Clementine Yost
Staff Writer
Sir Steve Redgrave was welcomed to the GMB by a massive throng of students, mostly rowers from Dublin University Boat Club and Dublin University Ladies Boat Club. Redgrave came from England to accept the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage. Phil president, Lorcain Clarke, Sch. presented Redgrave with the award honoring his incredible achievements in the sport of rowing. Redgrave now has yet another gold medal, adding to his seventeen gold medals, five of which are Olympic.
Redgrave thanked the Phil and said to the audience, “Now that it has been bestowed on me, my question is: is it gold?” He justified his remark explaining how despite Olympic bronzes being bronze and silvers being silver, that “the golds were fake.”
After rowing for twenty-five years, involvement in preparation for the London games brings his Olympic life from age fourteen to fifty-one. As an Olympic Ambassador for Great Britain, Sir Redgrave must watch sport and mind VIP guests. After Great Britain’s first gold of 2012 in the Women’s Pair, Redgrave was scheduled to meet one of the main donors for lunch. He turned up a bit late and the donor teased, “I’m a bit disappointed. We were promised the most decorated athlete.” This was Redgrave until Bradley Wiggins overtook him to hold the title for a mere four days before Sir Chris Hoy took over the mantle.
Redgrave spoke next about the Paralympics. David Weird won the 800meters the same day that Johnny Peacock won the 100meter. There were four ‘faulty starts’ in Peacock’s race against his idol Oscar Pistorius. Redgrave explained that from knowing Pistorius personally, he was “not going to go into that,” but that his thoughts were with the Pistorius family. He got back to his story about Peacock and told us how when Johnny Peacock stumbled, the whole stadium erupted screaming, “Peacock, Peacock, Peacock!” The fifth start got off well, but Redgrave distinctly remembered the chanting support of the crowd and the feeling of goosebumps and hair standing on end that it gave him.
Then he spoke about watching Women’s Boxing with the Princess Royal. There were three finals. When Nicola got up to the ring, the British fans erupted in support for their fellow Briton. However, Sir Redgrave said that the final took place in a room all in Green. The “hierarchy of Ireland was there” and the entire “Irish atmosphere was incredible.” Whether Redgrave was throwing us a bone or not is debatable, but certainly the Irish fans knew going into the Olympics that fighting and equestrian would be their best chances to medal. When Katie Taylor came out, Redgrave described Mexican waves whirling around the stadium just like the scene from Mo Farah’s race.
Sir Redgrave has become known for something besides his great achievements in the sport of rowing. He gives hugs. As he came out of the Women’s Boxing final, Irish comedian Dara Ó’Briain bounded up to Redgrave, “You are the king of hugs, you gotta give me a hug!” A photo was taken of this moment, which inspired the pupils of Marlborough College to request hugs after Redgrave gave a talk there. Hugs he said, creeped him out just a bit.
Redgrave was fourteen when he started and nearly fell out of an eight his first go. Despite the harried start, he thought to himself, “wouldn’t it be great to go to the Olympics?” Many youngins dream of Olympic appearances, but few actually have what it takes to get there. Redgrave had what it took and he proved this through five consecutive Olympics. As a child, his hero was American swimmer, Mark Spitz. Spitz won seven medals at Munich in 1972. At that time, the UK didn’t have the same success in international rowing, “Yet,” said Redgrave “I had an inner belief that I could do it.”
His wife, Dr. Lady Anne Redgrave is herself an internationally acclaimed rower. She won silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games, but she wanted to pursue a career in medicine. She is now a surgeon and osteopath helping Great Britain’s rowing team. Redgrave exemplified his wife saying, you need to have a clear vision because, “if you know where you want to be, you have a good chance to get it.”
Sir Redgrave knew exactly where he wanted to be. He wanted to be in the British VIII. At the time, to make the boat was to prove you were better than ninth place. Then they brought in a new German coach, who had all the gold medal times for each event so that each of his oarsmen was trying for an Olympic best. Redgrave knew to win the coxless pair they had to make 6:22. They won. The Kiwis came in with 6:28. A testament to advancements in the sport, last year the Kiwis won the event with 6:08.
