AUSTRALIA
We believe we have some good kids coming through in both the men’s and women’s programme to take it forward.” OIympic eights are a touchy subject for
Australian rowing. Athlete Sally Robbins sparked heated controversy when she did not complete the women’s final in Athens in 2004. The saga promoted renowned sports journalist, Peter Wilkins, to write a book on the subject, Don’t Rock the Boat, and the story has featured in a documentary titled She’s not there. Both exposed the inner workings of elite rowing to an audience not familiar with the heartbreak and controversy of rowing selection processes. Then, in 2012, members of the women’s eight had to plead to be able to qualify the boat, as Rowing Australia had not intended to send a crew to London despite the women’s team showing promising results in lead-up events. The Australians won at the qualifying regatta in Lucerne and the crew, some of whom were considerably younger and less experienced than the competition, went
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on to register a creditable performance at London. They became known as the “motley crew” and were well supported by Australians – a culture renowned for loving a sporting underdog. With so much controversy, one could
be forgiven for wondering if O’Brien has what it takes. Unlike many coaches at the elite end of the sport, he has not rowed himself in international competition. But those who know him say it is a job for which he is perfectly suited. O’Brien spent his childhood kicking
around with five siblings in a city known as a bit of a Mecca for Australian rowing: Ballarat. Ballarat is about an hour’s drive north-
west of the Victorian capital, Melbourne. The city’s man-made waterhole, Lake Wendouree, was the venue for rowing at the 1956 Olympics, and this year it will host the World Rowing Masters Regatta in October. The lake, where O’Brien’s rowing career began, is not always an ideal rowing venue: it was reduced to a sludgy mire
ABOVE Erik Horrie celebrating his gold medal and a new world record in the AS men’s single sculls
between 2006 and 2011 due to drought and the rowing course itself is only a little over 2km long, meaning a men’s eight has to check hard at the end of a race to prevent crashing into jagged rocks at the water’s edge. The occasionally difficult conditions and legendary cold of the city haven’t stopped many of Australia’s top rowers taking their first tentative strokes out on the water of the lake, including at least two members of the recently selected Australian senior team. Chris recalls being “out in the speedboat with dad” from the time he could walk, when his father Kevin coached the senior boys at exclusive
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