Aug 27, 2007
Aug 21, 2007
Stay Healthy from Times Online
Live longer and row! XENO
Muscle is going through an image change. Previously thought of as a stretchy slab of inert flesh that declines with age, especially once we hit 50, research is emerging that suggests that the simple step of regular muscle execise, followed by a protein snack, could keep our muscles going long into old age. This not only means a better physique, but also a life less likely to be sabotaged by falls in later years.
Good muscles mean far more than the ability to lift weights, run fast or show off a washboard stomach. They are crucial to health: the muscles of our chest help us to breathe properly and keep the lungs free from fluid; muscles in the heart pump blood around the body; and, of course, muscles, literally, hold us up. Lose as little as 25 per cent of the muscle bulk in your leg and you’ll struggle to get out of a chair; you’ ll also find yourself tripping over kerbs or falling over in the shower.
As well as staving off old-age frailty, this recent muscle research, from the University of Nottingham and other universities across Europe, may also be important for cancer patients and athletes. Keeping on weight in the form of muscle means a better chance of recovery for cancer patients. And this new understanding of how muscle works may save gym bunnies a fortune.
The accepted story is that the muscle wasting seen with cancer, and the less dramatic muscle wasting of age, is because, over time, more muscle is being broken down than is being built up. In fact, breakdown rates remain pretty much the same. Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered that it is the build-up that’s the problem because the muscle is denying itself the nutrients it needs. Food is the key that switches on muscle-building and, more specifically, the amino acids found in protein, which are the building blocks for muscle production.
So the answer to bigger muscles surely is to eat more protein? Many clearly think so because the shelves of every healthfood shop groan with protein supplements for body builders. In fact, contrary to all received wisdom and a million internet sites, it’s not the answer.
First, and here’s a surprise, our body takes in only the exact amount of protein that it needs to build muscle; any more than that is expelled in our urine. This is because the amino acids that make up proteins are poisonous in large quantities and cause brain damage in excess, but we have loads of enzymes to break them down. So, the more protein we eat, the more the body raises its production of enzymes to break it down and excrete it in pee, keeping us safe from harm.
And so our muscles get full up. Literally. Once we’ve had the equivalent of a boiled egg’s worth of protein or so, muscles don’t take up any further amino acids, which means that those expensive protein supplements largely end up down the pan.
The concept of muscles being full up is highly significant because as we age our muscles say that they’ve had enough, earlier than they did when we were younger, meaning that without the necessary building blocks, muscle breakdown exceeds build-up. The technical name for it is anabolic blunting.
This effect is also probably highly significant in cancer because there is something about a tumour that causes it to react to the enemy within and to tell muscle that it’s full up way before it actually has. This process is common in cancer but also in several diseases that cause wasting – all this despite huge amounts of protein and calories being poured into patients via supplements and drips.
But here comes the good news: with moderate exercise, followed by a meal that contains some protein, we may be able to cheat this system. Michael Rennie, a professor of clinical physiology at the University of Nottingham, and who has an international reputation in this field, recommends cheap protein such as fish, eggs or mik. It doesn’t have to be a huge portion; a large glass of milk is enough.
According to Jacqueline Birtwisle, a registered sports nutritionist who works with the British rowing team, some good postexercise snacks are a wholemeal roll containing a sliced boiled egg, a fruit smoothie made with skimmed milk, or 200ml of skimmed milk with 50g of sugar-free muesli. Shift your pattern of feeding so that you don’t eat more protein every day, just eat more of it soon after exercise. By doing so you may preserve your muscle, avoid falls, and maintain good health for longer.
The effect is not confined to the young; even older people can have their muscle maintenance system effectively tweaked; rejuvenated effectively by about an hour of moderate resistance exercise. If you know someone with cancer, it may be worth encouraging them to stay active and, if possible, to start visiting the gym, and taking a light high-protein meal soon afterwards.
If you are a sportsman or woman, and eat to satisfy your appetite, you will automatically be getting more than enough protein in your ordinary diet to sustain muscle growth when you work out, whatever the advertisements tell you. If you just want to be more toned, especially if you are older, resistance exercise and food is the key.
But what sort of exercise works best for improving our muscles? Suprisingly perhaps, it’s not the sort of exercise needed for cardiovascu-lar fitness, such as long walks, swimming or sweaty stuff. Simply lifting weights will help, and not even heavy ones at that. And if you follow this resistance exercise with a meal containing protein, muscle-building accelerates.
Professor Rennie says: “What seems to be happening is that the muscle’s sensitivity to amino acids may be reset by exercise.” Exercise makes the muscle realise that it’s not actually full and that it could do with some more amino acids, which it then takes in to bulk itself up. This discovery is good news for older people but even better for those with cancer and diseases known to cause wasting such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and liver cirrhosis.
