Well it certainly hasn't been what I expected. I thought that this final week visiting back home would be a bit slower paced than the first two weeks. How wrong could I have been!
After arriving home from the cottage, then heading down to the Toronto Centre Island for my friend Deb's 5km walk/run in memory of her dad, dodging massive down pours of rain and finally getting back to mom and dad's place I thought the rest of the week would be very slow.
On Monday I was able to get back down into the gym and do an ergo. Considering that I have a 5km time trial 10 days after I get back I thought it would be a good idea to get on the erg! Did 10km but I think it just about killed me! After that it was time to head out to a local shopping mall with my mom. I am being smart this year, buying all the Christmas presents that I usually have to post, wrapping them and leaving them here. After getting most of them mom and I headed out to my sisters to scoff down some dinner and head to the soccer pitch to watch my neice Lea play. Unfortunately their game was against the best team in Ontario. But they can hold their heads high, they were only scored against once and even got a goal back (which was unfortunately not allowed), so went down 1-0. I think the referree has to learn the rules better.
Tuesday I was supposed to go with my dad to a brunch with a bunch of retired senior officers from the Toronto police. But when I got up I was so tired, I think that two weeks of going non stop had finally hit me. So needless to say I didn't go with him and proceeded to go back to bed. Not that I was there long as the gardener came by with his ride on lawn mower!
That afternoon I headed to downtown Toronto with my sister. Cindy has her own production company and is a brilliant filmmaker! She was going to view the final showing of her next documentary called "The Skies the Limit", so she invited me to go with her. This was exciting because I never really get to see the films that she has made. What a brillant piece of work, although many would say that I am biased. But it was a wonderful look at the airline industry and where it is growing.
We then headed over to my aunt's place for dinner and I was staying the night with her and my uncle. We had a nice evening and it was great to just sit and chat with Rheta (my aunt). Growing up Rheta was always our "cool" auntie! She bucked the trend back then which said that women should get married and have a family. Rheta had a fabulous career, was proposed to 3 times, travelled the world and when she was finished with that decided to get married. She was always someone who did her own thing and she was a great role model for Cindy and I as we were growing up. So her and I had a great catch up.
The next day my cousin Marg-Rheta (yes you can guess she was named after our aunt) picked me up, we went to her place and then to the local pool where Marg teaches an older crowd to swim, or should I say she does stroke correction. I think the oldest woman is 86! We then headed to the west end of the city to a Japanese restaurant and the most wonderful lunch. It was then time to head back to mom and dad's, so Marg came with me and had dinner with my dad. It was a really nice catch up.
Yesterday I ended up meeting up with mom and dad down the street for coffee. Both of them head off with their respective friends for their walks. Dad doesn't do too much, but mom and her ladies walk for about an hour. I just met them for the coffee part! Mom and I headed to another shopping mall to try and get one last present...not to be! I was unable to find what I wanted but was able to get Russ (my husband) a couple of gifts to take home. We then hurried home as we had to get ready for a "Pub Night". I was going to see all my police friends that I hadn't see in about 3 years!
What a great night. There were people there that I had not seen in almost 20 years, if not longer. People I had never even thought would be there. My friend Deb did an amazing job of getting in touch with people. So it was a wonderful evening to have a couple of drinks, some great food and some fabulous conversation.
I am off tonight to catch up with two couples who mean more to me than just friends. I worked with Kim and Bill just before I left the police force 14 years ago. So I am meeting them for dinner with their wives and mom & dad as well. So it will be a great ending to the week.
My trip does not end there as I have a few more days left and when I will write about those later. I will certainly need to have a rest when I get back home!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Back to my roots
I have been home for 2 weeks now and this is the first chance I have had to write something! My 'Social Secretary' my sister has had me extremely busy! In fact although I haven't had time to scratch myself, she has done a remarkable job of setting things up so that I have been able to see quite a few people in a short time.
I arrived on the 10th of August and my journey took me 27 1/2 hours from my door to the airport in Toronto. Although I had organised before I left to have wheelchair assistance it was a bit lacking with Air Canada. After waiting in a wheelchair, with two other ladies who needed assistance, for more than 10 minutes I decided to kick up a bit of a stink. Needless to say that got them going. Then the attendant had the audacity to tell me that if I wanted to use a wheelchair then I was going to always have to wait. Boy he picked the wrong person to say that to. After stating a few facts I then asked him if it meant that I was a second class citizen! He didn't say another word, but took me right to the luggage retrival. Once there I thanked him for his assistance (no reply) and told him I didn't need him anymore.
After gathering my one bag I headed out the door to my excited family waiting for me. But when I walked out I stood there looking for them! It took me a couple of minutes to find my parents sitting away from the entrance, mom yawning and dad (although blind) starring into space! After finding them, I advised them I was glad they were excited to see me (tongue in check). They thought I would be coming out in a wheelchair...so much for Air Canada service!
On the way to their home I realised why I love Melbourne so much. I felt like I had landed in a concrete jungle and to top it off there had been a huge propane gas explosion that morning. This propane depot was located in a residential area, there was one dead and hundreds evacuated from their homes with damage to homes like a bomb had gone off. The major highway that cuts across Toronto from east to west was closed so getting from the airport (located in the west) to my parents home (in the east) was in itself a chore! But we did eventually arrive and was very happy to see my sister, nephew and niece waiting for us.
We had a bit of a birthday party celebrating my sister's, neices and mine all in one. It was great to be able to actually give them their presents. I think the worst part about living half way around the world is not seeing them and being able to celebrate things like birthdays.
The first week seems like it was a whirlwind. With spending a night with my ex partner from the police force and his wife, to my nephews soccer game (which they won 7-3!), to spending a night at my sisters house, then taking a train to my best friends home almost 3 hours out of Toronto, then returning home via train to my parents.
If I thought the second week was going to get any better then I had better think again.
My sister Cindy had organised a lunch east of Toronto with two very good friends from my police force days, Bonnie and Deb. We went to Bonnie's home (I must admit my dream home!) and had a great afternoon with not only her and Deb, but also Bonnie's husband Mark and son Chad. It was a great catch up but again probably too short.
The next day I had put my foot down and told Cindy that it was a day for the girls. Unfortunatley my mom couldn't make it, she had a previous appointment with a surgeon for cataract surgery. So Cindy , my neice Lea and I had our own spa day, pampering ourselves with facials, foot baths and pedicure's. This was a good break in an otherwise busy week. Although I must admit that the next 3 days were great, spent in Northern Ontario on a lake. The weather reaching 28 degrees for most of the 3 days. My neice and nephew now being older (13 and almost 15) were great to be around and wanted to show me the skills they had now acquired behind a ski boat! Absolutely amazing, but then again they are my neice and nephew!
We also had another couple and their children join us, friends from high school days. What a blast to catch up with them and talk about other people from those days. Funny enough it turns out one guy I went to school with is now living in Melbourne! Talk about a small world.
It was then time to hit the road again and head back to Toronto for my last week in town. Today we attended the Toronto Island for a 5km walk/run in memory of my friend Deb's dad, who died of Prostate Cancer. Deb has run this for the last 8-10 years and although the weather man had called for thunderstorms today, the rain held off, the event had double the people from the last year and it was a huge success. I met up with other people I had worked with on the Toronto force, had a great catch up, my dad walked with my sister, while I babysat the bags and chatted. The rain waited until all the awards were given out and we were waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland. I told Deb that her dad must have been watching over her to hold the rain back!
So here I am now after having had a light dinner with mom and dad and catching up on my emails, facebook and blog. It has been a whirlwind 2 weeks but I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have even been able to fit in a 2 ergos a week so that I am not completely out of breath when I pick up my training in just over a weeks time. Athough I will be on the strictest diet when I get home! To much visiting, eating, drinking, eating and drinking!
I am now bracing myself for my last week in Toronto and I am certainly looking forward to catching up with more friends and family!
I arrived on the 10th of August and my journey took me 27 1/2 hours from my door to the airport in Toronto. Although I had organised before I left to have wheelchair assistance it was a bit lacking with Air Canada. After waiting in a wheelchair, with two other ladies who needed assistance, for more than 10 minutes I decided to kick up a bit of a stink. Needless to say that got them going. Then the attendant had the audacity to tell me that if I wanted to use a wheelchair then I was going to always have to wait. Boy he picked the wrong person to say that to. After stating a few facts I then asked him if it meant that I was a second class citizen! He didn't say another word, but took me right to the luggage retrival. Once there I thanked him for his assistance (no reply) and told him I didn't need him anymore.
After gathering my one bag I headed out the door to my excited family waiting for me. But when I walked out I stood there looking for them! It took me a couple of minutes to find my parents sitting away from the entrance, mom yawning and dad (although blind) starring into space! After finding them, I advised them I was glad they were excited to see me (tongue in check). They thought I would be coming out in a wheelchair...so much for Air Canada service!
On the way to their home I realised why I love Melbourne so much. I felt like I had landed in a concrete jungle and to top it off there had been a huge propane gas explosion that morning. This propane depot was located in a residential area, there was one dead and hundreds evacuated from their homes with damage to homes like a bomb had gone off. The major highway that cuts across Toronto from east to west was closed so getting from the airport (located in the west) to my parents home (in the east) was in itself a chore! But we did eventually arrive and was very happy to see my sister, nephew and niece waiting for us.
We had a bit of a birthday party celebrating my sister's, neices and mine all in one. It was great to be able to actually give them their presents. I think the worst part about living half way around the world is not seeing them and being able to celebrate things like birthdays.
The first week seems like it was a whirlwind. With spending a night with my ex partner from the police force and his wife, to my nephews soccer game (which they won 7-3!), to spending a night at my sisters house, then taking a train to my best friends home almost 3 hours out of Toronto, then returning home via train to my parents.
