Before the race their coach, John Holland,
kept his talk simple. “He told us just to believe
in our abilities, be confident and not to even
think about what the stakes were,” says Griffin.
“We have a race plan but we generally read
the race and adjust accordingly,” says Towey.
“We’ve done this a million times and don’t
really need anyone to tell us.”
The wait is over
The Irish lighweight men’s four
in training at the Final Olympic
Qualifiction Regatta in Poznan,
Poland.
let two seconds go by. it’s not much is it? then wait nearly a year. Now that’s a long
time. then sit in a hotel room waiting for the race of your career to begin. this is
the story of ireland’s lightweight men’s four. two seconds was all it took for them
to miss out on qualifying for the Beijing olympics last year at the world rowing
Championships. they had to wait until the Final olympic Qualification regatta in
June this year to have another go.
Towey did not encourage any supporters to
come to the qualification regatta. “I’ve been
through this before and the atmosphere is not
great. When you’re under pressure and about to
race, everything your family or friends say will be
the wrong thing, no matter what they say.”
13
“The rowing was almost the easy part,” says
stroke Paul Griffin (2004 Olympian in the light
weight men’s four). “It was dealing with the
other stuff, like waiting in your hotel bedroom.
Waiting around for the race to come.”
Towey describes the final qualification regatta
as the focus of their whole year.
The four chose not to peak for the qualification
regatta and came into the race directly from
a sixweek training camp. “We took a few
risks,” says Griffin. “We’ve been training like
we normally would have been for the World
Cup season.”
Talking to World Rowing’s Debora Feutren
just after qualifying, Towey and Griffin were
visibly relieved.
But Griffin admits, “While we didn’t peak,
psychologically we probably did, so we need
to take a break now.” And, adds Towey, “A break
where we don’t have to think about rowing.”
Sitting in the middle of the boat surrounded
by teammates Richard Archibald (2004
Olympian in the lightweight men’s four) and
Cathal Moynihan, Gearoid Towey has felt the
pressure before. He has already been through
two Olympic Games (2004 lightweight men’s
double and 2000 lightweight men’s four).
“I found it very hard to talk about Beijing
before I did this race,” says Towey. Griffin adds,
“It’s been similar for me. It’s hard to do this
qualifier, it’s the last chance. Everyone’s going
for it because it’s either the last race of their
career or the last race of the season.”
The four will continue their preOlympic
preparation with a warmweather camp
focusing on speed training. But for Griffin,
Archibald, Towey and Moynihan the wait is
over. They are on their way to the Olympics.
