top rowErS
Nathan Cohen (r) and Rob Waddell
(l) of New Zealand.
©2008 Getty Images/Michael Steele
7
Later that year Waddell took his single off the
shelf where it had been sitting for seven years
to row on Lake Karapiro where Cohen was
also rowing. Waddell remained quiet about
his rowing intentions and started his rowing
comeback cautiously. “I had to be realistic
at the start of the season. I had to lose 20kg
(muscle he had developed for sailing) and
I hadn’t rowed for seven years. There were
so many things that could have stopped my
comeback from happening. I had an ambition
but I kept it to myself.” Waddell remained low
key, but beating reigning World Champion
in the single Mahe Drysdale at a small local
regatta got the rowing rumour mill started.
Waddell quickly dismisses his break from the
sport, “I never left the sport,” he says. “I wanted
to do Athens (2004 Olympics) but I was told it
was not good for my heart.”
His heart problem (atrial fibrillation) flared
up for the first time in years when he went
head to head against Drysdale in a race
to help decide who would be chosen as
New Zealand’s Olympic single sculler. Waddell
was barely able to finish the race. Drysdale
was selected to be the single sculler and
Waddell was given the option of going into
the double. Waddell’s patriotic nature helped
make his decision; he wanted to compete for
New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics.
Racing for the first time internationally after
an eightyear hiatus (at this year’s Lucerne
Rowing World Cup), Waddell says it was not
too much of a shock: “The summer racing
(in the single against Drysdale) was so
competitive that it brought me up to speed
pretty quickly.”
Spending the majority of his career in a single
required some adaptation for Waddell as he
stepped into the double. “It’s almost more
challenging,” says Waddell. “You have to fit in
with the other guy. You have to be perfectly
matched.” Waddell adds that the difference in
their height is not an issue. “The main thing
is that the blades go in and out of the water
together.”
Waddell remains “openminded” about his
postBeijing plans. “I’m actually sailing straight
after rowing. The rules have changed (in the
America’s Cup race) which means grinders
will be down to around 100kg. This means
I might be more suited for the new cut of
boat.”
Chris Nilsson, the coach of Cohen
and Waddell, has the double training
alongside New Zealand’s men’s four for
their Olympic preparation. Nilsson has
only good things to say about Cohen
and Waddell. “Nathan is not overawed
by Rob, even though Rob was his hero.”
