INTERVIEW: BU Rower Matthew Hulbert

Matt (3rd from the front) had never rowed before university. Picture courtesy of Matthew Hulbert.

I caught up with university rower Matthew Hulbert to chat about his introduction into the world of rowing and the teams progress this season.

You competed in the Head of the River race 2 months ago, which is the biggest continuous boat race on earth and after months of preparation, how did Bournemouth University get on?

Yeah we didn’t do too badly at all. We came 230^th out of the 420 boats. It was a good 70 places worse than we had hoped for, as the training building up had been going very well, but unfortunately we didn’t perform as well as we wanted on the day.

It wasn’t the performance your team was hoping for, so what, for you went wrong? Was it just a matter of other competition, or something you could have done better?

Time wise, we finished about 40 seconds worse than intended, and with that many crews competing, within 30 seconds there can be 70 – 100 crews in that time. There were a few things that went wrong for us though; rate wise we weren’t getting as many strokes in per minute as we wanted and we just didn’t really turn up on the day.

There are 2 types of racing you compete in, Regatta and Head races, what are the differences between them?

Well head racing is basically time trials. Boats will go off, usually staggered 15 seconds in between and you’ll race one and get a set time, so obviously best time wins. Regatta, which is what you tend to see at the Olympics, is where you’ll get boats lined up against each other and it will be a knockout competition. So you may race up to 4 or 5 times in 1 day.

Compared to other universities, where does Bournemouth stand in rowing?

It obviously varies year on year. We’re not privileged with the same sort of funding as some of the big uni’s, but we’re improving and holding our own against some of the bigger uni’s. The main target for this though is to qualify for Henley and get racing there.

And what is Henley?

Henley is one the most prestigious boat races, competed in by some of the biggest boat clubs across the UK and Europe as well. Every rower’s goal, no matter what university you’re from is to compete at Henley, and even though qualification is extremely tough, hopefully we’ll be able to make it.

Before Head of the River, how was the season going for you guys?

Yeah we’d been having a really good season building up to the event. We competed in Kingston Head, which is the week before and used as a warm up event. We finished 39^th out of 200 boats, so we were really pleased with that result. It was all building nicely to Head of the River, but unfortunately that’s one of the things with rowing, sometimes it’s there and sometimes it isn’t. It’s a frustrating sport by nature but that’s why we love it.

You’d never rowed before university, what made you get involved?

It was always something I’d considered and through the university it’s something that’s much cheaper than doing outside. It’s obviously quite time intensive, and you have to invest a lot in the sport so it was an opportunity that came along which fitted in quite well.

Had any of the team rowed before?

The vast majority of rowers start for their first time when they come to uni. Occasionally you get the odd some that’s rowed at school or a different club, but most pick it up in their first or second year and go from there. It is something you can pick up quite quickly, and because of the amount of training we do, the improvements are vast.

How intense is the training programme?

In your fresher year its 5 times a week and tends to be more social, but when you enter the 2^ndyear, it becomes more intense. We train 6 times a week and the sessions tend to be longer, but you’re working towards specific goals so you really push each other and its something you really get enthused with.

What are the ideal traits for a rower?

Size in general is an advantage. It’s one of the few sports where you’ll walk around at 6ft and feel small. Personality wise you need to be very driven, quite stubborn really and thick skinned as there’s a lot of criticism and you need to very self-critical in order to improve.

What’s next for varsity rowing? Any upcoming events?

We’ve got races all through the year; we’ve just been to training camp in Peterborough for a week, where we trained 4 times a day really intensely in preparation for the regatta season in the coming months. Hopefully all of this will build up to qualifying for Henley in June.

 Confident of making it to Henley?

 Yeah I hope so! The training and results so far has suggested we’re going to stand a very good chance. Obviously competition is incredibly fierce, but we’ve got the competitors and coaches to take us there.

