Rebecca Romero

G man

The GB track success has been great to watch, but for me the most fascincating story is Rebecca Romero. To win olympic medals in two different sports is unbelievable. Rowers have to be so driven by winning , because there is no financial reward for most of them. A friend of mine used to be in the GB rowing squad and most of the rowers have to put careers on hold or work part time to fit in all the training. Romero achieved a silver in rowing at the 2004 olympics, was one of the best female rowers in the world, but it still wasn't enough for her - she wanted gold. Disillusioned with rowing, she gets a phone call from GB cycling inviting her to do some tests, the tests are good, she's told she can be a good cyclist, trains, and now has won a gold in Beijing!
There are so many interesting aspects to this. GB cycling saw the opportunity to gain a great athlete to the squad and had the nouse to approach her and test her, knowing she was disillusioned with rowing. GB cycling are watching us! They must have dangled the carrot of an olympic gold medal in front of her, and her drive for success took care of the motivation for training. In interviews afterwards she mentions having to face her demons this olympics. If anyone saw the GB female rowing quad take the silver medal on Sunday you can understand what Romero means. They wanted gold and were devestated with silver. They all looked utterly inconsolable. This olympics thing is tough on athletes - 4 years to wait before sorting out your "demons" is a real bugger. Hats off to Romero and GB cycling that it paid off. I have the utmost respect for her amazing achievement and am fascinated by the rowing / cycling parrallel. Anyone know of any other rowers that have turned to cycling?

andrew_s

Chris Hoy

According to Hugh Porter's commentary, he got as far as silver in UK junior sculls

deal

the Australia womens eight team rowed a boat named after Amy Gillett, as a rower she went to Atlanta, and later switched to cycling. She was killed in a very nasty accident while training in 2005

more details here

also according to a link i just found

Jake Wetzel (Athens Silver in the Four for Canada) was a member of the Canadian Junior Cycling Team.

Marty Aitken was a professional cyclist before going into rowing and then coaching the GB Eight and lightweights.

Sinead Jennings - 2001 World Champion in the lightweight single and has
also competed for Ireland in the cycling world championships.

Siobhan Jacob is also an elite rower/cyclist at international levels in
both disciplines.

it seems that there are a number of people who have been involved in both sports

FJS

G man wrote:

I have the utmost respect for her amazing achievement and am fascinated by the rowing / cycling parrallel. Anyone know of any other rowers that have turned to cycling?

Me, although not 'quite' at olympic level .
But it makes sense, there are many parallels, especially with track pursuit; All rowing races tare over 2K, takes more or less 6-7 minutes, and it's a pure endurance sport over that distance, not much intermediate sprinting, so very much like a track pursuit race. Rowng is a lot more technical and difficult to learn though, so the switch from rowing to cycling would seem easier than the other way round. But Rebecca Romero, incredible!
What I find very interesting in your story is that she was actually contacted by GB cycling, more or less out of the blue. Show's the level of organization of GB track/olympic cycling. I can't see many other countries, or pro cycling teams for that matter, doing the same.

andy_wrx

Rather than being disillusioned with rowing, didn't Romero have a recurrent chronic injury ? Rowing is a lot harder on the body than cycling.

Pursuiting I guess isn't that technical - unlike individual sprinting or road racing...

....or the points race for that matter !

Capo

Interesting thread, couple of points:

Romero is no fan of the GB rowing set-up - see the following article:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 123606.ece

Now, I'm not a rower, but I have been following discussions on the TalkRowing website in the run-up to Beijing, and it does look like she's not the only one disillusioned with how things are run at Caversham, with all the politics and the way the rowers are treated..

She also reinforced this after taking gold,: "I've been involved in two of the top sports and they're worlds apart" - and the sport she is comparing cycling to is one of our three most successful at Beijing!

The second issue, and also a pertinent one from Romero's point of view, is that by crossing over to cycling, her Olympic focus changed from being involved in a team event, to focusing on an individual one.

The GB Women's Quad were clearly devastated to have been beaten at the end by the Chinese, but I thought the following comment from Katherine Grainger, who won silver in the boat with Romero at Athens, was very telling, when talking about why GB couldn't compete with the late Chinese sprint:

"There’s people in our boat who make those decisions, those calls and are very aware of what’s going on around us".

That may have been said in the heat of the moment, but the inference I'd draw there is that Grainger believes that someone (or more than one person) in the boat made the wrong call and that cost her the gold medal she so badly wanted.

And I think this may have been part of the attraction of track cycling for Romero - not only did GB cycling convince her that they had a better set-up than rowing, but it also gave her the opportunity to focus single-mindedly on getting gold in an individual event where the only person she could blame for making the wrong decision in competition was herself.

Seeing how focused she was on getting that gold, I think that must have been a huge part of her decision to switch sports.

