Peter Dignan was born in Gibraltar to a former Berlin airlift pilot who after World War II had entered the diplomatic corps, and as a result, Dignan spent a lot of time outside of his parents’ native New Zealand. Dignan had a brief international rowing career. In 1975, he was a member of the New Zealand eights that won bronze at the World Championships. The next year he was part of the New Zealand eights crew that won bronze at the Olympic Games. Dignan also participated in surf boat tests internationally, racing for New Zealand, including a “rebel” tour to South Africa and he retired undefeated in that discipline. He also played rugby.
After finishing his sporting career, Dignan worked for a freight forwarding company at Auckland airport, but then moved to Sydney, Australia in the mid-1990s and took up a position as a history teacher at Sydney Grammar School. He also became the coach of the school’s eights crew. Dignan acted as the commanding officer of the 306 Squadron Australian Air Force Cadets from 1999 to 2005, but died rather young due pancreatic cancer in June 2013 aged 58.
New Zealand