Thank you Opens 2007/2008...

I lost it a bit on Saturday... I wasn't angry that we didn't make an A Final in the double and it was quite an effort to keep my chin up going into the quad racing on Sunday.

In the grand scheme of things, I see now that I did the best that I could have done - the girls got off the water and there were no harsh word or 'what ifs'... only an quiet disappointment from the girls and a whole lot of soul searching in the beer tent for me. I know of other crews that got off the water and were ripped to shreds by their coaches for not performing - was that a good move with the important racing still to come and the athlete's nerves a bit frayed? We ended up winning the B Final and going home a bit dejected, but ever positive about the big one the following day.

It always amazes me how the troubles of the past are washed away with just one good performance. The girls blasted through to a silver medal in the A Final of the quad on Sunday - and all was forgotten and forgiven. All of the seemingly wierd and counter-productive things I had been doing in the past became genius and I caught a glimpse then of what Jake White must have felt like as he held aloft the Rugby World Cup Webb Ellis Trophy.

There are a great many thank you's that need to be said after a long and testing season. If I've left anyone out, know that I will always remember every single person that made the 2007/2008 season what it was and everyone who taught me some valuable lessons along the way.

Cayley (the quiet one), Dan (for enjoying the sport for what it is, not what you can get out of it), Faye (bubbly), Kris (love the eyes), Kel (for smiling almost 24/7), Ashley (my voice of reason), Minx (still full of shit, but I love it), Aimee (sorry about yr last race, we missed you), Urshula (maintenance-lady), Gen (quiet but crazy - can put a 400kg boat and crew through the eye of a needle), Jess (you worked hard... and it paid off), Lisa (you taught me alot - thank you), Bianca (Plan B!), Alex (keep smiling - you're the one who'll miss this sport the most - and for the right reasons. Thanks for the support), Abby (no hard feelings),Bronwyn (my favourite Swede - I've never seen anyone push so hard), Phil (my fellow cat-lover), Jani (keen as hell and the most infectious laugh), Claire (good luck for squad), Jomi (you give ginger kid's alot of street cred), Courtney (see? short kids can do amazing things! to me, yr 6ft tall!) and Amy (you've achieved almost exactly, if not more, than what Jo did... and you lived yr dream).

Sue & Greg (you're finally free!), Dave & Anne (you're to blame for that extra speed!), Clive, Derek, Willem, Marie, Arthur & Barbara, Wayne & Jackie and all of the parents and the committee - this club is what it is and where it is because of you.

Matt H (you helped me through a whole lot and stood by me more than you had to - thank you), Nic (you're gonna be an awesome coach), BJ (one of the best and passionate coaches I've ever met) , Meri (my cuddle-buddy), Steve (the Steveniski 17 help a whole lot!), Maxine (my arms still hurt), Marco (well friggin done mate!), Vicky (we fought less this season sis... I think we're growing up!) and John (a 5-star chef and 5-star friend - you had a bigger part to play in this than you think bud - thank you).

Next season's a few months away... and we've set ourselves up for a good one. But for now... we can all sit back, relax, have a social life and forget about the sport that drives us crazy for 6 months of the year.

Pikey’s, Top Gun and a Leoplurodon - The little things that count

I leaned outside of the boat, careful not to let anyone behind me know what I was doing - I’d already been called to sit down from an umpire in the launch in our wake. We needed to tell them that they were still in it, that they needed to hang on a little longer and they’d catch up. The coaches had been given explicit instructions that they were not to signal their crews at any time during the race, but John and I, almost of one mind, had turned to each other to suggest the same thing. In the distance I could see St Stithians, the third crew in this 3-crew B-final. They had wrapped the race up by the 2km mark and were powering their way to a 3rd place overall - we were fighting for second with Clarendon. I saw John give a thumbs up through a gap between the two umpires sitting in front as I caught sight of Courtney. I was happy to see that she was keeping her eyes on the stern in front of her like we had practiced - all of my nagging seemed to have paid off. She was wearing her sunglasses, but I knew she saw what I was doing because she smiled as I began to nod to her.

