Tag: quotes

Inside every athlete is that one demon, hidden down in the back of your mind that screams at you not to finish the piece. It tells you you’re not good enough, this hurts, let's go home and watch more TV. In a crew it is easier to squash that demon, to beat it down and use those around you to push yourself further. Whilst not easy to do, having team mates makes fighting your demon manageable. It is the single sculler who has the real fight, or the athlete who has decided that the only way they will improve is by training themselves outside of the program. Those who train alone truly come to know their demons; “Who's going to notice if you don't finish this piece”, “what difference is that extra stroke/rep/minute going to really make.” Every stroke the demon screams at you and every stroke is a fight to push him further down. Champions are those who learn to break their demons because come race day when that third 500 starts to scream for everyone else, the thoughts are getting louder and louder, but a champion already knows how to beat that voice, they have spent their summers beating that little voice into submission in the back of their minds and when everyone else starts to hurt they are able to sit up tall and give that little bit extra. Other rowers are easy to conquer, it's our own heads we have to work at.

Seat racing's maybe one of the hardest things about this sport. You go all fall and winter and then you get this one shot after six months to make the boat, you know, and if you don't, it's hard to not look back and have regrets and doubt yourself. And also, one week you're helping your friend through an erg test, you know, he's your best bud in the world, and then the next week you got switched across the gunnels with him for a seat race. It's hard to keep emotions out of it. It's hard to not make it personal. In the end I guess you gotta just make whatever boat you're on go fast and just train again for next year's one shot to make it. Making the first boat isn't everything. You'll have more opportunities to do it but if you let that shit distract you for too long, you'll miss the opportunity to just race boats and have fun.