INTERVIEW
Redgrave is extremely respectful of the man he will probably succeed in the demanding (but unpaid) role. “Mike Sweeney has done a fantastic job for the last 22 years,” he says, pointing to his meticulous record-keeping and his attention to detail. The main chal- lenge for Redgrave will be to maintain the regatta’s unique atmosphere; the proximity of Lucerne in the calendar prevents, for now, any real prospect of getting more international crews. “It is a very special place to compete
ABOVE With Glyn Locke
at,” says Redgrave. “It’s the nearest that you’ll ever get to competing in a stadium.” For Redgrave, who rowed at the highest level for decades, even the Olympics can’t rival the small Oxford- shire town in terms of the atmosphere. “Henley is a nightmare to warm up, it’s horrible water, but it is noise all the way,” he says. “It’s an amazing feeling for someone at any level.”
48
Building a legacy Redgrave’s commitments at Henley are by no means the only way in which he will be involved in the future of rowing. Redgrave is passionate about preserving and building upon the Olympic legacy, a legacy which was a major aspect of the political argument for the London bid. Global sporting events are inevitably surrounded by unsavoury political point-scoring, as governments claim them as national successes and oppositions decry them as pointless extravagance – all of which puts the sportsman in an unusually political position. Redgrave himself was named as a 2012 Sports Legacy Champion by the government for the London Games. Despite this personal, reputational involvement in the legacy, he is circumspect about the success of the programme in the two years since the Games.
ROW360 // Issue 001
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