Re: Re:
Doping in dressage is not for performance in the usual sense, but is usually something given to the horse to calm it down or mask an injury. As for rowing, I did get a scholarship to a girls public school that started a rowing program one year too late for me, but a lot of the girls participated in it. Back then the scholarships were based on our Eleven Plus results, and a high percentage of the girls were on scholarships.
Doping in dressage is not for performance in the usual sense, but is usually something given to the horse to calm it down or mask an injury. As for rowing, I did get a scholarship to a girls public school that started a rowing program one year too late for me, but a lot of the girls participated in it. Back then the scholarships were based on our Eleven Plus results, and a high percentage of the girls were on scholarships.
Cannibal72 said:TheSpud said:Brullnux said:TMP402 said:Brullnux said:Why do all British rowers sound so similar?
They all have filthy upper middle class names like Mohamed Sbihi and Constantine Louloudis.
Yes you are right they are all working class heroes, Sbihi being born in the well known ghetto of Kingston-upon-Thames and Louloudis going to that infamously rough school Eton College. Rowers are by and large very upper-middle class in the UK. We are both British (I assume you are too?), and so we both know there is no point denying that. These guys have sat and dined in the same places as Tory grandees.
Rowers in the UK tend to be from private schools - doesn't make them upper class (if that exists anymore), just wealthy and / or happy to spend their money on education. Eton - yes I would agree upper class and VERY expensive, but most private schools are no where near that cost.
Makes me laugh when some people say that they couldn't afford the fees but happily shell out about the same on cars each year ...
Sbihi went to a state school in Surbiton (still a nice area). The Chambers brothers were from state schools in Northern Ireland. It's changing, but to say 'public school' dominates isn't right - most fee paying independents aren't like Eton, etc. but yes they are a high proportion,
Hmmmmm. As someone who attended a public school, I can confirm that these days Eton's fees are matched by quite a few schools. Anyhow, the key thing about rowing is actually university, not school. Yeah, Eton and Harrow have rowing clubs (which are pretty damn good), but 2 of the men's 4 went to either Oxford or Cambridge. The Boat Race is Olympic level, and a decent number of Oxford or Cambridge rowers didn't row before they went to university. Rowing at university still is predominantly upper-class, but it's not especially simple.
On the subject of upper-class sports, how in the name of God do you get done for PEDs in dressage?