In this issue
edItorIal 3
MIckelson: stable and confIdent 4
a fun dutch boat 6
a soVIet leGend 9
neW kIWIs on the Market 10
Greece’s tsIaVou 12
sloVenIan coaches 14
World chaMP hat trIck 16
JunIor Photo albuM 18
roWInG’s fIrst ParalyMPIans 19
enVIronMental boat house 20
Issue 3 – october 2007
Olympic Qualification Under Way
2007 WORLD ROWING JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS OPENING CEREMONY
Up to date, the African Qualification Regatta (held last July in Algiers, Algeria) and the World Rowing Championships (held end of August to early September in Munich, Germany) have seen 39 countries and 138 boats secure their presence at Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games. The last spots will be allocated at three remaining qualification regattas: the Latin American Qualification Regatta (Rio de Janeiro, November 2007), the Asian Qualification Regatta (Shanghai, April 2008), and less than two months before the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta (Poznan, June 2008).
History will be made when rowing’s first Paralympic champions will be crowned next year. Sixty-four adaptive athletes qualified through the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, where the level of adaptive performance had clearly improved
compared to previous years with new World Best Times set in three boat classes. A final Paralympic Qualification Regatta will be held during the 2008 Rowing World Cup regatta in Munich.
At the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, three nations qualified the most boats and athletes: Germany (12 boats, 42 athletes), the USA (11 boats, 43 athletes) and Great Britain (11 boats, 41 athletes).
In this magazine issue you will discover more about some of this year’s Olympic qualifiers, such as Anna Mickelson of the USA women’s eight who after Olympic silver at Athens in 2004 is still in pursuit of gold, or younger talents who will make their first Olympic appearance next year, including Emma Twigg of New Zealand in the single and Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece in the lightweight double. Three long-standing champions have still
not had enough and, for them, the highlight of the season was not so much Olympic qualification but rather winning a third consecutive World Championship title. Other top crews, such as the Dutch men’s four, have been showing a steady performance over the past Olympic cycle and seem to be storing up surprises for next year’s big race.
If the 2007 World Rowing Championships are any guide, the Olympic Regatta will be one of the most exciting ever, with the standard of rowing at the top reaching new heights. The women’s eight race, for example, was described by many veteran World Championship watchers as the best ever – with each crew in the event taking its turn at the back of the field and most also having a turn at the front in a “never say die” effort to earn one of the five qualification places. Keep watching…
OLYMPIC PROMISEOlympic qualification is now well under way and by next spring a total of 550 athletes and 202 boats will have qualified to race at rowing’s pinnacle event. Beijing’s brand-new Shunyi Olympic Aquatic Park was inaugurated by tomorrow’s heroes at the 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships, which served as a test event for next year’s Olympic Games.
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John BoultbeeChair of FISA’s Competitive Commission
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This opening to Anna Mickelson’s website symbolises the life of an elite athlete. It is a picture of a nomadic, free lifestyle, a lifestyle of going to new places, of meeting new people.
Despite this existence, Mickelson, 27, is surprisingly stable in her life and her rowing career. Coming from the United States where often national crews change annually and new names pop up regularly on the international scene, Mickelson is part of a now well-established core group of sweep rowers who have been frequenting the medals dais at the international level for the past six years.
This stability crosses into other areas of Mickelson’s life. She first rowed internationally at the under 23 level just over a year after taking up the sport at university and earned gold in that first world outing. From then on Mickelson has consistently been winning medals. Two years later, in 2002, she made the US national team and won a World Championship title in the eight.
Since then she has been at the heart of one of the best women’s eights in the world sitting firmly in number five seat. She has only ever had one coxswain, Mary Whipple, who was part of the same university rowing team.
Together, they were part of the eight that set a World Best Time at the Athens Olympics and went on to win Olympic silver. They reset it in 2006 at the World Rowing Championships.
Apart from a short stint in the quad in 2005, Mickelson has remained a staunch sweep rower, although she admits sometimes single sculling is part of their training. «Sculling is a lot harder. I really respect it, but would need to improve it to like it more,» she says.
“Friends, i live out of a bag travelling our country and the world: Seattle, Princeton, San diego and europe. this is an incredible journey that plugs me into communities and intertwines my life with thousands of others. i rely upon my family, friends, and teammates along the way.”
