The Saint John Times Globe, Friday, August 17, 2001

By Aaron Kennedy, Times Globe staff writer

Medal Yell! Mike Owens of Rothesay rejoices after his victory in the men's single rowing event at the Canada Games.

Slow and steady is supposed to win the race, but that's not Mike Owens' style.

The Rothesay 17-year-old roared out of the gate and rowed to victory in the men's single sculls early yesterday morning as he garnered New Brunswick's first gold medal of the 2001 Canada Summer Games in London, Ont.

Two more in wrestling followed to bring New Brunswick's gold medal count to three.

"It was a very fast race," Mr. Owens said, describing the 2000-metre event. "I went fast right off the start and so did Ontario and B.C. Ontario and I were neck and neck for the first 500 [metres] and then I started to pull ahead and I just tried to hold on to the very end."

Which he did, winning by a little more than four seconds over Arden Beddoes of Ontario and British Columbia's Rob Weitemeyer.

"I knew these guys were going to be fast so I wanted to get a very quick start to see if I could get out ahead of them," he said. "I figured if I was out ahead I could hold on and then as soon as I could hear the crowd, I'd just blast straight to the finish."

That's the same strategy Mr. Owens attempts to use in every race.

"That's the way I like to race anyways," he explained. "I like to go out in front first."

Heading to the Canada Games, Mr. Owens was clear about his goal - he wanted to medal in every event. He won his heat Monday, but still didn't get his due entering yesterday's final.

"Going into this race, I knew it was going to be very tough," he said. "I wasn't the favourite. Even though I had the fastest time in the heat, Ontario and B.C. were still the big powerhouses. I knew I had to get out fast and hopefully break them down mentally so I could go on.

"I wasn't as well known as these two other guys," he said. "From talking to other people, I was a contender, but everyone was still thinking that Ontario was going to take it."

The 17-year-old was summoned by an early wake-up call yesterday, but that's something he's grown accustomed to.

"Oh yeah, I'm used to that every day in the summer," he said. "The race was actually at 7:45, which is later on for us. We usually go out at 5 o'clock in the morning."

Mr. Owens, who'll enter St. Mary's University in Halifax next month, admits he had a restless night before the big race.

"I was actually really nervous. I didn't get much sleep [Wednesday] night. I was tossing and turning quite a bit, but when I woke up in the morning I was ready to go."

Mr. Owens was back on the water this morning, vying for another medal in the men's eight.

"It's going to be a tough race, but we've been rowing well lately," he said. "I don’t really want to make a prediction, but if we have a good race then we have a good chance at doing well."

Yesterday's win created a media frenzy for Mr. Owens, something with which he's not that familiar.

"It's nice," he said. "I'm not really used to it, but I don't really mind it at all. It's good publicity for New Brunswick. It's good to get people recognizing rowing as a competitive sport."

You might say Mr. Owens was part of New Brunswick's Blonde Ambition Tour. Like every other member of the provincial men's rowing team, Mr. Owens is sporting bleached hair, Billy Idol-style.

"We all did that as a kind of a team bonding thing," he said. "It started in Halifax at the Dartmouth sprints a couple of weeks ago. A couple of guys did it them and we all did it for the Games. We thought it would be a good idea for team unity.

"We're known on campus here," he added. "Everyone knows the blonde guys as the N.B. rowers so it's pretty cool."

Though not nearly as cool as a gold medal.