If I thought the second week was going to get any better then I had better think again.
My sister Cindy had organised a lunch east of Toronto with two very good friends from my police force days, Bonnie and Deb. We went to Bonnie's home (I must admit my dream home!) and had a great afternoon with not only her and Deb, but also Bonnie's husband Mark and son Chad. It was a great catch up but again probably too short.
The next day I had put my foot down and told Cindy that it was a day for the girls. Unfortunatley my mom couldn't make it, she had a previous appointment with a surgeon for cataract surgery. So Cindy , my neice Lea and I had our own spa day, pampering ourselves with facials, foot baths and pedicure's. This was a good break in an otherwise busy week. Although I must admit that the next 3 days were great, spent in Northern Ontario on a lake. The weather reaching 28 degrees for most of the 3 days. My neice and nephew now being older (13 and almost 15) were great to be around and wanted to show me the skills they had now acquired behind a ski boat! Absolutely amazing, but then again they are my neice and nephew!
We also had another couple and their children join us, friends from high school days. What a blast to catch up with them and talk about other people from those days. Funny enough it turns out one guy I went to school with is now living in Melbourne! Talk about a small world.
It was then time to hit the road again and head back to Toronto for my last week in town. Today we attended the Toronto Island for a 5km walk/run in memory of my friend Deb's dad, who died of Prostate Cancer. Deb has run this for the last 8-10 years and although the weather man had called for thunderstorms today, the rain held off, the event had double the people from the last year and it was a huge success. I met up with other people I had worked with on the Toronto force, had a great catch up, my dad walked with my sister, while I babysat the bags and chatted. The rain waited until all the awards were given out and we were waiting for the ferry to take us back to the mainland. I told Deb that her dad must have been watching over her to hold the rain back!
So here I am now after having had a light dinner with mom and dad and catching up on my emails, facebook and blog. It has been a whirlwind 2 weeks but I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have even been able to fit in a 2 ergos a week so that I am not completely out of breath when I pick up my training in just over a weeks time. Athough I will be on the strictest diet when I get home! To much visiting, eating, drinking, eating and drinking!
I am now bracing myself for my last week in Toronto and I am certainly looking forward to catching up with more friends and family!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Heading home to Canada
I haven't said much since the end of May most likely because there hasn't been much to say. After finally coming to terms with our defeat in Munich, it was back to training and setting new goals. But that wasn't the only thing I had to think about in my life.
The charity event that I have set up was happening in Sydney for the first time in June, so had to do alot of planning for that and decided that it was best that I drive up there picking Margo (my aussie mom) up along the way.
The swim was held at the Sydney Olympic Pool and what an amazing place it is! We only had 7 teams entered but they raised a whopping $70,000! So Sydney will definitely be a good place for years to come for this event. Everyone enjoyed the event and I am sure that it will grow bigger and better next year. I also met some amazing people who were taking part and they have come to be pretty good friends, even if we don't know each other very well.
During June I also had to organise the lunch for the "Go For Gold Scholarships". This is what my events raise the money for. I am happy to say that we were able to present 4 scholarships in the amount of $1000, 19 scholarships in the amount of $3000 and 2 scholarships in the amount of $5000! So it was a very good lunch and gives me such satisfaction to be able to do this. It makes all the hard work during the year worthwhile to see the smiles and tears on the winners faces.
During all this I tried to keep training at a high rate and needless to say that lovely disease that I have decided to rear it's ugly head. Yes in almost two years I have not had a relapse but at the end of June my body rebelled. This landed me in hospital for 3 weeks, first for some Methyl-Prednesolone and then rehab. I think it was the gods way of kicking me in the butt to remind me that I still do have MS, so I just have to manage my life a bit better. I also think that because I was so fit I was able to overcome the relapse a lot quicker than ever. So I am back to training (however not as much) and slowly trying to regain my fitness.
In June I also decided that because I wasn't going to Beijing, maybe it was time to head back to Canada to visit family and friends. It has been over 3 years since I was there last, so it will be great to catch up with family and friends. I am only going for 3 weeks so I am sure that it will be a fun filled, action packed 3 weeks! Even better is the fact that my mom and dad have paid for the flight. My husband Russ was invited to come along, but he declined, something about looking after the dog (but we really know he hates flying)! So I am off on my own and the long flights begin again!
I will try to keep this blog updated over the next three weeks to keep track of the great reunions I am hoping to have.
The charity event that I have set up was happening in Sydney for the first time in June, so had to do alot of planning for that and decided that it was best that I drive up there picking Margo (my aussie mom) up along the way.
The swim was held at the Sydney Olympic Pool and what an amazing place it is! We only had 7 teams entered but they raised a whopping $70,000! So Sydney will definitely be a good place for years to come for this event. Everyone enjoyed the event and I am sure that it will grow bigger and better next year. I also met some amazing people who were taking part and they have come to be pretty good friends, even if we don't know each other very well.
During June I also had to organise the lunch for the "Go For Gold Scholarships". This is what my events raise the money for. I am happy to say that we were able to present 4 scholarships in the amount of $1000, 19 scholarships in the amount of $3000 and 2 scholarships in the amount of $5000! So it was a very good lunch and gives me such satisfaction to be able to do this. It makes all the hard work during the year worthwhile to see the smiles and tears on the winners faces.
During all this I tried to keep training at a high rate and needless to say that lovely disease that I have decided to rear it's ugly head. Yes in almost two years I have not had a relapse but at the end of June my body rebelled. This landed me in hospital for 3 weeks, first for some Methyl-Prednesolone and then rehab. I think it was the gods way of kicking me in the butt to remind me that I still do have MS, so I just have to manage my life a bit better. I also think that because I was so fit I was able to overcome the relapse a lot quicker than ever. So I am back to training (however not as much) and slowly trying to regain my fitness.
In June I also decided that because I wasn't going to Beijing, maybe it was time to head back to Canada to visit family and friends. It has been over 3 years since I was there last, so it will be great to catch up with family and friends. I am only going for 3 weeks so I am sure that it will be a fun filled, action packed 3 weeks! Even better is the fact that my mom and dad have paid for the flight. My husband Russ was invited to come along, but he declined, something about looking after the dog (but we really know he hates flying)! So I am off on my own and the long flights begin again!
I will try to keep this blog updated over the next three weeks to keep track of the great reunions I am hoping to have.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
New Goals
I have had just over a week to think about our race, not qualifying for Beijing and thinking about what my goals will be for the next year. I was going to take a couple of weeks off and I was doing well until tonight!
I don't feel good if I am not working out. I have literally done nothing for the last week or so. But today I received a phone call about a crew who needed an 8th person for the Masters Nationals at the end of May. I really don't know how to say No! So with 4 of us from Yarra Yarra Rowing Club and 4 from Richmond Rowing Club, we headed out for our first training session.
We didn't do a whole lot but we rowed really well. I am one of the youngest on the team, which is certainly a different feeling. I am usually the oldest!
I was in Canberra yesterday taking part in filmig for a training video for classifying adaptive rowers. It was a long day but interesting and if it will help in the adaptive rowing area, then I am all for it.
The LTA camp that we were going to go on the first week of June has now been cancelled because we didn't have enough rowers able to attend. As most of us have to work full time to support ourselves it was impossible for some of the them to get time off. This is something that has to be looked at so that people are advised well in advance so they can get the time off.
I am now not rowing until Saturday which will give me a few days more off.
I have decided that I will work my butt off for the next year and hopefully make the team for the World Championships in 2009. Along the way there are a few things to do, such as the Australian Masters Rowing championships, the Australian Indoor Rowing Championships and Head of the Yarra.
I look forward to keeping you up to date on the progress of my goals!
I don't feel good if I am not working out. I have literally done nothing for the last week or so. But today I received a phone call about a crew who needed an 8th person for the Masters Nationals at the end of May. I really don't know how to say No! So with 4 of us from Yarra Yarra Rowing Club and 4 from Richmond Rowing Club, we headed out for our first training session.
We didn't do a whole lot but we rowed really well. I am one of the youngest on the team, which is certainly a different feeling. I am usually the oldest!
I was in Canberra yesterday taking part in filmig for a training video for classifying adaptive rowers. It was a long day but interesting and if it will help in the adaptive rowing area, then I am all for it.
The LTA camp that we were going to go on the first week of June has now been cancelled because we didn't have enough rowers able to attend. As most of us have to work full time to support ourselves it was impossible for some of the them to get time off. This is something that has to be looked at so that people are advised well in advance so they can get the time off.
I am now not rowing until Saturday which will give me a few days more off.
I have decided that I will work my butt off for the next year and hopefully make the team for the World Championships in 2009. Along the way there are a few things to do, such as the Australian Masters Rowing championships, the Australian Indoor Rowing Championships and Head of the Yarra.
I look forward to keeping you up to date on the progress of my goals!
Friday, May 16, 2008
We have arrived home
What a long flight!
Almost 12 hours from Frankfurt, 4 hours in the airport at Kuala Lumpur and then another 8 hours to Sydney. We arrived in Sydney Tuesday night, minus my luggage. Everyone else's arrived except mine. Never fails...no clothes to change into.
We stayed the night in Sydney and then had flights the following morning back to Melbourne (for Lisa and I). We were to leave at 10:30 a.m. but unfortunately after sitting on the plane at the terminal for an hour were asked to get off as there was a problem with the hydrolics. We finally were put on a plane at 12 and headed home. Still minus my luggage!
It finally arrived on Thursday night at my house, but wouldn't have if I hadn't constantly called not only Sydney airport but also Melbourne. My mind boggles to think what they spend on lost luggage and getting it delivered to people. But at least when it arrived it was intact and all the things that I had purchased were still there.