The USA women’s eight in competition at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
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MICkELSOn: StabLE and COnfIdEnt A world champion’s nomadic lifestyle
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Anna Mickelson (USA)
Anna Mickelson (far right) wins silver in the women’s eight at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Now, as regular fixture on the US national team, Mickelson says it’s hard not to be a full-time rower. “I do work part-time for the National Rowing Foundation as a Shields Fellow helping them raise awareness and support for the national team,” says Mickelson, “I can work wherever I am by computer.”
Based at the national training centre in Princeton, New Jersey, the squad has remained, on the whole, consistent, and Mickelson says as well as rowing together the team know each other well and are friends off the water. But her best friend is outside of the squad. She has recently become engaged to 1997 rowing World Champion Bob Cummins and the wedding is planned for December, scheduled around Mickelson’s only break for the year.
Mickelson now has her sights set on going to the Beijing Olympics and representing her country in two events. She has gained the confidence of her coach, Tom Terhaar, to
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Major achievements2007 World Rowing Championships W8+ Gold2006 World Rowing Championships W8+ Gold2004 Olympic Games W8+ Silver
2002 World Rowing Championships W8+ Gold
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double up in the eight and the pair for major events and has already raced both at the past two World Rowing Championships. She reasons: «We want the US to medal in both the pair and the eight. The Romanians can do it, and Canadians, so why can’t we? I think it is doable.“ ■ M.S.B.
Geert Cirkel (29), Matthijs Vellenga (30), Jan-Willem Gabriels (28) and Gijs Vermeulen (26) have yet to miss a podium position since 2005. They form one of the top crews in their event leading up to Beijing. At the 2007 Rowing World Cup final in Lucerne, they were the first to topple the British who had built up a streak of 27 wins. At Munich, the Dutch welcomed another World Championship medal (bronze) into their medal collection.
The only race they truly want to win before retiring is next year’s Olympic final. How they plan to reach that goal is not a secret, they say, but discussing their strategy in public is not
customary either. "We’ll change a few things," is as much as they will reveal. One indication, though, is their independent spirit: "We have our own view of how we have to row; that’s what we’re keen to do. We don’t copy our competitors, otherwise we wouldn’t beat them."
The main rivals the Dutch will be wary of next year is New Zealand (who surprisingly won this year’s World Championship title), the Italians (whose performance clearly improved during the racing season) and Great Britain (whom the Netherlands originally thought they would have to beat
"only once"). And yet, in rowing, the Dutch point out, the sense of rivalry is nearly non-existent: "On the water, it is a six-minute fight, but everyone is at ease with everyone else on the ground. Performance is very professional and competition is very honest."
"Addictive", is how the quartet describe rowing. "It is a way of life. Once it gets you, you have to give yourself to it fully." Day in, day out, the rowers spend up to five hours together daily at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam. "At our age, we could be sitting in offices earning money," says Gijs, who holds a university degree in economics. "We don’t
A fUn DUtch bOAtfighting for more in the fourAfter Olympic silver at Athens, three dutchmen - a marketing analyst, an MBA student and an economics graduate - got out of the eight and stepped into the four, with a medical doctor becoming the fourth, filling in the bow seat to complete the crew.
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The Dutch men’s four competing at the 2005 World
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(L-R) Geert Cirkel, Matthijs Velenga, Jan-Willem Gabriels
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earn, but we have more fun. These years will never come back." MBA student Jan-Willem agrees: "Fun is really important for our crew. We have fun over the stupidest things." The happy bunch of chatty extroverts know how to distance themselves from the mental stress of training and racing to lay back and enjoy life.
Despite the fun, "sometimes you wonder why you do it," adds Jan-Willem. "There is a thin line between love and hate." So why do they go on?
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"Being a sportsman is a nice way to live: striving for large goals, pressing yourself daily, exceeding your boundaries," says marketing analyst Matthijs. And last but not least: "Rowing kept me from drinking!"
"I was attracted to water," says Gijs. "Actually wanted to sail, but it was too time-consuming for my family to travel around Europe to go sailing. My father was a rower, and recommended rowing to me."
"It is different from what everyone else is doing. It’s unique," says medical doctor Geert. "I’m not a grey mouse, I’m a crazy mouse."
As for Jan-Willem, he simply "refused to chase balls".
