Often asked when he will retire from rowing, Warner points out that he is the baby in his winning crew with the crew's stroke seat, John Simson being 68, 2 seat, Barry Denny, 75 and bow seat, Mike Burgess, 78 years old and still fighting fit.

"Rowing is such a fantastic way to keep fit and healthy," Hieatt explains.

"It is such a fantastic team sport, relying so heavily on the entire crew moving in perfect unison.

"That camaraderie is a big part of what keeps you going through the pain when you're nearing the end of a race," Hieatt explains.

Hieatt and his crewmates train on the water at least three times a week on Lake Burly Griffin in Canberra whilst Warner also trains alone on his rowing machine at home working on strength and cardiac fitness.

They compete regularly as a coxless quad, in double skulls, coxless pairs and single skulls.

In May this year, the quad took out the gold medal in the 1000m Masters' at the NSW Championships at the Olympic Course in Sydney.

Hieatt and Simson also took gold in the Masters' Double Skull for the same distance and Warner raced in the 1000m Single Skull.

In March this year, Hieatt and Simson won silver in the Australian Championships for their double skull close behind the current World Champion crew from Western Australia.

Hieatt keeps rowing through the winter months, completing a 4000m single skull time trial in Canberra in a strong head-wind on Sunday showing pleasing improvement.

"Right now, the big goal is working towards the World Masters Games in Sydney in September next year where we would love to overcome the WA crew," Hieatt said.

And as for how long Hieatt plans to keep rowing…

"With such a great bunch of guys to row with, I plan to keep rowing for as long as the body allows," Hieatt said.