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As you all know, the Men's Eight is the boat that everyone wants to be in but at the same time many of the guys realize they aren't going to get a shot at a trial. Since we won last year many would assume that all of us had our seats "locked up" for Beijing. This is simply not true. The way that most of the guys locked up their seats was by performing well in training and testing over the winter.
We had one guy, Scott Frandsen who raced in the four last year, that stepped up his game and showed the potential to make the eight go faster and replacing one of the current World Champions. The coach gave him the opportunity to challenge our bowman Kevin Light.
Just a quick history lesson here, these two guys didn't just meet or anything and Scott didn't come out of nowhere. He is an accomplished oarsman in his own right and was a member of the 2004 Athens Olympic Eight, has won an Under-23 World Championship in the Eight, two NCAA Championships at the University of California and also won the famous boat race between Oxford/Cambridge in England brining the win home for Oxford.
That being said Kevin is a 3 time World Champion in the Eight, a member of the Athens Eight and in 2006 won a bronze medal in the pair at the World Championships.
These guys are both very accomplished rowers and both deserve success in Beijing but only one could go in the Eight. The coach decided that it would be settled over two pieces of work. We would go out with Kevin and race a 1250m piece and a 750m piece. We come into the dock and do the same with Scott. Add the times of each guy and the fastest one wins.
Kevin was faster by 2.5 seconds overall.
This was not an easy task for us in the Eight as we are good friends with both guys and have a good history with both guys. We all felt that we gave it everything we had for both guys and it was a fair fight.
As the coach has told us many times....we aren't here to row with our friends. Friends come and go but a medal last forever.
From here we keep on training and put the pedal down as the Lucerne World Cup is drawing closer. We fly out on May 18!! The regatta starts June 1.
Below is the link to the write-up by the Toronto Star. I also put it in the links along the side of this blog. (April 17)
http://www.thestar.com/article/414946
Shunyi Olympic Rowing Venue
Talk of a boycott has been front and centre in recent weeks and I figured that my 2 cents was worth just as much as the next guy walking down the street....in fact, its worth more since it will influence my life directly!
Did we not learn anything from the boycotts of 1980 & 1984? Did the fighting in Afghanistan stop? Ya....9 years later, and it was most certainly not due to the 1980 Moscow boycott! Politicians and protesters have been trying to use the Olympics for years to further their own messages. What about the athletes like me who just want to compete? I'm not being paid by the government to be an activist, politician or protester, I'm an athlete on a rowing team. (and the pay isn't that good either!)
When people say they think all Canadian athletes should boycott and if we don't we are just being selfish, I say....ya....maybe I am.....but I've been working towards this for 10 years and I'm not about to give up on it and stop now. I challenge those pro-boycotters to let me come over to their house and search it up and down for goods Made in China. I know for a fact that I will find many, many things.....in fact the keyboard and mouse that I am using is made there. Turn yours over and check it out. It is a bit hypocritical of people to tell me to boycott the Olympics when they can't even boycott Chinese made goods. When your house is "china clean" come talk to me.
When I speak to children, I often talk about setting goals and reaching for you dreams. For some being a doctor or lawyer or teacher would be considered living their dream. Mine is winning an Olympic Gold Medal. The window of opportunity to achieve this is very small. How would you like it if I told you that you could no longer live that dream of being a teacher and you would have to do something else? No more teaching. It would be an appalling thing throughout this nation, yet some think telling me the same thing is acceptable.
At the end of the day I think what is going on in Tibet is terrible. I don't agree with the way the Chinese government handles its people politically or socially. I just don't see how me not competing at the Olympics will solve anything. I am an athlete caught up in the middle of a political agenda. I didn't choose which nation would host the games. It could be anywhere in the world for all I care, I just want the opportunity to race and compete for my country. More people in Canada will be proud of me if I come home with an Olympic Gold Medal than they will if I am forced to make a worthless political stand. I thought I lived in a nation of opportunity, freedom and democracy?
We just received the actual boat that we will be racing in Beijing 4.5 months from now. It is manufactured by Hudson Boatworks out of London, Ontario. They have been our supplier of top quality boats for years now.
