Rob Waddell

Robert ("Rob") Norman Waddell, ONZM, (born January 7, 1975 in Te Kuiti) is a New Zealand rower, yachtsman and rugby union player. Waddell has one of the highest VO₂ max intake levels of any athlete ever tested. He holds the fastest 2000 meter indoor rowing machine time in the world, clocking a time of 5mins 36.6secs (5:36.6). In 1998, he married fellow rower Sonia Scown.

Waddell started rowing at Kings College, Auckland. He was diagnosed with a condition called atrial fibrillation in 1997. It has needed careful management in order to permit him to compete at the highest level. He won the single scull at the rowing World Championships in 1998 and 1999, and the gold medal in the Single Sculls at the 2000 Summer Olympics. During his World Championship period, Waddell had several closely contested races with Xeno Müller, the 1996 Summer Olympics champion. In the years leading up to the Olympics, Müller beat Waddell in 3 out of the 7 races they faced each other. At the Olympics, Waddell and Müller dramatically traded the lead over the last half of the course before Waddell finally pulled away to win the gold medal.

Following the Olympics, he retired from rowing, trying out a number of other sports, including rugby, before joining Team New Zealand as a grinder for the 2003 America's Cup defence. He continued in the role as a grinder with Emirates Team New Zealand for the 2007 America's Cup challenge.

Waddell returned to rowing training at the New Zealand rowing training centre at Lake Karapiro in late 2007, and beat current world champion Mahe Drysdale at a club competition sparking a great competition between the two for the place to represent New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The two traded races, with Waddell leading by three victories to one when final trials began in March 2008. The first two races of the final trials were close, with each sculler winning one race. In the final race, Waddell suffered a repeat of his atrial fibrillation condition, resulting in Drysdale winning easily; prior to this incident, Waddell had kept his medical condition a secret.

After losing the singles bid to Drysdale, Waddell earned a seat in New Zealand's double sculls, rowing bow seat behind Nathan Cohen. Because of Waddell's late entry into the New Zealand Olympic qualification trials, Waddell and Cohen had little time to train together in preparation for the games. They proved a strong duo, winning the 2008 Rowing World Cups in Lucerne and Poznan. However, their success at the World Cups was not continued to the Olympics, where they finished fourth in the Final A.

*Olympic Medals: 1 Gold
*World Championship Medals: 2 Gold

Olympic Games - Rowing

*2000 - Gold, Single Sculls
*1996 - 7th, Single Sculls
*2008 - 4th, Double Sculls

World Championships - Rowing

*1999 - Gold, Single Sculls
*1998 - Gold, Single Sculls
*1997 - 8th, Single Sculls
*1995 - 10th, Coxless Four (4-)
*1994 - 5th Coxed Pair (2+)
*1994 - 13th Coxless Pair (2-)

External links

* [http://www.fisa.org/bio/bio.sps?iBiographyID=1022 FISA profile]
* [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Childrens/FamousNewZealanders/Rob.asp Short biography]
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7858431869936122856 Video of 2000 Olympic race]
* [http://www.concept2.com/us/training/records/2000m_records.asp Indoor rowing world records]