John Maclean returns to rowing to chase Gold in London 2012

Tuesday, 21 June 2011 17:24

John reunites with partner Kathryn after more than two years away from the sport.

Some of you may have seen (or heard) John out on the run course in Busselton at Ironman WA in December. Some of you may have seen chilling out on the bike/run course, at the top of the Clarence St hill, in Port Macquarie during Ironman Australia, on May 1st. He was there to return the support of Team Maclean - those of you who were supporting the foundation by donating or fundraising for us. As he wasn't competing in the Ironman it may have appeared like he was having a relaxing break. However he was having to stick to a gruelling thrice daily training regime.

Since competing in the Hawaiian Ironman John ventured out into different sports. Rowing is his 5th sport which he has excelled at. He won silver at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games with Kathryn Ross in the 1000m adaptive trunk and arms double scull. He then had a two-year break, before returning to the sport. He has some unfinished business. He is chasing a gold medal.

Straight after cheering on Ironman Oz participants, John headed to Canberra to train under the guidance of AIS/National Senior Coach for Adaptive Rowing, Chad King. John and Kathryn were selected for the Australian team following the Rowing Nationals, in March, where they grabbed first place and recorded a new PB of 04:31.

After a week in Canberra the crew flew to Italy to train even harder. Here is what they got up to.

The European Tour [check dates]

8-13 May : European Training Centre (ETC) in Gavirate, Italy

The ETC is on Lago di Varese (Lake Varese), Gavirate. It is in northern Italy, about 60km northwest of Milan. With it's warm climate and low rainfall it sounds like the perfect spot for a winery or a retreat, but the Australian Sports Commission had other plans for the location. The Australian Government contributed $11m to construct a centre to be used by Australian athletes and teams preparing for elite competitions in Europe. The Varese provincial government generously kicked in a further 5 million Euros, to help establish the region as a sporting precinct. The Centre provides elite Australian athletes with sporting facilities, accommodation and access to the same world's best Australian sports science and sports medicine advice and services that they currently enjoy at home. The Centre is used for a number of sporting codes, enabling elite Australian athletes to compete without being disadvantaged by the stress and costs imposed by travelling the vast distance.

John's training schedule consisted of three sessions per day. This included:

• up to 2 "water sessions" of various rowing drills;
• swimming;
• strength & conditioning;
• core training;
• prehab (specific exercises to prevent injuries);
• massage; physio
• and/or recovery. John's preferred recovery method is to sit in a 15 degree for 20 minutes.

14-15 May : Varese International Adaptive Regatta

The first regatta on the European Tour was nearby at the Gavirate Rowing Centre. Here John and Kathryn were facing.

Here they faced a number of international medallists over two days of racing. This line up included undefeated and current world champion crew from Ukraine. Heats were held in the morning and the finals in the afternoon, on both days.

In the opening final, John and Kathryn defeated Ukraine by a boat length, producing excellent speed at both the start and finish of the race. In the second final, they were again able to hold off Ukraine.

"To come back from a two year break, to face Ukraine, and walk away with two gold medals is very encouraging".

Much to the delight of Rowing Australia head adaptive coach Chad King. He believed "the results were a step in the right direction".

"We had a solid week of training under our belts after arriving in Europe six days ago," Chad said. "The guys were not fresh at all so to come away with two gold medals against some quality opposition is a good start".

John and Kathryn were feeling fit & strong, ready to race.

16 - 24 May - More training

No rest yet for the pair. They continued their intense training regime at the ETC.

By the end of their time in Italy, John was feeling flat due to the amplitude of training.

26-28 May - World Cup 1, Munich Germany

After travelling for seven hours they reached Munich. The first World Cup on the rowing season, and the only 'World Cup' regatta on John and Kathryn's itinerary this year, saw 46 countries submitting entries. Surprisingly fresh after two weeks of preparation in Varese, John and Kathryn hit town with aspirations to build on their results from the Varese International Regatta.

On the first day Kathryn and John came up against untested opposition in their heat and quickly found themselves in a tight battle with the French combination. Down by a second at the half way mark, the crew pushed hard in the third quarter of the race, but couldn’t match the French in the closing stages and had to settle for second ahead of the British boat. They now needed to move through the reps to progress to the final on Saturday. What are 'the reps'? Reprecharge - winner of heat = straight to final. Everyone else goes through "Reps" or "Reprecharge". Needed to finish in top 4.

Wet and cold conditions greeted crews all day for Day 2 of the Munich World Cup. Despite racing late in the day, there was no reprieve for John & Kathryn as the poor conditions held all day long. With four crews progressing from the rep through to the final, John & Kathryn only had to finish in the top two to get a more favoured lane in the final and with this plan in mind, they raced accordingly.

The Great Britain crew had obviously set themselves for a big race and shot out of the gates but John and Kathryn were content to let them expel their energy and just followed them down the course to finish a comfortable second, two seconds behind.

After the race journalists spoke to John Maclean out of the bow seat. "We had plenty left in the tank with 500m to go. We did what we had to today. Making the final was a good result to celebrate my 45th birthday today."

Kathryn backed up John. "We followed the plan we discussed with our coach, Chad King, and at the end we weren't blowing it out too hard. The final is the one that counts."

Kathryn & John narrowly missed out on a medal, They were in fourth place through 500m and held this position, finishing in a time of 4:16.65, just over two seconds shy of Great Britain in third place. Ukraine, the current world champions, claimed the gold ahead of France.

The team returned home for a well deserved but short recovery. They commenced a training camp in Penrith on 13th June and again 3rd July - 10 July.

What's next?

On August 8th John & Kathryn will attend a training camp in Canberra for 3 days. Here they will participate in Biomec training where they measure the power of their stroke.

Training at the ETC commences 11 August before the 2011 World Championships, which will be held in Bled, Slovenia (28 August–4 September).