[1] From school until the national elite representative level and onto a long world-class masters career, Mackney rowed competitively for over fifty years.
[4] Mackney first made state representation for New South Wales in the 1969 men's eight which contested the King's Cup at the annual interstate regatta.
[15] Mackney made his Australian representative debut in the 1967 Trans Tasman series in an all-Sydney Rowing Club coxed four.
The club's financial failure saw it lose its boatshed and clubhouse at the foot of Ferry Road, Glebe at Blackwattle Bay.
[4] Other clubs and school rowing sheds donated surplus boats, oars, spare parts and paraphernalia.
A new shed was built on council land next to the old boatshed but water access initially involved boating from the muddy shore.
Mackney's tenure as President lasted from 1994 to 2016 covering all of the years in wilderness and the re-establishment of the Glebe Rowing Club to viability.
At the 2007 World Masters Championships in Zagreb, Mackney and Terry Davis won gold in the men's E category coxless pair.