Christmas Holidays

My Christmas holidays are just around the corner. Our last training session of 2007 at Elk Lake, Victoria BC will take place at 11:00am on Saturday December 22. We will be on break from the training centre until we return on January 2.
The coach has indicated to the guys that even though this is a "break", not doing anything over the holidays would not be smart. They have been given a training schedule that consists of 1 session a day lasting just over an hour. This will be enough to keep them "ticking over".
For many of the guys, this is an extremely important break as once they get back, we only have 3 weeks till we head down to San Francisco for a training camp and you don't want to spend half of January trying to get the fitness back that you lost over the holidays. As much sense as this makes to me....there will be guys who don't do it and suffer for it. Those are the types that I don't really want in my boat.
Lets all remember that Christmas will come next year....but once Beijing is done next August....some may never get another shot at the Olympics. Focus, focus, focus.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all....enjoy your holidays!!!

(pictured is my daughter for her Christmas photo....she liked Santa at the mall too!!)

Comebacks & Experience

After having competed at the Olympics in Athens 4 years ago I have reflected on what could have been many, many times. I remember looking at the names of the men in each crew of the Olympic final and I realized that we were the only crew with absolutely no “Olympic experience”. This is by no means an excuse for our disappointing 5^th place performance but it showed me that if you have guys in your boat who have done it before or at least experienced it, they can lead those who have not and keep them focused on winning when distractions and pressure hit a peak.

The Australians did a great job of bringing back 4 Olympic medalists to take their eight from 6^th in 2003 to bronze in 2004. The Americans had 3 men from their 2000 eight who had finished a disappointing 5^th go on to win gold in Athens. Whether your Olympic experience is a sour one or a great one….you have a better understanding of what is at stake.

I wanted to bring this up as the Aussie’s are at it again. They have 3 multiple medalists who have just made “comebacks” this year and are focusing most of their top athletes into the eight. This begs the question am I now scared of them. The answer is NO. Will I discount their abilities or take them for granted, no way.

The Canadian Men’s Eight of 2008 is likely to have 2 Olympic rookies, 6 guys with Olympic experience and one guy with a silver medal from Athens. This time I’ll be able to be one of the guys keeping everyone on track and focused on one thing…..GOLD!

Ya Just Can't Give Up!!

Nothing is more frustrating to me than when someone packs it in and lets others take the load that they should be taking. We've all seen it happen and it seems as though the person who does it just doesn't understand the impression they have left of their personality.

This came up on Saturday while we were rowing 2 Eights in a side by side training battle. This guy had been reamed out by the coach the day before for not rowing in time with the crew and not responding to the coaching he was being given. He had his reasons for being "out of time" with his team-mates and it made sense to him....but not to anyone else! This then becomes a difficult situation that only the coach can really deal with, and deal with it he did. Went up one side and down the other! I was in earshot and was glad it wasn't me! wow



Pictured-Shawnigan Lake
It seems tranquil, but we have had some epic battles here!! We row Eights here in the winter twice a week.

Anyway....the next day we were just beginning our battle with the other Eight and he was fighting for the first 4-5 minutes but as the other Eight slowly crept away, he slowing became disinterested in pushing with the rest of the crew. When we got to the end of the run and had taken a severe beating, I realized that he wasn't really panting and didn't seem tired....I didn't say anything but filed it away in the back of my mind.
Last row of the week was next. Again as we started to battle with the other Eight I could see from his face that he was not trying at all. I know this guy is very facially expressive when he rows and there was no expression whatsoever on his face. I was pissed off, but decided not to say anything as the coach had been in a huge fight with him the day and this was obviously going to be a continuation of the same fight. At the end of the row on the dock I spoke with the coach and he was not impressed nor happy with what he had seen transpire. I told him what I saw and what I thought of that garbage, sulking behavior. This issue is not dead, but the coach guaranteed me that this issue will not just be brushed under the rug.

The thing I don't get is this. Does he not realize that his fellow athletes now see him as a guy who will give up!! Is this a guy who you want in the boat with you while you are putting every ounce of energy into driving your boat speed, you're vision is dimming, you're nearly blacking out you are rowing so hard and here is a guy who you aren't sure if he is giving it his all? Not an impression I would want to leave....often times your actions speak volumes about your character and personality.

November Testing Period Complete

The November testing period has ended and as most tests in life go....so had good ones, and some had bad ones.
They guys did a 6km erg test, two 2km races in the pair and two 2km races in their singles...we add up all the times and presto....we have an overall winner.

The result breakdown approx as follows.

