Jordan Parry
Jordan Parry started rowing at Tauranga Boys’ College and Tauranga Rowing Club in 2010. He won his first National title in 2012, winning Gold in the Men’s U19 Double Scull at the 2012 NZ Rowing Championships. The same season, Jordan won the U17 Double Scull and the U18 Lightweight Double Scull at the Aon Maadi Regatta. From these performances, Jordan made the U18 North Island team and raced in the North vs South Island Regatta.
Following on from this success, Jordan finished his last season of school rowing, winning the Boys U18 Quad and Double at the 2013 Aon Maadi Regatta.
After school, he rowed for his club for the 2013/14 domestic season where he won the Mens Club Single at the 2014 National Rowing Championship at Lake Karapiro. Jordan attended the University of Otago, where he went to compete at the Universities Rowing Champs, winning the Men’s Lightweight Pair with one of his good mates - Bryce Abernethy. Jordan went on making his first New Zealand appearance as part of the U21 trans-Tasman team in that year 2014.
Fondly called 'Paz' by his crewmates and peers, Jordan joined Waikato Rowing Performance Centre for the 2014/15 summer, winning the Men’s U20 Single at the 2015 National Rowing Championship at Lake Ruataniwha. This propelled him to an U23 trial, where he was selected for the U23 Men’s Quadruple Scull. Jordan helped his crew to a Silver medal at the World Rowing U23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, narrowly missing out on the Gold.
Jordan has had many standout summer seasons domestically here in New Zealand, as he moved into the U22 category at the 2016 NZ Rowing National Champs, winning Gold in the Men’s U22 Single and Double with partner who was and still is a Lightweight rower - Matt Dunham for Waikato RPC. In 2016, he returned to the same boat class (Men’s Quad) at the U23 World Champs in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This time finishing just 0.5s behind the winners claiming Silver again.
Jordan went on to retain both of his National titles in the Men’s U22 Single and double at the 2017 National Rowing Champs, then returned to the U23 Men’s Quad for the 2017 season. He put his experience and drive to good use, helping his crew to victory and winning Gold at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, just one second off the U23 Worlds Best Time. Paz got named in the 2017/18 NZ Elite Summer Squad, where he went on to have a successful summer, claiming a joint Bronze in the Men’s Premier Single at the National Champs, alongside international Olympic Gold Medallist Lightweight Rower - Paul O-Donovan.
After impressing the New Zealand selectors over a number of years and being so successful in his debut Elite summer season, Jordan was chosen in 2018 to row with the Elite Men’s Quad for the World Rowing Cups and as reserve for the World Rowing Championships in Bulgaria.
Jordan returned to the Men’s Quad in 2019, and after injury struck a crewmate he found himself stroking the Men’s Quad to a Bronze medal at World Rowing Cup II. The men could not replicate the result at the World Rowing Championships in a tough field, however, finishing in 9th place.
After a successful 2020/21 summer season in the NZ Elite Summer Squad, Jordan earned his place for Olympic selection in the Men's Single during the Elite Men's trials. The Men's single trial went for not one but 3 more trial events where he would race against Mahe Drysdale for the seat, all with 3 races each. Reaching the Olympics Jordan placed 13th in what he recalls as, "The highest of high external expectations and the greatest of great failures from my eyes."
In the 2022 season, Jordan managed to race each Heavyweight sculling event in the International campaign. At World Rowing Cup II, Jordan stroked the Men’s Quad claiming 5th in the B-Final. He then raced the Men’s Double at World Rowing Cup III with partner, Jack O’Leary claiming 2nd in the C-Final.
Jordan had an outstanding performance at the 2022 World Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. Paz raced in the competitive Men’s Single field, being just shy of the podium claiming 4th in the A-Final.
Jordan is currently making a comeback from an injury, where he has a goal of competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He joined forces with Jack Ready in one of the NZ Elite Men's Doubles at the 2023 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland - claiming 10th overall.
Off the water Jordan has been studying a Bachelor of Arts Majoring in Education and Psychology.