regatas Aldo Luz |
| 2 | John Price | RSA | 1930-9-19 | M | Roodeplaat Rowing Club |
| 3 | Giorgio Pellicelli | ITA | 1936-2-29 | M | Società Canottieri Armida |
| 4 | Shunnosu Hashimoto | JPN | 1937-5-31 | M | WK Masters |
| 5 | Hans Wurster | USA | 1938-3-14 | M | Frisco Rowing Center at Lake Dillon |
| 6 | Kathleen Robinson | AUS | 1939-8-30 | F | Tablelands Country Rowing Club Inc |
| 7 | Tiger Edward Demers | USA | 1939-10-2 | M | Kenai Crewsers Rowing Club |
| 8 | Erling Sjøboden | NOR | 1940-3-16 | M | Porsgrunn Roklubb |
| 9 | Duncan Spencer | USA | 1940-5-15 | M | Palm Beach Rowing Association, Inc. |
| 10 | Judith Demers | USA | 1942-2-28 | M | Kenai Crewsers Rowing Club |
| 11 | Nobuo Ichikawa | JPN | 1942-9-9 | M | WK Masters |
| 12 | Manoucher Arastoupour | SWE | 1942-10-2 | M | Stockholms Roddförening |
| 13 | Ewen Cameron | RSA | 1942-12-29 | M | Henley Midmar Rowing Club |
| 14 | Teruyuki Hanabusa | JPN | 1943-1-4 | M | WK Masters |
| 15 | James Nelson Ramsey | SWE | 1943-1-14 | M | Stockholms Roddförening |
| 16 | Peter Thompson | RSA | 1943-4-17 | M | Cape Coastal Rowing Club |
| 17 | Derrick Read | RSA | 1943-5-5 | M | Cape Coastal Rowing Club |
| 18 | Lia Brouwer-Vogel | NED | 1943-10-5 | F | Roeivereniging Rijnland |
| 19 | Bjorn Nielsen | DEN | 1943-11-19 | M | Odense Roklub |
| 20 | Nicolas Knezevic | ARG | 1943-12-10 | M | Club De Regatas La Marina |