Live From Beijing - Entry #2
August 5, 2008 | Men's Rowing
Aug. 4, 2008
I thought this would be a good time to introduce each of my teammates.
The men's eight is a crew with eight rowers and a coxswain, a small, lightweight guy who steers the shell. The rowers are all tall because rowing has a lot to do with leverage; the taller you are, the more efficiently you can apply power throughout a longer stroke. Furthermore, a race tends to take around six minutes to complete, so the sport requires a physiology somewhere between sprinting and endurance. Rowers therefore tend to be tall, lanky, rugged and slightly crooked to one side after many years pulling from the same side of the shell.
An eight is a magical boat when it moves at speed. The only way to achieve good speed is through a perfect synchronisation of all crew members; a good analogy is a wave dynamics in physics. Eight waves out of sync will add up to make a chaotic and relatively small resultant; once lined up, their resultant is elegant and amplified, creating speed, pace and dynamic rhythm in the boat.
The stroke (8 Seat) - Diderick Simon (Didi)
Didi is the grandpa in our boat. At 37, he has competed and medalled at the Games in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens. He started rowing at 18, and the sport has become his life. He is one of the most respected and revered athletes in the Netherlands. His technique is amazing, and he remains strong enough to match the best of us. Despite his standing, you will frequently see him joining in a training session of the development eight from his local rowing club. There are many great stories about Didi, the most famous of which might well be about him in Athens, when, after winning silver in the Men's Eight, he forgot his medal in a taxi on the way to the beach. The craziest thing is, he didn't seem to mind, he just went home later that night and it was eventually returned to him. Sitting on stroke in our boat, Didi is in total control of everything that happens in the boat. Whatever he does, we mirror. These are his fourth Olympics, and it is a privilege to have him in our crew. Added to that, none of us wants to go down in history as part of his first non-medaling team...
7 Seat - Olaf Van Andel (Lafie)
He is my pair partner from last summer. We were supposed to qualify last summer for the Olympics in the pair before I broke a rib in training. I'll say no more about it, except that there was a month during which we didn't speak to each other. The seven-seat has to be the guy to really back Didi up in the race. At 87kg, Olaf is the smallest rower in the boat. He makes up for it with techincal talent, and has great feel for the run of the shell.
6 Seat - Mitchel Steenman (Mitch)
Another technical rower, Mitch also supports Didi with rhythm and pace. He is however taller and stronger than Olaf.
5 Seat - David Kuiper (Beard/Baled Chicken)
We call him "Beard" because two years ago he used to have a massive untamed beard, caveman-style. He isn't the tallest of the crew but pulls the fastest erg-score and has amazing leg power. Beard is also the disciplined time-keeper of the crew. If you watch him eat, he sperates his food into neat little groups before eating. Likewise regarding training, he is always on time and unsympatheitcally addresses any tardiness.
4 Seat - Me (Yussef)
The Netherlands has a large immigrant population - mainly of Moroccan and Turkish origin - but being a born-and-bred Kiwi, I too am thrown in the mix with the rest of the foreigners here. My teammates have therefore nicknamed me with the Middle Eastern form of Jozef. I nevertheless have dual citizenship because my parents were born in the Netherlands, moving out to New Zealand before my birth. I took a one-year leave of absence from BU and went to row in Holland because of its high quality coaches and the strength of Holland's rowing tradition. My job in the boat is to add power to Beard's. My time in the US has also taught me to fight hard in every single training, a mentality I have brought with me to the Dutch Eight; my position in the boat enables me to stimulate those around me to always push for more.
3 Seat - Meindert Klem (Minor)
Minor is the youngest guy on our team and also comes from BU. He made the boat only 10 days before our Olympic qualification regatta in Poland, having rowed the double sculls during the world cup season. He is another rower with feel for the motion and pace of the boat, and like me likes to pull hard during every session. The two of us communicate regularly during workouts, attempting to push the bar ever higher for the whole crew. In an eight, the only way to improve boat speed is to be critical of your own rowing, regarding both power and technique. However, working together can make this easier; Meindert and I stimulate each other to work harder and make the eight go faster as a whole.
2 Seat - Rogier Blink (Blink)
Blink is the craziest guy in the boat. Loud and outspoken, he never stops talking (at least outside sessions). Opinionated too. He also has an amazing lung capacity, a valuable asset for that second half of the race.
Bow Seat - Olivier Sigilar (Ollie)
Ollie rowed with Meindert in the double sculls before joining the team shortly before Poland. He is our in-house frat kid and lives for his pranks. He also happens to have the second-fastest erg-score and has been on the Dutch team since he was a junior at age 16. Ollie will be rowing at Cal beginning in January of next year.
Coxswain - Peter Wiersum (Petie)
Petie is half-British and half-Dutch, has a distinct English accent and calls us all "chaps." He was brought into the team at the same time as Ollie and Meindert. His job as coxswain is to bring order to the chaos of eight lumbering rowers in one boat. During regattas he also has to weigh under 55kgs, so he is eats pretty much nothing but salad and claims to have shrunk two inches over the past five years due to undernourishment. Not that we have any mercy on him. We kick him out of the car after training and make him leg it home for two hours, or send him walking to the grocery store to buy flour, milk and eggs so that when he returns he can cook us our pre-training pancakes. He takes substantial verbal flack and banter from us all, but despite all this he is very professional at what he does and great at directing and motivating the crew.
Coach - Dave McGowen (Gowen)
An Australian, and he fits all the stereotypes: a bush mungering, former convict from the land of Croc hunters. (It's a New Zealand thing... :) )
Dave was asked by the crew to become head coach after the swaps in the boat preceding Poland. He drove us with passion and vigor, shaping us into into a team capable of thrashing all opposition for the final qualifying spot for the Games, defeating the favored Swiss and Russians by more than convincing margins. Dave only recently retired from the sport as an athlete, having rowed with Jackson Ruddick (SMG '05) at the 2006 World Championships in Eton. He also competed at the Olympic Games in Athens, finishing fourth in the Australian coxless four.
Assistant coach - Titus Weijschede (Bambi)
He gets his nickname from his big Bambi eyes, that get even bigger after a few drinks. Despite this Titus is favorite with women young and (mostly) old. As an assistant he is basically an odd-job servant for the team, making sure things run smoothly for the rest of us.
We arrived yesterday in Beijing...
... Keep posted for my initial reactions of the Olympic village coming soon!
