1980s.

"The way the course is with the second 500, with that protection from the breeze, it taught us to row a really fast second 500, which was what we've done throughout our career," he said, talking about his first King's Cup race with the Victorian team in 1985 as a 19-year-old.

Mr Tomkins was in Ballarat for the World Masters Regatta, competing in the men's eight (45 years plus group) for a lark.

"Our crew is all ex-Australian representatives, so everyone's pretty fit," he said. "It started out with us just having a row the first Thursday of every month.

"We thought, it's quite nice, it's summer, we'll just have a paddle, and a few beers and a barbie afterwards," he

said.

The six-time Olympian, who won three gold medals and one bronze, retired following the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is now on the Australian and International Olympic Committees.

He said there was some shock in retiring from a tightly controlled program, but he had kept his fitness up by running and cycling.

"Your whole life revolves around (the next race), essentially, so you have this structure of training, and recovery, and eating, and all that preparation.

"To have that all of a sudden stop ... I've had to try to find other ways to get that buzz," he said.

Rowing has not returned to the mania around Mr Tomkins and the "Oarsome Foursome", which went on for almost 20 years even as the crew disbanded and Mr Tomkins took on other events.

Mr Tomkins said rowing was well placed at the moment, with enough resources and talent to get back its mainstream audience, but needed more action from the governing

body.

"The sport's big enough, it's funded well enough.

"It's time rowing quite distinctly says where they want to be the number one rowing national in the world," he said.

alex.hamer@fairfaxmedia.com.au