RowingRelated

George Bridgewater racing at the 2015 New Zealand Rowing Championships (Photo: Steve McArthur) Already a double Olympian after Beijing, where he won a bronze medal with partner Nathan Twaddle in the men's pair, George Bridgewater decided it was time for a new challenge. The next chapter in his life took him from Oxford (where he won the Boat Race) to Hong Kong, where he put his considerable competitive drive to good use in the business world. But something wasn't quite right—Bridgewater knew that he could still be competitive on the water as well, and last year made the decision to give it one more go. The goal: Rio 2016. Here, George shares some insights about his previous Olympic experiences, his time away from the sport, and the journey back to elite-level training and racing with Rowing New Zealand.

We were deeply saddened to hear that Beijing silver medalist and two-time Boat Race champion coxswain, Acer Nethercott , has passed away at the age of 35. Nethercott had an extraordinarily successful career in rowing. The above video shows the final strokes of the 2003 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race (Nethercott's first win in the main event), which was arguably the greatest Boat Race in history. The verdict after 4 and 1/2 miles? Oxford, by one foot. At the 2008 Olympic Games, Nethercott guided the GB men's eight to a close second place finish behind Canada , edging the United States into third place. Acer is Latin for sharp, keen, sagacious . In the words of GB Olympic gold medalist Garry Herbert , "[It was a] privilege to have known him, he lived up to the meaning of his name in every way." The former Molesey Boat Club cox will be dearly missed, but his life and accomplishments will not be forgotten. Read more about Acer's outstanding rowing career on...

The above video puts together some silky smooth shots of rowing, a look at cross-training, and a little background on what it takes to push yourself to become better every day in pursuit of the Olympic dream. Patrick Loliger Salas of Remo Mexico has made some waves on the international stage, and is a two-time Olympian, having finished 15th in Beijing, and 14th in London, less than one second behind Danish lightweight phenom Henrik Stephansen at Eton Dorney last summer. Here, we get some insight into his thought process and emotions as he takes on the challenge of racing at the highest level, in his own voice (for those not proficient in Spanish, there is closed captioning available). Through the winter, it's important to keep in mind that every day is an opportunity to improve–rather than looking at the coming months of intense training as an obstacle, approach each day, and each session, as a chance to make yourself, however slightly, better than you were the day, or the ses...

In the above video, Scott Frandsen of Rowing Canada Aviron discusses his experience of the Olympic final in Beijing, with hints at the work along the road to the podium, and a healthy amount of humor thrown in for good measure. As he mentions in this talk, he and pair partner Dave Calder qualified in the Olympic year (at WC II in Lucerne, where they took gold ahead of NZ and AUS, respectively), which will no doubt perk up the ears of every sweep rower on the U.S. men's squad this year. Also, the men's pair has become the subject of a great deal of debate of late, given the dominance of the Kiwi duo, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray . There is an excellent article outlining the range of possibilities facing Jurgen Grobler and Team GB, by Rachel Quarrel and Martin Gough of  Rowing Voice . The debate remains one of quality versus quantity. The GB squad took home the most medals from the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, but some of their top athletes did not find themse...

This week's video comes from the Toronto Star, and examines the build-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. The video features some nice shots of the Canadian men's squad training indoors and on the water, as well as short interviews with the athletes and legendary coach Mike Spracklen. The level of intensity within this training program is palpable, as is the willingness of the athletes to do absolutely whatever it takes to succeed at the Games. Spracklen's distinctive coaching style comes through, even in these short clips -- he is as famous for figuring out how to motivate his athletes as he is for his extremely demanding training regimens. As the collegiate season builds toward the Championship racing later this Spring, the short, subtle lessons about work and about team ethos from this video are well worth keeping in mind. Note for FeedBurner subscribers: Click the title of the article to view the video on our website. Upcoming interview: Megan Kalmoe , UW All-American, ...

Having begun rowing as a high school freshman, Will Daly has found success at every level of the sport during his rowing career. After graduating from BU, Daly was selected to the US U23 Lightweight 4- in 2005, and from then on he has continued to represent the US at the senior level -- a stint that took him to the Olympics in the LM4- in 2008, following a gold medal in the LM8 at the 2008 World Championships. Here, RR catches up with Will on his early career, his experience in Beijing, and his goals for London as USRowing looks to take advantage of the new facilities in Oklahoma City, which now hosts the US Men's Lightweight National Team. RR: How did you get started rowing, and when did it really take hold as something you wanted to pursue at the college level? WD: My rowing career started in high school, Kent. I started rowing my freshmen year, I was really scrawny and I didn’t even make the third boat, so I ended up rowing club, but still loved it. My junior year we went ...

Just before the term began this Fall, Steve Gladstone and Joel Scrogin, the two coaches-in-residence at California Rowing Club in the wake of Tim McLaren's departure, took off for Yale. Why would Gladstone take the Yale job? That's the subject for an entirely separate debate. But where does all this leave CRC? Only two years ago, CRC was an elite sculling training center, much like Pocock has become in the Pacific Northwest, and under the guidance of Tim McLaren, athletes wanting to develop their talents in the post-collegiate rowing atmosphere of California (typically a wasteland when compared to the East Coast) finally had an opportunity to do more than just bash out 1,000 meter pieces in Masters VIIIs. The program was working very well, and produced an Olympic Men's 2x much earlier than originally planned, made up of former Cal oarsman Elliot Hovey and his counterpart Wes Piermarini. Then, in the wake of the Beijing Olympics, Mike Teti decided to take on a new role, as ...

This video, posted in the lead up to the British victory in the Lightweight Men's 2x in Beijing, is the best rowing training video online. The two scullers involved, Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase, exhibit the consummate British rowing style, with the excellent posture at the back end and a quiet release, while not disturbing the run of the boat as they take the catch. On top of the technical grace demonstrated in the video, there is also a latent intensity, which grows with the music and seems ready to burst forth as they sprint. Neither one of them were strangers to success in their own right before the pairing was put together, most notably Purchase, who set the Lightweight Men's World Record in the 1x at Dorney Lake in 2006 at the World Championships. The hope again in British rowing is that these two will achieve the same level of success on home waters in 2012, and from the reports in UK newspapers it sounds like they are on their way. Below is a video of Zac Purchase ...