Aussie Adrian
“Rowing is a very fair sport,” says Adrian
David, “you are not reliant on other
people’s judgement. Only your own
performance determines your success.”
Adrian David, nominated for the
2006 FISA Coach of the Year, has
led 36 crews to medals at Olympic
and World Championship level;
18 won gold and nine set new
World Best times in his coaching
career.
“It’s not enough to say ‘I want to
be an Olympic Champion’; you
have to understand what process
is behind that,” says David. “To
want to be the fastest rower in the
world isn’t enough: it is the result
of a process.”
appearance at Eton was her first
World Rowing Championships.
“He made me feel like I had
nothing to prove, which was just
what I needed.”
Born in Romania, David now
calls Australia home. Two years
after graduating with a Masters
Degree from Bucharest’s Institute
of Physical Education and Sport,
he commenced coaching at
Romania’s Steaua Club in 1976.
From 1980 David successfully
coached Romania at international
competitions, culminating in
his appointment as Olympic
Team Head Coach for Atlanta in
1996. During this period, David
oversaw the development of
rowing legends Elisabeta Lipa,
Doina Ignat, Constanta Burcica,
and Liliana Gafencu. Between
this quartet are 15 Olympic gold
medals.
At the 2006 World Rowing
Championships on Eton’s Dorney
Lake in Great Britain, David
took Australia’s heavyweight and
lightweight women’s double sculls
to gold and silver respectively.
“I think Adrian’s really good
at peaking athletes at the right
time,” says 2006 women’s double
sculls World Champion Brooke
Pratley. “In the Rowing World
Cup at Lucerne, neither boat
[W2x, LW2x] performed really
well. By the World Rowing
Championships, I was jumping
out of my skin.”
“He has very high standards, but
you wouldn’t want it any other
way,” says dual World Champion
and Olympian Amber Halliday,
who has trained under David at
South Australia’s Sports Institute
since late 2000. “Ultimately he is
the one that has taken me to my
best results and you can’t argue
with that.”
“He gave me a lot of confidence
in my own abilities, there was no
pressure. That was a big bonus,
because it was a big deal to make
the A Final,” says Pratley, whose
Looking to the future, Beijing is
on David’s radar, and the Olympic
gold medal that has so far eluded
him in his nine years coaching
down under. Meanwhile, he hopes
to spend any down time at home
with his wife Victoria, and children,
Daniela, 23, and Adrian, 19.
Thomas Nickson ■
David and his family moved to
Adelaide, Australia, in March
1997, where he accepted the
appointment of Head Rowing
Coach of the South Australian
Sports Institute. While the less
rigid organisational structure,
decentralised training centres,
and largely amateur nature of
rowing in Australia required some
adapting to, the on-water aims
of his new country were very
familiar: international success
and medals.
For David, communicating and
convincing his athletes of his
approach to rowing has been
testing. However, he too has learnt
to make some concessions.
An independent thinker and
consummate professional, David
has refined his recipe for success.
Seeking harmony between athlete
and boat, his philosophy is one
of efficiency, precision and
discipline.
“Dealing with people is always a
challenge. You want to make your
athletes better, but also go beyond
their limits. That’s not easy,” admits
David. “Adapting to the athletes’
needs, being available according
to their schedules, being able to
work around the other demands in
their life is something I have had
to learn to do.”
© John Gichigi/Getty Images
Preparing for the recent World
Championships, David chose
a five-week training camp in
Switzerland for his crews, in
preference to Rowing Australia’s Liz Kell (l) and Brooke Pratley of Australia win gold in the women’s double sculls, ahead of
prescribed programme of Germany’s Britta Oppelt and Susanne Schmidt and of defending world champions and current
Olympic champions Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell of New Zealand. / Les Australien-
competing at the Munich and nes Liz Kell (g) et Brooke Pratley remportent l’or en deux de couple, devant les Allemandes
Poznan Rowing World Cups. Britta Oppelt et Susanne Schmidt et devant les triples championnes du monde et championnes olympiques en titre Georgina et Caroline Evers-Swindell de Nouvelle-Zélande.
