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DIFFERENT STROKES Olympic rowing gold medallist Ben Rutledge is carving a new path as a successful mortgage broker BY LISA GORDON
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n 2015, Ben Rutledge’s rowing career had run its course. The 2008 Canadian Olympic gold medallist found himself in Russia with a young family, five hours north of Moscow in a cramped apartment. He was there to coach the women’s Russian Olympic rowing team, but he hadn’t been paid in six months. It was time for a change. Rowing had been Rutledge’s focus since the time he discovered it in 1999. As a University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business student, he chanced upon a six-week varsity learn-torow program. At 6’5”, Rutledge had played hockey and tried golf, but rowing was the right fit. “It’s an aerobic sport for tall people,” he told Canadian Mortgage Broker. “I was that tall guy who couldn’t jump, but I could work really hard at 90 per cent capacity and just stay there and not stop. I had endurance and the ability to train long hours. I was up for the hard work.”
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Within three years, Rutledge was senior world champion at the age of 21. He rowed for the 2004 Canadian Olympic men’s team, placing fifth that year, before going on to win gold in the men’s coxed eight at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Coming out of those Games, Rutledge found himself doing a lot of soul searching to determine his next move. “The only plan I had coming out of the 2008 Olympics was how to give back to the rowing community that helped me,” he said. “There’s not a lot of money in rowing, but there is a lot of passionate volunteers. I volunteer coached at UBC; I was doing public speaking and trying to make some money. But I fell in love with coaching.” Through his own former Olympic coach, Rutledge was offered a job coaching the Russian women’s rowing team. Originally, the training camp was in Italy – but then Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and the team was called home.
KEVIN LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
