CLOCKWISE , FROM TOP LEFT : DENIS GENREAU (’ 17 ) AS A SCHOOLBOY ; STUART SIM (’ 08 ) AND JAMES ROOK (’ 15 ) IN TOKYO ; JOSH BOOTH (’ 08 ), RIGHT , AND ALEXANDER HILL AFTER WINNING THE MEN ’ S PAIR AT WORLD CUP II 2019 ; JAMES ROOK (’ 15 ) AND THE GOLD MEDAL-WINNING AUSTRALIAN WOMEN ’ S EIGHT AT WORLD CUP II IN 2019
THE WORLD IN TOKYO
Widdicombe , who rowed in the 1st VIII at Geelong College , and is the son of Old Scotch Collegian , David John Widdicombe (’ 82 ). JAMES ROOK (’ 15 ) was cox of the winning 3rd VIII at the Head of the River in 2015 . At school , James switched from diving to rowing after a friend suggested he might enjoy coxing . This change of sport ignited his passion for rowing .
After finishing school , James coxed the Australian men ’ s coxed pair to a silver medal at the Rowing World Championships in 2017 . Having faced many challenges throughout his journey , James made history as the first male to cox the Australian women ’ s eight ; he coxed the women ’ s eight to a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships .
DENIS GENREAU (’ 17 ) was born in France , and started at Scotch in Year 9 in 2014 . He was a member of the 1st XI Soccer team in Years 10 , 11 and 12 . In Year
11 in 2016 , Denis was a member of the Scotch team which won the APS Soccer Premiership , breaking a drought of 22 years . While at Scotch , Denis made numerous appearances for the Melbourne City Youth Team and made his A-League debut at age 17 . Denis played with the Dutch side PEC Zwolle in the 2018 / 19 season .
Back in Australia he signed with the A-League team Macarthur FC for the 2020 / 21 season , and won the club ’ s Macarthur Medal after demonstrating Macarthur FC ’ s values on and off the field to the highest regard throughout the club ’ s inaugural season . Earlier this year , Denis debuted for the Socceroos in a World Cup qualifying match against Chinese Taipei .
CRAIG HILLIARD (’ 74 ) was an excellent 110m and 400m hurdler . At Scotch , he was a member of the premiership-winning 1971 , 1972 , 1973 and 1974 Athletics teams , and
he was Vice Captain of Athletics in 1974 . Craig was also a member of the 1973 1st XVIII and the premiership-winning 1974 1st XVIII . Although he retired from competitive athletics in 1982 , Craig still holds seven Old Scotch Athletics Club records , including under 17 , under 18 , under 19 , under 20 and open 110m hurdles , all set in the mid-1970s . He competed for Old Scotch from at least 1970 while he was in Year 8 at Scotch .
Craig went to Tokyo as Athletics Australia ’ s Targeted Athlete Campaign Lead . His role , both before and during the games , was to help coach and mentor specific athletes with the potential for podium performances . Among many elite coaching roles over more than 30 years , Craig is a former Head Coach of Athletics Australia .
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