THOMAS (THOMI) KELLER

​

geneva,IL st. charles, il batavia, il High Shool Scholarship college sport rowing crew sculling fox river rowamerica row rowing club north east coaching elite crystal lake chicago foundation wms lincoln park new trier loyola ignatius sprints rockford head sprint 2k 2,000 2000 erg concept 2 II erging harvard yale washington berkeley wisconsin northwestern ohio state university college 

XENO MULLER​​

CELEBRATE

XENO MULLER

EVERY YEAR THE WORLD ROWING FEDERATION (FISA), OPENS THE NOMINATION PROCESS FOR THE THOMAS KELLER MEDAL.  THIS MEDAL IS THE HIGHEST AWARD BESTOWED UPON AN INDIVIDUAL WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL INTERNATIONAL ROWING CAREER, AS WELL AS EXEMPLARY SPORTSMANSHIP. PLEASE HELP US TO NOMINATE XENO MULLER FOR THE 2015 THOMAS KELLER MEDAL.

LIKE XENO, THOMAS (THOMI) KELLER COMPETED IN THE SINGLE SCULL FOR SWITZERLAND. THOMI AND HIS SON DOMINIK IN FACT ROWED AT THE SAME CLUB AS XENO. THOMI, A CHAMPION SWISS SCULLER, WON THE BRONZE MEDAL AT THE 1950 EUROPEAN ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS.

ANOTHER SIMILARITY WAS THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL TURMOIL WHICH AFFECTED XENO'S ROWING CAREER AT THE 2004 OLYMPICS AND THOMI'S ROWING CAREER AT THE 1956 OLYMPICS.

AFTER THEIR COMPETITIVE SCULLING CAREERS, BOTH THOMI AND XENO COMMITTED THEIR LIVES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATHLETES AND THE MINIMIZATION OF POLITICS IN SPORT.

​

NOMINEE

XENO (FIRST) MULLER (LAST)

SWITZERLAND (COUNTRY)

SPAN OF INTERNATIONAL ROWING CAREER (1989 TO 2012)

SUCCESS AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

​World Championship, Lucerne single scull, 2001, 5TH
Olympics SILVER MEDAL, Sydney single scull, 2000, 2ND
World Championship, St. Catharines, single scull, 1999, 2ND

WORLD CUP WINNER SINGLE SCULL '98
World Championship, Cologne, single scull, 1998, 2ND
Olympics GOLD MEDAL, Atlanta, single scull, 1996, 1ST

BROKE OLYMPIC SINGLE SCULL RECORD, 1996
World Championship, Tampere, 1995, 6TH

WORLD CUP WINNER SINGLE SCULL '94
World Championship, Indianapolis 1994, 4th
Henley Royal Regatta, Diamond Sculls, 1994, 1ST
World Championship, double scull, Racice, 1993, 8TH
Henley Royal Regatta, Ladies Plate, 1993, 1ST

UNDEFEATED MEN'S HEAVYWEIGHT 8, BROWN UNIVERSITY, 1993

ira national champion MEN'S HEAVYWEIGHT 8 BROWN UNIVERSITY, 1993
Olympic Games, Barcelona, single scull, 1992, 12TH

IRA NATIONAL CHAMPION MEN'S HEAVYWEIGHT 8 BROWN UNIVERSITY, 1992

Undefeated men's heavyweight 8, brown University, 1992
World Championship, Vienna, single scull, 1991, 11TH
Junior World Championship, Aiguebelette, single scull, 1990, 3RD

BROKE WORLD ERGOMETER RECORD, 1990
Junior World Championship, Szeged, single scull, 1989, 9TH

TYPE OF CAREER
UPON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, XENO COMMITTED TO BECOMING ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST OARSMEN. HIS DETERMINATION WAS BORN THROUGH HIS FAITH AND DESIRE TO BECOME THE PERSON IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE HIS olympic MEDAL DREAMS. YEARS LATER, HIS YOUNG FAMILY ALSO ACCEPTED THIS CHALLENGE AND AFTER MANY SACRIFICES - REALIZED THIS DREAM.

TECHNICAL MASTERY OF THE SPORT
AFTER ROWING IN THE SINGLE SCULL AT THE 1989 JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, XENO WAS RECRUITED TO BROWN UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES.  WHILE AT BROWN XENO WAS A SWEEP ROWER WHO, WITH HIS HEAVYWEIGHT 8 TEAMMATES, RACED UNDEFEATED IN 1992 AND 1993 - CULMINATED IN the WINNING of THE HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA LADIES PLATE IN 1993. HE THEN WENT ON TO WIN THE OLYMPIC GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, AND BREAK THE OLYMPIC RECORD IN THE SINGLE SCULL.

SPORTSMANSHIP
XENO IS KNOWN FOR HIS FIERCE SPRINT TO THE FINISH AND WEARING HIS EMOTIONS ON HIS SLEEVE. HE WAS BROUGHT TO TEARS OF JOY AT WINNING THE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL IN ATLANTA BY THE MEMORIES OF HIS FATHER AND RESPECT FOR THOMAS LANGE, HIS CHILDHOOD HERO, WHOM HE HAD JUST DEFEATED.

XENO BELIEVES THAT SPORT IS A COMPETITION WITHIN ONESELF THAT SIMPLY SHARES A FIELD WITH OTHERS: SPORT IS A COMMUNITY WHICH ALLOWS US TO CELEBRATE EVERY COMPETITORS IMPROVEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT.

LEGENDARY ASPECT​

LIKE THOMI, XENO'S SUCCESS IN THE HEAVYWEIGHT 8 AND SINGLE SCULL WOULD BE ENOUGH TO SATISFY MOST PEOPLE, BUT ALSO LIKE THOMI, XENO COMMITTED HIS LIFE AFTER INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATHLETES AND THE MINIMIZATION OF POLITICS IN SPORT. 

FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS, XENO HAS HELPED TO DEVELOP YOUNG ROWERS AROUND THE WORLD.  HE IS GRATEFUL FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT WERE PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE BRANCHES OF HIS COACHING FAMILY TREE.  IT WAS THE COMBINED LEARNINGS AND TEACHINGS OF HIRMA CONIBEAR, THE GREAT RUSTY CALLOW, JOE BURKE, HARRY PARKER, STEVE GLADSTONE, ALAN TONKS, HARRY MAHON, JURGEN GROBLER AND MARTY AITKEN THAT ENABLED XENO TO REALIZE HIS DREAMS.  

TODAY THESE LEGENDS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS CONTINUE TO BE PASSED DOWN TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF ROWERS THROUGH XENO'S INSTRUCTION.  LEVERAGING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY, XENO IS ABLE TO TUTOR HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE, ELITE AND MASTERS ROWERS AROUND THE WORLD.  

IN TWO OF THE PAST THREE YEARS THE #1 LIGHTWEIGHT SCULLER AT CRASH-B WERE ONE OF XENO'S STUDENTS.

XENO AND THE LEGACY OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE HIM, CONTINUE TO ENABLE YOUNG ROWERS TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF THEIR LIVES.  WITH XENO'S COACHING, TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION AND WORKOUT PROGRAMMING - HIGH SCHOOL ROWERS from around the world HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EARN SEATS ON COLLEGE ROWING TEAMS AT HARVARD, OXFORD, YALE, CAMBRIDGE, BERKELEY, WASHINGTON AND MIT AMONG OTHERS.