I have had almost a week now to reflect on our race and I have realised that we did a damn fine job! I have also had so many people email me and call me and I think it is summed up perfectly by my sister who emailed me and said "I want you to know how many people you have inspired once again on this journey. It doesn't matter what the destination. It matters about the journey and your courage, hope, and enthusiasm during this one swept away so many people and is something that will be with us forever. This is true success, not how you placed. You brought us up so high with important lessons that you could never let us down." Thank you Cindy, this comment put things in perspective.
I think that it is important to have a goal and the hardest thing to come to terms with after our race was "what do we do now". We have all been invited to a National camp the first week of June, so I think it is important to know what I want out of this sport for the future. I can't look 4 years down the track right now because I don't know if my body will hold out. So I have decided that I will look at my long term goal as the World Championships next year and my short term as being the best club person as possible. Supporting my home club of Yarra Yarra RC and taking part in crews for them in the coming season.
I will continue this blog over the coming months just to keep track of my progress but for now I just want to thank everyone who has supported me over the last year and a half. Without all of your support I would not have been able to accomplish what I have. It has certainly been a hell of a ride and I look forward to even more!
An official photo from the World Cup in Munich, this was at the finish. You can just see the tail end of the Chinese boat, but you can see how close it was for 2nd, 3th and 4th!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Time to let our hair down!
With the racing over it was time to go out, explore Dachau and let our hair down, so to speak. Dachau has some amazing history to it, so we decided that it was that history that we wanted to see. It is not a nice history and one that a couple of members of our crew did not want to see, so only 5 of us went exploring.
You see we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. This concentration camp was the first one to be built during the Hilter regime. It was the also the only camp to be operational for the entire 12 years. It was finally liberated by American soldiers on Sunday the 29th of April, 1945.
Dachau was also know for it's gas chamber, hangings, medical experiments on prisoners and other punishments such as flogging, tree or pole-hanging, standing punishment, cutting off of rations or detention. Standing at the door to the gas chamber it was with extreme caution that I entered! I know that is silly but it was not a pleasant feeling.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I wanted to see this camp. It was a very sobering afternoon to think of the horrors and atrocities that men and some women went through. They had just celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of the camp and it was amazing to see the floral wreths that had been placed in memory.
As I stood on the parade ground I could feel the ghosts of the past, thousands of men made to stand at attention for at least one hour and sometimes over night in the cold as punishment. It actually brought goose bumps to my body!
With the sobering part of our exploring over we decided it was time to head to Munich for dinner and a wander. But before we left the hotel we were offered a beer by our hosts. This was the first beer that Pete had, had in almost a year! And it was not to be his only beer this night!
Gene had left us at this point because his sister was in town and he was meeting up with her. But the rest of us headed to the "English Garden" to sit under the Chinese Pagoda and have a real German meal with huge beer mugs! From this photo it looks like Lisa was drinking one...but I can assure you it was not hers!
She did however have more food than anyone! Our cox who had been watching what she was eating so that she would be less for us to carry was now making up for it! We didn't think she would get through the whole meal...but she did!
You can see she wanted everyone to think she drank a whole mug of beer!
You see we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. This concentration camp was the first one to be built during the Hilter regime. It was the also the only camp to be operational for the entire 12 years. It was finally liberated by American soldiers on Sunday the 29th of April, 1945. When the camp originally opened, only known political opponents of the National-Socialists were interned, but this didn't last for long. Eventually prisoners came to Dachau from all the countries which were at war with Germany: resistance fighters, Jews, clergymen, or simply patirots who refused to collaborate with the occupation. Originally the camp was to hold a capacity of 5000 people but at times was known to hold up to 50,000. Barracks that were to house 200 men at times housed 1600!
Dachau was also know for it's gas chamber, hangings, medical experiments on prisoners and other punishments such as flogging, tree or pole-hanging, standing punishment, cutting off of rations or detention. Standing at the door to the gas chamber it was with extreme caution that I entered! I know that is silly but it was not a pleasant feeling.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that I wanted to see this camp. It was a very sobering afternoon to think of the horrors and atrocities that men and some women went through. They had just celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the liberation of the camp and it was amazing to see the floral wreths that had been placed in memory.
As I stood on the parade ground I could feel the ghosts of the past, thousands of men made to stand at attention for at least one hour and sometimes over night in the cold as punishment. It actually brought goose bumps to my body!It is uncomprehendable to me how people can do these things to other people because of their beliefs, religion or look. I can only thank God that I was born when and where I was. But it is also something that I want to remember and hope that this type of thing will never happen again.
With the sobering part of our exploring over we decided it was time to head to Munich for dinner and a wander. But before we left the hotel we were offered a beer by our hosts. This was the first beer that Pete had, had in almost a year! And it was not to be his only beer this night!
Gene had left us at this point because his sister was in town and he was meeting up with her. But the rest of us headed to the "English Garden" to sit under the Chinese Pagoda and have a real German meal with huge beer mugs! From this photo it looks like Lisa was drinking one...but I can assure you it was not hers!
She did however have more food than anyone! Our cox who had been watching what she was eating so that she would be less for us to carry was now making up for it! We didn't think she would get through the whole meal...but she did!
You can see she wanted everyone to think she drank a whole mug of beer!We are now getting ready to leave Dachau for Frankfurt. We will be spending the night there before catching our flight home on Monday.
This has been an amazing experience and one that I will not forget in a hurry!
Race Day and beyond
Race day had finally arrived! We headed to the course at 7:45 a.m. as our race was to be held at 9:30 a.m. When we got there we noticed that the wind had picked up more so than any other day. Usually it was pretty calm in the mornings and then got worse in the afternoon, but this morning was more like the afternoon wind and it was a direct head wind.
We had a team chat about our race plan. We always seem to loose it in the third 250m, so the idea was to have a great start and hold a rating of around 36 for the first 250m. We knew we could do this as the adrenaline would be pumping. We were to then go long, drive hard and hold a rating of 32 for the second 250m. On the third 250m we were to drive and pull the rating back up as we wanted this 250m to be our fastest. Then if need be to try and pick up the rating even further for the last 150m.
The start of the race was delayed because one of the Arms only women broke her chest strap, so we had a bit of a wait which we used to our advantage by practicing more starts. The time had finally arrived to head to the start (about 15 minutes late) and get ready for the race of our life.
I certainly give Lisa (our cox) credit for being able to have the boat held straight as the wind was huge. My heart was beating faster than normal, but the nerves had disappeared during warm up. I guess I just knew what I had to do and once we had started our warm up the head took over.
I felt that our start wasn't too bad. We were all engaged with the water and no one missed any water during this start. But we were still slower than the other crews and at 100m were in 4th place. We followed the plan to a "T". Lisa's calls were brilliant and by the 500m mark we were neck in neck with Denmark. China was out in front and I don't think anyone would have caught them.
It was now time for the third 250m and we have been told by the coaches that you could see us engage and at this point we pulled away from all the crews except China. The others held back just a fraction longer. With 150m to go we were still ahead of South Africa and Denmark but with about 50m to go the Danes were able to pull ahead...just! It was almost a blanket finish for 2nd, 3rd and 4th and unfortunately we ended up 4th. I have to say that the last 50m I don't remember much except the pain!
Needless to say it was not the outcome that we wanted. I think the pain of not making it to Beijing was worse than the physical pain. When we got back to the landing I was physically wrecked as were my other crew members. It took me almost 30min to actually be able to walk, my body had completely stopped and all I could think about was that the dream was over. It was extremely hard to stop the tears from flowing, thank god for sunglasses!
Noel Donaldson and a few of the other coaches from Rowing Australia stated that they felt Adaptive rowing had come of age during that race. They said it was one of the best races they had seen, tactically, by every crew, in the wind, in Adaptive rowing. David was extremely please with us and how we had rowed the race. We had followed the plan exactly but just didn't have enough in the last 50m. We had given it our all.
Each one of us in the crew spent some time on our own in order to deal with the disappointment of not finishing in the top two, but eventually we were able to come together, discuss the race, look at the positives and talk about where to now.
We did meet up with the Danish team later to congratulate them and I was able to trade a zootie and have a bit of bubbly with them to celebrate. When they told me that they had been training together since December 7 times a week I realized that we had done alright. We have been together since the end of February (basically two months) and because we live so far apart from one another, did not have alot of time together. So if there is one thing that comes out of this is that we have the ability over time to be right up there with the best.
It was then time to de-rig the boat so that it could be sent back to the Italians, pack up our belongings and head back to the hotel. But I tell you we all still had heavy hearts! I think the hardest thing I had to do was send text messages back home to tell family and friends that we hadn't succeeded in securing a spot. Everyone from home have been so amazing in their love and support that I felt like I had let them down.
The dream is over and where to from here is unknown, but I do know that I have made some amazing friendships over the last year in the rowing community and more so in the last 3 months with my crew members. So thank you everyone for that. But stay tuned, you never know what could happen in the future!
We had a team chat about our race plan. We always seem to loose it in the third 250m, so the idea was to have a great start and hold a rating of around 36 for the first 250m. We knew we could do this as the adrenaline would be pumping. We were to then go long, drive hard and hold a rating of 32 for the second 250m. On the third 250m we were to drive and pull the rating back up as we wanted this 250m to be our fastest. Then if need be to try and pick up the rating even further for the last 150m.
The start of the race was delayed because one of the Arms only women broke her chest strap, so we had a bit of a wait which we used to our advantage by practicing more starts. The time had finally arrived to head to the start (about 15 minutes late) and get ready for the race of our life.
I certainly give Lisa (our cox) credit for being able to have the boat held straight as the wind was huge. My heart was beating faster than normal, but the nerves had disappeared during warm up. I guess I just knew what I had to do and once we had started our warm up the head took over.
