Silken Laumann's Difficult Past...

A true picture of female heroism in the sport of rowing is when Canadian sculler Silken Laumann crossed the finish line at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to take a bronze medal. Ten weeks earlier she had had her right calf muscles shredded when a men’s pair had crashed into her single scull during warm-up at a World Cup regatta in Essen, Germany. With enormous courage and willpower, she fought her way back, despite pain and her doctors’ advice not to go back to elite competitive rowing so soon. Before she could even walk, she was out sculling to make it to the 1992 Olympic single sculls final.

Now, Laumann has published an autobiography that is an equally brave achievement. In her Unsinkable she writes about the verbal and physical abuse inflicted upon her by her troubled mother, or as she writes on her blog: ‘mom who loved us, but didn’t have the tools to parent us’; while her father turned a blind eye to the problems. In Canadian interviews, Laumann reveals that she still to this day has ‘feelings of unworthiness’ due to her mother’s abuse.

It must have been incredibly hard for Silken Laumann to write about her childhood since both her parents are still alive. It takes real courage to accomplish such a thing. She also writes honestly about the anorexia she suffered from in her teens, and her partner’s and her difficulties having two children with special needs. She is a brave woman, Silken Laumann.

Unsinkable is written together with Canadian author Sylvia Fraser. Read more about it here.

Rowing Canada Sacks Spracklen...

A “bomb” went off this morning, when the rowing world learned that Rowing Canada has sacked its Head Coach Mike Spracklen. The three-time Canadian Olympic medallist Silken Laumann credited the British-born coach for having a hand in her success though the years. After the Canadian’s men’s silver medal in London she called him the “greatest rowing coach in the world” on her blog.

In a press release on Rowing Canada’s website today, it says:

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) today announced that it has initiated changes that will make its high performance coaching structure more streamlined and effective leading up to the next Olympics and beyond. Rowing Canada Aviron advertised several high-performance leadership positions last spring, and has begun to fill the roles.

At the London (Ontario) Training Centre, John Keogh will assume the role of Performance Director - Women. Keogh coached the Canadian women’s eight to a silver medal in London and before that worked in the British rowing system – in development and senior levels. Al Morrow, a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and a multiple Olympic medal-winning coach, will take over the lightweight men’s program, now to be based in Ontario.

Victoria-based Mike Spracklen will no longer be part of Rowing Canada Aviron’s coaching team. “We thank Mike for his tremendous contributions to Canadian rowing, and we know he will be missed by many of the athletes he has worked with,” said RCA’s high-performance director, Peter Cookson. “Mike has left a significant legacy and we respect and celebrate his many achievements.”

Originally from Great Britain, Spracklen led the Canadian men’s eight to wins at the 1992 and 2008 Olympic Games as well as a recent silver medal at the London 2012 Games.

The performance director of the heavyweight men’s program, based in Victoria, B.C., and other appointments, will be announced at a later date. RCA is extremely proud of the two silver medals won at the recent Olympics, and is now focused on moving forward and building the program to deliver a greater number of podium performances in 2016.

“Our goal is to look to the future and put as many crews on the podium as possible,” said Cookson. “Two medals (in London) does not meet our expectations – we are driven to improve on this, and I have every confidence that our new coaching and training centre structure will give our athletes what they need to reach their medal potential.”

“It’s obviously very disappointing but I’ve been expecting it for a long time,” said the 74-year-old Spracklen, in an interview with The Colonist newspaper. He continued, “They [Rowing Canada] have been kind of niggling at me for a long time. I’ve felt insecure in this position for several years. But it’s not the end of the world. I will definitely stay in coaching. I’ve got something to offer somebody somewhere. I’ve got a few more years left in coaching and I want to use them in a place where they want me. I will rest for a few days and decide what to do.”

Read more in these Canadian newspapers:
Time Colonist
CBC Sports
The Province

Although, this is sad news, indeed, HTBS don’t think that Spracklen has to be unemployed for that long…