Persevering year after year does not necessarily imply monotony, as Grainger
explains: “One of the biggest challenges
for me is avoiding the thought of ‘here
we go again’. It’s important that I’m not
going back to
do exactly what
I’ve done for
the past year or
four years, I don’t
want to slip into
complacency or
a comfort zone.
Every year I have
rowed has held
a roller coaster
of experiences
that I could not
have predicted so
I am aware that it’s
unlikely to be dull!”
disappointments actually helped you more
than you could imagine - you learn more and
get stronger, growing into the kind of athlete
you want to be. Perseverance has a magical
effect on overcoming obstacles and it is most
certainly worth it in the end.”
say of Coach Dick Tonks: “He believed in us
when we didn’t believe in ourselves.”
New Zealand’s Evers-Swindell twins Georgina
and Caroline also know the meaning of
disappointment. The path leading to their
second Olympic title in Beijing was bumpy
to say the least: “Things were pretty bad after
the Rowing World Cup in Poland and when
we returned to New Zealand our biggest
challenge was trying to stay positive. Georgie
and I usually focus on the negative, on what
we can improve, rather than what we’re
actually good at,” says Caroline. “So between
Poland and Beijing, our challenge was to
focus on the positive and what we do well. It
may sound simple, but it was a task that didn’t
come easily to the two of us. But by the time
we left for the Olympics we were getting the
hang of it.” Caroline goes on to share what it
was like for her and Georgina to then win in
Beijing: “When we crossed the finish line [in
Beijing], although we had no idea what color
medal we’d got, we were just so happy that
we had managed to row well and managed
to give it everything.”
Taking one step at a time and one year at a
time sometimes leads further than originally
expected. That is what the Netherlands’ Marit
van Eupen discovered on her way to Beijing
gold, after winning bronze in 2004: “I decided
to go for one more year after Athens, because
I wanted to rediscover the simple joy of the
sport, something that had faded away a bit
in the 2004 campaign, and also because
I had the opportunity to race in the single,
which I really love. And then it just happened
that I became triple world champion in the
lightweight single. After the 2007 World
Rowing Championships I was ready for
retirement, and it was only because all the
pieces came together - commitment and
dedication from all parties, support, fitness,
resources - that I decided to give it a go.”
21
Katherine Grainger (GBR)
holding her 2006 World
Championship gold medal.
Grainger has had her
share of success, but
has also had to grapple
with disappointment:
“I think it’s valuable for
young athletes to know
that everyone who has
succeeded has also had their
fair share of failure and disappointment.
Not everything will always go your way
and as time goes on you realise that those
Coaches are unarguably key motivators in
long athletic careers. Georgina and Caroline
Achieving, however, is more than just the
result of genetics, training and perseverance.
Achievers are those who dare to dream,
as triple Olympic gold medallist Eskild
Ebbesen of Denmark says so well: “It’s all
about believing that you have the potential
to achieve and see it as a realistic goal.
What gives life meaning is that you have
something that you aim for and something
that you really want to do and have dreams.”
