They were in it together.
Two pioneers trying to grasp every detail of a sport foreign to their country.
Kenyan rower Ibrahim Githaiga and his coach, Kenyan Navy Sr. Sgt. Juvenalis Gitau, prepared tenaciously for the Olympics.
The opportunity to show fellow Kenyans the possibilities in a sport virtually unheard of in their country could be a triumph in itself.
They started out in old, abandoned rowing boats–when they could find them–in 1997.
“We were many rowers in few boats,” Githaiga, 35, said Friday. “The equipment, that was the most difficult.”
Their dedication as much as their financial need convinced the International Olympic Committee to award them more than $30,000 in aid through its Olympic Solidarity scholarship program early in 2003.
The coach and Githaiga, a Navy corporal, traveled to Australia and South Africa to train under experts in Githaiga’s pursuit to become the first Kenyan to advance to the Olympics in rowing.
His coach intended to apply his training to the development of a rowing program in Kenya.
In April they made history. Githaiga fulfilled their Olympic dreams in Tunisia by qualifying for Athens in men’s single sculls with a second-place finish in Africa’s trials.
“It was a moment of absolute joy,” recalled Seif Patwa, chairman of the Kenyan Rowing and Canoeing Association. Immeasurable sadness has since tempered delight.
On July 29 Gitau was killed in a car accident, stunning a small but far from fleeting rowing community in Kenya.
“He was very close to me,” Githaiga said. “He was my first coach.”
Githaiga will carry his country’s pride as well as his personal loss Saturday when he competes against the best rowers in the world at Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre.
“We have to continue,” Githaiga said.
In the 18 months since he began training internationally, Githaiga has improved rapidly, but a medal or advancement out of repechage is a long shot.
How long it takes him to finish is inconsequential to what he and his coach accomplished in the seven years they worked together.
“A lot of people who could not spell the word rowing now know what it’s all about,” Patwa said.
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Patwa initiated the country’s program, born out of his interest in sailing, and he handpicked Gitau because of his Navy training to teach interested servicemen. Githaiga proved to be the most talented, a tribute to the stamina he gained from running cross country and playing field hockey.
The rower’s success affirmed Patwa’s belief that Kenya, famous for its dominant long-distance runners, could offer its athletes a chance to showcase their endurance in another arena that requires significant stamina for long stretches.
“Physiologically, it’s there,” Patwa said. “We need training, and people will see startling results.”
Funding from a skeptical government was tough to find.
“Rowing was a new concept,” Patwa said. “It was unknown. It was very difficult to convince people that we’d be able to send someone to the Olympics.”
Githaiga had no chance to measure himself internationally because time trials were the closest thing to competitions. Patwa petitioned the IOC for help. Githaiga left behind battered equipment for world-class accommodations.
“That’s when I realized I could do this in the Olympics,” Githaiga said. The Navy gave him a leave of absence to train, and most recently he worked out in the Netherlands.
He’s already considering an Olympic run in 2008, but with greater purpose and responsibility, Githaiga said.
It’s up to him to promote rowing in Kenya the way Gitau had planned.
“One of his things was to make rowing grow in Kenya,” Githaiga said. “He would talk about rowing every day.
“Now I want rowing to extend everywhere.”