Olympic Feature – Coaching at the Games

GREAT BRITAIN – Being part of the home team
Christian Felkel coaches the men’s eight for Great Britain, and although he has been to four Olympic Games, this is the first time that he has been part of the home team, “You go to the Olympics everyone is friendly, but here they actually want you to do well,” he says, “As you cycle up to the start and you see all the GB flags. It’s really just amazing! Wherever you go you have people cheering you on or giving you the thumbs up. It’s a feeling I have never experienced before; to walk around somewhere where everyone is on your side. It’s absolutely great.”

Felkel has been to four Olympic Games, but this is the first time that he has been part of the home team, “When you go to the Olympics everyone is friendly, but here they actually want you to do well,” he says, “As you cycle up to the start and you see all the GB flags. It’s really just amazing. Wherever you go you have people cheering you on or giving you the thumbs up. It’s a feeling I have never experienced before, to walk around somewhere where everyone is on your side. It’s absolutely great.”

GERMANY – First Olympics
Although there is not much media focus on the Lars Koltermann’s lightweight men’s double, the German coach still feels the pressure, “once your athletes are on the water and you can’t do anything you get really nervous. You are just counting down the minutes.”
For Koltermann, it does not get much better once the race has started. His crew put in a below par performance in their heat, coming second instead of the first place they had expected. In this moment he says all you can think is “’what are they doing? This just cannot be happening!’ It seemed to me they weren’t trying hard enough.” But for his first Olympics, Koltermann is fairly relaxed about his crew’s result as they still progress to the A/B semi-final.

Germany’s only volunteer coach relies on his generous employer allowing him to have time off for his rowing commitments, including the Olympic Games. But despite not getting paid, Koltermann is very pleased to be in London, which he describes as “a once in a lifetime experience.” The Olympics are so different from any other international races for many reasons, but one of the most significant is the incredible crowds all the way down the course; “you easily get emotional,” Koltermann says.

VIETNAM – From competitor to coach
Last time Joe Donnelly was in Great Britain was in 1975 at the Rowing World Championships in Nottingham as the cox in the Australian men’s eight. Now he is back as Vietnam’s head coach.

Despite being at a more high profile event, Donnelly is feeling relaxed, “It’s fine. The expectations of being in the Australian eight and the expectations of coaching the Vietnam double are miles apart, but it’s just as much fun for me. Not as much pressure, but just as much fun.”

Donnelly became involved in Vietnamese rowing after seeking out the team while on a holiday with his wife in Hoi An. They invited him to do some coaching, and within a few months he was writing their training programmes and travelling to Vietnam every six to eight weeks.