Just my tuppence worth.

mangaman

Great ride by her and a great story..

but I don't really seem to warm to her like the others in the team who all seem more united together

She seems a bit "cold" although that's me just being judgemental I suppose

Capo

mangaman wrote:

She seems a bit "cold" although that's me just being judgemental I suppose

"Scary' rather than 'cold' is the word that comes to me.

I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!

toshmund

Think she is just incredibly focused, which to be a successful sports person, that is no bad thing. When it was the Gold/Silver GB final - could see, she still regarded the competition as if it was from another country. A lesser person might have been badly effected by the scenario. She is superb!

flattythehurdler

She is as mad as a box of frogs

fast as fupp

she got mad eyes-she looks like she could 'turn' in an instant

despite that paces and angles :twisted:

deal

mangaman wrote:

Great ride by her and a great story..

but I don't really seem to warm to her like the others in the team who all seem more united together

She seems a bit "cold" although that's me just being judgemental I suppose

I agree, i was cheering for Wendy H

Kléber

Likewise, she seems fixated on gold. Yes it's great to win gold but it's only for riding a bike around a wooden bowl, it's not the Nobel Peace Prize.

Arbortim

I heard someone on the radio saying the rowers use cycling a lot in their training and Rebecca wasn't the fastest cyclist....

More opportunities for BC?

ms_tree

Personally I think she needs counselling! and to get a life! (but then I haven't got any medals and am never like to but don't care either!)

mididoctors

Kléber wrote:

Likewise, she seems fixated on gold. Yes it's great to win gold but it's only for riding a bike around a wooden bowl, it's not the Nobel Peace Prize.

i think she is keen on winning a gold any gold.. sort of person you need at an olympics.

she didn't look comfortable riding in a bunch or particularly interested... considering that was her second bunch race not bad even if on a track.. I doubt we will see her step up to that discipline but it would be nice to be proved wrong

dedicated focused winner type...

the track events have less variables than the road and are more controlled through targeted training .. I think its an environment she is happy with..

she comes across as an insecure obsessive.. as bit harsh I guess so congratulations on her gold

Pendelton is a natural... deserves more events

mm1

Did anyone else read the patronising twaddle about "Just how weird is Rebecca Romero?" in G2 of today's Guardian?

Being the Grauniad, there is no recognition that growing up poor, white and half foreign (with a non white, English middle-class surname just in case one momentarilly forgets one's place) in posh southwest London might be a spur to achievement? Of course nice middle-class Guardian readers in Twickenham aren't at all racist or prejudiced are they (they go to Notting-Hill every August Bank Holiday and love foreign food and just love ethnic clothes shops and continental cinema)? They may not think Rebecca is cool, but I do!

mm1

[" non white"] meant to say "non-wasp", sure you got my drift...

Trickyupnorth

Just to side track a little, there was an interesting article in todays telegraph about RR:

Click Here

It'll be the closest she'll ever get to cheating

Michuel

The rewards of success!

It just goes to show what an athlete has to conquor - not only the deterministic system of course and competitors but the jibes of onlookers.

Is it because she's female that you're so so catty?

Well all I can say gentleman is that Steve Peters is an understanding guy and is very nice for you to talk to.

Romero is an Olympic champion.

flattythehurdler wrote:

She is as mad as a box of frogs

Capo wrote:

"Scary' rather than 'cold' is the word that comes to me.

I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her!

deal wrote:

mangaman wrote:

Great ride by her and a great story..

but I don't really seem to warm to her like the others in the team who all seem more united together

She seems a bit "cold" although that's me just being judgemental I suppose

I agree, i was cheering for Wendy H

fast as fupp wrote:

she got mad eyes-she looks like she could 'turn' in an instant

despite that paces and angles :twisted:

Kléber wrote:

Likewise, she seems fixated on gold. Yes it's great to win gold but it's only for riding a bike around a wooden bowl, it's not the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ms Tree wrote:

Personally I think she needs counselling! and to get a life! (but then I haven't got any medals and am never like to but don't care either!)

"mididoctors wrote:

she comes across as an insecure obsessive.. as bit harsh I guess so congratulations on her gold

Pendelton is a natural... deserves more events

Kléber

No one is saying catty, there are plenty of people who win gold and are pleased. For her, it seems a relief, a deliverance. Just an observation, no judgement. If anything, I'm in awe of her achievements! 8)

G man

Surely being obsessive is essential to olympic success for athletes. I'm sure every one of the track cyclists is obsessive about their training and has the hunger for olympic glory. Amateur athletes wait four years for their moment of olympic glory - as Steve Redgrave said of the rowers, if they don't seize their moment they will regret it for the rest of their lives. That is the kind of pressure that is heaped on the top rowers - great if they win, but could crush them if they fail. I'm sure her comments about how the GB rowing team could have performed better at the olympics and could learn from the cycling team would have riled some of the rowers, but she is in a unique position of having been part both GB teams in recent olympics, so maybe they should listen to her. Most people want our athletes to win gold, so I find the "she's too obsessed with winning gold" comments very unfair. She seems like she's had some lows during her journey to gold, and seemed in emotional turmoil after achieving it. I salute her achievement again, and could someone please enlighten me on how to win an olympic gold medal without being obsessed with winning a gold medal? I might give it a go myself, as I'm pretty laid back.
G man

SteveR_100Milers

she's a winners winner. Does it matter a jot about her private life (to any of us) other than the fact she is paid (by all of us) to win, so she does. Period.

andy_wrx

Interesting article from the Grauniad pre-Beijing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/ju ... 008.rowing

Seems she might think about a third sport next, a winter discipline...

mididoctors

Michuel wrote:

Is it because she's female that you're so so catty?

no why not the same observations aimed at cooke pendelton or pooley et al?

noo barking up the wrong tree there.

