Kirsten jumps out the scull and over the moon
JOHANNESBURG: Each stroke came with the same characteristic finesse from Kirsten McCann’s oars, but the swan of South African rowing revealed her ruthless side by becoming the country’s first female world champion.
McCann went into the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota last week as the pre-race favourite, but still had to battle nerves and a quality field to become SA’s first gold medallist in the singles boat.
Winning the lightweight single sculls title, McCann said, served as validation that she was one of the best rowers in the world in her class.
“I always feel like I am playing down my ability and a lot of people say to me ‘Kirst, you need to back yourself more’,” McCann said days after her return from Sarasota in the United States.
“A win in the single just says ‘ja, you are good enough, you are one of the best lightweights and you can do this’.
“In a crew, you always wonder and although it is a team effort, I always wonder whether I am good enough and add value to the boat. Last week it just kicked in and I decided there was no way anyone will stop me from achieving what I have come here to achieve.”
McCann’s pedigree is hardly in question with her list of accomplishments giving credence to her influence as a pioneer of her sport.
She was the first SA woman to win a medal at the Under-23 World Championships, finishing third in the lightweight single sculls in 2010. Three years later she became World Student champion, before breaking new ground by winning bronze in the 2015 world lightweight double sculls with Ursula Grobler.
Before Sarasota, McCann said she would not be 100 percent satisfied with a medal if she felt she did not execute her race according to plan. She got off the water not only with a gold medal around her neck, but delighted with the way she claimed her world title.
McCann got off the water on the Sarasota course not only with a gold medal around her neck, but delighted with the way she claimed her world title.
“I prepared myself that there would be six of us in a row going into the last 250 metres and I backed myself to have a sprint,” McCann said.
“I am very happy with how I executed it, I am just over the moon with the win, it is one of my dreams and goals come true. It is not the dream or the goal because there are many others, and on my pathway to Tokyo it is a tick.”
Going through the halfway mark McCann was in third place with U23 World Champion Marieke Keijser of the Netherlands leading after a fast start.
McCann stuck to her race plan as she gained on the Dutchwoman to cross the line more than two seconds ahead of Keijser with a winning time of 7:38:78.
“In the race, at one stage I thought (I) can’t let two of them get too far ahead but when I decided to move it was part of the race plan,” McCann said.
McCann praised her longtime mentor Roger Barrow’s calming influence for her success: “It is easy when your race plan works, Roger and I finetuned it so well … I just prayed for intelligence and maturity to stick with my race plan.”
“All I wanted to see when I crossed the finish was Roger and there is this picture giving the thumbs up and that was the moment I signalled him,” McCann said.
The 29-year-old hoped her achievement would serve as some sort of inspiration to SA female athletes and prove that women can make a career out of sport.
“When you see a lot of these girls at the world championships, a lot of them are educated, I just think it is good for women to see that,” she said.
“It is also good that men get to see that women can be strong … women can compete equally. The guy that won the single title has the same medal as me.”