In 2024, CrewLAB Head Coach Simon Hoadley sat down virtually with all six members of the 2008 Beijing Olympics podium in the Men’s Coxless Pair—Australian gold medalists Drew Ginn and Duncan Free, Canadian silver medalists Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen, and bronze medalists Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater from New Zealand.
History
All three pairs’ journey to that podium began long before they made it to Beijing. For the Australian and New Zealand crews, they had been training together—and against each other—for years. Bridgewater and Twaddle first started competing together in 2004, and raced against Ginn and Free for three years before facing them in the Olympic finals. Unlike the other crews, Calder and Frandsen were relatively inexperienced as a pair, only getting matched a few months before the 2008 Games.
Despite a long history of competition between all three crews, the respect for each other and collective inspiration to get better drove their training. “It felt like there was a psychological game right from first stepping into the boat park, which doesn’t mean not you’re not friends or you’re not getting on with each other, but we were there to compete first and foremost. But I think we got some great respect for each other along the way and you always wanted them to be at their best,” said Bridgewater.
Nerves
Even for athletes at the very top level of competition, there can still be nerves. “I recall just going ‘just don’t give away anything,’ you know? Don’t show these guys that we’re actually worried, or we’re working hard, or whatever it is,” said Ginn. “We’re trying 100% every single stroke but make it look like we’re not trying.”
“I think about it now…how nervous you actually were inside looking at the boat park for the first time that season, looking at who’s in the boat park, looking at your competition. For me personally, [I felt] really intimidated every time I walked in no matter what boat I was in,” added Free. “I always went into regattas feeling like this is going to be hard work. I’m starting at the bottom and I’m going to work my way to try to prove myself that I can nudge my way to the top of the field.”
But nerves don’t have to hold crews back. Projecting a sense of calm through trusting your training or your race plan, or even something as simple as tossing a ball around pre-race can make a difference not only in how comfortable you are, but in how opponents view you and your boat.
Adjusting to pairs
Pair rowing was not always the primary focus for these athletes. Several of them had a background in larger boats like fours and eights, and notably, Free’s entire career was as a sculler before switching to sweep in order to partner with Ginn. Transitioning to pairs was a significant challenge, not only in technique and trying to find a working partner dynamic, but also in accountability.
“You can’t hide [like you can] in a bigger boat. You can hide in an eight and take a few strokes off, or think about how tired you are,” said Frandsen. “The intensity of how I attacked training just skyrocketed, and I think that then translated to how Dave and I race. I think there’s the technical side of rowing a smaller boat, but also, when you line up with 12 pairs across you got to learn how to train hard, otherwise you’re just going to be in wake the whole practice.”
Challenges
Like in many sports, there’s more to being successful than physical strength or endurance. Some challenges are mental, and drive athletes to find confidence they didn’t know they had.
“Don’t self-sabotage,” Calder said, recounting advice he had been given. “Don’t take yourself down this mental spiral where you convince yourself you’re not fast and you totally strip away all of your confidence. Don’t strap on that vest, believe in yourself go out and be who you are.”
Other challenges are circumstantial, like Ginn injuring his back during the heats. He was forced not to row at all in between race stages, adding another level of uncertainty to his training and preparation.
“As soon as we thought that way, it was like ‘okay we can trust that all the work’s been done.’ …The Games is about all emotional state and if you can keep yourself level it’s still pretty bloody hard,” Ginn said. “The other one for me was not letting [Free] down. I hated the idea of being there and not being able to deliver on what we’ve done for three years.”
Lessons learned
Rowing—and the pursuit of winning—shaped all of their lives, and offered lessons that have stuck with them forever.
“Winning matters yes, absolutely, but a lot of it’s the pursuit of winning and the psychological changes that you’ll go through yourself, and I think anybody can have that,” reflected Bridgewater. “I think a lot of my takeaway from rowing has been psychological—understanding myself but also understanding others and under pressure how people respond and behave.”
“You can control your effort and your attitude, and I think the lessons learned in who you become and those shared experiences, those shared bonds, that’s all magnified or multiplied by the pursuit of winning. If the pursuit of excellence isn’t in the equation or leading the equation then participation in sport is great and it teaches lessons, but they’re not as formative.” Said Frandsen.
“The biggest lesson for me was in coaching, whether it be my kids or others, is that you got to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way, no matter how big or small,” said Free.
Find out more
Hear more of the medalists’ perspectives on the 2008 Olympics and rowing at an elite level by listening to the complete interview on the CrewLAB YouTube channel.
