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!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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.
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