Murray was born in
Hastings.[1] His parents are Annette and Peter, and his older sister is Fiona. When Murray was an infant, the family moved to
Manurewa. Soon after, they then bought land in
Bombay, where Murray grew up and attended primary school.[2] At school, Murray enjoyed swimming competitions and later moved to triathlons. When he grew too tall and running became uncomfortable, he gave up on that while at
Pukekohe High School.[3]
In 2006, he married Jackie Robertson, the eldest daughter of
Gary Robertson. His father-in-law had been a member of the
1972 New Zealand eight that won gold at the
1972 Summer Olympics in
Munich, Germany.[4] Murray and Robertson divorced in 2019, sharing custody of their son.[5]
Career
At Pukekohe High School, Murray played
rugby union and was looking for a summer sport to keep fit for the next season of winter rugby, so he and a friend went to the
Mercer Rowing Club for an advertised open day. They had one race that year in a coxed four made up of novices, and they came last by a wide margin.[6] His school was not one of the traditional rowing schools, but
Paula Twining was in his year and enjoyed successes at New Zealand championships, which gave inspiration to other novice rowers.[7] Murray first went to the
Maadi Cup, New Zealand's premier school rowing regatta, in 1997, but did not achieve anything at
Lake Karapiro. In 1998, when the regatta was held at
Lake Ruataniwha, he came third in the U16 double, and second in the U16 quad.[8][9] He was in his last year at high school in 1999, and at that year's Maadi Cup, he won the U-17 quad national title.[10][11] After their 1999 success, their trainer—Charles Haggie—introduced them to people in the rowing scene so that they would end up with one of the dominant rowing clubs at the time after they left school: Avon Rowing Club, Auckland Rowing Club, or Waikato Rowing Club.[12]
Murray has also represented New Zealand at two
Olympic Games as part of the coxless four, coming 5th in the A Final at the
2004 Olympics and winning the B Final for a 7th place overall in
2008.[1]
In late December 2011 Murray set a new world record on an
indoor rowing machine. On a Concept 2 Dynamic Rowing Machine Murray went 18,728 m in one hour.[15] The story was featured on
Television New Zealand.[16]
On 17 January 2012 Murray raced five-time men's single scull world champion
Mahé Drysdale in the single scull event at the North Island Club Championships and won by less than half a second. Drysdale and Murray were the only two scullers in the event due to inconsistent crosswinds.[17]
At the
2012 London Olympic Games Murray and teammate Hamish Bond took six seconds off the
world record to 6:08.5 in their heat for the men's coxless pair. In the Olympic final Murray and Bond surged into the lead after the 500 metre mark to win the gold medal in 6:16.65 by open water. France edged Great Britain for the silver in 6:21.11 v. Great Britain's time of 6:21.77. The victory capped an undefeated streak that began when Murray and Bond began racing the pair internationally in 2009. After the
2016 Rio Olympic Games, in which Murray and Bond successfully defended their coxless pairs title, Murray underwent minor knee surgery and announced that he would not be available for international competitions in 2017, whilst Bond announced in November 2016 that he would take a break from rowing.[18]