Cameron’s second time round
Rowing captain: Cameron McKenize-McHarg is heading to his second Olympics later this month.
CAMERON McKenzie-McHarg is currently preparing for his second Olympic campaign.
The former Leongatha man is training in northern Italy with the rest of the Australian Olympic rowing squad and looking towards the London Games later this month.
This will be McKenzie-McHarg’s second Olympics after winning a silver medal at the Beijing Games in the men’s four event.
“The Beijing Olympics was an opportunity to experience what in our sport is the ultimate sporting event,” he said.
“Now going to London it feels incredibly rewarding to have another opportunity, you don’t lose any of the excitement the second time round, you just have a better understanding of how to prepare and what to expect.”
The 32-year-old said that there are a few differences he expects in this year’s games.
“I think the crowds will be a lot more involved in each event and I expect rowing will attract a lot of attention being a successful sport in Great Britain’s’ Olympic history” he said.
“Things may be a bit more chaotic then the incredibly well organised Beijing Olympics, but for us it’s will be about staying focused on what we are there to do.”
McKenzie-McHarg is stepping up the to the Men’s Eight for these games which is the zenith of the rowing world. He has also taken on the role of captain in his team.
“Rowing in the eight is a completely new challenge this time round,” he said.
“Australia has never won the event, but we have a crew that has the talent capable of winning, it will come down to how we perform under the pressure.
“Being a bigger boat with more people it is sometimes harder to get the synchronicity of the crew, the important thing is to keep everything really simple so there is no confusion on what we are working on.”
McKenzie-McHarg has faith in his team.
“This Olympics rowing team is probably one of the best teams we have had leading into an Olympics,” he said.
“There are many medal prospects with a lot of the boat classes facing an ashes clash on the water against our biggest rivals Great Britain.”
Training for Cameron and his team consists of three sessions most days, two on water and often one in the gym.
“At the moment we are getting our last big block of training volume completed before we start tapering into London, so a lot of hard work but hopefully this will pay off in four weeks time,” he said.
Parents of the Olympian, Colin and Christine McKenzie-McHarg are very proud of their son and will be travelling to London to see him compete.
“We’re very excited again,” Mrs McKenzie-McHarg told The Star.
“Last year was an amazing experience and the Chinese put on an amazing games.
“It was such a special experience and our expectation weren’t all that high and we didn’t know what to expect so the silver medal was just an absolute bonus.”
Tickets were as hard to come by as hen’s teeth for the London Olympics and the proud parents were happy to get tickets for the rowing.
“We are happy with our tickets to the regatta and that’s going to be pretty full on so we’ll have plenty to see,” Mrs McKenzie-McHarg said.
“We found it impossible to get any other tickets though but we’ll probably go in and pear over the fence of some other sports as well.
“The international competition is fierce and we’re very proud of Cameron and just to get there is a great achievement and anything else will be a bonus.”
McKenzie-McHarg’s first race is on July 28 and the team will hopefully race their way to the final on August 1.
With races scheduled for the morning in England they should air on television between 8 and 10pm in Australia.
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