A study, completed recently by a group of researchers in Heidelberg (its leader, Wulf Hildebrant, will be joining Professor Rennie soon), shows that encouraging patients with pancreatic cancer to do resistance exercise reversed their weight loss and they put on muscle as fast as healthy people of the same age. “This is an important finding because better muscles should help them to cope better with surgery, have fewer complications and possibly speed recuperation,” Professor Rennie says.
Later Life Training runs courses to promote exercise for the elderly and the frail; www.laterlifetraining.co.uk
How to stay in shape
To get the most out of your muscles, supervised resistance exercises at the gym is the best bet. Meanwhile, here are some simple exercises you can do at home to help keep your muscles in shape. They can be done by anyone of any age, but older people, particularly if a bit unfit, should take things slowly.
Listen to your body, breathe, and don’t overdo it. If you are not sure of the technique, ask a professional. Don’t worry if you don’t have any equipment, bags of sugar work well as weights.
Legs Squats are the best. Imagine that you are getting in and out of a chair. Slowly. If you are a bit unstable, use a chair but try not to sit down fully, or make sure there is something to hold on to. Do three sets of 10.
Back These muscles are easy to work in the gym with upright rowing motions. At home, sit upright on the floor, slowly push your weights away from your chest and pull back again. Three sets of 10.
Chest Lie on the floor and push your weights up towards the ceiling and back down to your chest. Three sets of 10.
Tummy Simple crunches are best, and technique is crucial. Lie on the floor, feet flat, knees bent, hands on thighs, and press your back into the floor. As you slowly curl upwards, breathe out, making sure you look upwards at the ceiling. Three sets of 20.
LINK TO THE ARTICLE ON THE WEB
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Aug 16, 2007
Thoughts from the past
Xeno Müller, Class of 1995
When I was a freshman the first four or five days, the flood lights outside the buildings that were yellow, the humidity in the air at the end of the summer, I was in sensory overdrive. I was so excited to be there, because I finally found a home for me where people know what it means to hold an oar and to just train on a daily basis.
I was called the “fuzzy foreigner.” In my teammates’ defense, they got a Xeno Müller at age 19 or 20, probably really full of color. Colors that I was wearing were normal in Europe to train in, but the colors that they were wearing were probably darker colors. I was friends with the underdogs on the team, guys like David Monk and Sari Awad.
I remember sitting at the starting line my very first race as a freshman in the first freshman boat. Who else are we racing but Harvard. We are sitting at the stake, and I swear to you, I thought that our boat was vibrating. I want to illustrate to you that I was sitting in a boat on a race course, just itching to rip off that stake boat and to annihilate that boat from Harvard. Because when they showed up they were so shiny and clean and so well-dressed. We know that Brown is grunge, and that the guys wear two mismatching socks. I just remember sitting at that catch thinking, “O.K., these guys, I can count on. And we’re just going to destroy the other crew.” And we did.
I think I learned of different social dynamics and immediately became tolerant; because what was shown to me at Brown was how to be tolerant. I was really a sponge when I came to Brown. I really enjoyed having different views of life all around me, the different perspectives on sexual orientation, on rich people or poor people. And I’m not sure that another school would have delivered that experience to me in the same way.
When we rowed against Navy in 1993, in Camden New Jersey at the I.R.A.s, the Midshipmen were wearing shirts that said, “Made in America.” We had a couple of non-Americans rowing for Brown, and rubbing my nose in the fact that I was a foreigner really provided me with some motivation. I love this country. If I could be an American I would be. (Now I am as of February 2004)
My coach told me before the Atlanta Games final, “Xeno, this is your first Olympic final. Half of the field here is going to get an Olympic medal. If you’re in fifth place, go for fourth. If you’re in fourth, go for third. If you’re in third, go for second.” The hardest thing for me was to be patient until the final 90 strokes of the race. I remember counting the boats behind me in the last 250 meters. I didn’t want to make a mistake I had made as a 15-year-old in Switzerland. I started rowing with more torque – not with a higher stroke rate, but with more torque.
If Steve and Scott hadn’t affected me the way they did, I wouldn’t be the person I am today emotionally.
When I was a freshman the first four or five days, the flood lights outside the buildings that were yellow, the humidity in the air at the end of the summer, I was in sensory overdrive. I was so excited to be there, because I finally found a home for me where people know what it means to hold an oar and to just train on a daily basis.
