Golden time with Wetzel

by Cory Wolfe
The StarPhoenix
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Olympic rowing gold medallist Jake Wetzel speaks Wednesday to grade 9 and 10 students at Aden Bowman Collegiate
"We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can fight our way out of hell one inch at a time." -- Canadian rowing coach Mike Spracklen
Olympic rowing champion Jake Wetzel doesn't intend to pick up an oar ever again.
But when he hears the words of his coach Mike Spracklen -- a 71-year-old Brit who "looks like a janitor" but roars like a lion -- Wetzel's competitive juices kick in.
"When I hear that stuff, it's just so hard-wired into you and you never feel like you're not an athlete," said Wetzel, whose Wednesday presentation to Aden Bowman Collegiate students included a video with a rousing speech from Spracklen.
"People can say they're retired and all of that stuff, but (the competitiveness) is still in your head."
The 31-year-old Saskatonian retired from rowing in September after helping the men's eight win gold at the Beijing Olympics.
He's now working toward his doctorate in finance at the University of British Columbia. Wetzel has one year of studies under his belt and another three or four to go.
"When you've been so focused on one goal for so long, you don't think past it," said Wetzel, an Aden Bowman grad. "You use up so much mental energy on what you've been focusing on, so to shift gears and refocus is a real challenge.
"When you're the best in the word at something and then you go into something where you're at the bottom, it's hard on the ego."
In his youth, Wetzel excelled at multiple sports, including fencing, cross-country skiing and cycling. His parents, Kurt and Eva, were both professors who lectured at the University of Saskatchewan, but Wetzel told students Wednesday education wasn't at the top of his priority list during high school.
His interest in education blossomed while he was attending the University of California, Berkeley, on a rowing scholarship. But even now that he's returned to academia, he admits to feeling a little like a rower out of water.
"On the academic side, there's not as much measuring. You don't know where you're at every day -- you don't know if you're winning or losing," said Wetzel.
"When you leave rowing, you lose all of your structure. You have different goals and now I have to figure out for myself how to get there. Before, I had a coach and there was a very clear path laid out. You could tell, on a daily basis, whether you were getting closer or further away."
Wetzel is one of several Saskatchewan Olympians who'll be recognized today during a ceremony at the legislature in Regina. In addition to sharing his experiences with students, Wetzel is also using his profile to lobby for Canadian Athletes Now (CAN).
"It's a great organization that has raised over $6 million to fund athletes directly," he said. "It comes from ordinary Canadians and bypasses the whole sports system to give athletes help when they need it."
To support the CAN Fund, a nationwide telethon is scheduled to be broadcast on Shaw TV this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saskatchewan time. Hundreds of items are up for auction -- including Wetzel's unisuit, autographed memorabilia from the likes of Henri Richard and a Canadian team jacket from the closing ceremonies in Turin.
Shaw has committed to matching every dollar pledged up to $500,000.
"I think all but two of the (Canadian) athletes that were in Beijing received grants from the fund," said Wetzel. "It's something that's really worth supporting and it really makes a difference, so I hope people will have a look."
cwolfe@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008
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Comment: Jake Wetzel grew up on the prairies and became a rowing Olympian.

As Brian Price said last week: set your goals, and go for them.

Among the legacies of the 1989 Jeux Canada Games is a boathouse and a 2000m rowing/canoeing course on the South Saskatchewan River through Saskatoon. Wetzel is a product of that legacy.