INTERVIEW: Olympic Champion Tim Brabants

Photo by armchairsessions

Published in Nerve Magazine February 2012

An Olympic champion and a qualified GP, Dr Tim Brabants MBE is a man not short of motivation. After picking up a gold medal in 2008’s Beijing Olympics for the K-1 1,000m sprint kayak event, and a bronze for the K1 500m, Tim commenced an 18 month hiatus from competing to focus on his medical career.

Yet juggling a successful career in medicine with Olympic winning athleticism is a fate not many of us can contemplate, but Tim maintains he’s always had to the drive to succeed. “I enjoy setting and achieving personal goals so I wanted a career that I would find as fulfilling and enjoyable as my sport. I can’t compete forever, so felt having a career path to focus on when I retire from sport was very important.”

Brabants himself came from an academic family, and being raised in Chertsey, Surrey, got his first taste of kayaking at a very early age. “I tried the sport at a local club when I was 10 years old and fell in love with it very quickly. At that time I knew little about the Olympic Games or where the sport could take me in future, I just enjoyed being out on the water amongst the wildlife and other paddlers.”

Competing since the late 1990’s, Tim came from nowhere to secure a bronze at his first Olympics in Sidney 2000, becoming the first British sprint paddler to win an Olympic medal. After a disappointing Athens 2004, which saw his world record qualifying time for the K-1 1,000 m final (recently beaten by Germany rival Max Hoff) only complemented by a 5^th place finish, Tim set his sights firmly on Beijing.

“I always knew I would be young and fast enough to compete at another Olympics”

And didn’t he deliver. A blistering start in the K-1 1,000m final saw him lead from start to finish, again becoming the first Brit to deliver a gold medal in sprint kayaking. Officially announcing his ‘retirement’ from competitive kayaking to focus on his progression as doctor after 2008, Brabants maintains he never seriously considered staying away from the sport he loved.

“I always knew that I would be young enough and fast enough after Beijing to compete at another Olympics. After a short break to concentrate on my medical career, I was ready to return to training and competition again in the build-up to London 2012.”

Opposed to Beijing however, Tim will be focusing his attention purely on competing in the K-1 1,000m at this Olympics, after the 500m event he won bronze in was confirmed to be changed to 200m in 2009. But his hopes of defending his gold medal will come under fierce competition, with the likes of World Champion, and world record holder Max Hoff looking a force to be reckoned with within the K-1 1,000m sprint. However, Tim remains calmly confidently about his chances, and cautious towards the German’s recent record.

“The Olympics in London will be a definite source of extra motivation and excitement”

“We don’t pay too much attention to records as we compete in varying conditions. The record Max set was on a flowing river course! Competition will be tough, but that is what makes it all the more exciting and challenging.”

When asked whether victory at 2012 would be the end to a glittering career or if he plans to continue after London, Tim was quick the put the record straight. “I definitely want to keep racing for another year or two after London. It is unlikely I will compete at another Olympics in kayaking but I would certainly hope to stay involved in the sport for a while longer in some capacity.”

An Olympic Games in London is obviously a special event. The last time we hosted it way back in 1948, it signalled the end of a 12 year hiatus after World War II, and as a demonstration of post-war economic pressures, no new venues were built and athletes were not housed in an Olympic Village. Things have moved on a lot from those days, which coincidentally saw the first inclusion of a woman’s kayaking event, but was regardless, a significant, and memorable moment in Britain’s history. For all members of Team GB, including Tim Brabants, to which this will be his 4^th, and most probably final Olympic Games cites the home turf as a “definite source of extra motivation and excitement”, the opportunity to take part in the greatest sporting event in the world, backed by the loving support of home crowd, will make it quite a spectacle.


Check out the magazine layout for this article, designed by me - 
http://issuu.com/tobygray/docs/tim-brabants

AUDIO: Sports Show FM Special

Take a listen to Nerve Sports Show Fm Special which broadcast live on Nerve Radio 87.7FM on Saturday 24th March 3-5:30pm.

