“There is a respectful hate for the
opposition.” (Redgrave in de Rond, 2008, p.xiv).
Rowing
“it is the unremitting quest for rhythm and flow.” (de Rond, 2008, p.7).
The Boat Race is “a vehicle for exploring
the outer limits of human performance, where the two crews will row alongside
each other until one of them decides it can no longer win.” (de Rond, 2008,
p.9). “the attack is commitment, with no thought to eventual sustainability.
We’ll make it happen by being willing to do what the crew next to us is not.”
(de Rond, 2008, p.51).
There is a constant battle between
competition and team spirit: “On one level – a higher one, in a moral framework
– I wanted him to win the time trial, because no one likes to fail. However, on
another level, I wanted him to lose, because I know he would be a unifying
force in my boat and would add to the lightheartedness that we have now and
certainly had last year in our boat.” (de Rond, 2008, p.35).
“Be
that as it may, it remains though to lose, tougher even to get back on your
feet. (…) the necessary shame of defeat, always public, without the reassurance
that ultimately all will be well. (…) That honour will ultimately come to all
who deserve it. Because it doesn’t always, does it?” (de Rond, 2008, p.89).
“They appear less concerned with Dan’s
technical prowess than with his ability to gel the boat socially. (…) they seem
to get a better performance out of the other seven oarsmen. By helping them to
gel into a single rhythm, he adds considerably to boat speed. (…) sociability
can trump skilfulness.” (de Rond, 2008, p.129).
“’Yesterday they looked like a crew set to
lose the Boat Race,’ mumbles Donald,’ yet now it looks like they might actually
win it.’ But of course the crew know the ball is now squarely in their court –
that they were right and the coaches wrong. Dan O’Shaugnessy is their cause,
the one thing the oarsmen collectively care about and have taken responsibility
for; the one who seems to supply that key ingredient that cements them into a
crew as opposed to a band of eight outrageously talented but conjointly
dysfunctional individuals. What a note on which to conclude the training camp.”
(de Rond, 2008, p.141).
“what you need to do to get back on track to
make the Blue Boat, it would be incredible tough mentally as well as
physically. (…) “Can I really do this?” “What am I worth?” What if I were to
discover that I wasn’t good enough, is that something I could live with? And
it’s so much harder to show everything you’ve got and put all your cards on the
table than to say fuck this, and I don’t really care, that you care very much,
and that’s probably the biggest hurdle.” (de Rond, 2008, p.144).
“And
then seeing the guys after Banyoles was really tough – particularly when you
know that everyone talks about you behind your back and everyone’s watching to
see how you will respond (…). I felt a lot of animosity towards the guys. (…)
it’s hard to try and believe in yourself if no one else is believing in you.
(…) but it fills you with anger to look around at each of your team-mates and
think you probably don’t think I can do it … and you don’t think I can do it
either … and you don’t think I can do it – and even though they were all making
a rational call based on the evidence, the only way I could respond was by
saying fuck you.” (de Rond, 2008, p.145).
“Believing in yourself is the hardest part,
because to do that you have to reject everything else that coaches and
team-mates and results are telling you to believe.” (de Rond, 2008, p.146).
“I
did feel badly about this, because I like Colin and Oli.” (de Rond, 2008,
p.148). “A shame really, but what do you say to the people you are training
yourself to hate? I wish I could train without cultivating such negative
thoughts, but anger is the only thing that works for me.” (de Rond, 2008,
p.148).
“The
longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to
me, is more important than facts.” (de Rond, 2008, p.150). “We are in charge of our attitudes.” (de Rond, 2008, p.150).
“the
race plan is not so important to you, just that we find a rhythm that is
unsustainable for the other crews and keep moving.” (de Rond, 2008, p.156).
“If
someone is strongly disliked, it’s almost irrelevant whether or not they are competent.”
(de Rond, 2008, p.169).
coxing: “an ongoing negotiation between
empathy and assertiveness – having to understand what the crew are still
capable of doing in a race and daring to make bold decisions and to take
responsibility for them.” (de Rond, 2008, p.177).
“One of the keys I think to handle the
pressure is to be loving every minute of it. If you are visibly enjoying
yourself and the boat’s going well it will rub off. It’s a bit like the idea
that people can tell if you’re smiling down the phone.” (de Rond, 2008, p.179).
“Listening to Seb’s rant, I’m reminded of
how fragile relationships are, of how even after six long months the crew are
still swayed by suspicions of hidden agendas and ulterior motives, seeing the
worst in everyone and everything.” (de Rond, 2008, p.181).
Kieran: “I never asked to stroke this crew
and this close to the Race I don’t want the stroke seat. Maybe back in January
but not today … Actually I’m pissed off we’re having this meeting at all. The
only thing that should matter at this point is how we can make this boat go as
fast as possible, not who sits where. (…) ‘For goodness sake, it really isn’t
just up to stroke to set the boat rhythm; it’s up to each and every one of us,
so at the end of the day it makes fuck all difference whether Thorsten or I sit
at the front.” (de Rond, 2008, p.186). “So Thorsten sits at stroke I’m at six,
we all stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and fucking well
concentrate on our individual jobs!” (de Rond, 2008, p.187).
“Duncan and Donald (the coaches) never do
get a chance to contribute any closing statement. Nor are they any longer
expected to make any decisions. The crew have effectively taken things into
their own hands. The boat now belongs to them.” (de Rond, 2008, p.187).
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