Controversy swirled on an otherwise triumphant day for Island athletes at the 2012 London Summer Olympics with a silver medal for Victoria swimmer Ryan Cochrane and bronze medal for Victoria cyclist Gillian Carleton.
The debate involved two sports with big Island Olympic connections - triathlon and rowing.
While Victoria-based Paula Findlay, dogged for nearly a year by a labral tear in her hip, was fading to 52nd and last in the London Olympic women's triathlon, two-time Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield of Victoria tweeted: "gutted 2c Paula so upset. There are some people that need 2b held accountable here, total incompetence before they jumped ship."
Respected Victoria triathlon coach Patrick Kelly, who guides many of the Island's emerging young triathletes and who coached Findlay until nine weeks ago, labelled the tweet "inaccurate" and "disappointing."
"I guess Simon is frustrated. Everyone feels badly for Paula. Everyone in Victoria was cheering for Paula and wanted to see her succeed. Everyone bears some responsibility. [The complicated injury situation] was a very difficult thing."
Kelly said he stopped coaching Findlay nine weeks ago. Findlay has been training separately with Whitfield in that time.
"They circumvented me a bit and went outside our milieu, so it was hard to continue with our previous pre-Olympic plan."
But that happens all the time in triathlon, with athletes jumping to different coaches and different training situations, which is why Kelly was disappointed with the tweet.
Whitfield, a legend in the sport, goes for his third Olympic medal Tuesday at the London Games. Also racing for sa国际传媒 will be veteran Brent McMahon of Victoria and Island-based Kyle Jones.
Meanwhile, Victoria-headquartered Rowing sa国际传媒, the producer of two silver medals in the 2012 London Olympics, played down an online CBC report that chronicled apparent schisms at Elk Lake centring on controversial coach Mike Spracklen of Sidney.
Spracklen coached the Canadian men's eight to silver at the London Games to follow up his coaching of the Canadian eight to gold at the 1992 Barcelona and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also guided Silken Laumann of Victoria to her lauded comeback medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
"[The CBC story] is no reflection on what is happening at this time," Peter
Cookson, Rowing sa国际传媒 director of high performance, said by phone from London.
But Dave Calder of Victoria, silver medallist in men's pairs with Brentwood College grad Scott Frandsen at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but a hugely disappointing sixth in the London Olympics, admitted Saturday from London to "tension" between certain national team factions at Elk Lake.
Calder confirmed reports that his and Frandsen's pairs boat had been punctured at Elk Lake "right through by a screwdriver or something like that" but did not point fingers and said he did not know how the holes got there.
He said Rowing sa国际传媒 has installed a security system around the Elk Lake boathouse.
Calder did not deny the CBC report of a complex falling out over the years between Calder/Frandsen and Spracklen's coaching style.
"I would not want to expose my son to that [Spracklen coaching] atmosphere for all the glory in the Olympics," Calder said by phone from London.
Others argue there will always be disagreements among people within organizations and especially those involved in coach-athlete relationships, where tough decisions have to be made.
Calder said he is friends with all the Canadian eights rowers. "I respect what that group of guys has done to win that Olympic silver medal here at London," he said.
Spracklen could not be reached for comment Saturday.
In an interview at Elk Lake before leaving for London, he admitted: "I am not popular with Rowing sa国际传媒. It's politics."
But few can argue with all the Olympic medals Spracklen's boats have delivered for sa国际传媒.
Now 74 years old, will he return?
"Only three things will stop me," Spracklen said.
"One is if my wife [Annie] is healthy and happy with me doing this, two is if the athletes still want me to coach them, and three is if my health keeps allowing me to do this."
As for the second point, Spracklen may not always make friends along the way, but his rowers swear by him.
"Mike did an incredible job in building us back up," said the eights boat crew captain Malcolm Howard of Victoria, after winning Olympic silver in London, and referring to the retooling that was required after six retirements in the Canadian eight following the gold medal won by the heralded Canadian crew in the Beijing Olympics.
Overall, however, rowing won four medals for sa国际传媒 at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games but dipped to two in London.
"We're certainly proud of our two medals in London [silvers in the men's eight and women's eight], but our performance was below expectations," Cookson said.
"We are reviewing everything in the program, and we will do that in the next month. We will be looking at everything." [email protected]