I felt that our start wasn't too bad. We were all engaged with the water and no one missed any water during this start. But we were still slower than the other crews and at 100m were in 4th place. We followed the plan to a "T". Lisa's calls were brilliant and by the 500m mark we were neck in neck with Denmark. China was out in front and I don't think anyone would have caught them.
It was now time for the third 250m and we have been told by the coaches that you could see us engage and at this point we pulled away from all the crews except China. The others held back just a fraction longer. With 150m to go we were still ahead of South Africa and Denmark but with about 50m to go the Danes were able to pull ahead...just! It was almost a blanket finish for 2nd, 3rd and 4th and unfortunately we ended up 4th. I have to say that the last 50m I don't remember much except the pain!
Needless to say it was not the outcome that we wanted. I think the pain of not making it to Beijing was worse than the physical pain. When we got back to the landing I was physically wrecked as were my other crew members. It took me almost 30min to actually be able to walk, my body had completely stopped and all I could think about was that the dream was over. It was extremely hard to stop the tears from flowing, thank god for sunglasses!
Noel Donaldson and a few of the other coaches from Rowing Australia stated that they felt Adaptive rowing had come of age during that race. They said it was one of the best races they had seen, tactically, by every crew, in the wind, in Adaptive rowing. David was extremely please with us and how we had rowed the race. We had followed the plan exactly but just didn't have enough in the last 50m. We had given it our all.
Each one of us in the crew spent some time on our own in order to deal with the disappointment of not finishing in the top two, but eventually we were able to come together, discuss the race, look at the positives and talk about where to now.
We did meet up with the Danish team later to congratulate them and I was able to trade a zootie and have a bit of bubbly with them to celebrate. When they told me that they had been training together since December 7 times a week I realized that we had done alright. We have been together since the end of February (basically two months) and because we live so far apart from one another, did not have alot of time together. So if there is one thing that comes out of this is that we have the ability over time to be right up there with the best.
It was then time to de-rig the boat so that it could be sent back to the Italians, pack up our belongings and head back to the hotel. But I tell you we all still had heavy hearts! I think the hardest thing I had to do was send text messages back home to tell family and friends that we hadn't succeeded in securing a spot. Everyone from home have been so amazing in their love and support that I felt like I had let them down.
The dream is over and where to from here is unknown, but I do know that I have made some amazing friendships over the last year in the rowing community and more so in the last 3 months with my crew members. So thank you everyone for that. But stay tuned, you never know what could happen in the future!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Last Training Day
After a team meeting at dinner last night, we all were up bright and early for breakfast even though we didn't have to be at the course for training until noon. So we took the opportunity to have a bit of medical intervention in the way of physio and massage. Gene and I saw Judi the physio and Brandie and Pete saw Tania the masseuse. It certainly did make a difference.
I was smart enough to not let anyone take a picture of me while getting treatment, but I was able to get pictures of the guys!
We headed to the course, had a light lunch and then we got the boat out. We knew that we had to row the way we have always rowed. Slow up the slide, placement, drive, let the boat run. We have to row with our heads and not our hearts, keep our heads in the boat and row our own race.
We had a pretty good row this afternoon in very tough conditions. It got extremely windy this afternoon but David was very happy with how we rowed. We certainly followed his instructions and even Lisa said that the boat was definitely running smoothly, especially considering yesterdays row. After a good session we went back to the hotel to shower and get back to the course to watch the other Australian crews race.
The women's Quad came 1st in their rep, the men's Quad were first in their rep, the men's eight were 2nd in their heat and the women's eight were 1st in their heat. So overall it was a great day for the Australian rowers.
Tomorrow will be an even better day when we qualify!
I was smart enough to not let anyone take a picture of me while getting treatment, but I was able to get pictures of the guys!
We headed to the course, had a light lunch and then we got the boat out. We knew that we had to row the way we have always rowed. Slow up the slide, placement, drive, let the boat run. We have to row with our heads and not our hearts, keep our heads in the boat and row our own race.
We had a pretty good row this afternoon in very tough conditions. It got extremely windy this afternoon but David was very happy with how we rowed. We certainly followed his instructions and even Lisa said that the boat was definitely running smoothly, especially considering yesterdays row. After a good session we went back to the hotel to shower and get back to the course to watch the other Australian crews race.
The women's Quad came 1st in their rep, the men's Quad were first in their rep, the men's eight were 2nd in their heat and the women's eight were 1st in their heat. So overall it was a great day for the Australian rowers.
Tomorrow will be an even better day when we qualify!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Race Day - Heat for Lanes
Well Race Day! We headed to the course at just before 8 a.m. Our heat was to be at 10:10 a.m., so we wanted to be there early to check the boat and make sure everything was screwed down and placed in the right area. Everyone was pretty good, didn't seem too nervous and was ready to get the job done.
We did a warm up on the erg's, had a picture taken we all of us at the boat and at 9:30 a.m. made our way over to the dock with the boat. The FISA officials were at the dock with the bow number which had a GPS on it and they had to check out Brandie's blacked out goggles to make sure that there was no light getting in to them. Once we were all in the boat and settled we headed out to do a light warm up. The Arms only females were racing so we had to stop so that there was no wake for the rowers who were racing. The men's Arms only then came down, two heats and we were able to finish our warm up. Next off the block was the Trunk and Arms and then it was us the LTA 4+.
The start was extremely fast, the referree did not hold us long at all. Unfortunately our start was terrible, in fact it was crap! But we were able to pull it together over the first 250m and were closing in on the Chinese who had a great start and we were ahead of every other boat. Then we basically lost the plot. The last 750m of our race was the worst we have ever rowed!
We shortened up, were rushing the slide and just not getting any drive in the boat. It was a hard slog and the boat was not running at all. In the end we ended up 4th behind China in 1st, South Africa and Denmark. All I can say is thank God this was only a race for lanes. We have never rowed so slow! I don't know if we were nervous in the end but we certainly didn't row like we did yesterday. If we had we would have been miles ahead as the Chinese time wasn't that great.
At 1 p.m. we went out for a training session and it still didn't feel great, however it was a bit better than the race. We have to slow ourselves down and really start to drive the legs back and right now it seems like we are doing the opposite.
I am usually a very positive person and can take something positive from a race or training session. But to be honest I had a hard time taking anything positive from this race. I guess the only positive thing is that we have another chance to do what we know we can do on Saturday.
Last Training Day
Well I have to admit, I thought we had the best row ever yesterday but we surpassed that today! During this mornings session we had to do a start and full out race piece for 250m. We had a fantastic start and were holding a stroke rate of 36 within the first two strokes. Wow...I have never felt a boat run the way this one did. It was one of those rows that you didn’t want to end. If we can do that tomorrow we will be all very happy!
Adam had been standing watching us and the coach of the Japanese team came over to talk to him. When Adam asked him how things were going for his team he stated that he thought they were going really well...until he saw us! That made me feel good.
Tomorrow is just the heats and we are racing for lanes. I have been advised though that this course is pretty fair and no matter what lane you get you will have pretty good water. I always think of Kieran Perkins at the Olympics swimming in the 1500 he just got into lane 8 but took everyone by surprise to win the event. So no matter what lane we get we can do it.
Lunch today was at the course and it was fantastic to see the other countries that are taking part in the World Cup. There were a huge number of wheelchair athletes and it is really good to see that athletes with a disability are included in events like this with able bodied athletes.
This afternoon our session was comprised of a warm up and then we worked on starts. Some of them weren’t great, but others were pretty good. Then we were off the water. We were training during a time when only the Adaptive boats were allowed on the water. So we got to see some of our competition. We have watched the Chinese, Japanese, South Africans and Danes. No one looks to bad but it is hard to tell not being under race pressure. The only team we haven’t seen so far is the Ukrainian one.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow, the nerves are starting to build but we just have to remember to hold it together and not rush the stroke. As long as we all stay relaxed and focused we should sail through it with no problem at all.
Adam had been standing watching us and the coach of the Japanese team came over to talk to him. When Adam asked him how things were going for his team he stated that he thought they were going really well...until he saw us! That made me feel good.
Tomorrow is just the heats and we are racing for lanes. I have been advised though that this course is pretty fair and no matter what lane you get you will have pretty good water. I always think of Kieran Perkins at the Olympics swimming in the 1500 he just got into lane 8 but took everyone by surprise to win the event. So no matter what lane we get we can do it.
Lunch today was at the course and it was fantastic to see the other countries that are taking part in the World Cup. There were a huge number of wheelchair athletes and it is really good to see that athletes with a disability are included in events like this with able bodied athletes.
This afternoon our session was comprised of a warm up and then we worked on starts. Some of them weren’t great, but others were pretty good. Then we were off the water. We were training during a time when only the Adaptive boats were allowed on the water. So we got to see some of our competition. We have watched the Chinese, Japanese, South Africans and Danes. No one looks to bad but it is hard to tell not being under race pressure. The only team we haven’t seen so far is the Ukrainian one.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow, the nerves are starting to build but we just have to remember to hold it together and not rush the stroke. As long as we all stay relaxed and focused we should sail through it with no problem at all.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Day Two - Munich
Well we had the best row that we have ever had today! It was during this mornings session, which was held very early. We were on the water by 6:30 a.m. and we couldn't have asked for better water. After a warm up we did a 1000m piece but only holding a 28 stroke rate at 85 - 90% leg drive. The boat was sitting up brilliantly and it really did feel effortless. You could just feel the boat running well. It certainly didn’t feel as if we were working too hard and if we can have the same feeling with a stroke rate of 34-36 and 100% we will be flying!
This afternoon’s row wasn’t as good but it was much windier, but as David said there was no “punch” in the leg drive. I know that I personally row or do any exercise much better in the morning. So hopefully this was just because we are all a little bit tired.