The award winning Sport Show returned on Nerve Radio 87.7Fm on Saturday 24th March with a special 2 and a half hour broadcast from 3 – 5:30pm. Crammed with 7 top interviews with the Olympic boxer Iain Weaver, national powerboat champion Ashleigh Foulser, England u18 rugby player Charlie Ewels, BU rower Matthew Hulbert, Bournemouth Echo’s non – league football correspondent Andy Mitchell, F1 correspondent James Walker and BU sportsmen of the year and varstiy tennis star Rich Irwin. We also pit two of Nerve Sport’s most notorious pundits Rich Best and Alex Penge up against each other in the much anticipated ‘Pundit Face Off’. We also gave our listeners the chance win a 3 month gym membership courtesy of Fit Space Gyms and 2 surfing lessons worth up to £70 courtesy of Bournemouth Surf Steps surf school. In between all this, we also gave live updates to all the day’s football, with coverage and reaction of all the scores, including AFC Bournemouth’s trip to Oldham.

Make sure to tune in to the Sports Hour, every Friday from 2-3pm only on Nerve Radio, www.nervemedia.org.uk

INTERVIEW: NFL Starlet Francis Kallon

Photo by Erik S. Lesser

Hollywood stories like this don’t come around very often. Just one year ago, Wandsworth born Francis Kallon moved over to America with his family and experienced the world of American football that would change his life forever.

Admitting he didn’t even know what American football was about, Francis was encouraged to try it out by his high school coach, Todd Wofford who noticed his potential and led him onto the sport. Since then, Kallon has become a national prodigy and received 15 scholarship offers in a matter of weeks from top universities around the country, before settling for Georgia State.

Explaining the feeling behind all this attention flying his way, Kallon claims: “It was scary at first, but it was such a great opportunity to go to a top college as well. It was surprising of course, but it was good!

“My coach (Todd Wofford) pursued me and persuaded me to come join the team, so eventually, after agreeing it with my parents, I was allowed to play. I wanted to try a different sport, but I didn’t know it would be up the avenue that it was.”

“The NFL is definitely in the picture, and if it comes I’ll take it.”

So for a man that’s only been playing the sport just over a year, compared to the millions of teenagers across the U.S. that spend their whole adolescence fighting for a shot at scholarships, Kallon has picked it up extraordinarily fast. With a history in basketball and football, Kallon admits it was surprising that everything came so natural to him.

“The way I was able to move and do the things I was told so easily was strange. It was hard at first with the rules and everything, but I picked it up quickly.”

Naturally, such raw talent always creates a buzz. Sections of the British media have already branded Kallon NFL bound, despite him only just starting university, but as he explains, it’s the same in the U.S. and just something he deals with everyday.

“It’s a lot of pressure but it’s something that could happen if I keep working at it the way I am because it is possible.”

For all this attention flying Kallon’s way, he remains grounded about his chances, and instead is focused on achieving his degree in biochemical engineering.

“Right now I’m just looking to do as best I can in college and graduating, but the NFL is definitely in the picture, and if it comes I’ll take it.”

With his feet firmly on earth, Francis Kallon is a man with a very, very bright future. Remember the name, no doubt we’ll be hearing it much more in the years to come.

COMMENT: Lee Bradbury Sacked – but is it all it appears?

AFCB

So it’s come to this. 14 months after he took over the managerial role from Burnley bound Eddie Howe last January, AFC Bournemouth have parted ways with manager Lee Bradbury.

The decision comes after just 2 wins in 11 games for the Cherries, which included 5 back-to-back losses. But after a typically withdrawn statement from both club and chairmen Eddie Mitchell, we can’t help but ask the question:- why did he really go?

