the great eight
THE BEST ROWERS REUNITE AT THE HEAD OF THE CHARLES
CHARLES ATTAGER
The 45th Head Of The Charles Regatta will feature one of the greatest fields of elite rowers that this legendary Regatta has ever assembled .
All six of the finalists from the 2008 Olympic Single Sculls event — Olaf Tufte ( gold medal ), Ondrej Synek ( silver medal ), Mahé Drysdale ( bronze medal ), Tim Maeyens ( fourth ), Alan Campbell ( fifth ) and Lassi Karonen ( sixth ) will be joined by 2008 Olympic Double Sculls finalist Iztok Čop and Marcel Hacker , winners of the petite final at the 2008 Olympics — to form an eight-man sweeps boat dubbed the “ Great Eight .”
The Great Eight will compete in the Championship Men ’ s Eights race on Sunday afternoon against a field that will also have national team boats representing the United States , Great Britain and France .
“ To have such accomplished elite rowers coming to Boston for this year ’ s Head Of The Charles certainly is a thrill ,” said Fred Schoch , Executive Director for the Regatta . “ Short of a World Championship or an Olympic regatta , it ’ s rare that you ’ ll see so much talent in one place . This is an historic occasion .”
The Great Eight , which is the brainchild of British coach Bill Barry , competed together for the first time in March 2009 at the Head of the River Race on the Thames River in London . In that race , the Great Eight bettered Leander Club , comprised of five British National Team members from the Beijing Olympics , to win the title .
Mahé Drysdale , Born in Melbourne , Australia , Drysdale began rowing at university at the age of 18 . He gave up rowing to concentrate on his studies , but began rowing again after watching fellow New Zealander Rob Waddell win gold at the 2000 Olympic Games . Drysdale began competing at the World Cup level in 2002 , rowing in the New Zealand coxless four . After the 2004 Olympic Games , in which his New Zealand crew finished fifth in the final , Drysdale switched to the single scull , winning the 2005 World Championships at Gifu , Japan , despite having broken two vertebrae in a crash with a water skier earlier in the year . He successfully defended his title in 2006 at Dorney Lake , Eton , England and again in 2007 at Munich , Germany . Drysdale is a member of the West End Rowing Club in Avondale , Auckland , New Zealand and Tideway Scullers , London . Drysdale was officially selected as New Zealand ’ s Olympic heavyweight sculler on March 7 , 2008 . He was also chosen to carry the flag for New Zealand during the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony . Unfortunately for Drysdale , a severe gastrointestinal infection in the week before his final saw him off form yet remarkably able to carry the bronze medal for the men ’ s single scull . Dry-
MAHÉ DRYSDALE AT BEIJING ‘ 08
AND A CENTENNIAL OF CAMBRIDGE BOAT CLUB . 1909-2009 FORTY-FIFTH HEAD OF THE CHARLES REGATTA 21