Olympic medallist returns to sculling

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 38

Olympic medallist returns to sculling

JOHN COOK

continues his special series of rowing

articles for “The Press” in the lead-up to the world championships in Belgium.

The single sculls is a loners’ event, each man pitted against the other. With only one person picked to represent each country at the world championships the competition at the international regattas is fierce. The man who wins the world title is well remembered, like the sculling legend, Pertti Karppinen, from Finland, the Olympic gold medallist at Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984. Steven Redgrave, a gold medallist at Los Angeles, is one of Britain’s most promising rowers. Recently he won the singles final at the Nottingham international regatta. Redgrave first came into prominence in 1980 when he won his first medal, repre-

senting Britain in the junior world championships. He and his partner, Alan Clift, won a silver in the double sculls event. He was in a senior quadruple sculls crew the same year, but the crew missed selection for the Moscow Olympics.

In 1982 he made his first final in the elite world championships, at Lucerne. Racing in a quadruple scull crew he finished sixth.

Redgrave then decided to try it alone. He was selected to represent Britain in rowing’s toughest event at the world championships in Duisburg, West Germany, in 1983. He was eliminated early. Determined to do better in 1984 he again trained in the single. Meanwhile the British selector, Penny

Shuter, had six other people training in the national squad. At the early regatta in

Mannheim, Shuter tried out a coxed four. It won by six lengths. On the second day she tried an experiment and asked Redgrave' to stroke the boat. It won by more.

The next regatta was at Essen. The crew tried again and was successful. Shuter then convinced Redgrave to leave the single and concentrate on the coxed four. The result is now history. The coxed four from Britain easily won the gold medal from the United States and New Zealand. Two members of that coxed four have now retired and in the 1985 rowing season Redgrave, 1.95 m tall and weighing 97kg, is back trying the single. His early performances this season have been good.