Scott A. Frandsen (born 21 July 1980) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

of Danish and Swedish descent.

Biography

Born in

Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ', ...

, he began rowing at age 16 at

Brentwood College School Brentwood College School is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational boarding school.Thomson, Ashley and Sylvie Lafortune.'' Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools''. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. Brentwood is located on Vancouver Island in Mill Bay, ...

, in

Mill Bay, British Columbia Mill Bay is a commuter town of about 7,200 people located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from th ...

. He crewed for four years at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. His freshman boat in 1999, coached by Craig Amerkhanian, finished second at the

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing between Varsity team, varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, whil ...

championship, which serves as the national championship race for men's collegiate rowing in the United States. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, he was in the varsity eight man crew, which won the IRA championship each year. In 2000 and 2001, his boats were undefeated and are considered by many as the fastest collegiate boats ever. In 2003, he went to

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

, for graduate work. There he crewed for the university in the Oxford Blue Boat against rivals Cambridge in

The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the U ...

. Despite their diminutive stature his Oxford crew won a dramatic race by the smallest ever recorded margin (one foot), and in so winning, they overturned the biggest weight deficit in the history of the contest. They achieved this by over-rating and out-racing their heavier Cambridge counterparts on the outside of the long Surrey bend through the middle of the race. This took considerable guts and fortitude, and the attitude the crew exemplified in doing so was reflective of Frandsen's natural tenacity and stubbornness. Commentators cite this tenacity as the main factor allowing the Oxford crew to upset the much bigger, more powerful and more experienced 2003 Cambridge boat. Frandsen went on to row that summer with one of his

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

rivals from the 2003 Boat Race, Wayne Pommen, at the 2003

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The Boat Race pairing took sixth place for Canada in a hotly contested final of the coxless pairs event. The following year Frandsen pursued selection for the 2004 Athens Olympics. He won two gold medals on the 2004 World Cup circuit, both in the Men's Eight event (in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany and in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, Switzerland). At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

he was in the Canadian Men's Eight (M8+) which was the favourite for the event. His boat narrowly lost out to the Americans in the Heat, with both crews going under the previous World Record time. Come the Final the Canadians had a disappointing row and finished out of the medals in fifth place. In 2005, Frandsen was again in the Canadian Men's Eight. This time, his boat finished seventh at the World Championships held in Gifu-Nagaragawa, Japan. After a frustrating couple of years in the Canadian National Team system, at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China Scott won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the Men's coxless pairs with Dave Calder. It was Canada's first medal of the Games. Terry Paul coached them for the event. He and David Calder teamed again at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 6th in the final.

References

External links

Profile
at Rowing Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Frandsen, Scott 1980 births Living people Canadian male rowers California Golden Bears rowers California Golden Bears rowing coaches Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers for Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Oxford University Boat Club rowers Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Sportspeople from Kelowna Canadian people of Danish descent Canadian people of Swedish descent 21st-century Canadian sportsmen