Tony’s new life as a coach
in New Zealand. / Tony et
sa nouvelle vie d’entraîneur
en Nouvelle-Zélande.
© World Rowing
From athlete to coach:
Tony O’Connor
Olympic gold medallist
Marnie McBean chose not to
become a coach. She figured
it would take up more time
than being an athlete. Ireland’s
Tony O’Connor never got a
chance to ponder the option.
One month after retiring from
rowing, two-time Olympian
O’Connor was back on the water,
coaching for Ireland, helping the
athletes with whom he had until
recently been in the boat and
training with. O’Connor was
again part of the Olympic cycle,
working towards the Olympic
Games in Athens, this time from
his new vantage point.
Two years after taking up the
position with the Irish team,
O’Connor became one of the
many coaches to take a position in
another country. But, unlike many
coaches, O’Connor made a move
that some people would qualify
as a backward step in coaching
career terms. O’Connor relocated
to the small New Zealand city
of Christchurch to coach at a
small private high school of 650
students. The school, Christ’s
College, has a team of 80 rowers;
many of them see it as a way to
keep fit for their winter sport,
rugby.
O’Connor explains his move: “I
always liked school coaching.
I find it more genuine than
international stuff. The kids
Tony’s assistant coach, Frank. / Frank,
l’entraîneur assistant de Tony.
believe what you say and you see
improvement a lot quicker.”
Christ’s College has already seen
the rewards of hiring O’Connor.
Their schoolboys eight recently
won New Zealand’s most
prestigious race in high school
rowing, the Maadi Cup.
“The kids believe
what you say and
you see improvement
a lot quicker.”
Talking from the High School
National Championships,
O’Connor is nervous for his team.
“I found it just as exciting here as
an Olympic final. I couldn’t watch
it.”
O’Connor describes his coaching
style as a blend of his own
experiences. “It’s a mixture
of all of the coaches that have
coached me. Thor [Nilsen] was
a big influence on me especially
on how we should act in life. I
find myself saying things that
Thor would say. I teach them
coordination, stuff that I used to
do myself under Thor.”
“I try to get the boys to see that
the boat isn’t an inanimate object,
they’re part of it. I try to get them
to be ‘sympathetic’ to the boat,
be gentle at some points. But it’s
hard with teenage boys to develop
sensitivity.”
Employing the phrase “tamed
aggression” O’Connor sometimes
gets in the boat with his crew. “I
want to show them how gentle
they can be.”
“Rowing is damage limitation.
The boat wants to run, you’ve got
to let it,” says O’Connor.
In picking potential rowers
O’Connor looks for spark
rather than focusing on physical
attributes. “I look for those who
are like me,” says the former
lightweight World Champion.
O’Connor’s students know little
of his achievements. He still
holds the World Best Time for
the lightweight men’s pair, set
in 1994 in Paris. He also raced
at two Olympic Games in the
lightweight men’s four and
is a World Champion in the
lightweight pair from 2001.
O’Connor’s rowing career
ended in 2002 when he suffered
chronic fatigue syndrome. “I
was ill. In Seville [at the 2002
World Rowing Championships]
I was fairly out of it.” The
fatigue went on for nearly a
year.
“I don’t miss racing at all,” says
O’Connor. “I find it difficult to
get enthused about exercise. I do
it because I know it’s good for me
and so I can fit into my jeans.”
M.S.B.■
Tony O’Connor (s) and Gearoid Towey racing at the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne (SUI). / Tony O’Connor (chef de nage) et Gearoid Towey lors
des Championnats du monde d’aviron 2001 à Lucerne (SUI).
