Image Credit: World Rowing
Most sports are defined by the achievements of their biggest stars, including rowing. Whether for their own sporting prowess – as has traditionally been the case – or their actions outside of the sport, the actions of the best-known rowers undoubtedly contribute to the image of this sport that has only been so recently publicised en masse.
Rowing is pretty conventional, overall. The races that you see on television are made up of hundreds of strokes, each exactly the same. It isn’t like the football; you don’t have the opportunity to display flair or individual talent in the big moments. However, the international rowing scene is filled with an abundance of talent, so it’s quite surprising that it doesn’t traditionally capture as much of an audience, even if we just gave people more of a glimpse of life behind the scenes.
Below, I’ll outline some that I consider to be such ‘personalities’. While by no means comprehensive, this list hopefully highlights the continued evolution of our sport’s move into the public mainstream.
Martin and Valent Sinkovic – Croatia
Affectionately known as the Sinkovic brothers, Martin and Valent have been flying the flag for the small nation of Croatia since 2012. Emerging onto the international scene in 2012 as part of a quad that won the silver medal in London, they went on to race in the double sculls at the 2016 games in Rio De Janeiro, where they claimed gold. In Tokyo 2021, they topped the podium in the coxless pair, highlighting the skill that they have across boat classes.
Having performed at the highest level since entering international sport, the brothers were the first double to break the six-minute barrier; few others in modern rowing have a legacy that can match them. It’s no surprise that, following this, Red Bull named them as sponsored athletes – something that inevitably boosts their profile outside of the sport. Featuring across their social media, they have become global ambassadors for a sport that is trying its best to make it into mainstream. With over 50k followers on Instagram, the Sinkovic brothers are as close as you can get to being modern legends of this sport.
Phillip Doyle – Ireland
Winner of the men’s double sculls at the third World Cup in Lucerne, the on-water successes of Phil Doyle have been rightly publicised online throughout his social media growth. With more followers than any other international rower, Doyle rose to prominence creating content of his time working in the NHS as a doctor throughout the COVID pandemic. Balancing this and training for the Tokyo games, Doyle has given his followers a glimpse of what life is like behind the scenes in the run-up to an Olympics as a high-performance athlete. Sharing details of his nutrition, training loads and camps, his content has given the viewer more access to the top of the sport than has been had since the release of ‘Gold Fever’.
Attracting a greater audience of eyes to the sport, and causes that he’s passionate about, the social media generation of rowers surrounding Doyle is something that can only take the sport to the next level. Doyle has paved the way for others to follow, and I expect that we’ll see more athletes growing their personal brand outside of the sport in years to come.
Imogen Grant and Emily Craig – Great Britain
The last of the GB lightweights, Imogen Grant and Emily Craig will be hoping to close the curtain on a discipline that has delivered some of the finest moments in rowing. Tokyo was painful for the pair, they came close but fell at the final hurdle, returning home without a medal. It looked as though this would have been the last hurrah for Emily Craig but, fortunately for the British rowing scene, the pair have been reunited and haven’t lost a race in the three years that have followed.
It would be fitting for two of the most exemplary professionals in the sport to be the final cherry on the cake for a classification that we’ll see little of on the international stage post-Paris. It can only be imagined that as we say farewell to Paris, we will say the same of Emily Craig, only in better circumstances than it would have been had it been four years sooner. With the publicity that comes from Boat Race victories, Imogen Grant has arguably become the face of British Rowing, and rightly so. An advocate for the higher quality of river water across the United Kingdom, Grant continues to use her profile to leverage attention towards something that all-levels of rower can continue to advocate for.
Oliver Zeidler – Germany
Although the German programme has struggled of late, the same certainly can’t be said of Oliver Zeidler. Still under the guidance of his family away from the German training centre, there’s a lot of pressure on the single sculler, who has won all there is to win since Tokyo, most recently cruising to his fourth victory in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta a couple of weeks ago. All that has evaded him to date is an Olympic medal, but I believe Paris will end all the doubts there. Zeidler is as consistent as he ever has been. Despite this, people will inevitably point fingers at one of his few losses this season to Simon Van Dorp in the World Cup at Lucerne. Whatever the outcome over the coming few weeks, it should go without saying that the amount of deserved fame Zeidler has built renders him one of the biggest names in the sport.
Helen Glover – Great Britain
Following the games in Rio, two-time Olympic gold medallist Glover announced that she was leaving the sport to focus on family. Glover has since had three children and returned to the sport as a result of the pandemic. Starting with the erg, Glover was soon back in a boat and it was publicly shared in 2021 that her training for GB selection had resumed. Racing that spring at the World Championships in the pair with Polly Swann, the duo would compete in the summer at the Tokyo Olympics. Though they came fourth, Glover was the first mother to have competed for Great Britain in rowing. Fast forward to 2024 and she now finds herself in the women’s coxless four. By achieving what she has in rowing and motherhood, she has inspired women across the world by showing them that having a family doesn’t have to be the end of their sporting careers or ambition.
Tom George and Ollie Wynne-Griffith – Great Britain
Both graduates of American Universities, Princeton and Yale respectively, before returning to Cambridge University following the Tokyo games, George and Wynne-Griffith have rowed at some of the finest institutions in the sport. Having learnt to row at Radley College, the two have spent their rowing career largely in parallel with one another. Entering the British men’s eight in 2018, George and Wynne-Griffith secured a bronze medal at the Tokyo games before being moved into the pair. Given their similar experiences and learnings in the sport, its no surprise that they clicked from day one. George has since recorded the British record for 2km and the world record on the 5km ergo test, 5:39.6 and 14:53.9 respectively. Wynne-Griffith being no slacker himself, this boat has all the power it needs to blow away the opposition in Paris claiming a long overdue Olympic gold medal.
Justin Best – United States of America
Racing in the coxless four for the United States, Justin Best is a central figure of what will be the men’s flagship boat for a nation that hasn’t secured a gold medal in 20 years. Having raced in the US eight in Tokyo after only one year in the senior setup, Best will be determined to make the hard work over the previous Olympiad return a far greater yield. With USRowing athletes working full-time alongside their training, Best is an Investment Analyst with a dream. If you needed any motivation to secure a result in the coming weeks, following Best in trying to be the best could be just what you need. Becoming notorious in the US for the social media content that he creates, Best has captivated USRowing for a number of years now. Hopefully it’s his performance that makes people smile over the coming weeks, not the memes that might follow it.
Karolien Florijn – The Netherlands
Having been part of the hugely successful Dutch coxless four in the previous Olympiad, Florijn has put down the sweep oar that saw her take a silver medal in Tokyo and turned to sculling instead. While for most, this might have hindered performance on the international stage, this hasn’t been the case for Florijn, as she took gold in the World Cup and the European Championships that year. Since then, Florijn has gone from strength to strength, asserting her dominance over a tough field of talented female scullers. The Netherlands have continued to fire on all cylinders, and the same should be expected at the Olympics in Paris. Aged only 26, Florijn has the opportunity to make the single sculls her own and secure a legacy in the event similar to Mahé Drysdale in the men’s equivalent previously.
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