Rowing to respect
“Last year’s rowing season was all about stepping it up and getting the job done,” says World
Champion Anthony Theriault, from Canada. After making every A-final and earning two
medals since he began competing in adaptive rowing in 2006, Theriault finally struck gold at
the 2010 World Rowing Championships – and added a new World Best Time (3: 21. 22 in the
heat) to his long list of sporting successes.
Throughout the 2010 season, Theriault and his
crewmates in the Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed
Four upped their game with a new full-time coach and
more opportunities to train and race together. “The top
of the podium had always eluded us,” says Theriault, 50,
who won bronze at the 2006 and 2007 World Rowing
Championships and was sixth at the 2008 Paralympic
Games in Beijing. “We made the most of every camp.
We went to New Zealand knowing that we were faster,
stronger and more technical, but still had no idea of
what the rest of the world had been up to.”
Winning in sport has always been part of Theriault’s
life – swimming and running track ( 1,500m) to racing
triathlons, including six Ironmans and representing
Canada at the ITU World Triathlon Championships
as both an able-bodied athlete and an athlete with a
disability after a bike accident in 1992 left him with a
spinal cord injury.
© Rowing Canada Aviron
A head-to-head battle with Great Britain ended with
Canada nipping the reigning World Champions by just
half a second. Beyond gold, Theriault sees victory in the
new-found respect for adaptive rowers in Canada. “As
an athlete group, we’ve had to earn the respect over the
years. The past two years have seen a huge swing in how
we have been accepted, encouraged, and recognised
for our achievements. There have been some growing
pains as we rose to this point, but I feel we’ve been so
lucky to have the opportunities with training groups
and camps which have enabled us to raise our game.”
It wasn’t until 2005 that Theriault discovered rowing
as a way to keep fit in the triathlon offseason. “Finding
rowing has had a positive impact on my life. The
opportunity to challenge myself as an athlete with a
disability is huge for me.”
And Theriault doesn’t see himself hanging up his oars
anytime soon. “There is always a place for me in the
sport as a masters rower, or just someone who will
enjoy taking out my single at our cottage lake on the
west coast of Canada.”
