Scott Frandsen (born July 21, 1980, in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

of Danish and Swedish descent.

Biography

Born in

, he began rowing at age 16 at

Brentwood College Brentwood College School is a co-educational boarding school.Thomson, Ashley and Sylvie Lafortune.'' Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools''. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, British Columbia, C ...

(High School), in British Columbia, Canada. He rowed for four years at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. His freshman boat in 1999, coached by

Craig Amerkhanian Craig Amerkhanian is a Pac-10 college champion oarsman and rowing coach at Stanford University. Amerkhanian also has placed numerous athletes on National, Olympic and "Boat Race" (Oxford/Cambridge) teams. He was an All-Pac-10 oarsman at Universi ...

finished second at the

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's ope ...

championship, which serves as the national championship race for men's collegiate rowing in the United States. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, he was in the varsity eight man boat, which won the IRA championship each year. In 2000 and 2001, his boats were undefeated and are considered by many as the fastest collegiate boats ever. In 2003, he went to

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...

, for graduate work. There he rowed for the university in the Oxford Blue Boat against rivals Cambridge in

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

. Despite their diminutive stature his Oxford crew won a dramatic

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

by the smallest ever recorded margin (one foot), and in so winning, they overturned the biggest weight deficit in the history of the contest. They achieved this by over-rating and out-racing their heavier Cambridge counterparts on the outside of the long Surrey bend through the middle of the race. This took considerable guts and fortitude, and the attitude the crew exemplified in doing so was reflective of Frandsen's natural tenacity and stubbornness. Commentators cite this tenacity as the main factor allowing the Oxford crew to upset the much bigger, more powerful and more experienced 2003 Cambridge boat. Frandsen went on to row that summer with one of his

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

rivals from the 2003 Boat Race, Wayne Pommen, at the 2003

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 ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. The Boat Race pairing took sixth place for Canada in a hotly contested final of the coxless pairs event. The following year Frandsen pursued selection for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He won two gold medals on the 2004 World Cup circuit, both in the Men's Eight event (in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

). At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

he was in the Canadian Men's Eight (M8+) which was the favourite for the event. His boat narrowly lost out to the Americans in the Heat, with both crews going under the previous World Record time. Come the Final the Canadians had a disappointing row and finished out of the medals in fifth place. In 2005, Frandsen was again in the Canadian Men's Eight. This time, his boat finished seventh at the World Championships held in Gifu-Nagaragawa, Japan. After a frustrating couple of years in the Canadian National Team system, at the

2008 Summer 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 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Scott won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the Men's coxless pairs with Dave Calder. It was Canada's first medal of the Games.

Terry Paul Terrence Michael "Terry" Paul (born September 14, 1964, in Oakville, Ontario) is a retired rowing coxswain from Canada. He competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1988. At his second appearance he w ...

coached them for the event. He and David Calder teamed again at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 6th in the final.

References

External links

Profile
at Rowing Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Frandsen, Scott 1980 births Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Canadian people of Danish descent Canadian people of Swedish descent Canadian male rowers Living people Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers of Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Oxford University Boat Club rowers Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kelowna University of California, Berkeley alumni