Image credit: World Rowing/Benedict Tufnell
Part 1 available here – https://juniorrowingnews.com/alannahs-almanac-simon-van-dorp-the-silver-surfer-part-1/
As it turned out, Simon wasn’t delusional. He arrived at the World Championships and set the day’s fastest time in the single for the heat, going on to win his quarter and semi finals and ultimately come second in a close final.
Now it’s one thing to make a boat go quickly, it’s another to race well. As I’m sure any readers who have been in a multi-lane 2k race know, things are constantly shifting. You need only watch a few World Rowing international finals to know that reading a race well can determine winning or losing. At the level that these athletes compete, they have mere seconds to react to their competitors. Simon admits that this year he didn’t so much learn how to race as just how to move a single quickly – noting that technical focuses such as patience at the front end were his priority. However, he credits his time at Washington with providing invaluable race experience that gave him the base he needed. “You do so much seat racing and in different boats,” he explained. “Pairs, coxed fours, straight fours, eights, the single – pretty much everything – just get thrown in a boat, get a day to figure it out, or not even, and just row it… Being thrown in the deep end so many times really improves your ability to go with the flow and get the most out of yourself at any given time.”
Evidently, that experience did the trick as not only did Simon get silver, but he qualified the single for the Netherlands at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Remembering how his performance in the semi-final had achieved qualification, Simon admits he wasn’t expecting it to be as meaningful to him as it was.
Simon van Dorp“It’s not every day you qualify a boat for the Olympics, let alone the single, which does feel like maybe the hardest boat to qualify given there are so many great scullers… I take a great sense of pride and fulfillment from that.”
But 2023 racing wasn’t over for Simon yet. His performance on the Worlds stage secured him an invitation to The Gold Cup. Only four scullers of each gender are invited each year so elite is an understatement. Understandably, Simon felt honoured and privileged to be selected, adding that it was especially fun to be one of three Dutch athletes there. Clearly, the Netherlands’ focus on sculling is paying dividends. “I remember seeing the entries and thinking, ‘Jesus, the first guy missing out on getting here is the Olympic champion’. It’s pretty crazy.”
Proving he is far from a one-trick pony, Simon secured another second place that brought with it $12.000 of prize money. Naturally, I had to ask if he had any plans for the winnings: “I don’t know honestly. I am looking at Black Friday deals right now and debating if I need anything… or if I’m just going to be boring and save it. I might need a new bike…”
Simon did kindly offer that if I needed something more exciting for the article, I could write that he was heading to the casino to put it all on red. Turns out that Olympians are about as flummoxed as the rest of us about what to do with that much money.
With a very successful summer behind him, all eyes are now on Paris. As I’ve mentioned, Simon is no stranger to the Olympics, having come fourth in the eight at Tokyo, an experience that he’s learned valuable lessons from. Despite beating the British and New Zealand boats in the heat, who went on to get bronze and gold respectively, the final didn’t pan out as they had hoped. “From the first stroke, that final never felt right. Honestly, I still don’t know what happened” he commented.
Simon says that there are two main things from Tokyo that are shaping his approach to Paris. Firstly, that consistency is key and secondly, that there are zero guarantees.
“Looking back at Tokyo, what I learned is that there are zero givens. In a single it’s very important to know that. I was thinking that during the World Championships as well. I had a really good heat… the quickest time of the day. You go from top 48 to top 24, but only the top nine gets to qualify, so you’re still nowhere.”
Simon van Dorp
In fact, despite his pride at securing the qualification, Simon knows “you get a ticket and that’s it.” Not only does he need to perform well this winter but he also needs to stay healthy and uninjured. That’s before he factors in the competition. “I think there’s a lot of people looking at the Olympics with very good reason to be confident. There’s going to be five or six people that can look at the Olympics and think ‘hmm, I might win’.” Indeed, Simon highlights that it’s not necessarily just the obvious candidates to consider. He has been looking back at some of the B finals at the 2019 qualifying regatta that ended up medalling or even winning. For example, the French men’s double were ninth in 2019 and the New Zealand men’s eight didn’t even qualify at the 2019 regatta but both boats ultimately won at the Olympics. Though, of course, with Covid-19 then in play it’s difficult to make a direct comparison.
Ultimately, resting on his laurels is the exact opposite of Simon’s attitude going forward. His confidence and ambition are clear, but with that comes an ability to admit where he can improve and the knowledge that he can’t sit still if he hopes to be on the podium next summer.
Simon van Dorp“Past form doesn’t mean anything. There are always surprises at the Olympics. I’d love to be a good one.”
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