Michael A Spracklen, (born 15 September 1937) is a British
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
coach who has led teams from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, United States, Canada to success at the
Olympic games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
and
World Rowing Championships
The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...
, including the early Olympic successes of
Steve Redgrave
Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...
. In 2002 he was named the
International Rowing Federation
World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...
coach of the year.
Spracklen was also part of the coaching team that brought
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
success in the annual Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Spracklen's youngest son Adrian is a former British international lightweight oarsman and now coaches rowing at
Mercyhurst College
(Seize the day)
, former_names = Mercyhurst College (1926–2012)
, established =
, type = Private university
, religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Sisters of Mercy)
, endowment = $31.8 million
, faculty = 136 full-time
, administrat ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
Life and career
Spracklen was born in
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Marlow (; historically Great Marlow or Chipping Marlow) is a town and civil parish within the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located on the River Thames, south-southwest of High Wycombe, west-northwest of Maidenhead and ...
, England. He represented
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and won a
gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
in the double sculls at the
1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958.
Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...
in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales.
Spracklen's first major success was in coaching the Great Britain double scull to silver in the Montreal Olympic Games 1976. In 1984, he coached the Great Britain coxed four to gold at the Los Angeles Olympics, Britain's first Olympic gold medal in rowing since 1948. From that crew, he took Steve Redgrave and
Andy Holmes
Andrew John Holmes (15 October 1959 – 24 October 2010)Seoul in 1988, before moving to Canada as head coach of the national team in 1989.
The Canadian men's eight took gold at the 1992 Olympics under his tutelage, and Spracklen moved on to coach the U.S. squad. He inaugurated the rowing venue at the new Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. After a disappointing finishing position of fifth in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic eights, he returned to Great Britain as the women's national team coach.
Spracklen was also involved in the success of two highly successful single scullers, who switched to
sculling
Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, it ...
from
sweep rowing
Sweep rowing is one of two disciplines of the sport of rowing. In sweep rowing each rower has one oar, usually held with both hands. As each rower has only one oar, the rowers have to be paired so that there is an oar on each side of the boat. I ...
. After stroking the Canadian eight to gold in 1992,
Derek Porter
Derek Nesbitt-Porter (born 2 November 1967) is a gold medal-winning Olympic Rowing (sport), rower from Canada.
Early life and education
He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his father Hugh rowed for England at the 1958 British Empire ...
turned to single sculling and the following year became world champion. He continued to scull, and under Spracklen's programme he won silver in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Jamie Koven
James W. Koven (born April 18, 1973 in Morristown, New Jersey) is an American rower.
Koven began rowing as a boarding student at St. Paul's School. He continued rowing as a college student at Brown University where he studied mechanic ...
also took to sculling after rowing in the US men's eight under Spracklen, and in 1997, he also became world champion.
In 1997 the British women won gold in the coxless four, silver in the double sculls and bronze in the eight. In the following year, 1998 the British women achieved their first heavyweight gold at a world championship, in the double sculls. After the
2000 Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, where the British women took silver in the quadruple sculls, the first Olympic medal for British women, Spracklen's contract was not renewed, with the BBC reporting discontent in the squad over his methods. The silver medal in the women's quad launched a successful four-Olympic medal career for
Katherine Grainger
Dame Katherine Jane Grainger (born 12 November 1975) is a British former rower and current Chair of UK Sport. She is a 2012 Summer Olympics gold medallist, four-time Olympic silver medallist and six-time World Champion. She served as Chancell ...
.
Spracklen began coaching the Canadian men's squad in 2000, winning the gold medal for eights at the 2002, 2003 and 2007 World Championships and at the
2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
. After leading Canada's men's eight to a gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and a silver at the 2012 London Olympics, Rowing Canada announced in the fall of 2012 that it was moving forward without Spracklen on its coaching team.
Coaching style
Spracklen's coaching revolves around finding a balance between the factors that affect the speed of the boat: Power (the effort per stroke), Length of Stroke, Rate (number of strokes taken each minute) and Technique.
Spracklen's ability to get athletes to commit fully to his program has been considered his greatest asset. A Spracklen athlete is expected have a balanced life
but to prioritise rowing above other aspects of their lives. His program revolves around creating a core group of athletes which may or may not have previous experience on the world stage, and getting them to win. This core group then can be used to inspire a larger group to commit to the Spracklen program. Training runs in all seasons, with little to no cross-training and potentially 2 weeks off after a world championship or Olympic event. Training centers seldom require an invitation but rather allow anyone to participate in the training regime with the top athletes. That being said resources, including his time, are devoted to athletes and boats which are gold medal contenders.
Coaching titles
Honours
* 1989 Officer of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
* 1993
Meritorious Service Cross
The Meritorious Service Cross (french: Croix du service méritoire) is a decoration that is, within the Canadian system of honours, one of the two Meritorious Service Decorations gifted by the Canadian monarch, his or her Governor-in-Council. Cr ...
* 1998 UK and England Coach of the Year by the National Coaching Foundation
* 2002 International Rowing Federation coach of the year.
* 2004 Spirit of Sport Foundation coach of the year
* 2007 Petro-Canada Coaching Excellence Award