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> The most famous rowers in the world
at the end of the day you don’t have much to
do with it. In terms of accomplishments we feel
becoming Olympians and going to the Olympics
means so much more, so from that we derive our
satisfaction.
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When you win you have to be doing everything
right, no mistakes, no cutting corners, it’s such an
awesome accomplishment. Also it’s something
I can be good at. I put winning an Olympic medal
up very high. It’s 100 per cent merit based and it’s
all you. I respect those who work hard. It means
a lot to my value system.
Winklevoss twins,
Tyler Winklevoss (r) and
Cameron Winklevoss of the
USA were part of Oxford’s
2010 Boat Race crew.
The movie came out of left field, we never thought
that there would be one. We’re flattered someone
found it interesting enough to tell our story.
WR: What motivates you to keep rowing when
you have so many other opportunities that you
could take?
TW: It’s really easy to prioritise rowing at the
moment as it’s not something we can do when
we’re older. It’s a now or never thing and we
recognise that and realise that anything else can
be done later. I don’t want to be thinking, ‘what
if I’d kept going?’
WR: Do you have long-term rowing plans – past
the 2012 Olympics in London?
TW: I’m not totally sure. In the short term the goal
is London. I’m not thinking beyond that. I love
rowing but I don’t think I just want to be known
as an athlete. I have a lot of business interests
and will have to decide the right time to move
onto something else. At London I’ll be 31, so it’s a
logical time to move on, but maybe I’ll be spurred
on to Rio [2016 Olympics]. I’ll cross that bridge
when it comes. It keeps life exciting. It’s good
sometimes to shoot from the hip.
We love the sport, the purity of it and the beauty
of the Olympic movement. Overall it’s such an
incredible challenge and I don’t know if anything
else in my life will be so tough.
● M.S.B.
Rowing is difficult though and there are days when
I think, ‘oh man, what am I doing?’ I think because
it’s such a challenge, and not just physically, also
mentally, the more complete I am as a person.
I know how to excel and how to prepare myself
mentally and physically.
