Interestingly, Spracklen is a British national but has now regarded himself as a Canadian and would just love to see the team from his second home to outperform those from his original home country.

The 73-year old coach has been vocal about his disappointment in Britain’s prestigious rowing program, having been ousted from British Rowing at the 2000 Sydney Games after his team only went home with a silver medal.

Spracklen revealed that there had been times when he thinks whether he should coach a team to battle against his own countrymen in the sport but he had set aside these feelings now that he and his wife are all set to apply for Canadian citizenship.