Columnist About
I am an Olympian having competed in Beijing 2008 in the rowing Men's Eight. I am currently training as part of the Men's Four in preparation for London 2012.
I have moved around Australia in order to live the dream, training at the Australian Institute of Sport and living in Canberra, relocating to Melbourne to train with the three Victorians, and coach, in the Four but I consider myself based out of my favourite city in world, Sydney. I compete for Sydney Rowing Club in Abbotsford.
The dream doesn't pay, and as such I have been able to maintain a banking career at Westpac Institutional Bank, having worked there for over 14 years...except when I'm off, messing about in boats.
- Member Since:
- April 2008
- Based In:
- Sydney
- Favourite Sporting Team:
- New York Jets
Latest Articles
James Chapman's Olympic Diary: Reflections on training
26 Jul 2012We are now officially part of the Australian Olympic Team and we have departed the land of men wearing bum bags as a sash and women as young as 14 speeding around on scooters in a full aero tuck, as though they are all Valentino Rossi’s younger sister. Training at the AIS European Training Centre, [...]
James Chapman’s Olympic Diary: Winning in Munich not Oarsome yet
22 Jun 2012We wouldn’t be in this sport, or wouldn’t be racing at this level, if you didn’t think you could win a few races. We are now in a position where we can take confidence from the Semi-final and Final in Munich, that we are on the right track, and that we can win races. Our [...]
James Chapman's Olympic Diary: racing Bavarian style
16 Jun 2012Our Australian rowing team is about to have the final opportunity to race against the rest of the world before we submerge ourselves in training, batten down the hatches, and work our seated backsides off at our European Training Centre in Varese, Italy in the lead up to the London Olympics. It’s race week. It’s [...]
Going for gold: the Olympic diary of rower James Chapman (Part XI)
8 Aug 2008I’ve just got back from the AOC’s Australian team reception at the Sofitel Wanda Beijing, where my 42-year-old crewmate, James Tomkins, has just been named as Australia’s Olympic flag-bearer for tonight’s Opening Ceremony at the Bird’s Nest. It was no surprise given Shark’s record: Beijing is his sixth Olympics, he’s bagged three Olympic gold nuggets [...]
Going for gold: the Olympic diary of rower James Chapman (Part X)
31 Jul 2008Fine tuning – like a piano tuner, or a V8 mechanic – that’s the focus of our final stages of pre-Olympic training at Penrith before we fly out of Sydney tomorrow and straight into the Athletes Village. The excitement of racing in Beijing is really starting to build amongst the crew. I’m hoping to see [...]
Going for gold: the Olympic diary of rower James Chapman (Part IX)
14 Jul 2008With less than 30 days until kick-off in Beijing, preparations are starting to heat up; in every sense of the word. We’ve been on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for about a week, and as if being a Cockroach in the heart of Cane Toad territory when Queensland snuck home over NSW in the State [...]
THE ROAR ON