Gazing far down the course, twenty years from now, the four of them plan to get back together in a boat, with an added change to the current training programme: "After our row, we’ll go to a pub and have a beer. If we have as much fun in the pub then as we have in the boat now, it’ll be awesome."
The men’s four podium at the 2007 World Rowing
Championships: New Zealand win gold, Italy silver and the
Netherlands bronze.
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Ivanov began rowing as a 15-year-old in his home town of Moscow and two years later not only became Soviet Union junior champion but at the senior championships he beat Olympic champion Yuri Tyukalov, when he finished third. The following year Ivanov began an 11-year winning streak of the Soviet championships in the single.
In 1956, Ivanov became an Olympic Champion; he was only 18. Competing at the Games in Melbourne, Ivanov unleashed his racing style on the unsuspecting finalists and seasoned single scullers, especially the known favourite and local Australian Stuart Mackenzie. Mackenzie had led for the entire race when Ivanov, from fourth place, let loose a phenomenal sprint to win the event by a huge five-and-a-half seconds.
Years later at the 1960 Games in Rome and 1964 Games in Tokyo, Ivanov used the same tactic to win his second and third Olympic gold medal. In 1964 the Soviet was down by seven seconds with 500m left to row but still managed to use his massive sprint to take the lead. Ivanov claimed he blacked out momentarily before the finish line from the effort.
This style of racing was to become legendary. It is sometimes called “doing an Ivanov” or a “Russian finish” when the opening part of a race is fast, the body of a race is at a normal pace, and it is concluded by a huge finishing sprint. He was also the first to break the seven-minute barrier in the single, setting a new World Best Time of 6:58.8 over 2,000m.
In the Soviet Union Ivanov was well-rewarded, earning the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the Order of the Badge of Honour twice.
After his career, Ivanov wrote about his rowing experiences in the book, Winds of Olympic Lakes. He is no longer involved in rowing.
a SOVIEt LEGEndDoing it the Ivanov wayMention the best and the name Vyatcheslav ivanov will always come up. the Soviet Union rower dominated the men’s single sculls through the 1950s and into the ‘60s. in that time ivanov became the first to win three gold medals in the single at the Olympic Games. Since then, this accomplishment has only ever been achieved by Pertti Karppinen of Finland.
Vyatcheslav Ivanov at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia.
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Major achievements (M1x)1956 Olympic Games Gold 1960 Olympic Games Gold 1962 World Rowing Championships Gold
1964 Olympic Games Gold
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nEW KIWIS On thE MARKEt twigg and Uru make their marksA young crop of kiwi rowers is ripening
in New Zealand. Rowing excellence in the land of the long White Cloud is promising to endure with flourishing rowers emma twigg and Storm Uru, who have already made their mark on the scene of international competition.
New Zealand has not been represented in the women’s single at the senior level since Sonia Waddell competed at Athens in 2004, but Emma Twigg, 20, shows she might just be the one to fill in Waddell’s shoes. Boasting a world title at both under-23 and junior level, Emma raced against the greats at Munich where she finished a remarkable sixth place in the final, assuring herself a spot for the 2008 Olympic Games: "I take one event at a time. I’d like to secure the single sculling sport on the national team, looking long-term to 2012," says the blond-headed Kiwi.
Emma’s father used to cox when he was in high school and then went on to coach. "I played field hockey when I started rowing and had to decide between the two. With
rowing I had opportunities to compete internationally," is how she explains her choice of sport. Growing up in a rowing environment certainly worked to Emma’s advantage, but her natural height and strength, combined with a very competitive spirit, also were essential ingredients of success: "When I have a bee in my bonnet about something, I’m pretty determined to achieve my goals. I don’t like losing." During training, Emma constantly competes against Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell: "I’m so lucky to be able to be beside them. They are the best yardstick I could possibly have."
Storm Uru, on the other hand, races against Mahe Drysdale and fellow lightweight Duncan Grant back home: " This makes me train and push my body harder."
Competitiveness did not settle in from the start though. A really enthusiastic family friend invited Storm out to a club when he was 13. He got hooked: "I loved the team environment, spending time outside and meeting new people. I had a lot of fun." Not until he left school and went to University did he start getting really fast: "I decided that if I’d continue rowing I’d do it seriously." Now rowing takes priority. Majoring in chemistry and finance, he managed to squeeze in his university exams during this year’s Rowing World Cup season and passed.