In an extraordinarily closed off interview with BBC Sport, Mitchell announced cryptically the decision was “best for the club”, but refused to add further comment, instead avoiding all accountability. In a press conference by the club, it was revealed a disagreement between Mitchell and Bradbury occurred when he was offered extra support from now interim manager Paul Groves and head of youth Shaun Brookes, who will take over until the end of the season. According to Mitchell, Bradbury refused and the pair left on ‘amicable terms’, but for a man with a history of controversy, it’s hard to believe the altercation was purely professional.

“It contributes further to the appearance from the outside, the club are unable to control its trigger-happy chairmen, who acts more like an over-zealous fan than a professional owner.” 

Adding more fuel to the controversy fire, just over a week ago Mitchell gave Bradbury his full backing despite the poor run and dwindled promotion challenge. Yet within a fortnight, he has reversed his position, and left the whole of Bournemouth wondering what the final nail in the coffin was. Refusing to say whether the choice was based on pressures from new co – owner, and oil billionaire Maxim Demin, Mitchell continually reiterated it “wasn’t his place” to comment on. A man, who is not finding himself accountable for his position as chairmen has now left the club in turmoil, choosing to jet off to Dubai for 2 weeks to escape the storm.

Clearly Bradbury’s investment in the promotion push in January hasn’t paid off, and he’s paid the ultimate price of modern day football. Matt Tubbs is struggling the settle in after his club record signing, and instead of the desired 6^th place AFCB spent over £1million to achieve, the Cherries find themselves in 13^th after another narrow loss against Oldham at the weekend.

But is there any function in dumping Bradbury now? In a time where AFCB need a period of stability after weeks of media attention, which included banning the Bournemouth Daily Echofrom reporting at Seward Stadium, and Mitchell cut off Radio 5 live after swearing 3 times, the move does nothing to steady the ship. Instead, it contributes further to the appearance from the outside, as a club unable to control its trigger-happy chairmen, who acts more like an over-zealous fan than a professional owner.

“It’s hard to believe the altercation was purely professional.”

Sure, the Cherries have been on a poor run of late, but for those that have followed the team over the past 2 months, the run – in they’ve had has been incredibly tough, and they’ve challenged the likes of Charlton, Carlisle and MK Dons, only to fall victim to late strikes and unlucky results.

With just 8 games to go, bringing in Groves till the end of the season clearly isn’t a long-term solution, and with Bournemouth no longer fighting for a noteworthy position in League One, there is little rational for relieving Bradbury if not for personal reasons.

What those personal reasons are we may never know. Obviously details will arise to the decision by Mitchell and the club, but the truth may never surface. Matters are not made easier by Mitchell’s strenuous relationships with the media, and by not coming out with a clear reason why Bradbury has been relieved of duty leads nothing else for  us, and the fans to go on but suspicion.

AUDIO: Sports Show FM Special Preview

Just a taste of what to expect from Nerve Sport’s FM Show Special. 24th March. 3 – 5:30pm. Turn your speakers up.

Going live across Dorset and the UK on Nerve Radio 87.7FM, the award winning sports show is back and bigger than ever. Packed full of interviews, features and competitions, the Sports Show FM returns to your airwaves Saturday 24th March 3-5:30pm. Don’t miss it.

Mcilroy vs Woods: Has the New Prodigy Come Too Late for a Rivalry?

AP Images

Golf’s been waiting for a rivalry this sweet for a long time. This week Rory Mcilroy overtook fellow Brit Luke Donald as the World No.1 after securing the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic with a two shot victory over a resurgent Tiger Woods. The rise, unsurprising to some after Mcilroy’s record breaking US Open Championship win last year, which saw him shoot an all time low 268, 16 under par to become the youngest winner since Bobby Jones in 1923.

The young Northern Irishman now becomes the 2^nd youngest No.1 since Woods himself in 1997, and shows no signs of slowing up since his historic Congressional victory either. With top 5 finishes in 9 of his last 10 tournaments and a 2^nd place at the World Match Play Championship, he is fast establishing himself as the undisputed champion of world golf.

