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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.120 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
George Hungerford Interview |
Scope & Content |
George Hungerford interview, 14 December 2006. Digitized MP4 from FUJIFILM M321SP Betacam SP. Four videos with a total viewing time 01:16:30. 1 of 4; 01:35On volunteer & community relationships: always had a busy life, drive to be doing something, after rowing career did volunteer work in the community, drive to both he and his wife, as well as his children; balance this with busy work and home life, life is challenging; rowing career was high energy time of life 02:44On being award the Simon Fraser award for outstanding community leadership: prestigious award, thrilled that both he and his wife received it together, both work extremely well, support each other, a partnership 03:41Talks about award, talks about team work in community projects and having the right vision and leadership amazing things can happen in the community, talks about various projects involved in that have left a legacy, he does the fund raising and his wife does board governance 06:19How long have you been chair of the UBC Rowing Centre: 5 year project, talks about it and the legacy 07:32On being part of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Vancouver 2010: part of the bid committee, sits on the 2010 Legacy Trust for the post-game era, making sure monies well spent, always felt there was a role for Paralympics in the Olympic movement, mandated to be part of every aspect of the 2010 Games, on board not only for the Paralympics but in the best interest of the trust fund and to support all high performance sport 10:35Childhood: grew up in Vancouver, always had interest in sport, any sport, sold on athletics, real love to be involved in some sort of organized sport, took up rowing in high school because it was there, his number one sport was rugby and his dream was to play it at University and maybe make the national team, was injured in grade 12 and recognized could not pursue it so looked for other ways to keep fit, UBC had a well developed rowing programme, invited to come out and get fit after his surgeries, in the fall 1963 started to train, evolved into his rowing career, in high school had a good coach and technically knew how to row, not starting from scratch, his level of fitness was improving, rowing seemed to be the sport he was meant to do so he pursued it 2 of 4; 00:35Disciplines in rowing: in high school rowed in the 4's, that was all they had, gave him his foundation, gave him technique, later on didn't have to worry about this, could concentrate on fitness level, important component to his career 02:03UBC programme: started in fall of 1963, goal to make the Varsity team, no Olympic prospects, made the squad, spring 1964 on the varsity 8 team, had a good season, this was an Olympic year, UBC made a club team of the best of the alumni and the best of the new rowers, no national team at that time, UNC to field a team of 4 and 8's to try for the Olympics, amazing group of veterans returning, in the spring of 1964 had to decide if he wanted to make the team, decided to try for the 8 and when a couple of the veterans dropped out he had his opportunity to break into the 8's, made the #3 seat, still not thinking about the Olympics but taking it one day at a time, went to St. Catharines for the trials against other rowing clubs and won which put him on the Olympic team; Canada would send a team for the 8's, 4, 2 singles and a pair as an alternative to fill in for injuries, but not sure a pair was going to be entered; not his concern as he was rowing for the 8's, got ill with mononucleosis, bed rest for 5 weeks, losing fitness and endurance, still wanted to be on team, coach suggested he and Roger Jackson, who had been rowing in the pair but had lost his partner to the 8's, become a pair; did not know each other really well, as a pair you have to bond, had a difficult beginning because Roger was frustrated as he had no one to row with, had to come to terms with each other's problems and issues, had to get a coach and fortunate enough to find one, he had never rowed a pair before, they had a very old boat, it was very sensitive, tippy where the 8 boat is more forgiving; in a pair any miscue and the boat dies, have to be totally in tune and tune with each other, started training hard, moments when annoyed with each other but both had drive and determination and worked out their differences, bonded, learned to do things as a team, he had to work on fitness and Roger had to work on technique, at selection camp rowed against the 8 and it was noticed that as a pair they were keeping up with the 8, selected to go to Tokyo, one more incentive to keep on practicing, no one gave them any chance, very person lesson about drive, determination to do best and achieve potential, had not raced against other pairs so had no idea where they would stand against international competition 19:03About the boat: trained in a 10-year old boat, had lost its rigidity, gave a sense of balance in a hurry, no rudder, pairs steer by power and requires concentration by both rowers, quietly determined to do their best, knew what they wanted, prove to themselves they could compete against the world, got a new boat in Tokyo from the Americans, that shell is now the BC SHOF, they were still training, didn't need to be psyched up because already there, on coach, on own, decided not to row with the rudder, it could cause drag and get in the way, total teamwork, in touch with each other, had to be fully aware of what the other person was doing, had done interval training but had not rowed full course, talks about having the fastest times in the heat and going straight into the finals, that gave them another 4-5 days of training, trying to improve his fitness and endurance because he would need that in the final, they were the only Canadian boat left in competition 3 of 4; 00:01Continues to talk about the race, realistic in chances, knew they were competitive, went in motivated and focused, no media coverage, personal event to see how far they could take it, rowed their own race, not following the other boats, photo finish, amazing accomplishment, last time Red Ensign was used at the Olympics, humbling, even if they had not won they would have felt they had had success 09:35No media at venue, just by themselves, had a TV interview with CBC that night that included a broadcast of the race, first satellite transmission from the Olympics, his then girl friend (now wife) saw it on TV, only Gold medal for Canada at those games, turned out to be a big Canadian event, lot of attention when returned to Vancouver, gave them a focus that is still with them, still good friends, still have ability to read each other, perfectly matched with same height, weight and reach 15:26About being in Tokyo: Absolutely focused and would let nothing distract them until after the event, did participate in the Opening Ceremonies, went to other events to support the team, had limited time in Tokyo itself 18:20Were you aware you were called 'the Golden Rejects': press name, rowed their own race, important personally to accomplish, talks about media pressure not being a factor 20:22Have to make your own breaks in sport but to reach the top level there has to be some luck, have to be so determined to go all the way, approach has helped him his whole life, when things get tough he says 'we will work this through', not giving up 21:24On statement "you've got to be good to be lucky": some truth to that statement 21:47Life after rowing: had been considering to continue rowing but not willing to give up his academic studies, no support to continue, challenge to catch up with the school year, did not public speaking and made a social network; :49rowed the next year, went to Henley, focused on the opportunities, had to decided if he was prepared to sacrifice for another 4 years to the next Olympics without funding, Roger was moving on his academic programme, did not go on internationally 25:49Where is the medal: in a vault, replica in his den, symbolic of part of his life that changed his life 27:14Introduction to Hall 27:54 Idols: great interest in all sports, followed Peter Snell [New Zealand runner], Toronto and Montreal in hockey, met Leafs in 1964 4 of 4; 00:08Life lesson: focus, to have a goal, team work, the lessons of being really stubborn to see something through to the end, finish what was started 01:37Learning more from winning or losing: had lots of failures, always learned from losing, not going to win every race in life, take away a lesson from every experience in life, try to learn from each challenge 02:34Used what learned from sport in life: discipline of organizing time, priorities, attributed that to rowing, balance competing interests, rowing gave him good lesson on organization and discipline |
Date |
2006/12/14 |
People |
Hungerford, George Jackson, Roger |
Search Terms |
Interview George Hungerford Rowing aquatics 1964 Olympic Games Tokyo 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Vancouver Legacy Now |