Now 22 the dark-haired lightweight has scored gold at two World Rowing Under 23 Championships and silver at two Rowing World Cups. When asked if his Maori origins give him special strength, he replies: Storm Uru (NZL)
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"People have said to me ‘you can’t do that’. As a stereotypical Maori in New Zealand, you get underestimated at times, but when you get told ‘you can’t do that’, it gives you more resolve." In 2006, he received the "Maori sportsman of the year" award: "It has given me a lot of Mana (pride) and joy. With the sort of guys I was up against, I didn’t think I had a chance of winning."
Rowing, says Storm, gives him a sense of purpose every day: "It’s great to have a cause and a goal, great to have success when you train and work so hard. It gives you a lot of confidence and shows that if you really want to achieve something you can." ■ D.F.
Uru Storm of New Zealand in action in the lightweight men’s single sculls at the 2007 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Emma Twigg of New Zealand during the semifinal of the women’s single sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships at Strathclyde, Scotland (GBR).
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GREEcE’S tSIAvOU between dream and realityWhen Alexandra tsiavou began to row, she began to dream. initially, to be sporty was simply to be healthy. But the Greek gymnast turned rower had a coach who saw more: «he made me dream of becoming a champion,» says tsiavou. And that is what she became. At 22, the two-time under-23 world champion in the lightweight single also has a european Championship gold and a bronze medal at World Championship level in the lightweight double.
Beyond her current success, Tsiavou considers the future: "I now have to take another step forward." That next step is leading her to the Far East, to Beijing, China, as a fifth-place finish in the lightweight double at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich qualified her and crewmate Chrysi Biskitzi to race at next year’s Olympic Games. "When my coach mentioned Beijing a few years ago, I thought he was joking." Intense preparation is taking place and now Beijing is no joke at all - it is becoming reality.
Tsiavou got a taste of Olympic racing when her home country hosted the 2004 Games: "I went to see the finals and when I saw the first one, the women’s single sculls, I became very emotional and began to cry." The newly-graduated primary school teacher hopes to receive support to keep on training until 2012: "I’ll first head to the Olympics in 2008 and then decide. You know life changes all the time, it’s unpredictable."
Despite the Greek national team’s growing success in recent years, rowing in the Hellenic Republic is not popular. "People often confuse
it with kayak or think you go fishing. Those are the only kind of rowing boats they know of," explains Tsiavou. She took up rowing at age 13 not because she was attracted to it, but "because there was nothing else to do."
Quite a relationship has developed between Tsiavou and her boat since those early days: "For me, rowing is a way to have a good time." Today, if she were to meet people who did not know what sport to choose, she would tell them to "try out rowing and feel the freedom it gives." Part of having a good time is being at rowing events: "I’m trying to enjoy
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Alexandra Tsiavou of Greece.
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these times. People keep telling me these moments never come back and I have to make the most of it. That’s what I’m doing."
Apostolos Palaiopanos coached Tsiavou during her university years in Ioannina, under the supervision of Greece’s head coach Gianni Postiglione when training for main international events as part of the national team.
"During my first year of coaching in Greece, she asked a lot of questions about technique and how to improve training," says Postiglione. "She has shown improvement each time I’ve seen her. She is very determined in all she does."
Generally Tsiavou trains in the single, but she and Biskitzi meet up in Ioannina seven
days each month to train together. "Sculling in a single is like riding a bicycle, you never forget how to do it. It also brings you a lot of positives - it makes you better and stronger in the double, such as more physical and mental power and more precise technique."
A mix of pain and pleasure is the lot of elite athletes, and Tsiavou is no exception: "Rowing taught me that you have to try hard for everything in life. Nothing comes on its own. There is a price to pay for everything. Although the training is very hard, especially in the winter, and I don’t do what people my age usually do, when I win the feeling is so great I really want to go for it!"
Alexandra Tsiavou carrying her single scull after training at the 2007 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Strathlcyde, Scotland (GBR).
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The most heralded heroes moulded by Bled-based Jansa, 57, are undoubtedly Luka Spik, 28, and Iztok Cop, 35. Cop made his first podium appearance in 1991, when he and partner Denis Zvegelj, both just 19, glided into silver in the men’s pair, behind the legendary Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent. Spik made his first appearance with Cop in 1999 and won gold head-on at the World Rowing Championships in the double.