I was called the “fuzzy foreigner.” In my teammates’ defense, they got a Xeno Müller at age 19 or 20, probably really full of color. Colors that I was wearing were normal in Europe to train in, but the colors that they were wearing were probably darker colors. I was friends with the underdogs on the team, guys like David Monk and Sari Awad.
I remember sitting at the starting line my very first race as a freshman in the first freshman boat. Who else are we racing but Harvard. We are sitting at the stake, and I swear to you, I thought that our boat was vibrating. I want to illustrate to you that I was sitting in a boat on a race course, just itching to rip off that stake boat and to annihilate that boat from Harvard. Because when they showed up they were so shiny and clean and so well-dressed. We know that Brown is grunge, and that the guys wear two mismatching socks. I just remember sitting at that catch thinking, “O.K., these guys, I can count on. And we’re just going to destroy the other crew.” And we did.
I think I learned of different social dynamics and immediately became tolerant; because what was shown to me at Brown was how to be tolerant. I was really a sponge when I came to Brown. I really enjoyed having different views of life all around me, the different perspectives on sexual orientation, on rich people or poor people. And I’m not sure that another school would have delivered that experience to me in the same way.
When we rowed against Navy in 1993, in Camden New Jersey at the I.R.A.s, the Midshipmen were wearing shirts that said, “Made in America.” We had a couple of non-Americans rowing for Brown, and rubbing my nose in the fact that I was a foreigner really provided me with some motivation. I love this country. If I could be an American I would be. (Now I am as of February 2004)
My coach told me before the Atlanta Games final, “Xeno, this is your first Olympic final. Half of the field here is going to get an Olympic medal. If you’re in fifth place, go for fourth. If you’re in fourth, go for third. If you’re in third, go for second.” The hardest thing for me was to be patient until the final 90 strokes of the race. I remember counting the boats behind me in the last 250 meters. I didn’t want to make a mistake I had made as a 15-year-old in Switzerland. I started rowing with more torque – not with a higher stroke rate, but with more torque.
If Steve and Scott hadn’t affected me the way they did, I wouldn’t be the person I am today emotionally.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Jul 28, 2007
My friend Rob Waddell, former indoor rowing world champion and Olympic gold medalist:
Rob Waddell is keeping mum on a possible rowing comeback.
The 32-year-old Waikato sporting icon recently returned to Tamahere after eight months as a crew member with Team New Zealand in Valencia.
He was delighted to report he and wife Sonia are expecting their third child - but far more reserved when asked to comment on speculation he's eyeing a rowing comeback for next year's Beijing Olympics.
"No comment," said Waddell, men's single sculls winner at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when pressed. "Give us a break, I've only just got back.
"I recently had my first scull in eight years, and really enjoyed it. But it was as much about getting out and enjoying Lake Karapiro again. It was like John Walker going for a run."
Waddell was also quick to point out that after working as the strongman grinder in two America's Cup campaigns he now weighs 120kg - 20kg more than in 2000.
And yet he did not reject the Olympics notion out of hand. "I'm still contractually with Team NZ, but that's the best I can give you."
He said he had "plenty of ideas, but nothing concrete. That just about sums up everything at the moment."
Meanwhile, Waddell was philosophical about not being able to pip America's Cup holders Alinghi in the Valencia finals.
"You just never really knew where you were going to be against Alinghi.
"We threw everything at it, and I thought we were sailing really well apart from a couple of mistakes.
"On the boat it felt like we were starting to win all those first exchanges . . . but I just felt we were up against slightly faster hardware."
The Waddells' third child is due in November.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Jul 20, 2007
good story about weight loss thanks to rowing
Rowing to the rescue; daniel klassen goes from overweight student to scholarship rower
BERNIE PUCHALSKI
Sports - Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 09:00
No one could have anticipated Daniel Klassen's rowing career.
"I had never played any sports and I was grossly overweight," the 17-year-old said. "The rowing team needed one more person to fill an eight and I guess they were pretty desperate."
He was a Grade 11 student at Eden High School at the time and the clincher to join came in the form of a little feminine persuasion.
"The coach got his daughter to flutter her eyelashes at me and convince me to join."
He loved the sport at first stroke.
"It was great. Our team wasn't too competitive, so I didn't feel too out of place. I started dropping weight and getting competitive so I kept going."
His weight loss was the most dramatic change - he dropped to 215 pounds from 280 pounds.
"If you saw pictures of me, it's ridiculous. I have people who don't recognize me any more.
"
It's no stretch to suggest rowing has altered his life mentally and physically.
"Everything I do now is more or less a product of rowing: the school I'm going to; what I do with my time; my girlfriend; it has completely changed my life."