It was certainly interesting on the water as more countries have now arrived. There are quite a few Adaptive rowers and while Lisa was at the course during the day she had a look at some of our competition in the Chinese and Japanese crews. She said that the Chinese look very strong but don’t row with much finesse and she only saw the Japanese come in to the landing. There are quite a few Arms Only rowers and boy do they look fit. We found out after our row that there are 6 countries in our category, so we are thinking that our heat on Thursday is for lanes and then Saturday is the do or die day.
We had a chat from Noel Donaldson, the High Performance Coach, and he has been observing us over the last couple of days. He advised us not to put any hurdles in our way as we have a job to do and don’t have much time to pull it together. I think we have all become a bit nervous and this has caused a bit of tension in the boat. We have to just worry about what each one of us can bring to the boat and give it our own 100% which will be different to everyone else. If we do that we can finish our race on Saturday knowing that we have done all we could do.
Between our rows today, Gene, Pete and I decided to take the train into Munich. Brandie had to see the physio and Lisa was meeting with the Cox of the Australian men’s eight to talk about the course.
It was a 15 minute train ride into Central Station and Gene had his trusty map from the reception at our hotel. I don’t know what it is about men but they don’t like asking for directions! Once out of the train station we had no idea where we were on the map and they didn’t want to ask anyone, so I took hold of the map, walked into a shop and the lady pointed to the spot. With this information we headed towards the Town Hall area.
We walked through the Old Botanical Gardens and came upon the Fountain of Neptune which was right across the road from the Justizpalast or in english Palace of Justice. What an absolutely beautiful building. The Germans must have spent an enormous amount of time rebuilding some of these buildings after the war. It is nice to see that they didn’t just tear them down and rebuild.
Fountain of Neptune 
Palace of Justice
Palace of Justice side on
Karlsplatz 
The Karlstorand
We then went into St. Michael's Cathedral, which had been devastated during World War 2. It was rebuilt to its original state, talk about absolutely beautiful. We were told that we had to see the Town Hall clock at 12 noon, so we slowly made our way past another church called Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady. It had two massive towers both with clocks, these towers are visible from practically any spot in Munich. It is known as one of the finest Gothic constructions in the entire country.
St. Michael's Cathedral 
Church of Our Lady Towers
Inside New Town Hall
View from the top of the Tower
We then just walked through the small streets in the area taking in the atmosphere and came upon the Viktualienmarkt or Food Market. One of the numerous shops was a deli and the guys just stood in the shop revelling in the smells. They would have loved to have any number of delicacies and wash it down with a beer from one of the many beer gardens around. Alas this won't happen until after our final! We even came across a May Pole in this area.
Food Market Deli 
Gene trying some raw veal 
May Pole 
Pete enjoying the sunshine
This afternoon’s row wasn’t as good but it was much windier, but as David said there was no “punch” in the leg drive. I know that I personally row or do any exercise much better in the morning. So hopefully this was just because we are all a little bit tired.
It was certainly interesting on the water as more countries have now arrived. There are quite a few Adaptive rowers and while Lisa was at the course during the day she had a look at some of our competition in the Chinese and Japanese crews. She said that the Chinese look very strong but don’t row with much finesse and she only saw the Japanese come in to the landing. There are quite a few Arms Only rowers and boy do they look fit. We found out after our row that there are 6 countries in our category, so we are thinking that our heat on Thursday is for lanes and then Saturday is the do or die day.
We had a chat from Noel Donaldson, the High Performance Coach, and he has been observing us over the last couple of days. He advised us not to put any hurdles in our way as we have a job to do and don’t have much time to pull it together. I think we have all become a bit nervous and this has caused a bit of tension in the boat. We have to just worry about what each one of us can bring to the boat and give it our own 100% which will be different to everyone else. If we do that we can finish our race on Saturday knowing that we have done all we could do.
Between our rows today, Gene, Pete and I decided to take the train into Munich. Brandie had to see the physio and Lisa was meeting with the Cox of the Australian men’s eight to talk about the course. It was a 15 minute train ride into Central Station and Gene had his trusty map from the reception at our hotel. I don’t know what it is about men but they don’t like asking for directions! Once out of the train station we had no idea where we were on the map and they didn’t want to ask anyone, so I took hold of the map, walked into a shop and the lady pointed to the spot. With this information we headed towards the Town Hall area.
We walked through the Old Botanical Gardens and came upon the Fountain of Neptune which was right across the road from the Justizpalast or in english Palace of Justice. What an absolutely beautiful building. The Germans must have spent an enormous amount of time rebuilding some of these buildings after the war. It is nice to see that they didn’t just tear them down and rebuild.
Fountain of Neptune
Palace of Justice
Palace of Justice side onWe walked further through the Karlsplatz and through an arch known at The Karlstorand this area was what I expected Germany to be like. There were open space areas where people were sitting around with friends, eating lunch or just enjoying the sunshine. There were food stalls everywhere you turned that sold beautiful looking fruit. Having come from Australia where we are just going into winter, it was wonderful to see cherries and strawberries. The cherries were so cheap that Pete bought a 1/2 kilo and Gene bought the same amount of strawberries. Talk about a treat!
Karlsplatz
The KarlstorandWe then went into St. Michael's Cathedral, which had been devastated during World War 2. It was rebuilt to its original state, talk about absolutely beautiful. We were told that we had to see the Town Hall clock at 12 noon, so we slowly made our way past another church called Frauenkirche or Church of Our Lady. It had two massive towers both with clocks, these towers are visible from practically any spot in Munich. It is known as one of the finest Gothic constructions in the entire country.
St. Michael's Cathedral
Church of Our Lady TowersWe then ended up in Marienplatz which has in the centre a pillar called Mary's Column. This pillar was erected at the order of Maximilian 1 in 1638 in homage to the Patron Saint of Bavaria. Talk about history! But the most amazing building in Marienplatz is the Gothic Revival "Neues Rathaus" or New Town Hall. It took 42 years to complete this building and the tower house one of the greatest attrations of Munich. It is the famous "carillon". It houses 43 bells and 32 copper figures and from May to October at noon a mechanism is started up which allows you to enjoy the sight of two dances at once. We sat and had lunch while watching this and it was amazing to see how many people stopped to watch. After lunch we were able to actually go up the tower of the New Town hall and the views were spectacular.
Inside New Town Hall
New Town Hall
View from the top of the TowerWe then just walked through the small streets in the area taking in the atmosphere and came upon the Viktualienmarkt or Food Market. One of the numerous shops was a deli and the guys just stood in the shop revelling in the smells. They would have loved to have any number of delicacies and wash it down with a beer from one of the many beer gardens around. Alas this won't happen until after our final! We even came across a May Pole in this area.
Food Market Deli
Gene trying some raw veal
May Pole
Pete enjoying the sunshineBy this time I had been on my feet enough so we headed back to the train station and made our way back to Dachau where we were picked up by Adam and the crew. We had about an hour and a half before our afternoon session.
What an absolutely beautiful city Munich is and obviously there is a lot more to see which unfortunatley most likely won't happen this trip.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Day one in Munich
This morning we headed to the Regatta Centre to go for our first row in the boat we leased from the Italian Adaptive program. It was a beautiful morning, not too cool and very sunny. When we arrived at the centre there were a number of people there, some with boats on the water and a lot of people putting boats together and setting them up. Both the 8 boats from Australia, men and women were there as well.In no time at all we out on the water. It was a bit messy for about the first 500m as it was the first time we had all been in this particular boat and it took a short while to get used to it. There were a few problems as well that we would have to fix before the next row. This row was certainly needed to see if the boat was set up the right way. Unfortunately the rigging was quite high for all of us and we were missing a lot of water. I also had to move my foot plate angle because I wasn't able to get a really good push as my feet were too flat. But it was good to get out on the water.
Speaking of the water, what amazing water they have here. It is so clear it is unbelievable. We were told that the water is treated and this is obviously why it is so clear. I even saw a fish that was about 1/2 a metre in length!
On our way back down the course we did a few drills to assist with the balance of the boat and then did a couple of pushes for 20 strokes, picking up the pressure but not the stroke rate. The second piece we did felt absolutely fantastic. After getting the boat back to the landing we started lowering the rigging and moving not only my foot plate but also Brandie's and Pete's. We were also fortunate enough to be able to put some speakers in the boat and Marty the cox of the Australian men's 8 gave us some cabling to hook the speakers up, so that we would have a coxbox in the afternoon.
We had a session in the afternoon and after making the adjustments in the morning, the boat felt much better. The second half of the session we worked on picking up the stroke rate to 36 within a piece. That went so well, the boat felt like it was running really well. Towards the end of the session we did two 20 stroke racing starts. The second one was much better than the first. Once done we changed a few more things on the boat and that was it for the day.
I was able to get in for a massage with the team massage therapist and was lucky enough to have one of the team physio's work on me as well. It certainly does make a difference when you have the staff to assist your recovery.
I think with a couple more days in this boat we will be flying! I am looking forward to seeing what we can do over a few longer pieces.
Australian Boat Shed
Preparing our boat
In the boat
Out for a rowMonday, May 5, 2008
On Our Way
We headed to Sydney airport at about 10am and it is a good thing we did, as there were two major accidents along two of the highways we had to take from Penrith to get to the airport. So needless to say it took a bit longer than anticipated. The electricity in the car on the way was evident; we were all so excited to be finally going.
At the airport we took all our bags inside and then assisted with some of the gear that had been driven up from Canberra such as oars, medical equipment, food and tools. Heaps of boxes had to be taken to the Malaysian airlines counter to be checked in. No waiting in line for all of us as there are about 40 of us travelling together. Once we were checked in we had about 1 hour to kill before boarding the plane for what was to be a very long trip.
It was very nice to feel like part of the team as we were all in the same gear and I think it looked fantastic.