“Our selections are not like in bigger countries. We work with younger rowers to develop them for ten to twelve years. Every junior has a period of work of about six or seven years. Iztok Cop
has been active 22 years, and I coached him from the beginning. He started when he was 13. Luka Spik also started when he was 13. I’ve coached them from the beginning,” says Jansa of the men in Slovenia’s famed double, named World Rowing Crew of the Year in 2005.
Rowing was elevated to one of Slovenia’s most important sports when in 1992 Cop and Zvegelj were the first athletes to win a medal (bronze) at the Olympic Games for their newly independent country. Cop went on to become Olympic Champion with Spik at Sydney and the crew added Olympic silver in 2004 at Athens.
SLOVEnIan ROWInG Milos Jansa leads small nation with big legends and family traditionSlovenia’s consistent rowing success has been rooted in the long-term nurturing philosophy of Coach Milos Jansa. A small pool of about 300 rowers means Jansa’s approach has been to work with individual rowers “a lot of years.”
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(L-R) Slovenian Coaches Milos Jansa, Marko Mizerit, Dusan Jerse and Vlado Krulcic.
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SLOVEnIan ROWInG Milos Jansa leads small nation with big legends and family tradition
feeling the balance. I think it’s very important, better than to begin immediately in an eight, for example. In a big boat I don’t think you can learn technique so well. We begin with sweep rowing maybe when they are 16 or 17 years old, but not with all of them.”
Slovenia’s sweepers have seen success too, although overshadowed by the achievements of the double. The men’s four secured Olympic qualification with a fifth place at this year’s World Rowing Championships.
Does Jansa consider creating an eight, perhaps in time for 2011 when Slovenia will host the World Rowing Championships? “Right now our interest is for scullers, but why not an eight?”
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Luka Spik (b) and Iztok Cop (s) of Slovenia celebrate after winning gold in the men’s double sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
Beyond tradition, Slovenia’s success lies in family: “There is a long tradition. I’ve been coaching for about 40 years and my colleagues twenty to thirty years,” Jansa emphasizes while pointing to the three other national coaches who assist him: Marko Mizerit, Dusan Jurse and Vlado Krulcič. Jansa, Mizerit and Jurse have raised their own children to be part of the national rowing team.
Jansa is known for taking lanky teenagers, schooling them in singles and pitting them against rowing giants at the senior World Rowing Championships, despite junior or under-23 eligibility. He insists his protégés start in single sculls. “Rowing in the single is very good for developing technique and ■ L.L.
Slovenian Coach Families Best Results
Coach Milos Jansa
• Milan Jansa 2001 World Rowing Championships M4- (Bronze) 1992 Olympic Games M4- (Bronze)
• Miha Jansa 2004 World Rowing Championships LM4x (10th)
Coach Marko Mizerit
• Peter Mizerit 2004 World Rowing Junior Championships JM4- (Gold)
• Davor Mizerit 2005 World Rowing Championships M4x (Silver)
Coach Dusan Jurse
• Jernej Jurse 2007 World Rowing U23 Championships BM4x (5th)
• Janez Jurse 2007 World Rowing U23 Championships BM4x (5th)
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Perhaps the most noted was New Zealander Mahe Drysdale who, by taking a hat trick in the men’s single, planted himself into the record books by being the first to win three World Champion titles in a row in the single. Drysdale got there by proving that a setback can be overcome. At Drysdale’s first international race of the season, the second Rowing World Cup, the New Zealander finished outside of the medals in fourth. By Munich he was back with the form and faith in his ability.
“The hardest thing going into the final was trying not to be over-confident,” says Drysdale who readily acknowledged the toughness of the field, knowing that on the day any one of the finalists could win.
The Polish men’s quad now also own three World Champion titles. In 2005 they
became the first Polish crew ever to win in the quad event. In 2007 they celebrated the hat trick.
Konrad Wasielewski, Marek Kolbowicz, Michal Jelinski and Adam Korol came together after the 2004 Olympics. Their mission was to turn around their country’s devastatingly close medal result at Athens when the quad finished fourth. Veteran of the boat Kolbowicz exclaimed after winning their first World Champion title in 2005: “We will do everything to be in the highest position in Beijing.”
