More Power

By: Hugh Matheson, Christopher Dodd

Narrated by: Joseph Tweedale

Arguably the greatest coach in British sporting history.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS

Jurgen Grobler’s Olympic coaching career is one of legend, yet the man himself has remained resolutely out of the spotlight. Over the last twenty years he has masterminded British Rowing’s incomparable success. And when the difference between gold and silver can mean mere fractions of a second, Jurgen Grobler has consistently delivered Olympic gold through various boat classes and with an ever-changing group of athletes.

Arguably the greatest coach in British sporting history, Grobler’s unparalleled record outstrips many much better known records and stories; building champions such as Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell to name but few.

This authoritative account of Grobler’s career straddles the Iron Curtain, beginning in the German Democratic Republic, where systemic state-funded doping was an open secret, before crossing to Britain following the fall of the Berlin Wall. And whilst culture and sport have shifted dramatically over the last half century, Grobler’s pursuit of greatness has never faltered.

Written by Olympic medallist, Hugh Matheson, and rowing historian, Christopher Dodd, More Power is the unmissable story of one man’s quest for glory, and sets out to unlock the secrets of Jurgen Grobler: the finest coach Olympic sport has ever seen.

Narration by Monty Python

The material is certainly interesting, but the narrator for the audiobook appears to have been seconded by the Monty Python team. I'm listening to this as I push out steady state miles on the ergo and I've nearly capsized a few times, the mispronunciations are so hilariously bad.

Where is that Great Lake? Ont-AAAhrio of course! Who is the legendary British Double sculler? Chris Baaah-Yeah-Loo. The British Minister for Sport under Thatcher? Colin Moy-A-Cneean. And the famous GDR sports institute was in Leap-zig? The boat manufacturer "Em-paTcher", the regatta at LuKern; Thh-Omi Keller; Thomas Lanja; Los Angeles medalist Richard Budd-Get (seriously, you have to work really hard to get that one wrong).

If there's a route from A to B in pronouncing a name, he travels via C and D. Letters get thrown in, dropped out, swapped around. A few more: Harry May-Han, STEVE Bowden, HARRY Herbert, May Drysdale, St Katharina’s dock, bow seat pronounced as in bow-tie
Impeverous for impervious
Partitioned vs partisan
Pen-REEth vs Penrith
CAN-BEERa
Kleidiascopic

I finally realized that he's just doing it to wind up the audience when he mispronounced:

US President, Ronald REEgan

and, for a coup de grace, repeated throughout - and, of course, featuring rather frequently - "Matthew Pin-Sett".

Simple in its complexity

I really enjoyed this book, wish there was more! Great read, simple to understand. To be able to condense so much information in an entertaining way was awesome

Definitely recommended.

Narration needs revision

Many names were botched. It is obvious that the narrator knows nothing about rowing or how to even pronounce Lucerne. That really bothered me.

The story is interesting but I could have used with a bit more details about the humans in it. I was not able to get a sense for the personality of Grobler.