Background
He first competed at the Wanganui Secondary Schools Regatta in 1965 and subsequently—coached by his father—rowed in the school"s first eight for three years.
rower sports coach rowing coach
He first competed at the Wanganui Secondary Schools Regatta in 1965 and subsequently—coached by his father—rowed in the school"s first eight for three years.
Through his coaching career he has coached crews to a total of 25 World Championship medals—including thirteen gold—and a total of six Olympic medals—five of which were gold. In 1970, back at the sport, he rowed for Otago in Dunedin and was able to earn a place on the national team in 1971. By 1972 he was stroking the New Zealand coxless four, alongside Ross Collinge, Dudley Storey and Noel Mills.
Though he coached while rowing, Tonks returned to coaching in 1989 when he was asked to coach a women"s four at the Union club, in Wanganui.
Until 2000 and his move north to Karapiro, Tonks had treated coaching as a "hobby," and was often working full-time, including work for the railways—"pushing paper, 8 to 5"—and nights spinning wool at the Cavalier Bremworth carpet factory. Tonks has been influential in the careers of rowers such as Olympic medallists Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, Mahé Drysdale, Nicky Coles, Juliette Haigh, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.
He has been the New Zealand rowing coach at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Dick Tonks currently lives and coaches in Karapiro, the site of the 1978 and 2010 World Rowing Championships.