The Polish crew now own the World Best Time, the 2006 World Rowing Crew of the Year award and an unbeaten three-year record with youngest member, bow man Wasielewski now nick-named “the lucky man” for his winning streak.
Great Britain’s flagship women’s crew, the women’s quad, started their hat trick roll by beating former owners of this event, Germany, at the 2005 World Rowing Championships. Expectations were high when the crew raced in front of their home crowd at the 2006 Eton World Champs. The tearful British crew stood in second place on the podium at the end of the race with Russia in first. However, a positive drug test in the Russian boat reallocated the gold to Great Britain nearly five months later.
Proving their might the British crew of Katherine Grainger, Frances Houghton, Debbie Flood and Annie Vernon added World Champion title number three to the boat this year as they work towards winning the first gold for Great Britain in this event at the Olympic Games.
WORlD chAMpIOnhat trickthe difficulty of getting to the top is well recognized. the challenge of staying there is a tremendous feat. At this year’s World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany, five crews met this challenge and finished the season with three consecutive World Champion titles.
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Ekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch (BLR)
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Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus hasn’t lost a race internationally in the women’s single – be it heats, semis or finals – since finishing second at the 2004 Olympic Games. Karsten, now 35 years of age, has on occasion admitted to the ease at which she has won her World Champion titles of late. She now has three in a row and five total and is aiming for her third Olympic gold in the single in Beijing.
Karsten has no intention of stopping there and is already planning to threaten Germany’s Kathrin Boron’s top spot on the overall medal table, by going to Olympics number six – London 2012.
In the lightweight women’s single, tough Dutch sculler, Marit van Eupen, may not be able to compete at the Olympic Games in this event, but she made the most of her solo talent by staying at weight and winning three in a row. Van Eupen raced to a bronze medal in the lightweight double at the Athens Olympics. ■ M.S.B.
Mahe Drysdale (NZL)
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1. 2007 World Junior Champion in the junior women’s single sculls, Weiwei Zhu.
2. Aleksandar Aleksandrov of Bulgaria, later to become Junior Champion in the men’s single sculls, races his semifinal.
3. Children perform the Dragon Dance during the opening ceremony of the 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships, at the Shunyi Olympic Aquatic Park.
4. Hagen Rothe (b) and Sebastian Peter (s) of Germany celebrate after crossing the finish line first in the semifinal of the junior men’s double sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships in Beijing, China. They would go on to win gold in the A Final the following day.
5. Silver medallists in the junior men’s pair Jacob Anthony (b) and Conlin McCabe of Canada.
6. Two-seat Triantafyllia Kalampoka of Greece celebrates bronze with her crewmates in the women’s quadruple sculls.
7. Zhou Ru, Tian Chun, Han Yan and Liu Hong of China celebrate their victory in the junior women’s four.
8. The junior men’s eight victory pontoon: Germany win gold, New Zealand silver and China bronze.
9. The regatta course at Shunyi Olympic Aquatic Park in Beijing, China.
10. Denis Oswald, Jacques Rogge and Lui Qi shake hands during the opening ceremony of the 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships in Beijing, China.
11. Jack Morrissey (b), Mathew Rossiter, George Nash and Kieren Emery (s) of Great Britain win gold in the junior men’s four.
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At the end of racing adaptive athletes that had formerly dominated events were no longer in the top spot, new World Best Times had been set in three events and the top eight boats in each event had earned qualifying positions at the 2008 Paralympic Games. Next year is the first time adaptive rowing will be raced at the Paralympic Games.
One of the finest displays in racing came when Germany’s coxed four only just beat the reigning World Champions, Great Britain, in front of an elated home crowd. The 2006 World Champion of the men’s single, Australia’s Dominic Monypenny also felt the increased competitive pressure with newcomer Tom Aggar of Great Britain sprinting through to take gold. Aggar set a new World Best Time in the process. Aggar’s time of 5:13.13 over the 1000m course was a huge 15 seconds faster than the record set by Monypenny in last year’s A Final.
The women’s single went to Claudia Santos of Brazil in her first year as a rower and first time racing at an international event. Previously Santos competed as a swimmer. The depth of competition pushed reigning World Champion, Helen Raynsford of Great Britain, into fifth in this event.
