Top RoweRs
Good family organisation obviously helps.
Until last summer, Emile always went to
training camps with his mother and Mario
stayed with his grandparents. In September
the elder began going to primary school
and the younger to kindergarten. “Both
children fight to get my attention, but my
husband helps me emotionally.”
7
And it is with her husband that she trains.
The husband-wife and coach-athlete
relationship seems to suit her well, as it
helps her stay calm and relaxed, she says.
“If I’m angry I can shout at him but feel fine
and safe afterwards. With a coach you never
know.”
It is difficult to guess how long she will
go on rowing. She said her third Olympic
Games in Sydney would be her last event.
Beijing might be too, but she admits she
does not know.
©2007 Getty Images / Vladimir Rys
Letting go of rowing is usually a hard
decision to make after a long rowing career
with many memories, her favourite one
being when she won her world junior
championship gold in 1991. “Rowing gave
me direction,” she says. “It is a way of life.”
■ D.F.