The bus trip was just over 5 hours with a couple of 20 and 15 minute breaks. We did have some fun on the bus but you could see that everyone just needed to get there, have a shower and a good nights sleep. Lisa tried to take the men’s 8 on at cards, but didn’t fair very well and a couple of the guys ended up crashing.
Everyone is staying at different hotels. The men’s squad at one hotel, the women at another and us the Adaptive crew at yet another. We are staying at the Hotel-Restaurant Gotz in Dachau. There is an amazing history here with the Dachau Concentration Camp. (Something that we are going to go and see, but not until after we race.)
Our rooms weren't ready when we arrived so we dropped our bags off and headed down the street for some lunch. We ended up in an Italian restaurant (I always find that funny, eating Italian in Germany), had a wonderful lunch, then back to the hotel. Brandie, Pete and I stayed at the hotel while, Gene, Lisa, Adam and David headed to the course. They were going to make sure the boat was there and Lisa wanted to scout out the course. We were then picked up a bit later as we were hoping to go for a short row, but we had a few changes to make on the boat.
We have leased the boat from the Italian Adaptive program. It is a Wintech coxed 4 and not that old. It took us about an hour and a half to change a few things and by the time we had it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner which was set down for 6:30 p.m. and we were already late.
We had a fantastic dinner, but way too much food! The owners actually cooked and served us themselves. They were very disappointed in our appetites! We tried to explain that we had been travelling for 36 hours, had a late lunch and hadn't done any exercise!
We headed up to our rooms at about 8:30 p.m. but I stayed awake until about 9:30 so that I would have a good nights sleep. Oh how wonderful it was to put my head down after close to 46 hours!
At the airport we took all our bags inside and then assisted with some of the gear that had been driven up from Canberra such as oars, medical equipment, food and tools. Heaps of boxes had to be taken to the Malaysian airlines counter to be checked in. No waiting in line for all of us as there are about 40 of us travelling together. Once we were checked in we had about 1 hour to kill before boarding the plane for what was to be a very long trip.
It was very nice to feel like part of the team as we were all in the same gear and I think it looked fantastic.
People were very friendly on the flight. I had a number of people ask me where we were going and what we were doing. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was about 7 hours and 50 minutes and once we arrived there we had a few hours to hang around the airport. I must say it is an amazing airport. We had a look around the shops and I think there will be a few things purchased on the way back! We then sat down, some had a bite to eat and the rest of us just had some water.
The time passed extremely quickly and we were then on the next plane to Frankfurt. This flight however was much longer, over 11 hours. Needless to say I don’t sleep well on a plane and I probably got about 2 hours total. I did however watch almost all the things on the t.v. screen!
The bus trip was just over 5 hours with a couple of 20 and 15 minute breaks. We did have some fun on the bus but you could see that everyone just needed to get there, have a shower and a good nights sleep. Lisa tried to take the men’s 8 on at cards, but didn’t fair very well and a couple of the guys ended up crashing.
Everyone is staying at different hotels. The men’s squad at one hotel, the women at another and us the Adaptive crew at yet another. We are staying at the Hotel-Restaurant Gotz in Dachau. There is an amazing history here with the Dachau Concentration Camp. (Something that we are going to go and see, but not until after we race.)
Our rooms weren't ready when we arrived so we dropped our bags off and headed down the street for some lunch. We ended up in an Italian restaurant (I always find that funny, eating Italian in Germany), had a wonderful lunch, then back to the hotel. Brandie, Pete and I stayed at the hotel while, Gene, Lisa, Adam and David headed to the course. They were going to make sure the boat was there and Lisa wanted to scout out the course. We were then picked up a bit later as we were hoping to go for a short row, but we had a few changes to make on the boat.
We have leased the boat from the Italian Adaptive program. It is a Wintech coxed 4 and not that old. It took us about an hour and a half to change a few things and by the time we had it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner which was set down for 6:30 p.m. and we were already late.
We had a fantastic dinner, but way too much food! The owners actually cooked and served us themselves. They were very disappointed in our appetites! We tried to explain that we had been travelling for 36 hours, had a late lunch and hadn't done any exercise!
We headed up to our rooms at about 8:30 p.m. but I stayed awake until about 9:30 so that I would have a good nights sleep. Oh how wonderful it was to put my head down after close to 46 hours!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Off to Munich
Well I know that I said I wasn't going to write anything before we got to Munich, but I couldn't help myself! I didn't get much sleep last night because I am very excited and probably a bit still not believing this is happening! I am so excited about representing my adoptive country that I am just about jumping out of my skin!
We had a fantastic team dinner with the entire crew, coach David and his wife Rosemary, the TA double John (along with his partner) and Kat and Lisa's dad. We went to a place called OSSO, very nice, but a bit pricey, but I figured we deserved it!
One thing that has stuck in my brain, something that Adam said to us the other day was that we can only control ourselves and do what we have to do. We can't control any outside influences such as weather, water, other teams or even our own teammates. We just have to do what we know we can do as individuals.
When I do my speaking for the MS Society I often ask people: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I think this is a really important question because if we all lived our lives thinking and believing that we would never fail just imagine what we would actually accomplish and what our world would be like. I am going into this race knowing that we cannot fail!
We had a fantastic team dinner with the entire crew, coach David and his wife Rosemary, the TA double John (along with his partner) and Kat and Lisa's dad. We went to a place called OSSO, very nice, but a bit pricey, but I figured we deserved it!
One thing that has stuck in my brain, something that Adam said to us the other day was that we can only control ourselves and do what we have to do. We can't control any outside influences such as weather, water, other teams or even our own teammates. We just have to do what we know we can do as individuals.
When I do my speaking for the MS Society I often ask people: “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I think this is a really important question because if we all lived our lives thinking and believing that we would never fail just imagine what we would actually accomplish and what our world would be like. I am going into this race knowing that we cannot fail!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Camp has finished bring on Munich!
We finished our camp yesterday even though we thought we had one day left. Coaches gave us today off to do some running around, some had doctors appointments, physio appointments, changing money and posting things home.
It was very exciting yesterday in a number of ways! We had a very short session in the morning just to blow away the cob webs and then in the afternoon we had a 500m time trial. This is half the distance we have to race. We went up against the TA double, Kathryn Ross and John McLean, silver medallists at last years World Championships. We didn't have the best start as we were too close to the buoys but we were able to pull it together and had a fantastic race piece. We clocked 1:53 over the 500 and we all believed that had we had a better start we would have broken the 1:50 barrier. This is right where we want to be.
Then after our training session we had a team meeting with Adam Horner who is the Adaptive Rowing co-ordinator for Australia. At this point he presented us with our Australian Team gear! So it was very exciting to have the shirts, track suits, hats and zooties with AUS written all over them. It brought home to us that this is really happening. We have all put the hard work in over the last few months and we truly believe that we will be able to go over to Munich and win this event.
Lisa's (our cox) dad arrived yesterday and was able to see us row. I think he was impressed! He joined us for dinner along with Dom Moneypenny and to celebrate our going to Munich Dom made us a pavlova! Not a great food for training, but by god it was good! We had a fantastic night and are now just itching to get on the plane.
Tonight we have a huge dinner with all the Adaptive rowers, coaches, parents & partners (who are here) and RA staff. We head to the airport tomorrow at 11am to leave Sydney at 2:20 pm. So the next time I add to this blog will be when we arrive in Munich.
It was very exciting yesterday in a number of ways! We had a very short session in the morning just to blow away the cob webs and then in the afternoon we had a 500m time trial. This is half the distance we have to race. We went up against the TA double, Kathryn Ross and John McLean, silver medallists at last years World Championships. We didn't have the best start as we were too close to the buoys but we were able to pull it together and had a fantastic race piece. We clocked 1:53 over the 500 and we all believed that had we had a better start we would have broken the 1:50 barrier. This is right where we want to be.
Then after our training session we had a team meeting with Adam Horner who is the Adaptive Rowing co-ordinator for Australia. At this point he presented us with our Australian Team gear! So it was very exciting to have the shirts, track suits, hats and zooties with AUS written all over them. It brought home to us that this is really happening. We have all put the hard work in over the last few months and we truly believe that we will be able to go over to Munich and win this event.
Lisa's (our cox) dad arrived yesterday and was able to see us row. I think he was impressed! He joined us for dinner along with Dom Moneypenny and to celebrate our going to Munich Dom made us a pavlova! Not a great food for training, but by god it was good! We had a fantastic night and are now just itching to get on the plane.
Tonight we have a huge dinner with all the Adaptive rowers, coaches, parents & partners (who are here) and RA staff. We head to the airport tomorrow at 11am to leave Sydney at 2:20 pm. So the next time I add to this blog will be when we arrive in Munich.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Half Way There!
The third day of camp dawned very chilly but turned into a beautiful sunny day. Out on the water for the first session was very misty and was very serene.
Our session was supposed to be a steady state row but we ended up doing some stepped pieces. By the end of them my body had, had enough. We have been doing two sessions a day and I am used to basically one session a day with something else such as a swim, gym or ergo.
Everyone in the crew knew that I was hurting and when we got to the landing I didn't have to tell David our coach how sore I was because I had a hard time getting out of the boat. Needless to say I spent the next 30 minutes stretching and was then invited back to John McLean's house. John is a TA rower (trunck and arms) and has a hot tub in his backyard. I spent 30 minutes in the hot tub stretching. Not feeling too bad at this point a few of us went to the Blue Mountains for lunch.
Upon my return to the caravan park I met with David and it was decided that I would go for a swim instead of a row. Brandie was going to have a run, Lisa wanted to jump on an erg and the guys would head out in the pair.
I was directed to the Penrith Swimming Pool. What a wonderful pool, actually reminded me of Fitzroy pool. Needless to say my brain is always thinking Mega Swim and while swimming decided it would be a perfect pool for one of them! I had a great swim and grabbed a taxi back to the caravan park.
