Michael Brake

Michael Brake (born 22 October 1994) is a New Zealand rower.

He took up rowing in 2008 at his school aged 13.

He is studying civil engineering at the University of Auckland.

After taking up rowing in 2008, it was not until 2012 that Brake first competed at the New Zealand Rowing Championships as a member of the North Shore Rowing Club.

He competed in two boat classes in finals and won both races: one with the club eight and the other with the U19 coxed four.

Brake has been rowing internationally since 2012 and in that year, won a world championship at the World Rowing Junior Championships.

Brake was selected for the New Zealand junior rowing team based on those results and he first rowed internationally at the 2012 World Rowing Junior Championships, which were held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in conjunction with the 2012 World Rowing Championships.

The coxed four, which included Tom Murray and coxswain Sam Bosworth, won gold at that regatta.

At the February 2013 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three senior boat classes, and came second with the eight and won gold with both the coxless pair and the coxless four.

This being his final year at his secondary school, he did not participate in international rowing.

At the 2014 World Rowing U23 Championships, he won silver.

At the February 2014 New Zealand rowing championships, he competed in five boat classes, including his first appearance in the premier class.

In the coxless pair, he competed (with different partners) in both the U20 and U22 categories and won gold and bronze, respectively.

In the U20 coxless four, he won silver.

In the U22 eight, he won gold.

In the premier eight, he came fourth.

Based on this performance, he was picked for the country's U23 team and competed at the 2014 World Rowing U23 Championships in Varese, Italy, where he won silver with the U23 coxed four.

At the February 2015 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three boat classes and won his first national title in the premier men category.

With the U22 coxless four, he won gold.

With the premier eight, he came fourth.

He picked up his first premier title with the coxed four, with different team members to those he won silver with at the world championships the previous year.

He was called into the elite team for the year and went to the 2015 World Rowing Cups II and III with the eight, in Varese (Italy) and at the Swiss Rotsee, respectively.

They came fourth in Italy and won bronze in Switzerland.

At the 2015 World Rowing Championships, the men's eight was beaten for a bronze medal by the Netherlands by 0.13 seconds.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he competed with the New Zealand eight and competed in the same boat class at 2020 Tokyo.

This result qualified this boat class for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At the February 2016 New Zealand rowing championships, Brake competed in three boat classes.

With the U22 coxless pair, he won gold.

In the premier eight, he won silver.

With the premier coxed four, he defended his national title.

Internationally, he remained a member of the New Zealand eight.

In preparation for the Olympics, they travelled to the 2016 World Rowing Cup II on the Swiss Rotsee, they came fifth.

At the World Rowing Cup III in Poznań, Poland, they won bronze.

The team came sixth at the Olympic competition in Rio de Janeiro.

In the interim Olympiad, he competed internationally in the coxless pair and won silver at the 2019 World Rowing Championships partnered with Tom Murray.

Domestically, he has won seven national premier rowing titles.

Brake, who is from Auckland's North Shore, is studying towards a civil engineering degree from Auckland University.

Brake was born in Auckland, New Zealand.

He received his education at Westlake Boys High School on the city's North Shore in the suburb of Forrest Hill.

He is a dual Olympian and won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.