Four rowers you didn’t know racing at Tokyo Olympics

Meet Tala Abujbara, Privel Hinkati, Husein Alireza, Maike Diekmann. They are set to become their nations’ first ever rowers at an Olympic Games. They are all competing in the single sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games rowing regatta.

TALA ABUJBARA – Qatar

“The feel of the oar handle and legs on fire, the sound of the seat rolling up the slide and the crowd in the final 500, the view of glassy lakes and full boatyards, the smell of new carbon fibre and the taste of post-race gelato – a few of the many things I love about rowing!”

“It is an absolute honour,” Abujbara says of the chance to represent her country as its first Olympic rower. “I am proud to be a Qatari woman rowing at the Olympics.”

Abujbara has come a long way from complete novice while attending Williams Collage in the United States. “I hadn’t even heard of rowing until I went to university,” she recalls. That changed abruptly when the rowing coach saw her playing basketball in the same gym as the rowing team had their ergometers. “The rowing coach approached me and suggested I give it a shot. I was hooked after a few indoor training sessions with the team and there was no turning back after my first time in a boat. I fell in love with the sport immediately.”

While her training had been split between Qatar and sites in Europe before 2020, she has been exclusively preparing in Qatar during the pandemic, something that has reinforced her belief that the nation could one day excel in the sport.

“Rowing is a very small sport in Qatar, so I hope my participation in Tokyo raises interest in this beautiful sport back at home. Our nation is one with deep attachments to the sea, so I believe there is great potential for coastal rowing in particular.”

For all of her attention on qualifying and now racing at the Tokyo Games, Abujbara says planning for what comes next has been a secondary focus. “I am focused on putting my best foot forward to this Olympics, competing well and enjoying the experience to the fullest.”

 

PRIVEL HINKATI – Benin

“Rowing is a sport of finesse, perseverance and surpassing oneself, all in communion with nature.”

Another flag set to adorn a set of Olympic sculling blades for the first time is that of Benin.

Now aged 32, Hinkati has already attended three Olympics as a spectator, ardently hoping one day to be out of the stands and on the water racing his own boat. While he failed to qualify for Rio 2016, French-born Privel Hinkati is set to fulfil that dream when he represents his parents’ west African homeland at the Tokyo Games in the men’s single sculls.

“Making history for my country and the rowing world by qualifying for the Olympics is a great honour and something in which I take great pride,” says Hinkati, who is one of only seven athletes competing for Benin at the Games and his nation’s first ever rower.

Although he is racing for Benin, his training is an international effort. “Most of the year I train in Caen,” Hinkati says of his home where he fits in training around his job in information technology for the city of Caen in the northern French region of Normandy. “When I’m not rowing, I’m working,” he adds.

Although the pandemic has changed how he trains, his pre-pandemic routine also included training camps in the United States in either Sarasota or Oklahoma City where his coach, Reilly Dampeer is based.

As for what comes after Tokyo, Hinkati is sure that rowing will remain part of his life. “I will continue to row because it is my passion,” he says. “I am not sure yet if I will try to qualify for Paris 2024. The goal for me is to become involved in African rowing, particularly in Benin.”

HUSEIN ALIREZA – Saudi Arabia

“It is a sport that tests you to the limits, mentally and physically, while uniquely combining brute force and finesse. There’s also something about the fellowship of the sport; it’s a community where everyone helps each other.”

For Saudi Arabia’s Husein Alireza, rowing started as a way to spend time between his studies as a masters student while at Cambridge in the UK. Four years later, he’s gearing up to race in Tokyo as his nation’s first ever Olympic rower.

After some initial success and the encouragement of his coach, Alireza began dreaming of what he might be able to do in this sport. “I emailed the top rowing clubs in London asking if it was possible to qualify to the Tokyo Olympics in three years.”

Former British Olympian and coach, Bill Barry saw something in him. “He believed in me,” says Alireza, “so we decided to give it a shot.”

“I’m so excited to be here today having achieved the ultimate goal of Olympic qualification,” he says.

Alireza acknowledges that racing in the Olympic regatta will not be easy, something magnified as he continues to recover from recent surgery for a collapsed lung he thinks may have been caused by a fractured rib. “It’s a very frustrating situation,” he says. “But I’m still going for it.”

“There is no greater honour for an athlete,” he says, than “to represent their country on the biggest stage of all. I dedicate this honour to my late mother, who lost her battle against cancer less than a year ago. She’ll be on my mind throughout the Games.”

Alireza hopes that full recovery after Tokyo 2020 can allow him to continue on in elite rowing. Most of all he dreams of sharing the opportunities he’s been given with others in his homeland. “I intent to return to Saudi and facilitate the development of the sport and the Rowing Centre in Jeddah, which will be a high performance centre for the region.”

 

MAIKE DIEKMANN – Namibia

“When you take those good strokes and the boat just runs effortlessly, that is the greatest feeling. I love that I get to be outside in nature while I row, it’s amazing to feel that connection in the water and the boat run smoothly on the surface of the water.”

“It’s been an amazing journey to get here,” says Namibia’s first time Olympic rower, Maike Diekmann. “Lots of ups and downs, which make it even more special to be here for Namibia as the first rower to compete in the Olympic Games. I am very proud of all I have achieved and can’t wait to fly Namibia’s flag high amongst the best rowers in the world.”

Far from wearing her down, the added pressure of going to the Games has led to some of Diekmann’s best performances including making the A-final at World Rowing Cup III in Sabaudia, Italy this past June. “It was a proud moment,” she says. “My very first A-final in a World Rowing international competition. I had a great race to put myself into the position.”

With no high performance rowing centre yet in Namibia, Diekmann does most of her training in neighbouring South Africa. “I have excellent training facilities at the Tucks University High Performance Centre,” she says.

Although she hasn’t put much thought into what comes next after Tokyo 2020, Diekmann feels that as much as she is making her mark on rowing, the sport is something she’ll carry with her for the rest of her life. “It has been an experience of a lifetime and sometimes still feels surreal to be part of history for my country,” she says. “Rowing will always be part of my life, even if I decide to retire, I will most likely find an event or club to do some rowing in future.”