Last year, Klassen was unofficially turned down for a scholarship at Princeton because he was too young, so he bided his time this past year working, studying part time at Brock University and training with Ridley Graduate Boat Club coach Jack Nicholson and fellow rower David Wakulich.
In the winter, Klassen and Wakulich worked out with weights and ergometers. When spring came, they were on the water twice a day.
"That was a huge, huge period of growth for me." Klassen said.
Overcoming his lack of sports background was Klassen's biggest challenge.
"Physiologically, he had a very poor aerobic base and that's where we have made the biggest gains," Nicholson said.
Klassen has also learned the training regime required to become an elite rower.
"It's learning how to pace yourself," Nicholson said. "He's never had to go to the wall and back and beyond, but he's going to be a good one.
"We'll keep him."
Klassen's rapid improvement garnered him a scholarship from Yale and he entered the Junior Speed Orders (national team trials) in Welland brimming with optimism.
He didn't have a great race in the A singles final - he placed sixth out of six boats - but his performance was good enough to earn a spot in the CanAmMex training camp and regatta this week in St. Catharines.
"I wasn't distraught over my results from the time trials," he said. "I was hoping to do well, but every race is different."
The CanAmMex camp, which rotates between Canada, the United States and Mexico, is the first international step for junior rowers with national team aspirations.
Klassen describes the camp as the best of both worlds.
"I get to race internationally with new coaches and teammates, but at the same time, I can still stick with Ridley, which has been really good to me, and I can still race Henley."
CanAmMex participants are eligible to compete in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta while junior national team members are ineligible.
Brie-Anne Breton, Katrina Pichelli, Jenna Burke, Jill Stark, Ian Norton, Ben Cushnie from the South Niagara Rowing Club are also taking part in the camp.
The camp started Sunday night and Klassen will be staying with the team during the week at the Brock University residences.
BERNIE PUCHALSKI
Sports - Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 09:00
No one could have anticipated Daniel Klassen's rowing career.
"I had never played any sports and I was grossly overweight," the 17-year-old said. "The rowing team needed one more person to fill an eight and I guess they were pretty desperate."
He was a Grade 11 student at Eden High School at the time and the clincher to join came in the form of a little feminine persuasion.
"The coach got his daughter to flutter her eyelashes at me and convince me to join."
He loved the sport at first stroke.
"It was great. Our team wasn't too competitive, so I didn't feel too out of place. I started dropping weight and getting competitive so I kept going."
His weight loss was the most dramatic change - he dropped to 215 pounds from 280 pounds.
"If you saw pictures of me, it's ridiculous. I have people who don't recognize me any more.
"
It's no stretch to suggest rowing has altered his life mentally and physically.
"Everything I do now is more or less a product of rowing: the school I'm going to; what I do with my time; my girlfriend; it has completely changed my life."
Last year, Klassen was unofficially turned down for a scholarship at Princeton because he was too young, so he bided his time this past year working, studying part time at Brock University and training with Ridley Graduate Boat Club coach Jack Nicholson and fellow rower David Wakulich.
In the winter, Klassen and Wakulich worked out with weights and ergometers. When spring came, they were on the water twice a day.
"That was a huge, huge period of growth for me." Klassen said.
Overcoming his lack of sports background was Klassen's biggest challenge.
"Physiologically, he had a very poor aerobic base and that's where we have made the biggest gains," Nicholson said.
Klassen has also learned the training regime required to become an elite rower.
"It's learning how to pace yourself," Nicholson said. "He's never had to go to the wall and back and beyond, but he's going to be a good one.
"We'll keep him."
Klassen's rapid improvement garnered him a scholarship from Yale and he entered the Junior Speed Orders (national team trials) in Welland brimming with optimism.
He didn't have a great race in the A singles final - he placed sixth out of six boats - but his performance was good enough to earn a spot in the CanAmMex training camp and regatta this week in St. Catharines.
"I wasn't distraught over my results from the time trials," he said. "I was hoping to do well, but every race is different."
The CanAmMex camp, which rotates between Canada, the United States and Mexico, is the first international step for junior rowers with national team aspirations.
Klassen describes the camp as the best of both worlds.
"I get to race internationally with new coaches and teammates, but at the same time, I can still stick with Ridley, which has been really good to me, and I can still race Henley."
CanAmMex participants are eligible to compete in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta while junior national team members are ineligible.
Brie-Anne Breton, Katrina Pichelli, Jenna Burke, Jill Stark, Ian Norton, Ben Cushnie from the South Niagara Rowing Club are also taking part in the camp.
