Kenyan Rower and Coach Granted Olympic Scholarships

Rower Ibrahim Githaiga of Kenya and his coach Juvenalis Gitau have been offered scholarships by Olympic Solidarity, the development branch of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to train at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) under the responsibility of the Australian Olympic Committee.

With an aim to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in the single scull, the 31 year old rower will integrate the AIS in Canberra in January 2003 and pursue his training in Australia up until the final qualification opportunity for Athens.

The Mombassa resident and father of two was granted a leave of absence from his job as a signal man in the Kenyan navy to take advantage of this unique opportunity to train under the watchful eye of AIS rowing head coach Reinhold Batschi.

The AIS is a pre-eminent elite sports training institution with world class facilities that offers a rowing programme aimed at developing rowers to Olympic and world championship standard.

The Olympic scholarships for coaches programme allows coach Juvenilis Gitau to join Githaiga in Australia for the first four months of his Olympic qualification training. It is hoped that his presence will be beneficial for Githaiga’s integration in the AIS but will also allow him to improve his coaching expertise so as to assist in the development or rowing in Kenya upon his return home.

“It would open many doors for us” said Kenyan Rowing Association president Seif Patwa “Rowing will get more recognition in Kenya if Ibrahim goes to the Games.”

Githaiga’s first chance to qualify for the 2004 Games will be during the 2003 World Rowing Championships to be held in Milan, Italy in September. Should he qualify, he would be the first Kenyan to row at an Olympic Games.