Zac’s competitive rowing career started when he began at the King’s School in Worcester. Initially too young to row, he offered his services as a coxswain until he was able to sit in a crew boat. It was soon apparent that Zac had a talent for the sport and those first few ‘lucky’ wins became the beginning of a successful six year winning streak.
From these early days, Zac collected numerous medals at National and International regattas as a Junior member of GB Rowing. In 2005 he was selected to join the Under 23 squad and proceeded to win the U23 World Championships in Amsterdam. Just 3 weeks later, Zac was invited to attend the Senior World Championships in Gifu, Japan. Although not a fully fledged member of the Senior squad and at only 20 years of age, Zac achieved a spectacular silver medal, only a short distance behind Greek sculler, Vasileios Polymeros, an Olympian and World Champion with a long standing International rowing career.
2006 brought more success for Zac, as he joined GB Rowing’s Senior Squad and won the World Championships in front of a home crowd at Eton in spectacular style, setting a new World Record in his wake and asserting himself as a truly outstanding young athlete. After winning each of the three World Cup Regattas throughout 2008, Zac and his rowing partner Mark, were seeded first for racing at the Beijing Olympics. Refusing to disappoint, they gained the coveted Olympic title in what is generally regarded as the Blue Riband event for Lightweight sculling and set a new Olympic record as an aside.