British rowing’s culture shift has started without the job in hand being completed… Jurgen Grobler’s exit saw the medals dry up as Team GB suffered their worst showing since 1976
Next to the rowing lake was a study in defeat. Moe Sbihi, who carried the flag into the opening ceremony, was inconsolable. Bronze in the men’s eight meant nothing to him. He hid his bauble under his top and pulled up the zip. Even an hour later, he walked away from his crewmates to compose himself.
He is an Olympic champion from Rio and to him gold is the only colour worth the ribbon. Contrast that with the British Olympic Association CEO Andy Anson, whose remarks about the woefully underperforming rowers reveal a worrying strand of thought and outlook.
He told the BBC: ‘We shouldn’t worry about it. They may not be at their absolute best at these Olympic Games, but they’re heading towards Paris. A lot of where they’re focusing their attention is towards the next three to four years.’
Moe Sbihi (centre), who carried the flag into the opening ceremony, was inconsolable after Britain’s worst Olympic regatta since 1976
He is an Olympic champion from Rio 2016 and to him gold is the only colour worth the ribbon
Sorry, Mr Anson, but the rowing programme has been funded £26.4million in Lottery cash over the five-year cycle to Tokyo — more than any other sport — in return, we hoped for a smattering of success here. There is no more important Olympics than the one that is occurring now.
He continued: ‘They’re trying to change the culture of rowing. Some of these sports — I’ve seen it in football close-up — have had one way of doing things, quite a hardcore culture, and are trying to transition to something where athletes get more support, where the environment is more supportive. That takes time.’
Yes, but what Anson failed to acknowledge is that you should not start a ‘transition’ to a new regime until the job in hand is completed. Yet that is precisely what British Rowing have done.
They lost Jurgen Grobler on August 21, an event that was hardly conducive to wins on the Sea Forest Waterway, where the sum total of British medals amounted to two, a silver for the men’s quad and Friday’s bronze. This is GB’s worst showing since 1976.
Andy Anson’s remarks about underperforming rowers reveal a worrying strand of thought
James Cracknell, Olympic champion in 2000 and 2004, noted that there is nobody who would have instilled confidence in a crew more effectively than the no-nonsense East German alchemist who has won gold at every Games since 1972, with the exception of LA 1984, which his country boycotted.
On Saturday he turns 75. If Tokyo 2020 had taken place on its intended date rather than been delayed by Covid, the men’s eights final would have coincided exactly with his 74th birthday. His stated desire was to celebrate with a gold.
Who is to say that the 1.09 seconds separating his former oarsmen in third from the New Zealanders in first would not have been closed if he had been here?
British Rowing’s performance director Brendan Purcell could not agree to the single-year extension Grobler sought. According to sources close to the scene, Purcell insisted he commit to Paris, an offer he was probably meant to decline.
‘Basically, Brendan and Jurgen didn’t get on by the end of it,’ one of Grobler’s Olympic champions told me.
They lost Jurgen Grobler (centre) on August 21, an event that was hardly conducive to wins
Purcell, an Australian who joined rowing from triathlon in March 2018, talked in management speak on Friday of empowering athletes. This fits UK Sport’s unofficial mantra ‘Medals and More’, reflecting a desire to offer succour in place of Grobler-style Darwinism.
Indeed, memories of the annual altitude camps in Silvretta, Austria — 2,030 metres above sea level — never left the minds of those who went. Grobler took his first GB rowers there 30 years ago, just as he had his East German women squads before.
He still used original equipment — the same bench press, squat rack and gym mats. All this will be swept away.
The rowing world is split on how far to move in a new direction. One fears it may be a while before they are all swinging together.
James Cracknell noted there is nobody who would have instilled confidence in a crew more than Grobler