Rhubarb 2024

CHRIS SPRAGUE (Field House, 1957-1962) official Rowing Regatta 2012 OlympicS During the London Olympics I worked at Dorney Lake where the rowing events were held as a member of the Control Commission team.This involved weighing boats and the checking of heel restraints and the integrity of watertight compartments.

DUNCAN McDOUGALL (Field House, 1972-1977 and current Teddies parent)

GBROWING 1980& 1984 OLYMPICS

There are really too many standout memories from Moscow 1980 that are undiminished by time, but there is one particular memory which relates to my time at Teddies. It was the final of the men’s eight, when we lined up alongside the East German eight, the clear favourites.They were enormous lads, just tall and massive. After a tremendous row in which we raced out of our skins to snatch the silver medal, I headed off with the (by now slightly tipsy team doctor) for a drugs test. It was a strangely quiet and reflective 30 minutes while I drank beers trying to pee. My mind wandered back to the 1976 Junior World Championships when Tim (Ed) Bremner and I were racing similarly-sized eastern European boys in pairs.That summer, the 1976 Olympics had just finished and we had watched the British eight get the silver medal. So it was that ever since, I had dreamed about competing in the eights against the big Eastern Bloc crews. It dawned on me while drinking beer, that I had been visualizing the Olympic final against the East Germans since the Sixth Form. Looking back, it was just a blink of an eye, between the SESBC and the Olympics, something for today’s sixth form rowers to bear in mind.

INTERVIEW

One further task was to do spot checks on the identities of crew members. In order to do this, we had to choose a crew member at random, ask them their name and then check this against a set of photographs. As crews returned after racing, we had to escort randomly selected athletes to the dope testing centre. As an international rowing umpire (I believe that I am still the only OSE to have qualified), I was familiar with all these jobs. Of all the tasks carried out by umpires at the event, working at Control Commission was one of the most rewarding as we had the opportunity to speak to the competitors, although given their tenseness before races conversations were usually short and sweet. There were some downsides.The hours were long and I had to leave home just after 4am each morning.The food supplied was scarce to say the least. Worst of all we saw very little of the racing. As the regatta progressed the cheering in the stands grew louder and the atmosphere in the boating area quieter as there were fewer athletes still involved. I particularly remember helping Katherine Grainger to her boat before the final of the women’s double sculls and wishing her good luck. She won gold!

Duncan McDougall far right.

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