Romero is a interesting sport personality who appears vulnerable

it would be well cool if she did go for a winter game medal or a third sport and succeed as her flip flop changes in sport would be totally re-evaluated from

obsessive in search of a gold to sportswomen creating new niche and showing what can be done.

I will concede that the "jibe" attitude is a bias.. and that bias is she doesn't come across as a cyclist.. somehow.

FJS

andy_wrx wrote:

Interesting article from the Grauniad pre-Beijing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/ju ... 008.rowing

Seems she might think about a third sport next, a winter discipline...

"The feat has not been achieved since the 1920s, when Paul Radmilovic took medals in swimming and water polo - disciplines which are arguably far more closely related than sitting in a boat and sitting on a bike." LOL - is the real sports editor on holiday? What utter rubbish.

"Nordic biathletes and cross-country skiers have been warned." What about speed skating; much closer....

ride_whenever

Well rowing and cycling look pretty different, but they are really quite similar. Both require similar levels of endurance and fitness, both are predominantly leg drive sports with the torso and arms being used to different levels but required* for both. Most rowers make fairly handy cyclists. Interestingly rowing is one of the few sports where you use both legs in the same way at the same time as opposed to alternately.

*upper body needed less for cycling, but in both it is used for effective powertransfer from the legs. This is not a dig at adaptive athletes.

Kléber

FJS wrote:

What about speed skating; much closer....

Exaclty, 1980 Olympic speed skating champ Eric Heiden rode the Tour de France in 1986 and a crash stopped him from finishing the race.

mididoctors

FJS wrote:

andy_wrx wrote:

Interesting article from the Grauniad pre-Beijing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/ju ... 008.rowing

Seems she might think about a third sport next, a winter discipline...

"The feat has not been achieved since the 1920s, when Paul Radmilovic took medals in swimming and water polo - disciplines which are arguably far more closely related than sitting in a boat and sitting on a bike." LOL - is the real sports editor on holiday? What utter rubbish.

"Nordic biathletes and cross-country skiers have been warned." What about speed skating; much closer....

speed skating is technically a bit difficult to just pick up... compared to xc sking but the distance and timed efforts of skating are more in tune with rowing and track cycling..

biathlon is a great sport but it takes years of practice can't see her making a impact there..

learning to shoot etc..

yorkshireraw

mididoctors wrote:

Michuel wrote:

Is it because she's female that you're so so catty?

I will concede that the "jibe" attitude is a bias.. and that bias is she doesn't come across as a cyclist.. somehow.

She's not a cyclist? She's just a won an Olympic gold medal in Cycling. What do you mean then? She doesn't go out on 15mph sunday runs, stopping at Cafe's and drinking tea, therefore in your book she isn't allowed in the 'club'. Behave - she's just won the top prize in (the track side of) the sport. Whether she meets your crtieria or not, she's a cyclist.

We're a strange old lot in this country - footballers do sh1t at tournaments and it's all "they're unprepared, they're prima donna's, they're overpaid, no will to win" etc etc.
The Cricketer's get spanked down under 5-0 and it's "we're losers, we need the winning mentality like the aussies"
Then along comes this amazing talent, and within two years she scoops the world & olympic titles, and still there's criticism. What do you want?! So she's driven? That's what it takes - and that's why she's sat there in Beijing with a gold, and all of us aren't.
I'm sorry, I just don't think nice 'Tiger' (ha, what a joke) Tim Henman types win too many gold medals. Romero types do.
Yes Pendleton & Cook may come across a bit better on TV, but I'm sure they are just as driven and hard-edged when needed. Romero will maybe lighten up a bit now, don't forget her rise in Cycling has been a whirlwind.

mididoctors

YorkshireRaw wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

Michuel wrote:

Is it because she's female that you're so so catty?

I will concede that the "jibe" attitude is a bias.. and that bias is she doesn't come across as a cyclist.. somehow.

She's not a cyclist? She's just a won an Olympic gold medal in Cycling. What do you mean then? She doesn't go out on 15mph sunday runs, stopping at Cafe's and drinking tea, therefore in your book she isn't allowed in the 'club'.

yeah something like that

Behave - she's just won the top prize in (the track side of) the sport. Whether she meets your crtieria or not, she's a cyclist.

its not just about winning especially to cyclists like myself who are s**t