Kiwi Olympians: Rob Waddell

By PETER JESSUP

When the Waikato pre-dawn is 5 degrees and with a wet, swirling fog shrouding everything, you would rather be tucked up warm in bed.

But there is much to be said for watching the sun rise to reflect off the mirror of Lake Karapiro - and rower Rob Waddell regards himself as privileged every wintry morning as he rolls out for his Olympic buildup.

"Sometimes it's hard to push yourself but it's always such a good feeling afterwards; very satisfying," he says.

"Afterwards" follows two hours or more of rowing his single scull up the lake and back - 22km a session, twice a day.

The Evers-Swindell sisters, Georgina and Caroline, are nearby as they work towards the Olympic qualifying spot Waddell has already secured, also guided by 1972 Munich eights gold medallist Dick Joyce.

It is a symbiotic relationship and a happy collaboration for Waddell. He and Joyce have been together three years and have two world championship golds to show for it, along with indoor success.

There is a mutual trust and respect. As Joyce motors alongside shouting orders through a megaphone, the rower does not quibble.

"He'll sense when things are working and when they're not," says Waddell.

"He's very perceptive and I guess that helps with the trust. He's got me going well on the water."

He does not question even when he is knackered, with muscles screaming at a tired brain.

Waddell's start in rowing was inauspicious - a water-filled boat and a lowly placing, the boarder from a Piopio sheepfarm missing the King's College team for the prestigious Maadi Cup competition.

In one of the worst selection judgments of all time, a King's master told him: "You're all arms and legs - you'll never make a rower."

He tried rugby, tennis, went to Japan for his seventh form and studied up to black-belt level in judo, and came back to rowing determined he could make it.

By 1994 he was winning national titles with his Waikato club in the coxless pair, coxed and coxless fours, and the eight. In 1995 he took up the single scull and won the New Zealand title.

The rapid improvement came to a grinding halt in 1996 at the age of 21, when his heart raced to an alarming 240 beats a minute one day. Atrial fibrillation was diagnosed and Waddell still takes medication to control it.

Rowing has been the lifestyle since, with early morning starts at Karapiro six days a week, gym work between, some public speaking and sponsorship commitments.

The rewards have been plenty of overseas travel and back-to-back world indoor and outdoor championship medals.

Outdoor requires greater mental control, perfect strokes and places more strain on the abdominals. Indoor is just hard-out.

Waddell is the next best thing to a medal certainty in Sydney. His coordination is improving, he has the form and is recognised as the one to beat. But he is not banking on anything.

"The reality is that so many things go into making the boat go fast - preparation, fitness, mental approach, tactics. So much can go wrong on the day.

"It's a cut-throat business. There are no easy races."

DNA has much to do with why he is so good. His body produces the muscle-sapping lactic acid at a much lower rate than normal, meaning he gets more oxygen to his muscles for longer, so they work harder for longer - critical in the last minutes of a 2000m race. Rowing is endurance as well as strength.

His 2m height is an advantage, meaning a longer stroke. His ability to concentrate under extreme physical strain is crucial - every mistimed or over- or under-buried "catch" with the oar is a self-imposed handicap.

The catch is like a golfer's swing - the biggest technical variable, Waddell says.

"There's a sweet spot and when you hit it it feels so good, the boat lifts out of the water and it feels so easy it's amazing. Dick's been working on my technique and I feel it's definitely getting better."

And that is what the hours at Karapiro are about, setting his mind so he hits the sweet spot automatically in the home straight at the Penrith Lakes Olympic rowing complex.

The other sweet partnership in his life is wife Sonia. They train at the same time, she with the Cambridge crews 50m away on the lakeside.

They married in November 1998 at a church near their new Cambridge home and celebrated last year by securing a matched pair of national singles sculls titles.

While he has been completing a business management degree at Waikato University, she is studying to become a vet.

The stability of a supportive partner who knows what he is going through is a godsend.

Dinner is a big marital problem, with both often so tired they do not feel like cooking. He has to force the meal down, the fuel all-important to maintain his body fat ratio.

Waddell receives some value from a pre-season course of the meat substitute creatine but is not into dietary supplements.

He left New Zealand on Saturday and will not return until after the Games in September. He has races in Austria and Switzerland, with training in Belgium between.

He then heads to Brisbane to acclimatise.

He has raced twice on the much-criticised Penrith course and agrees it has good and bad points.

A separate warmup course ensures that those waiting to race do not disturb the surface on the race run. But crosswinds affect some rowers and not others.

His expectations for Sydney? "The biggest pressure comes from inside. You know what you've put in and what that work makes you capable of."

Waddell believes he has a way to go to reach his peak and will pursue the rowing lifestyle post-Olympics regardless of his finish at Penrith.

"I don't feel like I've had to make too many sacrifices ... I feel lucky."

The Olympics – a Herald series

Official Sydney 2000 web site