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SLAM! Sports '99 Rowing Worlds INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Monday, August 30, 1999Feud will boil over
The brief and heated exchange took place as team members loaded boats on to trailers after completion of the world rowing championships. Nothing was resolved, so a feud that has turned nasty and personal must come to a head -- maybe today. Maxrath, who initiated the discussion with Porter, refused to comment on talk from European circles that he plans to resign this morning. RUMOURS ABOUND "I have a contract (through next year)," Maxrath said. "There are a lot of rumours out there. Why are some people spreading rumours back to Derek?" The controversy has been a cloud over a good showing by Canada -- gold in the women's pairs, the self-coached Porter's bronze in singles, bronze in the women's eight, bronze in the light women's quad, eight boats in finals and six Olympic berths clinched. Bruce Robertson, Rowing Canada's vice-president of high performance, has the biggest say in personnel decisions and is ultimately responsible for building bridges if the staff is unchanged through the 2000 Olympics. He said matters will be dealt with promptly, "one way or another in the interests of our athletes and their performances." Robertson, who feels Porter and lightweight men's coach Volker Nolte were wrong to talk with media about internal team disputes while athletes were racing, said he had no indication Maxrath was set to resign. Robertson doesn't think everyone has to be friends, "but they need some fundamental respect for each other. My job is to remove the emotion ... and get to the root of what will help (our boats) go fast." Porter has a reputation of being tough to coach. But Nolte, who slagged Maxrath's training methods, said "it appears the feud (with Porter) goes much deeper than differences over coaching. Derek is a very senior athlete and won the only medal for the men's team. We have to listen to such a source." Nolte said he is confident Rowing Canada's leaders can deal with the matter. Maxrath is not so sure. "There (have been) a lot of problems for a long time," he said. "It has all been shoved under the carpet. It hurt us this year and it will be bad for the Olympics if it isn't dealt with now." The men's team, which has suffered from a lack of continuity, could be gutted by the need to find a fifth coach this decade -- especially with the Olympics one year away. Members of the men's eight, which was eighth Saturday and has yet to qualify for Sydney, have said they likely would quit if Maxrath does not return. Chris Taylor, cox of the men's eight, said Maxrath, who came to Canada from Germany two years ago, discussed quitting earlier this season. 
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