Boris Cetinic, 57, Croatia
"When you feel the boat move perfectly, it is eight souls moving together."
Like his fellow countryman and teammate, Kerim Mujkic, Boris Cetinic is thrilled to be hosting next year's World Masters competition in his homeland. "It is very, very exciting to host seven or eight thousand people, rowers, officials, their families. It will be a challenge and a pleasure." He is also very confident about this year's competition, predicting that he will take home three or four medals in the fours and eights.
While he and Mujkic have been racing together in the fours and eights for years, they are new to the pairs as a team. "He's 13 years younger than I am so he's faster and stronger. I keep telling him to find a younger partner but he won't," he jokes. He says he finds pairs the toughest kind of race. "I have to steer with my feet. I'm not used to it. I also have to stroke and it's more complicated. It feels harder than the other boats in the sense that you have to be perfect in the boat to go. It takes years of practice and experience which we don't have together yet."
While Cetinic is a versatile rower, his favorite event is the eight. "I feel like a king in the eight. It's solid, it's fast. You feel the wind in the hair. And when you feel the boat move perfectly, it is eight souls moving together."
Cetinic has been rowing for 43 years, since he was 14-years-old. "The school phys ed teacher came and looked at us and selected guys who looked strong for that," he says, explaining how he got started. He rowed at a club in the Croatian city of Split on the Adriatic coast until he was 24. Then he got married and moved with his wife to Canada where they lived for 22 years. He rowed at the Leander Boat Club in Hamilton, province of Ontario. He is at Mercer Lake for his 4th World Rowing Masters Regatta. "The lake is fantastic, and so is the environment. We wanted to know who has the time to cut all the beautiful grass here. Then we saw this big tractor speeding across the lawn and cutting it very fast. We live in a much drier area so we do not have so much of this kind of beautiful grass. No wonder it is called the Garden State."
Kerim Mujkic , 44, Croatia
"This is a masochistic sport. It is hard. But during training I relax."
Next year, the eyes of the rowing world will turn to Zagreb, Croatia, host of the 34th annual World Rowing Masters Regatta. And Kerim Mujkic will be proud to welcome competitors to his homeland as vice-president of the Croatian Academy Rowing Club, one of the clubs hosting next year's event. "I am inviting everybody to come, welcome," he exhorts. "We have a very nice lake in Zagreb named Jarun. It's in the center of town. You can reach it easily by public transportation and we have all the facilities there, including very nice restaurants. The lake is specially made for rowing. We have sidewalks along the race lines so you can ride a bicycle all along the course and watch."
His country has a painful history, born in bloodshed in 1991 with the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the fall of Communism. Now, 15 years later, there are discussions about Croatia becoming a member of the European Union. Two years ago, Vladimir Krizak and Darko Miksic, two of Mujkic's colleagues at his rowing club, expressed their desire to have Croatia host next year's World Masters. "And they chose us, thanks to them," Mujkic says.
The Croatian Academy Rowing Club has about 150 members, 80 of them students. Boris Beljak, a fellow Croatian, has been a major benefactor of the club which survives on donations. Beljak is a masters rower who has lived in the United States for more than 50 years and is also at Mercer Lake for this year's competition. "He gave our club ten boats," marvels Mujkic. "Without him we could not row. Thanks to him we have new boats, a trailer, and a truck, and the kids in our club can practice too."
This year, Mujkic is at Mercer Lake with eight of his Croatian teammates for his 4th World Masters competition. He is competing in six events, including two pairs, a four without, a four with, an eight and a mixed eight with women from London.
He started rowing in high school when he was 14 years old. "Somebody came to our school to collect us and said tomorrow we will row." He rowed through high school, then at the University of Zagreb. Today, when he is not rowing, Mujkic is the owner of a company that sells Sanyo products in Croatia. He is also the father of two children, ages eight and twelve.
"Rowing is not a very big sport in my country. Compared to soccer, basketball, rowing is just about the last. There is no money to row. You have to be really enthusiastic to do this sport. You have to be a masochist." Or just someone who really, really loves the sport.
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