So, for the past month I have been living in Europe with my rowing team, a development team that Rowing Canada Aviron has put together to building the team for the 2016 Olympics. It was a dream come true to pretend to be a European for a month; biking to all our grocery shopping in Amsterdam, buying smaller portions at the bakery more frequently while in Henley, surviving foreign pedestrian and bike crosswalks that were very different from what I’m used to here!
Team Victory at Holland Beker Koninklijke
Teammates from left to right: Eden Full of Calgary, AB, Kerry Shaffer of Welland, ON, Jen Martins of Toronto, ON, Rosie deBoef of Victoria, BC, Jody Schuurman of Surrey, BC, Lisa Roman of Langley, BC, Alyssa Weninger of Unity, SK, Sarah Bonikowski of Orangeville, ON and Kate Goodfellow of Ottawa, ON.
As some of you may remember, I am a member of Western University’s Varsity Rowing Team. This summer I was also a part of a team competing for Canada in Europe, an initiative that Rowing Canada Aviron started to ensure we have a strong team that is ready for the 2016 Olympics. Yes -I did write 2016! It may not be for another 4 years, but as all we know it takes planning to build success, and Rowing Canada Aviron subscribes to building a team of success. We can all use this as a good reminder as we strive reach our healthy living goals: great results take time, and planning is the first step towards reaching the results we want and CAN get.
Our trip consisted of two long standing regattas, the first in Amsterdam called the Holland Beker Koninklijke, where we raced the Dutch Olympic team and the u-23 Dutch development team (all members must be 22 years old or younger). The second regatta was the Henley Royal Regatta, a very prestigious affair that involves single knockout dual matches: each race consists of only two crews, and if you lose you are knocked out of the regatta. Our first race was against a talented but small French crew, and since the water and wind conditions favoured our taller, heavier crew we were able to win without much trouble. The second match pitted us against Harvard University’s women’s crew, Radcliffe, a race we were nervous about since they handily beat the u-23 Dutch team we had raced against a few weeks before, and we would have rather raced a crew we knew we could beat. We had a very quick start that shot us out in front of Radcliffe early, and from that great beginning we increased our lead to a comfortable margin and then eased off our pressure so that we could save some energy for the finals on Sunday. From a field that had started with 19 entries the final race had whittled down to us, Canada’s “B” team, versus the German Olympic team.
Racing to the line: Henley Royal Regatta
Bow to Stern: Sarah Bonikowski, Kate Goodfellow, Jody Schuurman, Alyssa Weninger, Lisa Roman, Rosie DeBoef, Jen Martins, Kerry Shaffer, Eden Full
We were excited to race the final: we had achieved our goal of making the final, and we felt confident that our crew had what it took to make the final a great race. It was intimidating to hear that we were facing another Olympic team, but we also knew that competing for gold in the Olympics is where we want to be in 4 years, and we already had a high calibre team that is capable of great racing. The race official called us to attention, and we all knew we were going to pull as hard as we could. We had a blistering start, reaching the highest stroke rate we’ve ever reached and stuck our bow out in front immediately. We pulled ahead of the German crew and immediately I thought “Where’s the finish line?!” Unfortunately it was still 1,999 meters away! Our coach had reminded us to focus on each stroke, and I tried to push away thoughts of pain, fatigue and certainty that I would collapse before the finish came. A few times I felt sure the Germans were making a push that would overcome our lead, but each time I would decide to believe in my team mates and myself, in the training we had put in and how we would not give up a centimetre without a fight. It proved true, as we continued to stay ahead. We reached 500 meters to go and I thought “We can win this! Keep going!” It was so absolutely satisfying to cross that finish line, feeling exhausted, ecstatic and relieved that the race was over. It still feels surreal, but looking back on the amount of time and effort we put into training I realize the commitment we had as a team from the instant we came together is what made this result possible.
Now we all have different healthy living goals: running a 5km race, eating 1 more serving of vegetables at every meal, reaching 10,000 steps per day, doing 2 chin ups. And often while we are reaching those goals they can seem very distant and insurmountable. Perhaps you have similar thoughts to mine, “When will I reach the end?” or “I can’t do this anymore!” It’s easy to let your mind tell you that you can’t possibly reach those goals you’ve set. But I want to encourage you to keep going. Break your goals down in to smaller, more achievable tasks, focusing on the single stroke. And use your support system to push you along. If it was up to me alone, I might not have been able to withstand the German team’s pushes that threatened our lead, but with my teammates beside me I was held accountable to pull hard for them and even when I didn’t think I could finish the race, I kept going because I didn’t want to let my teammates down.
Whatever your goal may be, it can be conquered if you use these tools to help you along your journey. Remember to make the goal SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely, and then find a group of friends, family, neighbours, even online friends to help you continue to strive achieve the healthy life you want to lead. Plan for success, and then go out there are start living it!
Photo credits: Ima Schuurman