Yachting: Row, row, grind your boat to new glory

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

A bulked-up Rob Waddell has ground down the opposition and won his way into a fulltime career with Team New Zealand.

The Olympic gold medallist's success in rigorous trials means he will not row competitively again until after the America's Cup yachting regatta in 2003.

It was no gift for Waddell. He had to put in the hard grind to beat four other strongmen for the final spot in the black boat crew.

Waddell was so determined to get the grinder's job, he added 14kg of muscle to his upper body. But it almost cost him a place when he pulled a back ligament in training just before his final trial.

"I was really worried that I wasn't going to make it - I couldn't grind for three weeks," said the 26-year-old. "But now I'm just thrilled. I can't wait to go racing."

Waddell is not turning his back on rowing for good. Once the cup is over, he will start working towards the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

He knows he will have to trim down again to hop back in a skiff, but that is on a far-off horizon.

At 115kg, Waddell is the heaviest sailor at Team NZ. And at 2m tall, he has to duck to get through doorways at their base.

He spent almost two months working out to alter his physique.

"In rowing it's all legs and no chest, now it's all chest and no legs," Waddell said.

"This is a real baptism of fire. The first day I went out I had no idea the grinder's handles moved so quickly and I couldn't keep up.

"I felt totally out of control, just like I did when I was a kid trying rowing for the first time."

Although he is still green, the Sydney Olympics hero has amazed his new team-mates with his ability to learn the ropes on the boat.

Skipper Dean Barker had 40 applicants for the grinder's job. The list was culled to five - none with sailing experience. Waddell had to beat another rower, a national judoka, a body-builder and a national strongman titleholder.

"We were probably tougher on him for selection than anything he has had to go through before," Barker said.

"We had to disregard who he was because we wanted the guy who was the most compatible with our team.

"Rob is an exceptional athlete."

Waddell will live in Auckland during the week and return to his wife, Olympic rower Sonia, in Hamilton at weekends. He was to have started a marketing job in Hamilton next month, but now hopes to work at it part-time during the winter.

There could be some friendly ribbing on the boat if Waddell heads off Team NZ for the Halberg Trust Sports Champion of the Year award tomorrow night.

Herald Online feature: America's Cup