Yet what made the Honda Classic so interesting was the glimpse of something golf has long been waiting in the wings for. Tiger shot a personal low 62 in the final round, his best ever closing day finish and his lowest score over 72 holes since his last PGA Tour win way back in September 2009 at the BMW Championship. Despite Mcilroy remaining composed to shoot at solid 69 to clinch his 3^rd PGA Tour victory, Wood’s late surge proved he still has the imperious talent inside him, we just haven’t seen it consistently enough in the past 3 years.

Woods has been plagued with personal issues and a shoddy knee during Mcilroy’s rise to prominence, and has yet to find anything close to his true form in the past 18 months. But what last Sunday saw was Woods standing up to be counted and heading face on into battle with who could become his fiercest rival, ironically after he is no longer king. During Tiger’s reign of supremacy, few challengers emerged to dethrone him, and he became what Schumacher was to F1, but lacked the dramatic ferocity that Sampras was to Agassi.

Sure golf has thrown up some exceptional talents in the 15 years since Woods first became No.1, but none of them ever signalled a true intent to usurp the mighty Woods. The likes of Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson have all lit up the game of golf during their time, without ever threatening the face of the modern day Jack Nicklaus.

Harrington (3), Els (3) and Mickelson (4) all held the biggest challenge to Woods’ supremacy in terms of Major wins, but compared to Tiger’s 14, there hasn’t been a genuine rivalry in golf since the days of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer back in the 60s.  Not to say no rivalries have existed, as Phil Mickelson is one of the best golfers of his generation and there has never been much love loss between the pair, but there never existed a plausible chance of Mickelson overtaking Woods in his hay day, yet with Mcilroy there does.

“It would be a sad situation to see the best golfer of a generation slowly wilt away into obscurity without ever truly reconciling for the actions that may well determine him.”

What golf fans will hope across the world is that Mcilroy’s genuine threat of a 10+ major winning career will spark a flame in Tiger’s belly, and inspire him to react like the true champion he is. Whilst there is no contending that Mcilroy is deservedly the best player in world golf at the moment, despite only officially so since last Sunday, the concept of Tiger invigorating his former self to the 14 major winning, longest running No.1 and record number PGA Player of the Year is a site any golf fan salivates at the thought of.

Undoubtedly golf, more specifically British golf has seen a meteoric rise during Woods 2 and half year absence.  We’ve seen an emotional Open Championship victory for Darren Clarke, Ryder Cup triumph for Monty’s Europe, US Opens for Graeme McDowell and Mcilroy, as well as 3 British number 1’s in a row for Westwood, Donald and now the prodigal Northern Irishman.  But for a fan that grew up on Woods, something’s missing without him in the picture. It would be a sad situation to see the best golfer of a generation slowly wilt away into obscurity without ever truly reconciling for the actions that may well determine him.

“It may be naive to believe anything other than the facts; nothing has changed. Mcilroy is still winning tournaments and Woods is still trailing behind.”

For some though, however much promise from Woods, it may be naïve to believe anything other than the facts; nothing has changed. Mcilroy is still winning tournaments, looking set to enjoy the view of No.1 for some time, whilst Woods is still trailing behind. Whether he can achieve the record 283 consecutive weeks of Mr Woods remains to be seen, but the new kid on the block is in imperious form.

Yet maybe even Mcilroy himself is secretly hoping for a rivalry. Only then, when he’s truly beaten a resurgent Woods reverent of the one he grew up idolising, will he prove he’s the best.  Maybe it’s the other way round, with Mcilroy the key for Woods. In the young Northern Irishman he see’s a naturally gifted golfer, compared to himself who has worked tirelessly (albeit effectively) to reconstruct his swing to maintain dominance. But in Tiger we see a fighter, a true champion ready for the challenge. This rivalry may never materialise and Mcilroy may continue to assert himself as the undisputed champion of world golf, it’s something we’ve been yearning for years, something we can’t wait to watch grow.