The return of rowing star Porter

Porter and Wetzel doubling

A club regatta in Japan got Olympic medallist, former single sculling star Derek Porter of Canada thinking. After leaving rowing behind following a fourth place finish at the 2000 Olympics Porter is going for the top again.

A well-rested Porter looks to the future and back to the past when he talks to World Rowing journalist Melissa Bray about his return to the sport.

World Rowing: Are the rumours true?
Porter: Yes, I am planning a return to elite rowing. If all goes well I would like to race at the World Rowing Championships in Eton this summer.  After five years off I feel rested enough to give it another go.

World Rowing: Do you plan to stay with the single?
Porter: No, I have no plans at this point to race the single. I am looking at rowing the double with Jake Wetzel (silver at Athens in the men’s four) if all works out. 

World Rowing: What were the main reasons for you retiring in 2000?
Porter: Leading up to Sydney I had no intention of continuing as I was keen to start working as a chiropractor and I had put a lot of years into rowing and wanted to move on.  Working for myself, I have the flexibility to train quite a bit which affords me the opportunity to give rowing a go again.

World Rowing: Did you stay in touch with the rowing community since 2000?
Porter: I didn’t take a stroke for four years after Sydney, but always followed what was going on as best I could. I did a bit of coaching in Vancouver as well as working with some of the rowers as a chiropractor. It was interesting watching Athens 2004 from the ‘other side’ especially seeing some of the guys I used to race against still racing and doing well.

World Rowing: How have you been keeping fit since you retired?
Porter: I raced Ironman Australia shortly after the Olympics and have been doing Olympic distance triathlons for the past five years. Living in Vancouver makes it easy to stay in shape all year round with swimming, running, cycling and cross-country skiing.

World Rowing: How long do you think it will take to reach the level of fitness you had in 2000?
Porter: A lot of things didn’t go my way in the lead up to 2000 in terms of ideal training environments and equipment issues which I hope to rectify. In terms of fitness I just want to do as much as I can to get all the small cogs in the machine working for me.  My base level of fitness is good, but I need to do more on-the-water training. Also, the chemistry and symmetry in the double will be a huge factor perhaps even more than fitness, which will require a lot of kilometres to achieve.

World Rowing: What are you doing to get back into shape? 
Porter: My cardiovascular base has been kept up pretty well training and racing triathlons. Now I am doing more ergometer work and more on-the-water training.  I am back hitting the weights pretty hard to get my rowing-specific muscles back and to put on a bit of muscle weight. I recently returned from a 12-day training camp in Seville, Spain with the Canadian National Team.  It felt great to be back in that kind of training environment.

World Rowing: What are your rowing goals? 
Porter: To do as well as possible at the Canadian trials at the beginning of the summer (in the single), qualify for the 2006 national team, race at the World Rowing Championships in Eton, see where I stand internationally. Long term-goal: Beijing 2008.

World Rowing: What has been hard, what has been easy about doing a comeback?  
Porter: The blisters, rowing in the winter, training when you don’t necessarily want to train. I really enjoy the process of refining my health and fitness and having a goal to make it all worthwhile makes it that much more enjoyable and satisfying. Taking care of the diet, training program, cross training, weight lifting, chiropractic, massage, etc. is a process of moulding and shaping the body to exact specifications to enable it to perform at its best. This process to me is very satisfying and quite natural.

World Rowing: Do you think you are different as an athlete now than before 2000?
Porter: Now that I have experienced a bit of balance in my life (i.e. not being a full time rower) it has given me time to reflect back on past performances and training philosophies. It was very interesting to watch the Olympics in Athens as a non-competitor. It gave me another perspective watching the interviews, watching the racing unfold and watching my old competition competing.

Since I retired in 2000 I still find myself visualising the rowing stroke often which can be very effective training in itself. My motivation is probably more internalised: that is less focus on winning and beating the competition and more focus on performing as best as I can in every area of preparation and seeing how far that can take me. I think that approach will ultimately lead to a great performance by external standards also. 

I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead and being involved in the rowing community again will be great. When I raced at the club regatta in Japan it really brought home the fact that rowing and racing brings people together in a positive way. And on the water there is nothing like the feel of a boat slicing through the water and knowing exactly when to pick it up to keep the run going, at one with the water ?  it is highly addictive ? I can’t stay away forever.

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