THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT was nine, setting local swimming records at his Gippsland primary school in country Victoria, then becoming one of the elite at Scotch College [Melbourne] by winning school colours in four different sports – athletics, basketball, football and rowing.”6422 “Ginn had been a gifted athlete and rower at Scotch College, where Tomkins, then school rowing coach, had first spotted him.”6423 “Ginn had been coached by Cooper in 1991 when he was rowing in the Scotch College Fifth VIII.”6424 Cooper was already once and Tomkins twice World Champion in the Oarsome Foursome when Ginn was still 16.6425 “Ginn was held in high regard by Noel Donaldson, who had coached the nineteen- year-old when he went overseas with the Australian Under-23 Eight in 1994.”6426 Donaldson: “I like Drew’s vibrancy and his competitive spirit.”6427 1996 At the first 1996 European regatta, they got a third and a fourth in the two days at Duisburg.6428 At Lucerne, they lost to Slovenia in their heat.6429 The semi-final against the defending World Champion Italians went better. Ginn: “The Italians went to an early lead, while the Brits were level with us. I called to bring it home from 1,000 metres, and we rowed the Italians down. Everyone was pretty excited.”6430 6422 Ibid, p. 29 6423 Ibid, p. 4 6424 Ibid, p. 16 6425 Ibid, p. 113 6426 Ibid, p. 19 6427 Ibid, p. 174 6428 Ibid, p. 37 6429 Ibid. 6430 Ibid, p. 38 Though the Italians would recover to win the final, it was the first time they had been beaten in nearly three years. Amsterdam brought two more finals victories over the Italians. Ginn: “We felt we’d almost broken their spirit. The Italians were the benchmark, and our record against them on the tour was now 3-1. We felt we could win the Olympics, but there was still more work to be done.”6431 At the Olympics, the Foursome rowed a poor semi-final with them beaten to the line narrowly by France and Italy. That left them in an outside lane for the final. In the final, the Italians led to the 1,000 and then quickly faded to last. The Aussies spent the first half of the race in third place. They then made their move in the third 500 and took the lead. Then it was a sprint to the finish with the whole field closing all the time.”6432 1 AUS 2 FRA 3 GBR 4 SLO 6:06.37 6:07.03 6:07.28 6:07.87 5 ROM 6:08.97 6 ITA 6:10.60 1997 With everybody else taking time off, newcomer Ginn rowed in the 1997 Australian Bronze Medal Eight.6433 1998 The Oarsome Foursome reunited in 1998 to begin their preparations for their home Sydney Games against Britain with 6431 Ibid, p. 39 6432 www.rowinghistory-aus.info. See also Yallop, p. 46 6433 Yallop, p. 133 1777
