Australia, and domination at the Final Olympic
Qualification Regatta in Poznan, Poland.
> By then, both had the experience of intense
training and competitive racing from having
spent four years in the American collegiate
system (Frandsen at the University of California
Berkley and Calder at the University of
Washington), followed by Olympic experience
in Athens (Calder also raced in Sydney).
While Frandsen missed the last selection for
the Beijing men’s eight, Calder was making a
comeback after three years out of the sport.
Calder, father to a now four-year-old daughter,
had quit the sport after Athens, started his
professional career and was enjoying being
a dad.
Calder’s old high school coach wasn’t surprised
though when the duo showed speed and class
right from the get go. Says Carr: “Before the 2004
trials they had been put together for one week
and dominated at an early regatta. Had they
stayed together who knows what other history
would have been made. Very few pairs have
that instant harmony demonstrated by these
two and they did not need time in the boat to
become medal prospects, as they subsequently
proved.”
But the wooden trophy case built by Calder’s
late grandfather was still missing an Olympic
medal. This haunted him enough to make him
try again. “[My grandfather] always had faith
there’d be an Olympic medal in there one day,”
says Calder.
His hopes to fill the case were lifted when he
and Frandsen surprised their competitors at pre-Olympic regattas - a win at the Lucerne Rowing
World Cup over reigning world champions
While on national television, with Beijing’s
distinctive medals hung around their necks,
both men returned the compliment to coach
Carr, giving their high school rowing coach
credit for their success. Junior coach Carr says
that kind of acknowledgement made a lasting
impact on the rowers currently at the high
school, sparking the fire for the next generation
to follow in the footsteps of men like Calder and
Frandsen who once were simply two Canadian
school boys.