We wanted to have it show up here before it goes into the shipping container so that we could try it out and make sure that everything is setup the way we want it. We have had a couple of little glitches with it but nothing major. The boat itself feels really good and like rowing any new boat....it is very quite. Nothing creaks or squeaks. The main colour is white but the bow and stern decks are painted red/white/red like a Canadian flag which makes our boat a little unique. They were going to make it an all red boat with white trim, but the darker colour attracts the sunlight and we didn't to compromise the integrity of the hull's stiffness.
The boat will be here for about 2 weeks so if anything needs to be changed or adjusted we will have time to do so.
As we were rigging it today it started to hail.....then hail harder....then harder still....so we moved the boat inside the boathouse and finished rigging it there. By the time we were ready to take it out, the sun was shining.....halfway through the workout it started to hail hard again, but it only lasted about 5 minutes.
Anyway....we are pleased with the new boat and this will alleviate any fears of it not being to specifications any parts missing.
Bring it on!!!
The big boys from the Eight performed like they deserve to be in the boat which will make it very difficult for someone outside of the 2007 lineup to crack it.....maybe only 1 possibility and that would be due to injury.
For the rest of the squad there were some guys who were able to separate themselves apart from guys who have been close to them and this will only help to impress the coaching staff to get a shot at the selection for the four.
All in all there were some extremely good erg scores that illustrate to me the raw power that the Eight possesses. This is something that our coach is continually trying to utilize on the water so that we don't take our power for granted but that we are able to transfer all of this power onto the oar.
Selection will likely be starting in about 2 weeks or less....we will be having a team meeting soon to discuss exactly what April holds.
You can definitely tell that the pressure is mounting amongst the group. Remember, Olympic dreams are on the line here and this is just the beginning!!
For some guys this round of testing could either make or break their Olympic campaign. As I have mentioned before, there are more guys in our program than just the Eight. We are also going to try and qualify a Four, Pair and maybe a Quad at the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Poland around June 20. This means that we could have up to 10 more seats for guys to fill, not including the Eight as it has already qualified. That may seem like a lot, but remember, those 10 seats have yet to qualify for the Olympics. The coaches haven't even decided for sure if we will be sending all 3 to the qualifier, if they don't prove to be fast here on our home turf then the number of seats could drop even more.
Currently we have the Eight and then a bunch of guys who are all around a similar level. This round of testing will give them an opportunity to prove to the coaches that they have made improvements since January and that they want to be part of the Olympic team.
This round of testing will the be the same as the last and everyone currently in Olympic Camp will participate. 6km Ergometer Test, 2x2km in the Pair, 2x2km in the Single
We add up all the times and presto, we have an overall ranking that the coaches can use to help determine boating orders for the fours & pairs. The higher up the ladder you are, the more likely you will get a pair partner of your speed and the more likely you will go fast to get into either the Four or Pair. If we ever have an injury in the Eight....this could also be your chance to shine as the possible replacement.
Our Olympic boat selection will begin in early April, so this round of testing is crucial. You can make it easier on yourself by finishing high up the ladder now so when crunch time comes, all the pieces are in place so that all your fellow rowers and coaches have faith in you that you can make boats go fast!
We boated the World Championship boat order for the first time in just about 2 months. It has been for no other reason than the dreaded injury bug!
We have had a couple of guys with extended injuries that have kept them from doing workouts in the eight. One with a back injury and one with a rib fracture. (yes...broken rib)
The boat felt really good even though it was just a technique paddle......the guys were more attentive to the calls and everyone was able to contribute to the boat speed. We were able to make subtle changes in technique as a unit rather than searching for something and coming up with nothing.
Anyway....we haven't had any work sessions with this combo back, but if this mornings row is any indication, it should be fast and fun!
The Canadian Olympic Committee in conjunction with RBC has launched a website called Olympic School which is a great resource for teachers, kids an schools. Currently rowing is the featured sport and I am one of the featured athletes. Not a big "feature" but nonetheless, there I am.
Encourage your children to use this website and check it out!
http://www.olympicschool.ca/default.aspx?PageID=1034&LangID=en
