Top rower beats cancer challenge

21 April 2015 - 02:16 By David Isaacson

Two months after his final dose of chemotherapy, cancer survivor Lawrence Brittain is set to return to competition this weekend. The rower will race in two events at the SA Championships at Roodeplaat Dam near Pretoria - the single sculls and the eights, where younger brother James will crew alongside him. And Brittain is looking for podium finishes in both events."I'm racing in the singles B race [the second-stream competition], so I should win that," Brittain said yesterday."And I'm in the Tuks' second eights boat and we'll hopefully get silver."When he started training again in February, Brittain had to tread carefully, ensuring he didn't push his heart rate too high."The training's going well," said Brittain, who has lost 11kg in the past two months."When I started again I was so slow, but we've built up to full training. There are no restrictions now, but I'm still quite a bit behind the other guys."Brittain, a former under-23 world champion, was a member of the SA men's heavyweight pair until the lymph node cancer hit him last year."I'm still slow compared to where I was," he pointed out, estimating he was about 20 to 30 seconds slower over a 2000m rowing course."Every session is better than the previous one. I'm still building the trust back into the body," said Brittain, the younger brother of Matthew, a member of the four that won Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games.National coach Roger Barrow pointed out that when Brittain attended the high-altitude training camp in Lesotho last month, "in the first week just walking was exercise for him"."In terms of fitness, he's in line with the top girls at the moment."And that's not a bad thing. The girls can beat many men's crews - just not the top guys."Brittain, whose primary focus is to get back to full fitness, says he doesn't enjoy being compared to Lance Armstrong, the controversial cycling legend who also overcame cancer."His was a great story, but he cheated. He did a lot of damage to sport."..

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