Marty McDowell

Marty McDowell made his Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, after qualifying through the Oceania championships.

The Wellingtonian, who races for the Mana club, has dominated the K1 1000m at national level in recent years and joined forces with coach Gordon Walker in 2015 to try and raise his level internationally. The results were immediate, recording his best World Cup performance in Portugal, picking up bronze in the K1 500m. McDowell is also a New Zealand surf lifesaving representative and multiple winner of the open men's ski race title.  

Marty comes from a proud family of athletes; brothers Danny and Wil are surf lifesaving representative, as are cousins Danny and Kevin Morrison and Dean and Steve Kent.  The Kent brothers are also New Zealand Olympians in swimming.