Star power exerts a pull on Rowing NZ’s plans for Tokyo
Shortened programmes have clear risks, reports Ian Anderson.
OPINION: Bold. Practical. Eyepopping. Adventurous. Necessary. Transformative. The announcement on Friday that a host of Rowing New Zealand’s star performers will not feature over the next year was all of the above.
Double Olympic gold medallists Mahe Drysdale, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray will all take a break from the sport. Other world champions also won’t be part of the Rowing NZ squad that will train and compete domestically over summer before contesting the 2017 World Cups and world championship as the organisation begins its drive towards medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It’s a plan, arisen from discussions between the athletes and the Rowing NZ hierarchy, that has obvious risks – but ultimately one that had to be implemented in the hope it will prove mutually beneficial.
It’s certainly a departure from past approaches by Rowing NZ in some ways.
Following the 2012 London Olympics, gold medal-winning double sculler Joseph Sullivan wanted more time off than he was allowed. He returned in late spring that year, while Drysdale wasn’t back til midway through the following year. Short on fitness and form, Sullivan missed selection in 2013 and eventually hung up his oars a year later, unsatisfied with his treatment.
Rowing NZ has been pilloried by some of its former charges as running a high-performance environment that can chew up and spit out athletes with little care. Others say that only the toughest rightly survive and prosper by doing what it required to succeed at the highest level.
Few Kiwi rowers have succeeded to the extent of Drysdale, Bond and Murray. The star power they possess is undeniable – the trio are front and centre in Rowing’s NZ’s shop window. They have widespread public recognition and spearhead the organisation’s ability to attract advertising dollars.
Post-Rio could easily have been a massive transition time for the sport here. Drysdale, 37, and Murray, 34, have been through four Olympic campaigns, and have five Olympic medals between them. Should those two be told their presence was required this summer if they wanted to be considered Tokyo contenders, Rowing NZ risked losing all that they bring while also needing to find new champions.
Of course, there’s no guarantee, despite uttered intentions, that either will make it to the next Olympics. And even ensuring Bond can have a year off the water is fraught with danger – he’s indicated cycling may be his preferred path to Tokyo.
So it’s a matter of balancing risks for Rowing NZ.
What it is dealing with now is the likelihood that more than a third of the Olympic-class boats in its programme are likely to feature crews that have had only a three-year buildup to Tokyo. That flies in the face of the traditional wisdom that the more training and competition over the four-year cycle, the better prepared you are.
Instead, Rowing NZ goes into the 2016/17 summer and next year’s international programme without its previous established crews in the men’s and women’s single scull, men’s pair, women’s pair, women’s double scull and lightweight women’s double scull.
Possibly Drysdale’s success at Rio has given extra credence to the idea that four years isn’t necessary. Drysdale flopped at the 2013 world champs on his shortened buildup, but that pales in significance to his Rio gold that backed up the one he claimed in London in 2012.
When Bond and Murray won in Rio, they did so with a different approach to that which brought them the same success in London, again showing there are different way of achieving what you want most.
Now we’ll see how that pans out for all parties.