6km Ergo test = approx 19mins
2x2km Pair = approx 14mins
2x2km Single = approx 15mins

We definitely had some very good performances with 5 of the top 6 finishers being from the 2007 Eight. Of the other three, two were injured and were exempt from testing and the last guy was just getting back after having flu-ish symptoms and didn't perform to his best.
That being said...we had one guy finish 3rd overall and he appears to be gunning for a position in the Eight. He was in the Eight from the Athens Olympics and has been in smaller boats since then, by his choice. He now wants back into the big boat again and is putting some serious pressure on a few guys to improve.
This is a good thing as it doesn't let people rest on their laurels, they must improve or risk being bumped out. Competition is what has driven our program to success for the past 7 years and it isn't about to change now....I'm looking forward to seeing 8 World Champions get pushed for the remainder of the winter.

Husdon Ad Campaign

The company who makes our boats always puts together a little ad campaign after the Worlds and it always includes the crews who won medals in their boats. I thought you might like to see the ad as it appears in "The Rowing News" magazine. It is actually a publication that I believe you can buy at Chapters.

The picture was taken right after we de-rigged our boat, 25 mins after the big win. I had to take my shirt off to match the look of the guys....as you know....I am not muscular....but I do what I can. :) We were told to look serious for the photo.
It was kinda funny. At this point all we wanted to do was get a beer and socialize about the big win. We just wanted to do the pose and start partying!
The boat that we use is Canadian made in London, Ontario by Hudson Boatworks. We have been using a Hudson since 2002, and we were the first crew to ever win the World Championships in one of their boats. From 2002-2007, a Hudson has won the Worlds or Olympics every year expect 2006. Traditionally, most people in the world always used a German crafted shell called Empacher. We definately helped "blaze" a trail for Hudson and this well made canadian boat.

Money for MEDALS!

The Canadian Olympic Committee unveiled their new Athlete Excellence Fund on Monday which basically means, if you win a medal....you get money!! The breakdown is as follows

GOLD = $20,000
SILVER = $15,000
BRONZE = $10,000

This is some extremely exciting news for me and my crew as we are most certainly in a position to win a gold medal. Make no mistake about it.....this is not the driving factor or motivation for me as I was and have been committed to winning a gold medal long before this most recent performance fund had come to light. This fund is not only providing to Olympic performances in the Olympic year but also the 3 years prior. In years 1 & 2 of the cycle, top 5 finishers will receive a $5000 performance bonus and in year 3 you must finish top 4 in the world to qualify for the $5000 bonus. This means that I have qualified for the performance bonus of $5000 based on our victory at the World Championships in August. (I don't think I will be receiving it till the spring though....could kinda use it now....but whenever they are ready....so am I!!)

This has been a long time coming as many, many other countries have been rewarding their athletes for years. Apparently in Italy the bonus for gold is 250,000 Euro!!!! That is a huge amount of money but personally, I'm happy with what the COC has put together.

All in all, this is another big positive step towards providing money for athletes who perform. Our current assistant coach, was the coxswain in 1992 when we last won the gold medal in the Men's 8, actually had to pay for their own uniforms!!! We have come a long way towards providing for our amateur athletes and even after I am done rowing....whenever that is.....I will most certainly be an advocate for getting money into the hands of the athletes who perform. At the end of the day, I don't do it for the money. I love the sport and want to compete for my country at the highest possible level and I love it when Canada is on top. I get no more satisfaction than knowing that in the "night before the race meetings"....other countries are trying to figure out how to beat those Crazy Canadians!!!!

PS. I have listed 2 articles regarding this most recent development....both dated Nov 19, 2007

My Daughter's Halloween Costume!

I recently visited the Clarke Blvd Trow branch in Brampton and I told a few of the ladies about my 5 month old daughters Halloween costume.....so here it is. I think she is pretty darn cute!!

6km Test looms

Throughout the winter we have a testing period every six weeks. This is designed to give the coaches a chance to evaluate the athletes but it also give the athletes a chance to see that all the training and hard work they are doing is paying off.

This current round of testing is based mainly around the 6km erg. (the "erg" is slang for ergometer which is a rowing machine that you commonly see at many gyms throughout the world) The guys will get on the erg and see how fast they can cover 6km. This will take the cream-of-the-crop power guys about 19:00mins. The next range will be about 19:15-19:25. If you are a heavyweight who truly considers himself a contender, you don't want to be above 19:45.....it doesn't instill any confidence in you by the coach or your fellow athletes. Who wants to row with a guy who can't produce much power? Below is a picture of the guys cranking it on the erg at our gym

Our coach takes this test to another level....or should I say, a different level than the other programs on the team. He then gets the boys to row two 2km race pieces in a pair and then two 2km race pieces in a single. Next he adds up all the times up which then provides him with a ranking for each individual athlete. This ranking will then be used for boat priority, priority in the weight room and later in the season it could possibly determine whether you get to attend the warm weather winter training camp. It also lets everyone know what the current pecking order is.....in our camp....there most certainly is one and it is respected.

