Seán Drea
 Drea with his 1976 Holland Beker trophy at Bosbaan | |||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
2 March 1947 Bagnalstown, Ireland[1] | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||
| Club | Neptune Rowing Club, Dublin | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Seán Joseph Drea (born 3 March 1947[2]) is a former rower from Ireland, specialising in the single scull. He won the Henley Royal Regatta's Diamond Sculls three years in a row, and came second in the 1975 World Championships.[1][3]
Drea is from Wells,[4] near Muine Bheag, County Carlow. He tried many sports before joining Neptune Rowing Club after moving to Dublin to work[4] in advertising. He later went to Philadelphia, where he attended St. Joseph's College on a scholarship and also rowed for Vesper Boat Club. He lost to Alexander Timoschinin in the final of the 1972 Diamond Sculls when the steering fin broke off his boat.[5] At the 1972 Olympics, he came seventh.[2][6] In 1974, he won the U.S. national championships,[7] and was the favorite for the World Championships in Rotsee;[8] however he withdrew for an emergency kidney stone removal.[6][9][10] At the 1975 World Championships, he finished second to Peter-Michael Kolbe.[9] At the 1976 Olympics, he broke the 2000 m world record in the semi-final with a time of 6:52.46.[2][6] However, he finished fourth in the final after a poor third quarter.[2][6]
Drea spent years in Philadelphia as a coach for Fairmount Rowing Association, La Salle University and the US National Team,[11] and rowed in the Head of the River Race in 1997 with a veteran Schuylkill Navy crew.[12] Today, Drea lives in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland and works as an organic farmer.
Sean's son Jack Drea rowed for Oxford Brookes University[13] and won the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2006.
Record
| Year | Event | Place | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Henley | QF | [14] |
| 1970 | Worlds | 6 | [15] |
| 1972 | Henley | 2 | [5] |
| 1972 | Olympics | 7 | [2] |
| 1973 | Henley | 1 | [16] |
| 1974 | Henley | 1 | [16] |
| 1975 | Henley | 1 | [16] |
| 1975 | Worlds | 2 | [9] |
| 1976 | Olympics | 4 | [2] |
In popular culture
Drea was mentioned on the cult-television comedy show Father Ted, in the season three episode Speed 3. The scene depicts Fathers Ted, Clarke and Beeching trying to come up with a plan to save Dougal, when Father Clarke reminisces about being at the Moscow Olympics with "Sean Drea, the rower".[17]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seán Drea. |
- 1 2 Sean DREA at WorldRowing.com from FISA
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Seán Drea". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ↑ "Rudern – Weltmeisterschaften. Einer – Herren" [Rowing – World Championships. One – Men]. Sport-Komplett.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2015-06-23.
- 1 2 "Sean Drea calls on Carlow stars to believe". Carlow Nationalist. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- 1 2 "Harvard Lightweight Crew and Kent Eight Capture Cups at Henley Regatta; Drea is defeated in Diamond Sculls". New York Times. 2 July 1972. p. S5. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 Watterson, Johnny (14 August 2000). "Olympic Evolution: Number 4 – Rowing". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ↑ "A Roundup Of The Week Aug. 12–18". Sports Illustrated. 26 August 1974.
- ↑ "A Roundup Of The Week Sept. 2–8". Sports Illustrated. 16 September 1975.
- 1 2 3 "...but Not In Nottingham". Sports Illustrated. 8 September 1975.
- ↑ "Surgery for Drea". The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). 9 September 1974. p. 25. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ↑ Silverberg, Lee (19 May 2008). "A Very Brief History of the Fairmount Rowing Association". Fairmount Rowing Association. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ↑ Matheson, Hugh (22 March 1997). "Rowing: Redgrave and Pinsent pair up". The Independent (London). Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ↑ Dodd, Christopher (1 July 2004). "Rowing: Brookes boat beats Dublin as wind takes toll on crews". The Independent. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ↑ "Penn, Dartmouth lose their races; English Crews Triumph in Grand Challenge Event Arlett Bows in Sculling". New York Times. 3 July 1970. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ↑ "World Rowing". New York Times. 6 September 1970. p. 121 Sports. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- 1 2 3 Hildes-Heim, Norman (31 August 1975). "East German Oarsmen Capture 5 of 8 World Titles at Regatta". New York Times. p. 168. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
...Diamond sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta in July which Drea won for the third consecutive time
- ↑ Father Ted (1995). subzin.com