Grant joined St Georges in the mid-1960s. He was working as a butcher’s apprentice in Panmure and doing a lot of running with the Otahuhu harriers club. He rowed in a range of boats and progressed to become the stroke of the St George’s Junior and Senior Eight. The Junior Eight won the New Zealand championship.
He went on to win seven Red Coats as a member of Whakatane Rowing Club in a range of different boats including winning the Coxed Pair with Bob Murphy at the NZ Championships in 1974/75. He rowed in the New Zealand Eight in the 1975 World Rowing Championships in Nottingham, Great Britain, and won a bronze medal. He represented New Zealand at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada in the coxless four where he came fourth. He competed in the 1978 World Rowing Championships in the double sculls. He is Athlete Number 358 to represent New Zealand in rowing.
At the 1979 World Rowing Championships held at Bled in Slovenia, Yugoslavia, he won a silver medal with the Coxed Eight. In the same year he was voted the Bay of Plenty Sportsman of the Year award.