These types of tests can most certainly earn you respect as it can also go the other way....you don't want to take testing lightly, it could determine the difference between being on the team and not if it is very close between two athletes. Your ability to perform consistently over the winter and also consistently improve are a couple of big ways you can establish yourself higher up the pecking order of the heavyweight mens team.

Back training in the Eights

Now that we are back to Victoria and the Olympic Camp of 22 heavyweight men has been established, it's time to get on with training. This is where it gets more exciting for me.

The bulk of our training over the winter is done in pairs. This is the best way for the coach to teach guys how to move a boat. It has been said that you can "hide" in an eight as there are many people trying to move the boat and when it isn't going well, the blame is shared amongst them all. In pairs or even singles for that matter, if you are going slow.....you have to look at yourself.

This winter our coach has decided to train in the eight twice a week. We don't do this at the training centre as the lake is only 2.5km long. We head 45mins up island to the Shawnigan Lake School where we have use of their boathouse and the lake gives us a run of 7km. Since the lake is pretty much abandoned in the winter (a zoo in the summer) we have free use of the lake without any other boats getting in our way. This is some amazing training as we put 2 eights side by side and we compete for the entire 7km. This takes us about 21mins to go from one end to the other.
We keep the stroke-rate (strokes per minute) down low and controlled so that it doesn't burn us out.
Yesterday we had some great battles and it re-iterated to me just how much psychology plays a role in sport. My boat started hard at the proper rate while the other boat took off just a bit higher trying to get an early advantage which worked. Luckily I wasn't born yesterday and anticipated this. I quickly told my guys that they were over-rating us but we were holding them to only a two seat lead. I knew I could use this to rev my boys up and I made a call to drive the finish of the stroke with their legs. At the same time I called out the rate that our boat was at and then I called out what the other boat was at.....of course loud enough that all 16 guys could hear it. This told the other crew that I knew the game they were playing and they adjusted to the proper rate, but I had already made our "move" call and so before they knew it we were beside them and passing them. Within 4mins we had a boat length of a lead and they were scrambling to keep up.
You see, early on I could have scrambled and panicked to try and get the lead back but instead I chose to let my crew know of how the situation was unfolding and how I was going to proceed and get the advantage back. Their is nothing that frustrates a rower more than losing and having no plan of attack to get back. Since they knew I had control, they trusted me and did exactly what I told them to do.....once it started to work, the psychology switched to our favor and instead of being on the defensive, we went on the offensive and took control of the situation.

Can't wait to keep learning and re-iterating these lessons as this long winter of training is going to be invaluable once we hit the race course and do these same kind of things to the Germans, British and whoever else we end up racing.

Beijing, China trip CANCELLED!!

Wow....didn't see this one coming, especially at such short notice. We found out from our team manager on Saturday that we were not able to secure access to the train on the Olympic Rowing course. Apparently the approvals can take up to 3 months and since we were originally supposed to have this trip in September and then changed it till now, there just wasn't enough time to git 'er done!

As a crew, we had previously decided that it would not be worth it if we couldn't train on the course. Sure, it would have been nice to see our hotel, try the food, get a feel for the venue but without the experience on the course, we declined.

On another note....the my official invitation to the Olympic Rowing Camp came via email today....not that I was at all worried about not being invited, but now it is official.

The coaching staff has decided to carry 22 rowers and 2 coxswains for the Heavyweight Mens Olympic Camp.

THE GRILL ROOM - SunTV

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be a guest on a sports talk show tonight called "The Casino Rama Grill Room".
I have a link below so you can check your local listings to see if it is available in your area.
The show airs at 11pm....lucky its Friday and you can stay up late to watch it!!!
Here is a picture of Gareth Wheeler, the host of the show.

http://www.suntv.canoe.ca/thecasinoramagrillroom/

Arrived at the National Champsionships in Welland

I have arrived safely in Welland at the Canadian National Small Boat Championships. By saying small boats, I mean pairs and singles. (pairs=2 men-1 oar each single=1 man-2 oars) We won't be racing the Men's 8 here since this regatta is being used as selection criteria for athlete Olympic Camp invitations and the coaches can best assess the speed and potential of individuals when they are in small boats. This regatta also gives club rowers from across Canada a chance to race the best and see how fast they are and gauge whether they have the potential to make the team in the future. It is also good for them to see how the top in the country race and conduct themselves, it can be a good learning experience.
Why are coxswains not included you ask? Well....my job is difficult for a coach to quantify in one race, and since a lot of what I do needs to be assessed by the members of the Men's 8, my trial isn't fully completed until the Olympic Eight is selected in the spring of 2008. At the present time there is only one other cox at the training centre in Victoria. He was our Under-23 Men's 8 cox this year and is the "next" one should I ever decide to retire from the sport.....ahhhh.....I'm still young at 31....well sorta....I can cox forever!!!

