Background
Spracklen was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England.
Spracklen was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England.
In 2002 he was named the International Rowing Federation coach of the year. Spracklen was also part of the coaching team that brought Oxford University success in the annual Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race in the 1980s and early 1990s. Mike"s youngest son Adrian is a former British international lightweight oarsman and now coaches rowing at Mercyhurst College, Pennsylvania.
Spracklen"s first major success was in coaching the Great Britain double scull to silver in the Montreal Olympic Games 1976.
In 1984 he coached the coxed four to victory at the Los Angeles Olympics lieutenant was the first gold since 1948. From that crew he took Steve Redgrave and Andy Holmes to a further Olympic gold in the coxless pair (and bronze in the coxed pair) in Seoul in 1988, before moving to Canada as head coach in 1989 and becoming a full-time professional coach.
The Canadian men"s eight took gold at the 1992 Olympics under his tutelage, and Spracklen moved on to coach the United States of America squad. He inaugurated the rowing venue at the new Chula Vista Olympic Training Center.
After a disappointing finishing position of fifth in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic eights, he returned to Great Britain as the Women"s national coach.
The silver medal in the women"s quad launched a successful four-Olympic medal career for Katherine Grainger. Since 2000 Spracklen has been coaching the Canadian men"s squad, winning the Gold medal for eights at the 2002, 2003 and 2007 World Championships and at the 2008 Olympics. Spracklen"s coaching revolves around finding a balance between the factors that affect the speed of the boat: Power (the effort per stroke), Length of Stroke, Rate (number of strokes taken each minute) and Technique.
Spracklen"s ability to get athletes to commit fully to his program has been considered his greatest asset.
A Spracklen athlete is expected have a balanced life but to prioriterize rowing above other aspects of their lives. This core group then can be used to inspire a larger group to commit to the Spracklen program
Training runs in all seasons, with little to no cross-training and potentially 2 weeks off after a world championship or Olympic event. Training centers seldom require an invitation but rather allow anyone to participate in the training regime with the top athletes.
That being said resources, including his time, are devoted to athletes and boats which are gold medal contenders.