Three-time World Champions, USA, could not hold on to their number one spot in the double. Josiane Lima and Lucas Pagani of Brazil are now the new World Champions. Lima and Pagani also set a new World Best Time of 4:10.69 and earned a position in the 2008 Paralympic Games. The United States ended fifth and also qualify for the Paralympic Games.
A total of 96 athletes will compete at the 2008 Paralympic Games. Of those, 64 qualified at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
ADAptIvE ROWInGCOMInG Of aGESince its beginnings internationally at the 2002 World Rowing Championships, adaptive rowing this year demonstrated that it had firmly established itself as a competitive force in rowing. the signal was clear with Munich supporting twice as many entries in the four events – the women’s arms only single (AW1x) and men’s arms only single (AM1x), the trunk and arms double (tA2x) and the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four (ltAMx4+).
■ M.S.B.
Claudia Santos of Brazil celebrates her victory in the arms women's single sculls at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
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blEnDInG bOAthOUSE WIth EnvIROnMEntChoosing to go the environmental way occurred by default when the University of British Columbia, UBC, selected architect Craig duffield of larry McFarland Architects, a firm committed to sustainability, to design two new boathouses. UBC, in Vancouver, Canada, has now become the talking point of the local rowing community and beyond.
Originally the idea was to base the boathouse design around traditional rowing elements. But Duffield looked at the location, on the Fraser River, a working industrial river with barges, tugboats and waterfront industry, and decided a new angle was needed. The area was in transition, with the development of a natural, more park-like recreational setting.
“The purpose of working the building into the environment was both to enhance a visitor’s experience of the natural qualities of the site and to harmonise the building’s function and appearance with the site’s properties,” says Duffield.
A floating building was designed to enhance the visitors’ on-water experience. Constructed off-site, impact on the environment was limited. The boatbay walls were made translucent and, describes Duffield, unique, in that they provide natural lighting instead of the usual dark, gloomy boatshed. The building’s floor plan is a zigzag line allowing
sunlight to reach the inter-tidal zone of the river through the gaps.
An important feature is the buildings’ interior cooling system. This, says Duffield, is commonly the main energy drain on buildings in moderate climates. As there is no air conditioning, apart from natural ventilation, shading is used to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature.
Duffield was also able to call on his own rowing experiences from college days, which helped shape his ideas on what really made a boathouse work.
Environmental aspects aside, the boathouses have also been lauded for their design, ascetics and usability. Three-time Olympian and gold medallist at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Dr. Roger Jackson said at the opening ceremony in March this year, “Of the hundreds of boathouses I have visited in my life all over the world, this boathouse is the best designed.”
UBC Head Men’s Coach Mike Pearce commented that the design enhances daily operations. “Instead of the building being a place detached from the activity, it feels like an integral piece of equipment that exists to complement each outing.”
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Boathouse features
Timber is a locally supplied renewable resource.
Low-emissivity glazing used to reduce heat loads.
Lower level heated by passive solar gain and vented for cooling.
Natural cross-ventilation used for cooling to eliminate the need for mechanical air conditioning.
Low-flow plumbing fixtures used to reduce water usage.
Orientation and screening responds to local sun path and prevailing storm winds.
Use of low-volatile organic compounds (VOC), for paint and epoxy, making for a reduced chemical smell that is understood to contribute to allergies.
Use of durable materials that last longer. These include galvanised metal cladding for the exterior, anodised aluminum for the windows, polycarbonate for the translucent panels and the exterior wood is well-ventilated cedar.
■ M.S.B.
COACheS
Presidentdenis Oswald
Vice-presidentAnita deFrantz
TreasurerMike Williams
Executive Director Matt Smith
FISA is the governing body of the sport of rowing and the oldest international sports federation in the Olympic movement. Based in Lausanne, the Olympic capital, FISA has 128 member federations
worldwide, organises World Championships, Olympic Regattas and World Cups and promotes all forms of rowing. The opinions expressed
in this publication are not necessarily the opinions of the FISA Council. Reprints permitted with acknowledgement of source.
Publisher FISA
Marketing and Communications Manager Marion Gallimore
editorDébora Feutren
World Rowing JournalistMelissa S. Bray
ContributorsPatricia Lambert
Lisa Lynam
FiSAMaison du Sport International
Avenue de Rhodanie 541007 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: +41 21 617 8373 Fax: +41 21 617 8375
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World Rowing E-Newsletter
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