Christmas Holidays

My Christmas holidays are just around the corner. Our last training session of 2007 at Elk Lake, Victoria BC will take place at 11:00am on Saturday December 22. We will be on break from the training centre until we return on January 2.
The coach has indicated to the guys that even though this is a "break", not doing anything over the holidays would not be smart. They have been given a training schedule that consists of 1 session a day lasting just over an hour. This will be enough to keep them "ticking over".
For many of the guys, this is an extremely important break as once they get back, we only have 3 weeks till we head down to San Francisco for a training camp and you don't want to spend half of January trying to get the fitness back that you lost over the holidays. As much sense as this makes to me....there will be guys who don't do it and suffer for it. Those are the types that I don't really want in my boat.
Lets all remember that Christmas will come next year....but once Beijing is done next August....some may never get another shot at the Olympics. Focus, focus, focus.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all....enjoy your holidays!!!

(pictured is my daughter for her Christmas photo....she liked Santa at the mall too!!)

Comebacks & Experience

After having competed at the Olympics in Athens 4 years ago I have reflected on what could have been many, many times. I remember looking at the names of the men in each crew of the Olympic final and I realized that we were the only crew with absolutely no “Olympic experience”. This is by no means an excuse for our disappointing 5^th place performance but it showed me that if you have guys in your boat who have done it before or at least experienced it, they can lead those who have not and keep them focused on winning when distractions and pressure hit a peak.

The Australians did a great job of bringing back 4 Olympic medalists to take their eight from 6^th in 2003 to bronze in 2004. The Americans had 3 men from their 2000 eight who had finished a disappointing 5^th go on to win gold in Athens. Whether your Olympic experience is a sour one or a great one….you have a better understanding of what is at stake.

I wanted to bring this up as the Aussie’s are at it again. They have 3 multiple medalists who have just made “comebacks” this year and are focusing most of their top athletes into the eight. This begs the question am I now scared of them. The answer is NO. Will I discount their abilities or take them for granted, no way.

The Canadian Men’s Eight of 2008 is likely to have 2 Olympic rookies, 6 guys with Olympic experience and one guy with a silver medal from Athens. This time I’ll be able to be one of the guys keeping everyone on track and focused on one thing…..GOLD!

Ya Just Can't Give Up!!

Nothing is more frustrating to me than when someone packs it in and lets others take the load that they should be taking. We've all seen it happen and it seems as though the person who does it just doesn't understand the impression they have left of their personality.

This came up on Saturday while we were rowing 2 Eights in a side by side training battle. This guy had been reamed out by the coach the day before for not rowing in time with the crew and not responding to the coaching he was being given. He had his reasons for being "out of time" with his team-mates and it made sense to him....but not to anyone else! This then becomes a difficult situation that only the coach can really deal with, and deal with it he did. Went up one side and down the other! I was in earshot and was glad it wasn't me! wow



Pictured-Shawnigan Lake
It seems tranquil, but we have had some epic battles here!! We row Eights here in the winter twice a week.

Anyway....the next day we were just beginning our battle with the other Eight and he was fighting for the first 4-5 minutes but as the other Eight slowly crept away, he slowing became disinterested in pushing with the rest of the crew. When we got to the end of the run and had taken a severe beating, I realized that he wasn't really panting and didn't seem tired....I didn't say anything but filed it away in the back of my mind.
Last row of the week was next. Again as we started to battle with the other Eight I could see from his face that he was not trying at all. I know this guy is very facially expressive when he rows and there was no expression whatsoever on his face. I was pissed off, but decided not to say anything as the coach had been in a huge fight with him the day and this was obviously going to be a continuation of the same fight. At the end of the row on the dock I spoke with the coach and he was not impressed nor happy with what he had seen transpire. I told him what I saw and what I thought of that garbage, sulking behavior. This issue is not dead, but the coach guaranteed me that this issue will not just be brushed under the rug.

The thing I don't get is this. Does he not realize that his fellow athletes now see him as a guy who will give up!! Is this a guy who you want in the boat with you while you are putting every ounce of energy into driving your boat speed, you're vision is dimming, you're nearly blacking out you are rowing so hard and here is a guy who you aren't sure if he is giving it his all? Not an impression I would want to leave....often times your actions speak volumes about your character and personality.