Back to the small boat regatta here in Welland. The race will take place at the South Niagara Rowing Club's boathouse. (www.southniagararowingclub.com) It is located on a 4km stretch of the Old Welland Canal. We can't row out on the main canal as it is an active shipping waterway and unless we want to get into major trouble with the authorities, we just stay clear. The ships produce large waves anyway which isn't conducive to good rowing.

I'm on my way into Brampton to visit the Clark St. office today from 1:00-2:30pm. (Oct 31) Hope to meet more of the Trow family today!!

Bad Weather Doesn't Stop Us

Here in Victoria we train on Elk Lake.....it is a freshwater lake located minutes from the ocean on the main highway into the city.
I would guess that when most people think of Victoria they think of rain and also confuse Victoria with Vancouver. I want to remind everyone that we are located on Vancouver Island and that we do not get as much rain as Vancouver does....in fact....it doesn't rain here all the time....I have experienced very pleasant winters and have played golf in February numerous times.

The reason that I want to talk about weather is simple. This summer was great out here....but the past couple of days reminded me of the upcoming winter and the odd weather that can occur here on a regular basis. On Friday I had on sunglasses, then a rain coat, then just a sweater, then a rain coat, then sunglasses......then all three!! It rained, it was windy, then calm on the water, then sunny, then overcast....we had it all.

At the beginning of the day we have to always ask ourselves a few questions......Would the Germans train in this? Would the Americans train in this? Who wouldn't train in this? We certainly feel that we are the toughest rowers in the world and we get that attitude because we never let anything stop us....not wind...not rain...not snow....not sleet.....the only things that stop us are fog and ice. Our coach always reminds us that everyone has a point at which they do not want to continue.....we always make sure that our point is without a doubt farther than any other person that we would be competing against. I'll be honest.....it would be very easy to not go out when it is pouring down with rain, but what would you accomplish for that row...nothing. Sometimes, just by going out you show your team-mates just how determined you are by heading into tough conditions. For me, it is all in my head.....it might suck....but it is my mind that thinks it sucks....I know from experience that I can gain while my German competitors are hopefully sitting in their boathouse in this kind of weather. I am not willing to take the chance that they might get a row in ahead of me, I'm just not willing to give that up to them.

Next time you are going to work in the rain or snow....think of us out on Elk Lake in Victoria rowing....and loving every minute of it!!

Above is a picture of contrast between a summer scene and an extreme winter scene on the launching dock at our boathouse here in Victoria...notice the snow on the dock

Upcoming Events

This fall we had the potential to be extremely busy, but as a crew we decided to pick our events that we either wanted to attend or we were required to attend. I will expand on this thought in a future posting, but once you win a World Championship.....everyone calls you to attend their regatta or banquet. Trow locked me in before I won again....I have a soft spot for you guys!!

I've passed on a couple of regattas so far this fall, its nice to travel but now that I have my babygirl Brianna, my wife needs me more at home. Most of the members of our crew is very experienced now and we always evaluate what we will gain when deciding what regatta or event to attend. Our coach set it out very plainly the other day. If you feel it will help you to win in Beijing, then you should do it. If it is just a "fun" trip, or you have any doubts as to its importance, don't do it. At this level....its all about winning medals....our focus is on that gold medal.

With all that being said, there are a few events that we will be attending in the near future.

1. Canadian National Championships - Welland, Ontario November 1-4
We used to call this event "Speed Orders". Basically for the simple concept that you were judged in the order of your speed and team selection were generally based upon these results. Last year was the first year that we have run a "National Championships". This is a good thing as young and up-and-coming athletes can attend this regatta and compete against the best in the country and assess themselves against the National Team Members. It also gives my coach a chance to see what the talent is like coming up the pipe.
The really good news about this regatta is that I will have a chance to visit one or two GTA Trow offices. It is yet to be determined where I will be stopping by, but hopefully I can see as many as time allows me to fit in around the regatta scheduling.
I will not be competing at this regatta as it is for "small" boats only.....ie pairs and singles My job will likely be to drive an umpire/official boat to make sure all races are conducted fairly. (and any other odd jobs that come up....not an errand boy....a job completion boy!!!)

2. Olympic Venue Pre-Scouting Camp
Shanghai/Beijing, China - November 6-14

We fly into Victoria at 1:30 on Nov 5 and fly to China at 7am Nov 6. Just enough time for me to wash my clothes and repack my bag and fly about 12 hours to Shanghai. We are going on this trip to visit our pre-Olympic training camp venue in Shanghai for 2 days, then we will fly to Beijing and row on the Olympic Rowing course for 5 days. We will also be staying in the actual hotel that we will be using during the Olympic competition next year. Why not stay in the Olympic Village you ask? Good question. When we stayed in the village in Athens and it was great. The transportation to and from the course was terrible and we were never really able to rest and train on our own schedule. The Olympic Village is a 40min car ride in today's traffic....who knows what it will be like during the Olympics. Our hotel is only 6km from the course and we will have our own transportation so we will be able to make our own schedule. We are extreme creatures of habit....you guys need your Tim Hortons coffee....we need our strict schedule.