Redgrave continued the moral of striving for a goal with an anecdote about American swimmer John Naber, who in 1972 helped qualify his relay team for the final at the Munich games. Six swim to qualify, yet only the final four are given medals. Naber was not given a medal, yet Redgrave said Naber was proud of what he did to help. Naber knew where he wanted to be in 1976. He wanted to be part of the final team and he wanted to win the men’s 100m backstroke. He looked back over the world’s best times and noticed a fluctuation. At the new games, it was high but suffered a lull between games. Naber predicted the gold time for Montreal would be 55.5 seconds. Yet, his personal best was 59. He broke it down into needing to swim one second faster each year. He would have to shave off 1/10th of a second each month. Naber took this to mean he had to improve by 1/5 of an eye-blink each hour of training. John Naber won the backstroke gold with 55.49 seconds. Finishing the story, Redgrave said, “I hope that’s a true story, I’ve used it a lot.” The moral of the story is to set a goal and break it down into small bits to accomplish one step at a time.
Then it was time for questions. A diabetic rower for DUBC queried, “What was it like to row with diabetes?” Redgrave told how he was diagnosed with diabetes three years before Sydney. Adding a dash of rowing banter saying diabetes “really threw a spanner in the works.” He recalled the mindset that he and his partner Matthew Pinsent had where they felt everyday they could race. Diabetes ruined this. They were training in South Africa and had four sessions a day for two days, a break of an afternoon off on the third and back at it again. Despite Lady Redgrave wanting her husband to retire after Atlanta, he continued. “I’m a stubborn person,” he said. He knew something was wrong when he came in last by over ten minutes from a team cycle. He said, “It felt like a light switch was turned off” in the middle of a 2k erg test. With his wife’s support, he continued through the camp and got tested when he returned home. His GP told him, “You can achieve your dreams” and is now the leading consultant for athletes with diabetes. Redgrave added, “Diabetes has to live with me. I don’t have to live with diabetes.”
“What was your sweetest victory?” chimed a ladies boat club member in the middle of the room. Redgrave shared that he always wanted sculling gold. At seventeen, he thought at Moscow, Los Angeles, Seoul that he could win. He didn’t. Then at Henley in the diamond sculls, a lightweight beat him. This motivated him to give it his all in the commonwealth games. He is still the reigning single scull champion (because there hasn’t been sculling in the commonwealth games since.)
“Who’s the most impressive sportsman you have ever met?” Mark Spitz. Americans have this sense that “winning is everything and nothing else.” At a group interview, the host asked the gathered athletes who is the best Olympian other than yourself. Spitz couldn’t think of someone besides himself. Redgrave quickly answered Mark Spitz. After the interview was over, Spitz came up to Redgrave and said, “man I should have said you! Gold medals in five consecutive Olympics!” Redgrave was delighted by this praise from his childhood hero and said he hoped Michael Phelps’s eight golds in Beijing had inspired Redgrave’s son into sport. Although he said, Ussain Bolt is his son’s real hero.
The final question came from a senior rower in Dublin University Boat Club. “Can you tell us about hiding behind the island and Princess Anne’s car?” Redgrave was slightly shocked by these personal questions. In the weeks leading up to Redgrave’s ceremony of honorary patronage, this rower had been talking with Redgrave’s partner, Matthew Pincent on twitter. Pincent requested he ask about ‘Hiding behind the island’ and ‘Princess Anne’s car.’ Redgrave addressed ‘Hiding behind the island’ first. He said how training was very methodical and that he and Matthew achieved the gold medal time the year before Barcelona. The time for Atlanta was four seconds quicker. When their coach wasn’t there, they’d sneakily hide behind the island and forgo practice. When they became World Champions, Matthew Pincent’s second time and Sir Redgrave’s fourth, Pincent tapped his shoulder and said, “We can never hide behind the island again.”
Princess Anne’s car was in Barcelona. They got up to the stake boats when Belgium’s footplate snapped. The race was postponed until Belgium could fix their boat. Redgrave and Pincent didn’t feel like rowing all the way back to the boathouse, so they slipped on the side of the water and strolled up the little hill. They came to an open car, so they hopped in and took a nap. They awoke to a tap on the glass by what appeared to be a personal security guard who immediately stated, “This is the Princess Royal’s car. Can we please have it back?”
Sir Steve Redgrave thanked the Philosophical Society for graciously bestowing such an honor upon him and exited the room to a booming standing ovation from every rower with no class at 2:00, although most had no problem skipping lectures to see their hero.
Photo credits to Andrew Murphy