Courtney turned her head slightly to the side and called something to the crew that was lost in the wind and tortured water around us. Jomi sat up, Jani’s puddles swelled, Bronwyn connected harder and sooner, and I could only imagine the smirk on Amy’s face as she felt the gear-change in the cox’s seat. The horse reared and the shell began to cut the water like lightning let loose from Olympus. It was ten strokes before they drew level with the green and white of Clarendon and in another ten they were breaking contact.

John and I were ecstatic and were silently going crazy in the back of the leading umpire’s launch. A few minutes earlier I was in utter despair thinking that we had been totally outclassed and solidly beaten, but the girls had come back from being over two lengths down at the beginning of the 4km race. Never had I imagined that that group of girls could come together as a crew like this in such a short time. I had always known the potential that lay within them, and they had only begun to realise it now. We weren’t quite an A-Final crew yet, but the girls had won a private victory against themselves.

I realised that it was the little things that John and I had done that had made all the difference. I had learned that I couldn’t do everything myself and had finally asked for help from those who knew more about certain aspects of sport than I did. Anne and Dave had sown the seeds that I was beginning to see grow in each of the girls and I realised that I owed a great deal to Sue for the mediation she had provided. The three of them had definitely made the previous weeks some of the most special and enthralling of my coaching and rowing career - and had given the girls a freedom to begin to develop as a team.

The girls had opened up a three-length lead by the time they passed under the old bridge that marked the real beginning of the home stretch. Amy would be able to see the finish line now and would be heading in a straight line for the NSRI building. I could just see the black emblem on the hull beside her head, the symbol that meant something different to each of them, but held them all to a single purpose. Darren would be proud that his work had meant so much to them and I made a mental note to thank him for it when I got home.

I only noticed the sound of the car horns blaring from the side of the river as our launch passed under the old bridge. Looking back, I caught sight of Matt H and Vicky, two of the St Andrews coaches that had come down to support. Meri, Shannon and Gisella were no doubt around somewhere cheering like mad things. My head throbbed a little, reminding me of their ‘stress-relief’ session the night before and I smiled, remembering how they had been John and my voices-of-reason over the past week.

The girls crossed the line and the ordeal was officially over. Everything that I had done for the last month had culminated in this and I had everyone involved to thank for it, even Charlie the Unicorn, Boris the Bullet-Dodger and Maverick.

I’ve had a good few weeks now to forget about rowing, go to the coast, put my feet up and get rid this horrific slop tan. I’ve had trouble finding the right words to explain what I have experienced over the past two months - so much has happened that it has taken a long while to get my thoughts into some semblance of order.

Everything seems to be falling into place and I’m excited for the rest of the season. Camp starts on Wednesday and I’m looking forward to applying to the age-group what I’ve only recently learned with 7 special people.

Time to Work... Hard!

A friend of mine (who coaches the JW16's at the same club as I do) said something to me this weekend that got me thinking... that the girls should tick off every session as 'money in the bank'... resources that they are going to cash out at Champs. Every interval, every push, every stroke, every rep... things that will make them faster for that one day that counts.

My girls have had a pretty tough week or two... we've had to shift them around in the crews due to illnesses and it has not been very comfortable on John or myself. It has been a real disruption, and I cancelled half the sessions this week so that everyone was at least getting better over the course of the week. All of this happened at just the right time though... our first race of the season was this previous weekend, and we had to field the fastest crews that we could. The first race is, after all, the first proper reference point to see where we stand relative to the other clubs.

We got beaten... quite badly, although the girls enjoyed the racing and it calmed their frustrations at not knowing how fast they really are. They needed to be beaten I think... rather now than when it's too late to wake up and get some work done to fix it. It jolted them into realizing how much work we really have to do to beat the opposition, and I think that they'll be alot more focused and driven from now on. They're beginning to understand the 'money in the bank' analogy... and John and I are too. Everything we say and do must be geared towards driving them on to perform better.

On the bright side... we didn't race our proper crews this weekend, and I still don't know how fast we really are with everyone at 100%. We've got 8 girls to pull from for that 1st crew, and we definately are faster than we showed this weekend. The gaps are close-able but only if we work hard now... because the other clubs will be faster by the next time we line up next to them.

Some of our comptitors have written us off a little and that's a nice place to be... let's race as underdogs.