So those are the 2 main events for me this fall. I will of course be posting pictures of these trips so you can all see them.

I am really looking forward to meeting more Trow employees and keep coming back to the blog during the event times as I will try and post more than usual during these exciting times.

Thankyou TROW!!!

I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone at Trow for allowing me to become your Olympic adopt-an-athlete.

I was in Munich preparing for the World Championships when I heard that Trow was eager to provide me with support as I continue my journey towards the Olympics in Beijing next summer. The executives at Trow made this decision before the big win and for them to extend this commitment to me prior to winning shows me what type of people work at and run this company.

I am really looking forward to a great year of interaction between myself and all of you. I'll be posting updates on this blog at least once a week, and possibly more when things are busy. I'll have the odd contest for those of you with kids to win a piece of signed memorabilia from the World Champion Men's Eight. I will try to make visits to some of the offices if I can, unfortunately I won't be able to make it to see all of you, but I will do my best if I am ever in your area. Please take the time to comment on any of my blogs that I post and if you ever have any questions, please email me and I will be sure to answer them. This interaction could be very helpful in steering this blog to give you the type of information you want to know from an Olympic athlete. That's what it is all about....an inside look at the life of an Olympian less than a year before the final in Beijing.

All for now....it is great to be a member of the Trow team once again.
















Dan McNicoll, myself & Bruce Thomas
My former Ottawa Branch Manager & Infrastructure Manager
Sept 11, 2007 Branch Visit

Meet the World Champion Men's 8

You know about me, so I figured that you should find out a little bit about my team-mates.
The great thing about an eight are all the personalities involved. Each guy brings different talents to the table and it is the job of our coach to use these talents to make the eight go fast.

As you know, I sit at the stern, or back of the boat. Each member is assigned a number from bow (front) to stern (rear). The bowman is also known as #1. The guy who sits in front of me is #8 and is also known as the stroke man.

Here we go

(L-R) Dominic, Ben, Jake, Andrew Kevin, Mike (coach), Malcolm, Kyle, Me, Adam (seated)