I am cooking dinner again tonight for everyone, we are having lasagne. This is my last night to cook! So last time the guys have to clean up.
Tomorrow is a big day as we have a critical time trial to do in the afternoon, so the rest this afternoon will do me good.
Our session was supposed to be a steady state row but we ended up doing some stepped pieces. By the end of them my body had, had enough. We have been doing two sessions a day and I am used to basically one session a day with something else such as a swim, gym or ergo.
Everyone in the crew knew that I was hurting and when we got to the landing I didn't have to tell David our coach how sore I was because I had a hard time getting out of the boat. Needless to say I spent the next 30 minutes stretching and was then invited back to John McLean's house. John is a TA rower (trunck and arms) and has a hot tub in his backyard. I spent 30 minutes in the hot tub stretching. Not feeling too bad at this point a few of us went to the Blue Mountains for lunch.
Upon my return to the caravan park I met with David and it was decided that I would go for a swim instead of a row. Brandie was going to have a run, Lisa wanted to jump on an erg and the guys would head out in the pair.
I was directed to the Penrith Swimming Pool. What a wonderful pool, actually reminded me of Fitzroy pool. Needless to say my brain is always thinking Mega Swim and while swimming decided it would be a perfect pool for one of them! I had a great swim and grabbed a taxi back to the caravan park.
I am cooking dinner again tonight for everyone, we are having lasagne. This is my last night to cook! So last time the guys have to clean up.
Tomorrow is a big day as we have a critical time trial to do in the afternoon, so the rest this afternoon will do me good.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Day Two of Camp
It is hard to believe that we are only at day two. It feels like we have been here forever! What a glorious day today was, although Sydney had the coldest April night for 25 years. So needless to say it was a bit chilly on the water this morning. But we couldn't ask for better water! Usually it gets a bit windy here at SIRC in the afternoon, but this afternoon it was like glass. The weather report has told us that tonight and tomorrow morning will be colder than today, so I guess the winter woolies will be pulled out in the morning.
We had another two good rows today and this afternoon we had our cox Lisa back with us. Unfortunately she has a bad cold so we are keeping our distance. It was great to have her back in the boat with us though. Brandie could still just row this morning so Robyn who filled in yesterday came back and Brandie did a session on her bike.
We did four pieces this afternoon of 250m at full on race pace and probably rowed the best we have ever rowed. We now just have to turn this into a fantastic 1000m piece.
We are having another group dinner tonight, but Pete is cooking this one and we have Dom Moneypenny and his coach Rick coming in as well. Dom is Australia's arms only rower who has qualified for Beijing and is here just for the camp this week.
This camp has been the best one that we have had over the last few months and things are certainly starting to come together. I am really looking forward to the next few days.
Gene and Pete on Erg's after row
Talk about a beautiful view to Erg to!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Day One of Camp
Well we have finished our first day of camp and it went really well! It was probably the best row we have had on the first day of a camp. It usually takes us a day to get ourselves together as most of us train with others. But this morning was pretty good. Even Pedro (head coach of Adaptive rowing in Australia) stated that it was the best he had ever seen us row. We have had a couple of better rows at camps in Canberra, so hopefully we can show him even better skills come the end of the week.
Everyone seems much more relaxed than we were at the last camp and it certainly does show in our rowing. We had a fairly easy row this morning as Brandie is still dealing with a rib injury and we don't want it to get any worse. But she was able to do the whole workout without too much trouble. We had a young girl by the name of Alison (from Nepean rowing club) come and cox for us and she did a great job. Lisa won't be arriving until tomorrow afternoon, so Alison will cox for us until she is here.
We had an relaxing day and headed back to SIRC (Sydney International Rowing Centre) for our afternoon session. Brandie was advised to only do one session a day until Thursday, so we were lucky enough to have Alison's sister Robyn jump in Bow seat for us. I'm not sure she realized what she was getting herself into, as this afternoon was definitely harder and longer than this morning! We did a few good stepped pieces over 2000 metres and I think she was very happy to get out of the boat in the end.
So day one is out of the way and we are all very happy with how the boat feels. Hopefully it can only get better. We are about to have a team dinner again...in cafe Le Carol!
Everyone seems much more relaxed than we were at the last camp and it certainly does show in our rowing. We had a fairly easy row this morning as Brandie is still dealing with a rib injury and we don't want it to get any worse. But she was able to do the whole workout without too much trouble. We had a young girl by the name of Alison (from Nepean rowing club) come and cox for us and she did a great job. Lisa won't be arriving until tomorrow afternoon, so Alison will cox for us until she is here.
We had an relaxing day and headed back to SIRC (Sydney International Rowing Centre) for our afternoon session. Brandie was advised to only do one session a day until Thursday, so we were lucky enough to have Alison's sister Robyn jump in Bow seat for us. I'm not sure she realized what she was getting herself into, as this afternoon was definitely harder and longer than this morning! We did a few good stepped pieces over 2000 metres and I think she was very happy to get out of the boat in the end.
So day one is out of the way and we are all very happy with how the boat feels. Hopefully it can only get better. We are about to have a team dinner again...in cafe Le Carol!
Penrith
I arrived in Sydney yesterday for the start of the National Adaptive Camp. Pete picked me up at the airport and we headed to Penrith. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Sydney with temperatures in the low 20's.
We arrived in Penrith and are staying at the Nepean Shores Caravan Park and each have our own cabin. They are really nice and comfortable.
We arrived in Penrith and are staying at the Nepean Shores Caravan Park and each have our own cabin. They are really nice and comfortable.
Pete and I met up with Brandie at the Penrith Plaza and did some major grocery shopping for meals for the rest of the week. One of the reasons that we decided to stay at the caravan park was so that we would be able to cook our own meals. Much more nutritious for us as well as less expensive. We were able to buy food for all meals for the next 4 days for $140 and split between 5 of us that is fantastic.
Once back at the cabin we cooked up a huge feed of Spaghetti Bolognaise, garlic bread, salad and topped it off with fresh homemade fruit salad. Everyone came to my cabin for dinner...looks like my place will be the food venue!
We had a great team dinner with quite a few laughs. (The only person missing from the crew is Lisa our cox. Lisa will be arriving on Tuesday, as she is doing her year 12, she has an English assessment Tuesday morning, so couldn't miss it. Looking forward to having her back with the crew.)
I think the best part of the whole dinner was that the guys did the washing up!!! Love it when that happens.
Brandie 
Gene & Pete
Guys washing up
Coach David & Gene
Friday, April 25, 2008
2 Days Until Camp
With one day left to train with the girls at Yarra Yarra Rowing Club, I am getting more excited about next week. I received my Australian Team Handbook yesterday and it brought it all home that I am actually part of one of the best teams in the world! That is certainly something to live up to! It is great to think that athletes with a disability are included in the same team as "Able" bodied athletes. This doesn't happen in a number of other sports.
I spoke to Pete yesterday, one of my teammates and everything he talked about was "when we qualify the boat for Beijing". It is great that we are both thinking the same way. I think it is really important to believe in ourselves and our abilities and just give it our all.
As I said I have one more training session tomorrow morning with our squad at Yarra Yarra. We had a great session on Thursday night and I am hoping that it will carry over to tomorrow morning. The girls and coaches have been a great help to me and hopefully when we come back and have to train for Beijing, they will be willing to continue.
I leave Melbourne on Sunday to head up to Penrith with our training camp to start on Monday. I am looking forward to getting the team back together for a good week of training.
I spoke to Pete yesterday, one of my teammates and everything he talked about was "when we qualify the boat for Beijing". It is great that we are both thinking the same way. I think it is really important to believe in ourselves and our abilities and just give it our all.
As I said I have one more training session tomorrow morning with our squad at Yarra Yarra. We had a great session on Thursday night and I am hoping that it will carry over to tomorrow morning. The girls and coaches have been a great help to me and hopefully when we come back and have to train for Beijing, they will be willing to continue.
I leave Melbourne on Sunday to head up to Penrith with our training camp to start on Monday. I am looking forward to getting the team back together for a good week of training.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Three Weeks to World Cup
We are only three weeks away from the World Cup in Munich. I am feeling a number of things, excited to be representing Australia for the first time, nervous about racing and anxious about making sure that we come 1st or 2nd.
Really the best thing would be to come 1st! We have to do this to qualify our boat for the Beijing Paralympics. We have only been together as a crew for about a month and a half. We have had some great training sessions during camps and some not so good sessions. I just hope that we can pull it together when it comes to the crunch.
I have had some really good training sesssions here in Melbourne with the women from our club. They and the coaches have been fantastic helping me to get to the point I am at now. I only have a few more training sessions with them until I head to Sydney next week for a camp before we take off to Munich. I will take all of them with me in spirit.
The last few weeks have certainly be a balancing act in regards to my health. It has been hard to know how much to push my limits but be able to keep my MS in check. I think I have been pretty good at it and I haven't had to not train to much. I think the hardest thing is make myself believe that it is okay to rest. As an athlete I think that sometimes we tend to overdo it and not realise that maybe the best thing and most important thing we need is rest. I know that I feel guilty at times because I have opted to rest. But in the long run I know it will keep me in the boat.
I am very excited to be representing my adopted country of Australia and even painted my walking stick to match our uniforms and put the Southern Cross with Kangaroos on it! Actually got some compliments this morning at training. I might be Canadian born, sound Canadian, but I am certainly a proud Aussie!
Really the best thing would be to come 1st! We have to do this to qualify our boat for the Beijing Paralympics. We have only been together as a crew for about a month and a half. We have had some great training sessions during camps and some not so good sessions. I just hope that we can pull it together when it comes to the crunch.