The camp started Sunday night and Klassen will be staying with the team during the week at the Brock University residences.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
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Aug 27, 2007
Aug 21, 2007
Stay Healthy from Times Online
Live longer and row! XENO
Muscle is going through an image change. Previously thought of as a stretchy slab of inert flesh that declines with age, especially once we hit 50, research is emerging that suggests that the simple step of regular muscle execise, followed by a protein snack, could keep our muscles going long into old age. This not only means a better physique, but also a life less likely to be sabotaged by falls in later years.
Good muscles mean far more than the ability to lift weights, run fast or show off a washboard stomach. They are crucial to health: the muscles of our chest help us to breathe properly and keep the lungs free from fluid; muscles in the heart pump blood around the body; and, of course, muscles, literally, hold us up. Lose as little as 25 per cent of the muscle bulk in your leg and you’ll struggle to get out of a chair; you’ ll also find yourself tripping over kerbs or falling over in the shower.
As well as staving off old-age frailty, this recent muscle research, from the University of Nottingham and other universities across Europe, may also be important for cancer patients and athletes. Keeping on weight in the form of muscle means a better chance of recovery for cancer patients. And this new understanding of how muscle works may save gym bunnies a fortune.
The accepted story is that the muscle wasting seen with cancer, and the less dramatic muscle wasting of age, is because, over time, more muscle is being broken down than is being built up. In fact, breakdown rates remain pretty much the same. Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered that it is the build-up that’s the problem because the muscle is denying itself the nutrients it needs. Food is the key that switches on muscle-building and, more specifically, the amino acids found in protein, which are the building blocks for muscle production.
So the answer to bigger muscles surely is to eat more protein? Many clearly think so because the shelves of every healthfood shop groan with protein supplements for body builders. In fact, contrary to all received wisdom and a million internet sites, it’s not the answer.
First, and here’s a surprise, our body takes in only the exact amount of protein that it needs to build muscle; any more than that is expelled in our urine. This is because the amino acids that make up proteins are poisonous in large quantities and cause brain damage in excess, but we have loads of enzymes to break them down. So, the more protein we eat, the more the body raises its production of enzymes to break it down and excrete it in pee, keeping us safe from harm.
And so our muscles get full up. Literally. Once we’ve had the equivalent of a boiled egg’s worth of protein or so, muscles don’t take up any further amino acids, which means that those expensive protein supplements largely end up down the pan.
The concept of muscles being full up is highly significant because as we age our muscles say that they’ve had enough, earlier than they did when we were younger, meaning that without the necessary building blocks, muscle breakdown exceeds build-up. The technical name for it is anabolic blunting.
This effect is also probably highly significant in cancer because there is something about a tumour that causes it to react to the enemy within and to tell muscle that it’s full up way before it actually has. This process is common in cancer but also in several diseases that cause wasting – all this despite huge amounts of protein and calories being poured into patients via supplements and drips.
But here comes the good news: with moderate exercise, followed by a meal that contains some protein, we may be able to cheat this system. Michael Rennie, a professor of clinical physiology at the University of Nottingham, and who has an international reputation in this field, recommends cheap protein such as fish, eggs or mik. It doesn’t have to be a huge portion; a large glass of milk is enough.
According to Jacqueline Birtwisle, a registered sports nutritionist who works with the British rowing team, some good postexercise snacks are a wholemeal roll containing a sliced boiled egg, a fruit smoothie made with skimmed milk, or 200ml of skimmed milk with 50g of sugar-free muesli. Shift your pattern of feeding so that you don’t eat more protein every day, just eat more of it soon after exercise. By doing so you may preserve your muscle, avoid falls, and maintain good health for longer.
The effect is not confined to the young; even older people can have their muscle maintenance system effectively tweaked; rejuvenated effectively by about an hour of moderate resistance exercise. If you know someone with cancer, it may be worth encouraging them to stay active and, if possible, to start visiting the gym, and taking a light high-protein meal soon afterwards.
If you are a sportsman or woman, and eat to satisfy your appetite, you will automatically be getting more than enough protein in your ordinary diet to sustain muscle growth when you work out, whatever the advertisements tell you. If you just want to be more toned, especially if you are older, resistance exercise and food is the key.
But what sort of exercise works best for improving our muscles? Suprisingly perhaps, it’s not the sort of exercise needed for cardiovascu-lar fitness, such as long walks, swimming or sweaty stuff. Simply lifting weights will help, and not even heavy ones at that. And if you follow this resistance exercise with a meal containing protein, muscle-building accelerates.
Professor Rennie says: “What seems to be happening is that the muscle’s sensitivity to amino acids may be reset by exercise.” Exercise makes the muscle realise that it’s not actually full and that it could do with some more amino acids, which it then takes in to bulk itself up. This discovery is good news for older people but even better for those with cancer and diseases known to cause wasting such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and liver cirrhosis.