#1 - Kevin Light - 6'4" 200lbs - Sidney, BC 28yrs old
I have been rowing on the National Team with Kevin since 2000. I was the spare for the Sydney Olympics and he was rowing the Under-23 Men's Pair. I started to give him pointers & tips as he wasn't getting much attention from the head coach at the time. The coach saw me doing this and asked me if I would like to be the coach of the U23 Pair and take them to the Under-23 World Championships. I of course said yes and we won a silver medal together! We have been members of the Eight from 2001-2005 & 2007.
Kevin is a 2-time World Champion in the Eight, won a bronze medal in the Men's Pair in 2006 and was also in the Olympic Eight in Athens.
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#2 - Ben Rutledge - 6'6" 210lbs - Cranbrook, BC 27yrs old
He came on the scene from the UBC Thunderbird Rowing program in 2002 as a relatively unknown and had a big breakthrough early in the 2002 season placing 3rd at our National Team Pair Trials. This unexpected success earned him a spot in the Eight for the summer. The boat enjoyed success with him in it winning the Royal Henley Regatta and a bronze medal at the Lucerne World Cup Regatta. 2 months of making his first National Team boat.....Ben was a World Champion in Seville at the World Rowing Championships.
I remember him doing his first 2000m ergometer test and beating many of the current National team members. I turned to the coach and said "who is that guy, and where did he come from?" We have been members of the Men's 8 from 2002-2005 & 2007.
Ben is a 2-time World Champion in the Eight and member of the Athens Olympic Eight.
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#3 - Andrew Byrnes - 6'7" 210lbs - Toronto, ONT 24yrs old
Here we have the rookie of the crew. Every team has to have a rookie and this is ours. In 2006 Andrew was poised to make the step from Under 23 to the Sr. Eight for the World Championships when disaster struck and he fractured his rib. He had to take a few weeks off right in the peak of the season and he ended up becoming a spare for the Eight. This turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise as the coaching staff decided that the spares would row in a coxed pair and I would be the cox. We ended up winning a Bronze medal and he got his first taste of "big league racing".
Andrew won a Bronze medal in 2005 in the Under-23 Eight, and a Bronze medal in the coxed Pair in 2006 and this is his first season in the Sr. Eight. He is one of the future stars on the team.
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#4 Jake Wetzel - 6'5" 210lbs - Saskatoon, SK 31yrs old
A very unique story behind Jake. He carries dual citizenship and has rowed in the Olympics for both Canada and the USA. He first arrived on the Canadian Team in 1998 after having flourished rowing for the University of California Bears and winning back to back National Championships. Upon his arrival to the Canadian Team he clashed with the coach at that time and just wasn't enjoying life on the team at the time and left to row for USA. (The Americans were doing extremely well at that time internationally and Canada was not.) He won a Gold medal in the coxed four at the 1999 World Championships in St. Catherines, Ontario and then switched to sculling and rowed in the Sydney Olympics placing 5th in the final.
He took some time off to complete his schooling, (degree in finance) and have surgery on both of his shoulders. (non rowing accident) When Rowing Canada secured Mike Spracklen as the head coach, he felt the environment had changed back to something he wanted to be a part of. We of course welcomed him back with open arms! (he is really strong and very competitive!)
In 2003, Jake again became a World Champion, this time in the straight four (no cox) and went on to win a silver medal in Athens, missing the gold medal by 0.07secs. A true heart breaker.
Post Athens he had to have back surgery to repair a herniated disc and now that it has fully healed he is back to chase the gold that eluded him in Athens.
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#5 Malcolm Howard - 6'6" 215lbs - Victoria, BC 24yrs old
A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in biology and is a pre-med student. Malcolm won 3 straight US National University Championships in the Men's 8 and his success hasn't slowed up since joining the Sr. National Team.
Malcolm is an extremely bright individual and has a real penchant for numbers. He is the guy we get to quickly analyze and remember our 500m times, figure out 250m times and also what times the other crews have done. Of course we have turned it into a game and if he gets one wrong, we bug him about it.
His success on the Sr. Team so far has been in the Men's pair finishing 4th in 2005 and winning a bronze medal in 2006 with our bowman Kevin Light. Malcolm is known for his amazing strength on the rowing machine and has been able to translate that into speed on the water as well.
Kevin told me that in the final 500m before they won the bronze medal in 2006, he was just holding on for dear life trying match the power Malcolm was putting on the oar!
He has had a well decorated career winning medals at the Junior, Under 23, and now Senior World Championships.
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#6 Dominic Seiterle - 6'4" 215lbs - Montreal, QC 32yrs old
He is the "old" guy of the crew. Thank goodness he is 6 months older than me!!
Dominic had an extremely interesting summer....similar to me actually. While at the Worlds his wife gave birth to their first child...a healthy baby boy named Max. The type of guy that Dominic is, he was worried that the crew would be wonder about where his focus would be. We said "don't worry about it...we trust you, enjoy the fact that you're a Dad!!"
Although this year is Dom's first real taste of success, he rowed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the Mens Double where he placed 13th and then took some time off to pursue some career goals. He made a comeback in 2003 but about 2 months before the final 2004 Olympic crew selections were made he slipped and fell while doing some cross-training and ended up with blood poisoning ending his Athens comeback. He fell off the rowing radar till showing up at the training centre in the fall of 2006 and showed us that he had indeed kept his fitness up and was ready to make another serious fun at the Olympics. Dom is one of the strongest guys on the team and is very fast in his single scull. Our coach convinced him over this past winter that the best boat for him to be in was the Eight and I am extremely glad that he agreed to row in it.
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#7 Adam Kreek - 6'5" 210lbs - London, ONT 27yrs old
After graduating from high school, Adam headed out to Alberta and worked on an oil rig for almost a year to make some money an experience something totally different than he had ever done before. Of course, working this hard taught him many great lessons that he would use in his future rowing career.
After his oil rig career he enrolled at the University of Victoria and joined the rowing team where his success began winning several Canadian University titles and has been a member of the Men's 8 since 2002, only missing 2005 while taking a year off the team.
Rowing has allowed Adam to also pursue scholastic goals. After Athens he and his wife moved down to California where he attended Standford University, captained their rowing team and graduated with a degree in Geological Engineering.
Adam has always been one of the fastest rowers in the country whenever we have trials in pairs and is well respected as a very strong individual with great rhythm which is why he almost always ends up in the 7 seat.
He won a gold medal in 2001 in the Under-23 Eight, gold in 2002, 2003, 2007 in the Men's Eight. As you can see, he knows how to win in an eight.
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#8 Kyle Hamilton - 6'6" 210lbs - Richmond, BC 29yrs old
Here we have the Captain of the heavyweight men's program. Kyle burst on the the National Team in 2002. He was pretty much totally unknown until he and Ben Rutledge placed 3rd in the 2002 National Team Pair Trials. By placing 3rd he got a chance to go on a European tour with the eight and in doing so, quickly solidified himself as a member of the crew. 2 months of making his first National Team boat.....Kyle was a World Champion in Seville at the World Rowing Championships. He continued to be a key member of the success we experienced from 2002-2004 in the eight.
Kyle is a graduate of UBC and is currently on a leave from UBC Law School. (he's no fool!) It didn't take him long to realize that his Olympic dream was not over after our 5th place in Athens. He was one of the first guys back to training in the early fall of 2004. Our coach made him the captain of the Heavyweight Men's Team in 2006 and he has adopted the philosophy that leading by example is the best way to get men to follow you. We all have an immense amount of trust and confidence him.
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As I read over these descriptions I realized that all of these guys are not only very successful on the water but are extremely smart individuals off the water with respect to the educations they have completed or are taking leave from completing.
It is truly an honour to be able to work with each one of these guys on a daily basis. Sometimes I forget the caliber of athletes that I am working with and that these guys really are the best in the country and we proved this year......the best in the world!!!

