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SLAM! Sports '99 Rowing Worlds INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Monday, August 30, 1999Spat requires quick resolutionCanadian men's heavyweight rowing program must settle coach's future
But the controversy snowballed and the vitriol all came out, leading up to a climax at the regatta's end that leaves Bruce Robertson, the vice-president of Rowing Canada, with only one question to answer -- does coach Dielthelm Maxrath stay or go? Robertson, a volunteer, said he will answer that question after he talks to those involved, but the sooner the better. He's said it's been a tough week for all involved, himself included. "It's been bloody hard. It's really tough to see . . . people hurt," Robertson said. Maxrath, the head coach of the men's heavyweight team, says he's been undermined by many within the national program. "They're playing with my career and my reputation as a coach," he said yesterday. "I had so many people from other nations coming up to me and saying, 'What is this terrible, dirty thing that they're running against you?' " And he said the verbal sparring hurt his team at the championships, in which only one men's heavyweight team, besides single sculler Derek Porter, qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. That was the pair of Dave Calder and Morgan Crooks. Porter, who won bronze Saturday, and Maxrath have been doing the most talking. Porter said because of Maxrath, he's seen as the enemy now by some members of the eights boat, which missed qualifying for the Olympics by finishing eighth, the same position it did last year. That team said they'll quit if Maxrath is dismissed. Robertson said he's disappointed in the way the men involved have handled the situation. "They all have some responsibility to interact professionally. They need to have some fundamental respect for themselves and for each other." How Robertson decides if Maxrath stays or goes will be based on performance, he said. "My job is to deal with the emotion and personal aspects and try to get down to the real root of what is going to help us go fast and make it a performance issue." Six Canadian crews will be at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, with the possibility of another three qualifying next summer. Canada won four medals -- gold in women's pairs by Emma Robinson and Theresa Luke, bronze for Porter, bronze by the women's eight and the lightweight women's quad won bronze in a four-boat division that isn't an Olympic event. "Overall, I think the team performed very well," Robertson said. "It is definitely getting harder to win medals in international rowing." He said the team learned a lot this past week that will help them heading into an Olympic year. "One of the things we used to do in the past was just work 10 times harder than everybody else. Now, that's not good enough. We have to be smarter; we have to pay attention to all the physical things. There's a real fine balance." Women's head coach Al Morrow of London said he's pleased with what happened this past week. "Both on the level of trying to be involved in a good experience for the women I coach and on the level of performance, I'm obviously very happy." Yesterday, the federal government gave the championships another $500,000, which was committed prior to the worlds. In all, the government gave $3.5 million to regatta organizers. Denis Coderre, secretary of state for amateur sport, was at the regatta yesterday with the cheque. The races were held in the mornings this past week in order to hit prime-time hours in much of Europe, where an estimated 21 million watched on television. More than 10,000 people watched the finals from the grandstands on Martindale Pond, which is about what organizers estimated. 
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