A study, completed recently by a group of researchers in Heidelberg (its leader, Wulf Hildebrant, will be joining Professor Rennie soon), shows that encouraging patients with pancreatic cancer to do resistance exercise reversed their weight loss and they put on muscle as fast as healthy people of the same age. “This is an important finding because better muscles should help them to cope better with surgery, have fewer complications and possibly speed recuperation,” Professor Rennie says.
Later Life Training runs courses to promote exercise for the elderly and the frail; www.laterlifetraining.co.uk
How to stay in shape
To get the most out of your muscles, supervised resistance exercises at the gym is the best bet. Meanwhile, here are some simple exercises you can do at home to help keep your muscles in shape. They can be done by anyone of any age, but older people, particularly if a bit unfit, should take things slowly.
Listen to your body, breathe, and don’t overdo it. If you are not sure of the technique, ask a professional. Don’t worry if you don’t have any equipment, bags of sugar work well as weights.
Legs Squats are the best. Imagine that you are getting in and out of a chair. Slowly. If you are a bit unstable, use a chair but try not to sit down fully, or make sure there is something to hold on to. Do three sets of 10.
Back These muscles are easy to work in the gym with upright rowing motions. At home, sit upright on the floor, slowly push your weights away from your chest and pull back again. Three sets of 10.
Chest Lie on the floor and push your weights up towards the ceiling and back down to your chest. Three sets of 10.
Tummy Simple crunches are best, and technique is crucial. Lie on the floor, feet flat, knees bent, hands on thighs, and press your back into the floor. As you slowly curl upwards, breathe out, making sure you look upwards at the ceiling. Three sets of 20.
LINK TO THE ARTICLE ON THE WEB
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Aug 16, 2007
Thoughts from the past
Xeno Müller, Class of 1995
When I was a freshman the first four or five days, the flood lights outside the buildings that were yellow, the humidity in the air at the end of the summer, I was in sensory overdrive. I was so excited to be there, because I finally found a home for me where people know what it means to hold an oar and to just train on a daily basis.
I was called the “fuzzy foreigner.” In my teammates’ defense, they got a Xeno Müller at age 19 or 20, probably really full of color. Colors that I was wearing were normal in Europe to train in, but the colors that they were wearing were probably darker colors. I was friends with the underdogs on the team, guys like David Monk and Sari Awad.
I remember sitting at the starting line my very first race as a freshman in the first freshman boat. Who else are we racing but Harvard. We are sitting at the stake, and I swear to you, I thought that our boat was vibrating. I want to illustrate to you that I was sitting in a boat on a race course, just itching to rip off that stake boat and to annihilate that boat from Harvard. Because when they showed up they were so shiny and clean and so well-dressed. We know that Brown is grunge, and that the guys wear two mismatching socks. I just remember sitting at that catch thinking, “O.K., these guys, I can count on. And we’re just going to destroy the other crew.” And we did.
I think I learned of different social dynamics and immediately became tolerant; because what was shown to me at Brown was how to be tolerant. I was really a sponge when I came to Brown. I really enjoyed having different views of life all around me, the different perspectives on sexual orientation, on rich people or poor people. And I’m not sure that another school would have delivered that experience to me in the same way.
When we rowed against Navy in 1993, in Camden New Jersey at the I.R.A.s, the Midshipmen were wearing shirts that said, “Made in America.” We had a couple of non-Americans rowing for Brown, and rubbing my nose in the fact that I was a foreigner really provided me with some motivation. I love this country. If I could be an American I would be. (Now I am as of February 2004)
My coach told me before the Atlanta Games final, “Xeno, this is your first Olympic final. Half of the field here is going to get an Olympic medal. If you’re in fifth place, go for fourth. If you’re in fourth, go for third. If you’re in third, go for second.” The hardest thing for me was to be patient until the final 90 strokes of the race. I remember counting the boats behind me in the last 250 meters. I didn’t want to make a mistake I had made as a 15-year-old in Switzerland. I started rowing with more torque – not with a higher stroke rate, but with more torque.
If Steve and Scott hadn’t affected me the way they did, I wouldn’t be the person I am today emotionally.
When I was a freshman the first four or five days, the flood lights outside the buildings that were yellow, the humidity in the air at the end of the summer, I was in sensory overdrive. I was so excited to be there, because I finally found a home for me where people know what it means to hold an oar and to just train on a daily basis.