3 Time World Champion!

World Champion for a 3rd time! It feels good to be back on top of the world and in position to take charge looking forward to Beijing. 4 years ago we had this same opportunity after having won back-to-back titles in 2002 & 2003, but this boat has been built on horsepower and it also has a lot of Olympic experience, something that the boat in Athens did not have.

This year, the final of the men's 8 was different for me than it has been in years past. This time there was a real sense of using this regatta to further improve for the big race in 11 months…..the Beijing final. This crew is focused on the current short term goals, like winning the World Championships but the big picture is as clear as ever for all of us.

(the top 7 eights at this regatta qualified for the Olympics. There were 16 eights in total)

Lining up for the final from lane 1-6 we had Poland, Russia, Canada, USA, Great Britain & Germany. Coming into this race we knew that Russia would likely jump out to a fast start and try to rattle the field. When the starting horn went, Russia did exactly what we expected and took a 3 seat lead on us. I told the guys that Russia was out in front and that we should just stay calm and continue executing our strokes and within 20 seconds we were level with Russia, USA & Germany. We had a good start and got into a great rhythm from which we could just start cranking out powerful strokes. When you get a driving rhythm in rowing, it makes hard work feel easy and everyone in the boat wants to work harder and harder. We decided that level pegging wasn't what we wanted to do since early in the race we wanted to see what the rest of the field could and see if any other country would be willing to try and match our speed. Once we hit 600m then 750m it was clear to me that nobody was going to keep up with us so I just kept driving my guys hard knowing that our fitness was superior to every other boat and we wouldn't be hurting nearly as bad as they would be. By the 1000m mark we had over ¾ of a boat length lead on Germany and we still weren't willing to let off since we had earned our lead, trying for more would nearly devastate the opposition at this point.
With 500m remaining in the race Germany tried to make a dent in our 2 second lead and we were determined not to budge. They took about a seat and I told the guys what they were trying to do and the boat surged with power and we took it right back. With 250m to go, Germany gave it their last ditch effort to move on us and we actually started to move away proving that the confidence in our fitness to drive that early pace was totally worth it. I couldn't resist putting my arms in the arm with 2 strokes to go signaling that we were World Champions. We beat them by 2.3 seconds.

It was a great feeling to be at the finish line knowing that you achieved your goal for the summer and you were back on track with respect to the Olympic final in Beijing. There were 3 members of the boat who were first time world champions and it was great to welcome them into this elite club.

As the flag was raised I realized that it is a good thing we're elite rowers because our singing careers are never going to get off the ground the way we belted out the national anthem on the podium!!

Some people only ever get one chance to be a World Champion…some never get a chance, but on Sunday I realized again just how truly special it is to win a World Championship. 4 years ago I had just finished winning my second world title in a row and we were setup for success looking forward to Athens. I now have that same situation in front of me again except this time I am much more prepared for the expectations and pressure that an Olympic Games brings.

Olympic training camp opens October 1 in Victoria so we will all try and recuperate our bodies and minds as this will be the last extended break before the Olympics are over next year. After having won the worlds…..I think we've earned it.

Please check your local listings as the Worlds rowing footage will be on CBC Sports this Saturday. I also won a bronze medal in the coxed pair so check that race out as well.

Cheers

Brian

Semi-Final is a Win!

The semi went off without a hitch. We won it and didn't have to push ourselves to the finish line, which is exactly what you want out from a semi.

The final order for this race was Canada, Great Britain, Germany, China, Switzerland and Belarus. Coming into it we figured that Germany would be the big contender and they were but a hard charging British crew took them down at the finish line. Basically our plan was to dominate the field early and see what type of a pace they were willing to sustain. Everytime we pushed this pace harder, we gained on the other crews, so we just kept on doing that. At the 1000m mark we had a boat length lead. (3 seconds) At this point we should have kept charging and tried to get a little more. It's a difficult thing to do though since you know you are in a dominating position and you don't want to push yourself harder than you have to since it is just a semi-final. Because of this we stuck at our 1 boat length lead from 1100m-1500m. This isn't a bad thing, but you have to be careful that this type of complacancy doesn't creep into the final on Sunday. We want to bury the field when we get this chance on Sunday.

