Mason Durant is an honorary member of John O’ Gaunt Rowing Club. He mainly rowed for LRGSBC from 2001; he finished 6th at National Championships in the J16 4+ and bronze in J18 2-. He won gold at National Schools’ Championships in the 2- with his brother Scott Durant, and went on to receive representative honours at the Munich Junior Regatta for GB and won gold at the Home Internationals. The pinnacle of his racing career was when racing and winning the Elite Quads and Elite Pairs at Peterborough Regatta in 2009 for JOG!
Mason:
“I left LRGS and the River Lune in 2006 and headed North for Newcastle University and the mighty River Tyne, where I was to throw myself headlong into rowing and study Geography when I wasn’t eating or sleeping.
During my time at Newcastle, I rowed at the European University Championships in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the under-23 World Championships in 2008, and the World University Championships in 2008 and 2010, as well as winning the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2008 – a first for Newcastle University. During this time I won no less than 21 silver BUCS medals (as well as 7 gold medals) at what seems like countless trips to Strathclyde and the National water sports centre in Nottingham. My active part in the Boat Club committee culminated in role of President during the 2009/10 season.
Having completed my undergraduate degree and half of my masters degree, the progress of which was somewhat slowed by my increasing commitment to training, I moved South to Oxford to row for Oxford Brookes University and complete my Masters dissertation remotely during the 2010/11 season. The season culminated with a win at the National Championships in the M2- and an appearance at the European Championships in the M4- along with Scott, finishing 7th – not forgetting finishing my Master’s degree. Mixed fortunes during the 2012 season saw under-recovery/over-training syndrome affect the majority of the winter and spring. Nevertheless the summer season concluded with a win in the Visitors’ Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and a 5th place in the M8+ at the European Championships.
A good winter’s training in the 2012/13 season meant a good 5k ergo performance, 7th place at the Sculler’s Head and an invitation to train with the senior national team to compete for a place at the World Championships, with the ultimate goal of being selected for the Rio Olympic Games. I unfortunately missed out on a place at the 2013 World Championships, but spent the summer of 2013 in the GB 2nd eight, racing at the World Cups at Dorney and Lucerne, and winning the Ladies Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta in record time.
Training during the 2014 season was again hampered by a couple of bouts of illness, which meant while I was close to my best, I wasn’t improving at the rate I should have been. Nevertheless, I performed reasonably well at both the winter and summer trials, finishing 5th and 7th respectively in the men’s pair. Not quite enough to improve my position near the bottom of the squad, I missed out on a place at the World Championships.
The summer of 2014 saw me alter my training while the rest of the squad were at the World Championships. I improved my strength scores and was in good shape coming into the start of the 2015 season, with a better approach to training and in a good position to improve my standing in the squad. Unfortunately, a broken spine (an injury I had been carrying unknowingly for some time) meant I missed out on the first trials and lost my funding. I was left with the difficult decision of whether or not to attempt to continue rowing, not knowing whether my back would take the stress, or to reluctantly hang up my rowing blade for now, and head for pastures new.
Thanking myself for eventually finishing my hydrogeology Master’s dissertation I decided to throw myself into a watery career of a slightly different nature. I am currently working as a hydrologist at a consultancy, a great job with exciting prospects for the future, as well as recently co-founding a charitable organisation in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector. That said competitive sport is never far from my mind, I am currently accumulating bicycles at an alarming rate and have dipped a toe into marathon kayaking – now wouldn’t it be nice to spend my weekends paddling up and down rivers come rain or shine…”
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