I have had some really good training sesssions here in Melbourne with the women from our club. They and the coaches have been fantastic helping me to get to the point I am at now. I only have a few more training sessions with them until I head to Sydney next week for a camp before we take off to Munich. I will take all of them with me in spirit.
The last few weeks have certainly be a balancing act in regards to my health. It has been hard to know how much to push my limits but be able to keep my MS in check. I think I have been pretty good at it and I haven't had to not train to much. I think the hardest thing is make myself believe that it is okay to rest. As an athlete I think that sometimes we tend to overdo it and not realise that maybe the best thing and most important thing we need is rest. I know that I feel guilty at times because I have opted to rest. But in the long run I know it will keep me in the boat.
I am very excited to be representing my adopted country of Australia and even painted my walking stick to match our uniforms and put the Southern Cross with Kangaroos on it! Actually got some compliments this morning at training. I might be Canadian born, sound Canadian, but I am certainly a proud Aussie!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
In the Beginning
As a teenager my life revolved around my chosen sport of swimming and my ultimate goal was to compete at the 1980 Olympics being held in Moscow. Unfortunately Canada boycotted the Olympics that year and my dream of representing my country died. My love of sport however did not and I continued to swim even through my adult years as a masters swimmer. Even today I feel that I can't get enough of the water. Maybe I am just addicted to chlorine!
I eventually met and married an Australian, moving to Melbourne, Australia to begin a new life in a city that is mad about it's sport. I got involved with a Master's Swim club in Melbourne and even got involved with Aussi Rules Football. (An absolutely amazing game!) Then on April 23rd 1998 my life took an unexpect turn. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, or MS as we all know it. I was led to believe that my life was over and was advised not to do any sport and get ready for a life that was to leave me incapacitated. This to a sports fanatic was worse than a death sentence.
Luckily for me through my fantastic GP, the love of my wonderful husband and family and the support from the MS Society I realised that no one was going to tell me what I could and couldn't do! My life was mine and I was going to live it, albeit by doing things in a different way.
Life for me went on pretty much as normal for the first few years, but every so often MS would rear its ugly head. There were definitely extreme ups and downs but I always seemed to pull through. During a lot of the down times one of the things that kept me going was my love of the water. Even if my legs weren't working at times, I always felt no different in the water than anyone else.
In 2005 the World Masters Games were being held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and for the first time in any masters games they had paralympic classifications in swimming and track & field. So thinking that the games would be a good idea in order to go home for a visit I got myself classified for the swimming. The games went extremely well with me winning 4 gold and 1 silver! Some how the Paralympic development people sent me an email asking me to come to a Paralympic Talent Search day at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) located in Melbourne.
In December of 2005 I attend this talent search day and even though I was about 20 years older than the others I was put through the same pace. Just after Christmas that year I received a letter asking me to take up the sport of Rowing! Rowing of all things! I was used to being in the water not on top of it. I was told that Rowing was a new sport to be held at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Although "Adaptive" Rowing as it is called has been part of the World rowing scene since 2002, it had never been included in the Paralympics.
I wasn't able to take a Learn to Row course until June of 2006 and to say I was a bit worried about it is an understatement. A lot of my physical problems with my MS revolved around my legs, so I was worried about how I would cope with the shear physicalness of rowing. I did my rowing course with the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club and they were absolutely fantastic, assisting me in any way they could. Unfortunately after doing the course and starting with the development squad I had a relapse of my MS. This was by far the worst relapse I had ever had, which put me in hospital for 3 months. But when I got out I was right back at the club and back in the boat. Thus began my affair with a new sport called Adaptive Rowing in the Legs, Trunk and Arms (LTA) category. (This means that I am able to use all three.)
I was very lucky to have the assistance of a wonderful woman by the name of Sally Shaw, who coached me in the beginning and was able to help me go to the Australian Nationals in the first 4 months of rowing. I was able to team up with a Masters rower Fiona to take part in the Adaptive LTA Womens' Double Scull and to our surprise we actually won the event by a whopping 14 seconds! I was now on my way to a sporting career in rowing.
Now that I had a national title under my belt the doors to the rowing world seemed to open up. I applied for and was granted a scholarship from the VIS, which gave me access to the best of sporting facilities and assistance in all aspects of training. I was then invited to a national rowing camp in June of 2007 and was finally able to meet other rowers with disabilities.
Over the following months rowing seemed to take over my life and it has almost become a full time job! Between on & off water training and trying to get enough rest in order to train life has become very busy. Having MS and balancing the training that is needed to become a proficient rower has become the biggest challange, but so far I have been able to do it.
Along the way I have had a few wins. I broke both Australian records for the 4 min and 2km indoor rowing. I have had a few wins with my crews from Yarra Yarra in able bodied events and for the first time in 7 years my women's crew won the C category of the Head of the Yarra race.
I have also had to take part in time trials on and off water to be invited to the selection trials for the National team. These trials took place in February 2008 in Penrith at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC). These selection trials were held just before Nationals at which we also had to take part. I am happy to say that I was able to hold on to my Double's title, this year with another Adaptive rower Julia and I was second in the single scull. At the end of this week I was advised that I had indeed made the team and that we would be heading to Munich for the World Cup and last qualifying regatta for the Paralympics. The others in my team are Pete Siri, Gene Barrett, Brandie O'Connor and cox Lisa Brown. We row in a coxed mixed four and can be of any number of disabilites. We now had to come together from 4 different areas of Australia to gell as a team! This will be our biggest challenge but one we are all up for.
I now hope to write about our training and lead up to the World Cup on May 10th and hopefully the outcome that we all want, to qualify for Beijing!
I eventually met and married an Australian, moving to Melbourne, Australia to begin a new life in a city that is mad about it's sport. I got involved with a Master's Swim club in Melbourne and even got involved with Aussi Rules Football. (An absolutely amazing game!) Then on April 23rd 1998 my life took an unexpect turn. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, or MS as we all know it. I was led to believe that my life was over and was advised not to do any sport and get ready for a life that was to leave me incapacitated. This to a sports fanatic was worse than a death sentence.
Luckily for me through my fantastic GP, the love of my wonderful husband and family and the support from the MS Society I realised that no one was going to tell me what I could and couldn't do! My life was mine and I was going to live it, albeit by doing things in a different way.
Life for me went on pretty much as normal for the first few years, but every so often MS would rear its ugly head. There were definitely extreme ups and downs but I always seemed to pull through. During a lot of the down times one of the things that kept me going was my love of the water. Even if my legs weren't working at times, I always felt no different in the water than anyone else.
In 2005 the World Masters Games were being held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and for the first time in any masters games they had paralympic classifications in swimming and track & field. So thinking that the games would be a good idea in order to go home for a visit I got myself classified for the swimming. The games went extremely well with me winning 4 gold and 1 silver! Some how the Paralympic development people sent me an email asking me to come to a Paralympic Talent Search day at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) located in Melbourne.
In December of 2005 I attend this talent search day and even though I was about 20 years older than the others I was put through the same pace. Just after Christmas that year I received a letter asking me to take up the sport of Rowing! Rowing of all things! I was used to being in the water not on top of it. I was told that Rowing was a new sport to be held at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Although "Adaptive" Rowing as it is called has been part of the World rowing scene since 2002, it had never been included in the Paralympics.
I wasn't able to take a Learn to Row course until June of 2006 and to say I was a bit worried about it is an understatement. A lot of my physical problems with my MS revolved around my legs, so I was worried about how I would cope with the shear physicalness of rowing. I did my rowing course with the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club and they were absolutely fantastic, assisting me in any way they could. Unfortunately after doing the course and starting with the development squad I had a relapse of my MS. This was by far the worst relapse I had ever had, which put me in hospital for 3 months. But when I got out I was right back at the club and back in the boat. Thus began my affair with a new sport called Adaptive Rowing in the Legs, Trunk and Arms (LTA) category. (This means that I am able to use all three.)
I was very lucky to have the assistance of a wonderful woman by the name of Sally Shaw, who coached me in the beginning and was able to help me go to the Australian Nationals in the first 4 months of rowing. I was able to team up with a Masters rower Fiona to take part in the Adaptive LTA Womens' Double Scull and to our surprise we actually won the event by a whopping 14 seconds! I was now on my way to a sporting career in rowing.
Now that I had a national title under my belt the doors to the rowing world seemed to open up. I applied for and was granted a scholarship from the VIS, which gave me access to the best of sporting facilities and assistance in all aspects of training. I was then invited to a national rowing camp in June of 2007 and was finally able to meet other rowers with disabilities.
Over the following months rowing seemed to take over my life and it has almost become a full time job! Between on & off water training and trying to get enough rest in order to train life has become very busy. Having MS and balancing the training that is needed to become a proficient rower has become the biggest challange, but so far I have been able to do it.
Along the way I have had a few wins. I broke both Australian records for the 4 min and 2km indoor rowing. I have had a few wins with my crews from Yarra Yarra in able bodied events and for the first time in 7 years my women's crew won the C category of the Head of the Yarra race.
I have also had to take part in time trials on and off water to be invited to the selection trials for the National team. These trials took place in February 2008 in Penrith at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC). These selection trials were held just before Nationals at which we also had to take part. I am happy to say that I was able to hold on to my Double's title, this year with another Adaptive rower Julia and I was second in the single scull. At the end of this week I was advised that I had indeed made the team and that we would be heading to Munich for the World Cup and last qualifying regatta for the Paralympics. The others in my team are Pete Siri, Gene Barrett, Brandie O'Connor and cox Lisa Brown. We row in a coxed mixed four and can be of any number of disabilites. We now had to come together from 4 different areas of Australia to gell as a team! This will be our biggest challenge but one we are all up for.
I now hope to write about our training and lead up to the World Cup on May 10th and hopefully the outcome that we all want, to qualify for Beijing!
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