The final 400m of sprinting was"ok" for us as we never want to have to burn to the line if you don't have to. It is this "burn" that can be difficult to recover from in just 2 days. We only gave up just over 1 second in terms of our lead in the final 500m so we were satisfied but knew there was still a lot more there for Sunday.

The real race was for second and Great Britain did what they usually do and saved themselves for the big sprint. This is a tactic that I have seen get you a medal in the past, but it rarely wins. As Canadians, we do not use this tactic. We go for the throats early and often. If we can make the other crews hurt early in the race while they try to stay with us, they are less likely to have the energy for a big sprint. Truth be told, anyone can sprint when they see the light at the end of the tunnel, its those who are courageous that are willing to hit the wall when there is no light in sight!

Look for us to again drive the pace of the field early in the race on Sunday and see what everyone else is made of. I am really excited to help these 8 men empty their tanks in the final....lets see if we can throw some Germans and Brits into the "hurt locker"!!!

All for now....

Brian

Men's 8 Heat is a Victory

Hello from the World Rowing Championships in Munich!!

As I am sure most of you are aware, after leaving Trow I went straight out west to Victoria and I have been having a successful season so far on the World Cup circuit winning the overall World Cup title in the Men's 8 this year and I am now in Munich Germany for the World Rowing Championships which also serves as the Beijing Olympic Qualification Regatta.

This year the Men's 8 had 16 entries. The top 7 crews will earn a qualification spot for the Olympics in Beijing. That being said it is the boat that earns the spot....the athletes can change, but generally crews that do well don't often change too many members.

With 16 entries we are split up into 3 heats with 5, 5 & 6 boats each. From each heat the top 2 countries qualify directly to the semi-finals and all the rest go to what we call the "repechage" or second chance race. In our Heat we had Italy, France, Great Britain and Australia. The knew the main players were going to be GB & Aus simply from racing them earlier this season. Out of the starting blocks 10 strokes into the race we got about a 2 foot lead on the field and then France darted out to a 1 seat advantage. I mentioned this to the guys and immediately informed them that France would be unable to sustain this pace so don't worry about them but I am aware of what they are doing.....within 10 strokes we were again ahead and never thought about them again....that is what we call a "fly & die" in rowing....except usually you can do it for longer than 200 metres!
On with the race.

Coming into 500m we had established about a 2.5 seat lead on GB and a 3.5 seat lead on Australia. It was at this point that we really started to drive a power rhythm and I told the guys that it was time to take control of the race with the my next call. We started to slowly move ahead taking a foot every 3 strokes and the guys kept really focused to what I was asking them to do and I made sure to let them know if it was working or not as this would help them stay committed to the call if they were getting good value out of it by gaining on the opposition. This attack lasted about 400m and GB was unable to respond. By 1000m (halfway) into the race we had 3/4 boat length lead (2 secs).
Once you get into a race such as this where you are leading and in control of the field, the opposition knows that if they don't do something soon, the race is over. I kept watching GB as we went through 1000m and made sure that if they were trying to make pushes into us, I would let the guys know and we would counter then and stop it. The tactic is to stop them from moving and then increase your lead on them immediately and that way they would become demoralized realizing that that cost them a lot of energy and they got nothing to show for it. This tactic proved to be successful from 1000m - 1250m. At 1250m I called for more power and we moved on GB again with the lead now nearly length.
Now as I mentioned earlier Australia was also a contender in this race but until 1400m didn't really do much. They made their move and started coming hard into GB....this of course caused GB to put everything into it while we kept our cruise control on and I told the guys that I could see Australia only 1/4 boat length behind GB but still moving on them. I decided that the best thing to do with only 300m to go would be to put in one final small push to make sure of the victory but not enough that we had to sprint and burn our reserve energy to the finish line. In the closing 200m, Australia overtook GB and came to within 1/2 boat length of us at the finish line but I was not concerned as I knew they were sprinting to qualify and we hadn't even sprinted yet and there was still another gear there if necessary.
My coach always says that what hurts you the most is the burn at the start and the burn at the finish, so if you don't have to burn...don't.

After the race was over I quietly mentioned to the guys "sit up and don't look tired, take deep breaths, but make them think you didn't even feel it". It is a good psychological ploy to play with the oppositions head a little at the end of a race.

We looked at the times after the race and saw that our time was the fastest of the day and that we were 3 seconds faster than the winners of the other 2 heats and Australia had the second fastest time but they spent everything they had to do it. So as it stands now, we are still the "odds-on favorite" to win. I honestly believe that we are the fastest crew here....we just have to prove that to the world 2 more times. Once in the Semi-final on Friday and then again in the Final on Sunday. What we do know is this. The Heat that we just won is not going to be good enough to win the Gold medal on Sunday, we still have a lot of work to do and it is up to us to make it happen, we can't expect a free ride or an easy race.

All for today from the Worlds in Munich.....

Brian