I was called the “fuzzy foreigner.” In my teammates’ defense, they got a Xeno Müller at age 19 or 20, probably really full of color. Colors that I was wearing were normal in Europe to train in, but the colors that they were wearing were probably darker colors. I was friends with the underdogs on the team, guys like David Monk and Sari Awad.
I remember sitting at the starting line my very first race as a freshman in the first freshman boat. Who else are we racing but Harvard. We are sitting at the stake, and I swear to you, I thought that our boat was vibrating. I want to illustrate to you that I was sitting in a boat on a race course, just itching to rip off that stake boat and to annihilate that boat from Harvard. Because when they showed up they were so shiny and clean and so well-dressed. We know that Brown is grunge, and that the guys wear two mismatching socks. I just remember sitting at that catch thinking, “O.K., these guys, I can count on. And we’re just going to destroy the other crew.” And we did.
I think I learned of different social dynamics and immediately became tolerant; because what was shown to me at Brown was how to be tolerant. I was really a sponge when I came to Brown. I really enjoyed having different views of life all around me, the different perspectives on sexual orientation, on rich people or poor people. And I’m not sure that another school would have delivered that experience to me in the same way.
When we rowed against Navy in 1993, in Camden New Jersey at the I.R.A.s, the Midshipmen were wearing shirts that said, “Made in America.” We had a couple of non-Americans rowing for Brown, and rubbing my nose in the fact that I was a foreigner really provided me with some motivation. I love this country. If I could be an American I would be. (Now I am as of February 2004)
My coach told me before the Atlanta Games final, “Xeno, this is your first Olympic final. Half of the field here is going to get an Olympic medal. If you’re in fifth place, go for fourth. If you’re in fourth, go for third. If you’re in third, go for second.” The hardest thing for me was to be patient until the final 90 strokes of the race. I remember counting the boats behind me in the last 250 meters. I didn’t want to make a mistake I had made as a 15-year-old in Switzerland. I started rowing with more torque – not with a higher stroke rate, but with more torque.
If Steve and Scott hadn’t affected me the way they did, I wouldn’t be the person I am today emotionally.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Jul 28, 2007
My friend Rob Waddell, former indoor rowing world champion and Olympic gold medalist:
Rob Waddell is keeping mum on a possible rowing comeback.
The 32-year-old Waikato sporting icon recently returned to Tamahere after eight months as a crew member with Team New Zealand in Valencia.
He was delighted to report he and wife Sonia are expecting their third child - but far more reserved when asked to comment on speculation he's eyeing a rowing comeback for next year's Beijing Olympics.
"No comment," said Waddell, men's single sculls winner at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when pressed. "Give us a break, I've only just got back.
"I recently had my first scull in eight years, and really enjoyed it. But it was as much about getting out and enjoying Lake Karapiro again. It was like John Walker going for a run."
Waddell was also quick to point out that after working as the strongman grinder in two America's Cup campaigns he now weighs 120kg - 20kg more than in 2000.
And yet he did not reject the Olympics notion out of hand. "I'm still contractually with Team NZ, but that's the best I can give you."
He said he had "plenty of ideas, but nothing concrete. That just about sums up everything at the moment."
Meanwhile, Waddell was philosophical about not being able to pip America's Cup holders Alinghi in the Valencia finals.
"You just never really knew where you were going to be against Alinghi.
"We threw everything at it, and I thought we were sailing really well apart from a couple of mistakes.
"On the boat it felt like we were starting to win all those first exchanges . . . but I just felt we were up against slightly faster hardware."
The Waddells' third child is due in November.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
Jul 20, 2007
good story about weight loss thanks to rowing
Rowing to the rescue; daniel klassen goes from overweight student to scholarship rower
BERNIE PUCHALSKI
Sports - Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 09:00
No one could have anticipated Daniel Klassen's rowing career.
"I had never played any sports and I was grossly overweight," the 17-year-old said. "The rowing team needed one more person to fill an eight and I guess they were pretty desperate."
He was a Grade 11 student at Eden High School at the time and the clincher to join came in the form of a little feminine persuasion.
"The coach got his daughter to flutter her eyelashes at me and convince me to join."
He loved the sport at first stroke.
"It was great. Our team wasn't too competitive, so I didn't feel too out of place. I started dropping weight and getting competitive so I kept going."
His weight loss was the most dramatic change - he dropped to 215 pounds from 280 pounds.
"If you saw pictures of me, it's ridiculous. I have people who don't recognize me any more.
"
It's no stretch to suggest rowing has altered his life mentally and physically.
"Everything I do now is more or less a product of rowing: the school I'm going to; what I do with my time; my girlfriend; it has completely changed my life."
