Dick Tonks

Who is Dick Tonks?

Richard William Tonks, MNZM, is a former New Zealand rower who won an Olympic silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Along with Ross Collinge, Dudley Storey and Noel Mills he won the silver medal in the coxless four. After retiring as a competitive rower Tonks turned to coaching and has been influential in the careers of rowers such as Olympic medallists Philippa Baker, Brenda Lawson, Rob Waddell and Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell. 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. He now lives in Karapiro next to the site of the 1978 and 2010 World Rowing Championships.

In the 2003 New Year Honours, Tonks was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rowing.