Silver is Amazing: Post Race Wrap & The Future

Today... We came, we competed. We wanted to make the race exciting in the lead up and during it. We trained the house down in preparations for a great final. I feel proud of our crew we pushed ourselves to be the best we could be in the build up and sure we aimed for Gold and with that came an expectation of high performance which set us up well to compete but also had as feeling the raw emotions of not quiet finishing the job off. We are proud of how we rowed, not just here but over the International season.  Bring my family into the village was pretty cool. Our rowing was always about harmony, efficiency and speed. We identified our strengths way back after selection and worked and raced to those strengths. We rowed rhythm, relaxation, we used our power as well as we could. We tried to coordinate better and better each day. We reminded ourselves it was about being loose and fast. It worked for us and really any time we tried to hard or just loaded up on the handle things got slower so it was our answer to the question of what will enable us to go fast. The Race... What can I say about a moment where we came out to perform and did so with all we could. I have played it over in my head for days now and so many things race around my head that we did well with only two things that I can think of that were not quiet up to scratch. Our start was not as effective as we needed to be and our semi final loss put us in a slight disadvantage with lanes in the final. Now I make no excuses as we raced the best we could on the day. Our execution was pretty spot on but giving away a canvas to 1/3 of a length in the first 250 - 500m put us under pressure. GB obvious got a great start and did what need to be done to win the race. It really did feel there was very little in it after the initial margin was created. More to come here... Last Saturday we raced the best we could. For that I was happy. It took some time for it all to sink in and partially for the guys we needed to be reminded by all the great support back home how good silver is.

Silver is amazing

So many message of support have helped us to realise this. Everyone back home have us aware just how proud they all are and that means so much. A day ago... It's been a few days now since we raced in the Olympic final. The time to getting things clear has been required as we had high expectations and had trained in a way which was about having our best race on the day. Our expectations then were to race for Gold. Our training set us up to be able to race in a way that would challenge any competitor who goes with us to push themselves further than they would have gone before. The days leading up to the final were like being on a roller coaster. The ups and downs were huge. It's a waiting game and when we finally got our chance to get out there we gave it everything.  After crossing the finish line I remember gasping for air like a winded child. Desperate and with uncertainty. We had just had the race of our lives and yet fell just short of what we had hoped. So exhausted and completely spent I sat there with my crew and tried to come to grips with the moment while my body lurched and hurled uncontrolably. How was I too feel and how were my crew mates to feel. We had won silver which is a huge achievement and yet we aim higher.  That's the sting though we rowed a great race and could not really fault any of it but we had I visioned a slightly different outcome. So dealing with that sense of loss with all the emotions at that moment across the line is and was hard. Within moments though perspective started to take shape and I found myself saying to the guys silver is an amazing achievement. Sure I have won Gold before so it's easy to get caught in thinking it can happen again, but for my new team this was all new and so with how we raced it was important we saw the greatness of our efforts. Final note... I have no idea what the future holds. I have been asked countless times about Rio and going on, but I always wanted to get back from London and spend time with family and away from the circus before making a final decision. Within in me is more and the cheeky little kids inside still thinks its possible but there are realities I am aware of. Life goes on and my life with my family is the most important thing to me so I intend on turning all my attention to them and they will be part of the reason why I would or why I would not go on. Motivation is a funny thing and this champaign has taken its toll. The energy required and that needs to be directed is huge. My body is letting me know that it's enjoyed years of work which has an impact. Looking at the young guys I know they are ready for the next phase and much of what this has been about has been to provide an example to them about a level of training and competition which that have learned and lived up too. This example also require me to finish up at some stage and leave the sport so they can carry on and enjoy learning more about the sport and rowing fast with new people. So the future is not set and my role is inside or outside the sport is very unclear for me right now. Getting to see my kids after was amazing and emotional. In the coming days and weeks I plan of writing a few things about my crew and coach as its important I share some of the great things I have seen and enjoyed being part of. For now I will enjoy the last few days for the games and to all who have support us it's greatly appreciated. Thanks