Last year, Klassen was unofficially turned down for a scholarship at Princeton because he was too young, so he bided his time this past year working, studying part time at Brock University and training with Ridley Graduate Boat Club coach Jack Nicholson and fellow rower David Wakulich.
In the winter, Klassen and Wakulich worked out with weights and ergometers. When spring came, they were on the water twice a day.
"That was a huge, huge period of growth for me." Klassen said.
Overcoming his lack of sports background was Klassen's biggest challenge.
"Physiologically, he had a very poor aerobic base and that's where we have made the biggest gains," Nicholson said.
Klassen has also learned the training regime required to become an elite rower.
"It's learning how to pace yourself," Nicholson said. "He's never had to go to the wall and back and beyond, but he's going to be a good one.
"We'll keep him."
Klassen's rapid improvement garnered him a scholarship from Yale and he entered the Junior Speed Orders (national team trials) in Welland brimming with optimism.
He didn't have a great race in the A singles final - he placed sixth out of six boats - but his performance was good enough to earn a spot in the CanAmMex training camp and regatta this week in St. Catharines.
"I wasn't distraught over my results from the time trials," he said. "I was hoping to do well, but every race is different."
The CanAmMex camp, which rotates between Canada, the United States and Mexico, is the first international step for junior rowers with national team aspirations.
Klassen describes the camp as the best of both worlds.
"I get to race internationally with new coaches and teammates, but at the same time, I can still stick with Ridley, which has been really good to me, and I can still race Henley."
CanAmMex participants are eligible to compete in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta while junior national team members are ineligible.
Brie-Anne Breton, Katrina Pichelli, Jenna Burke, Jill Stark, Ian Norton, Ben Cushnie from the South Niagara Rowing Club are also taking part in the camp.
The camp started Sunday night and Klassen will be staying with the team during the week at the Brock University residences.
BERNIE PUCHALSKI
Sports - Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 09:00
No one could have anticipated Daniel Klassen's rowing career.
"I had never played any sports and I was grossly overweight," the 17-year-old said. "The rowing team needed one more person to fill an eight and I guess they were pretty desperate."
He was a Grade 11 student at Eden High School at the time and the clincher to join came in the form of a little feminine persuasion.
"The coach got his daughter to flutter her eyelashes at me and convince me to join."
He loved the sport at first stroke.
"It was great. Our team wasn't too competitive, so I didn't feel too out of place. I started dropping weight and getting competitive so I kept going."
His weight loss was the most dramatic change - he dropped to 215 pounds from 280 pounds.
"If you saw pictures of me, it's ridiculous. I have people who don't recognize me any more.
"
It's no stretch to suggest rowing has altered his life mentally and physically.
"Everything I do now is more or less a product of rowing: the school I'm going to; what I do with my time; my girlfriend; it has completely changed my life."
Last year, Klassen was unofficially turned down for a scholarship at Princeton because he was too young, so he bided his time this past year working, studying part time at Brock University and training with Ridley Graduate Boat Club coach Jack Nicholson and fellow rower David Wakulich.
In the winter, Klassen and Wakulich worked out with weights and ergometers. When spring came, they were on the water twice a day.
"That was a huge, huge period of growth for me." Klassen said.
Overcoming his lack of sports background was Klassen's biggest challenge.
"Physiologically, he had a very poor aerobic base and that's where we have made the biggest gains," Nicholson said.
Klassen has also learned the training regime required to become an elite rower.
"It's learning how to pace yourself," Nicholson said. "He's never had to go to the wall and back and beyond, but he's going to be a good one.
"We'll keep him."
Klassen's rapid improvement garnered him a scholarship from Yale and he entered the Junior Speed Orders (national team trials) in Welland brimming with optimism.
He didn't have a great race in the A singles final - he placed sixth out of six boats - but his performance was good enough to earn a spot in the CanAmMex training camp and regatta this week in St. Catharines.
"I wasn't distraught over my results from the time trials," he said. "I was hoping to do well, but every race is different."
The CanAmMex camp, which rotates between Canada, the United States and Mexico, is the first international step for junior rowers with national team aspirations.
Klassen describes the camp as the best of both worlds.
"I get to race internationally with new coaches and teammates, but at the same time, I can still stick with Ridley, which has been really good to me, and I can still race Henley."
CanAmMex participants are eligible to compete in the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta while junior national team members are ineligible.
Brie-Anne Breton, Katrina Pichelli, Jenna Burke, Jill Stark, Ian Norton, Ben Cushnie from the South Niagara Rowing Club are also taking part in the camp.
The camp started Sunday night and Klassen will be staying with the team during the week at the Brock University residences.
Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.
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