AS THE youngest member of the 1956 Australian rowing team, John Jenkinson was lacking in mates his own age, so he spent his little free time with a local girl.
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Back in Ballarat for the World Rowing Masters Regatta, he is intrigued in what she did with her life.
“For 60 years, I’ve wondered what happened to her,” said Mr Jenkinson, who is married and lives in Melbourne.
“I would have met her half a dozen, 10 times; we’d just meet up on the banks (of Lake Wendouree) after we rowed.”
Mr Jenkinson would also make what have turned into lifelong friendships with some of the other coxswains, who were also younger.
He was in Ballarat to take part in the ceremonial row past on Saturday as a rower, giving the coxing duties to his German friend and fellow ’56 Olympian Rainer Borkowsky.
Mr Jenkinson was part of the coxed fours team that missed out on a bronze medal by “a millisecond”.
He was a year 10 student at Richmond Technical School at the time, and got to the Olympics after his club Yarra Yarra’s coxed four crew shocked the state team and more established clubs by winning the selection trials.
They hid their strong form by making mistakes and rowing poorly in front of the other clubs on the Yarra, Mr Jenkinson said with a chuckle.
“One of the senior state oarsmen at the time said ‘where the bloody hell did they come from?’,” he said.
The girl is pictured with her mother (at right). Please contact The Courier at cos@thecourier.com.au if you know who she is.