Seán Drea
Irish rower (born 1947)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Seán Joseph Drea (born 3 March 1947[2]) is a former Olympic rower and world record holder from Ireland, specialising in the single scull. He won the Diamond Challenge Sculls (the premier singles sculls event) three years in a row at the Henley Royal Regatta, where he set the course record, and was the first Irish rower to win a World Championship medal securing silver in the 1975 World Championships.[1][3]
Drea with his 1976 Holland Beker trophy at Bosbaan | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 2 March 1947 Bagnalstown, Ireland[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (216 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Neptune Rowing Club, Dublin | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Biography
Drea lives in Greystones,[4] and is originally from Bagenalstown, County Carlow. He tried many sports before joining Neptune Rowing Club after moving to Dublin to work[4] in advertising. He later moved to Philadelphia, where he attended St. Joseph's University on a sports scholarship and also rowed for Vesper Boat Club. He lost to Aleksandr Timoshinin in the final of the 1972 Diamond Sculls when the steering fin broke off his boat.[5] At the 1972 Olympics, he came seventh.[2][6] In 1974, he won the U.S. national championships,[7] and was the favorite for the World Championships in Rotsee;[8] however he withdrew for an emergency kidney stone removal.[6][9][10] At the 1975 World Championships, he finished second to Peter-Michael Kolbe.[9] At the 1976 Olympics, he broke the 2000 m world record in the semi-final with a time of 6:52.46.[2][6] However, he finished fourth in the final after a poor third quarter.[2][6]
Drea spent years in Philadelphia as a coach for the US national team,[11] Fairmount Rowing Association, La Salle University and subsequently the Irish National team. He also rowed in the Head of the River Race in 1997 with a veteran Schuylkill Navy crew.[12] Today, Drea lives in Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland and runs an organic farming business.
Sean's son Jack Drea rowed for Oxford Brookes University[13] and won the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2006 and competed in the Ladies Challenge Plate in an Oxford Brookes & Oxford University composite in 2007. Jack also represented Ireland in rowing.
Sean’s eldest son David Drea rowed for Trinity College Dublin.
