A Croak from the Stroke by Henry Macphillamy

When the crew came together for its first camp, Carol did mention the fact that she was writing a blog, and I did say to her that I would contribute in some shape or other. I have said many things to her however, and up until this point, my focus was centred squarely on ‘d-day’, the day which would either kick start an unbelievable experience and challenge, or end an equally challenging yet not nearly as exciting one. As they say, better late than never, so here is my first entry.

It is impossible not to mention the feeling of closure and satisfaction I feel. Having said that, I know that the hard work has not even started yet. All that we have experienced thus far is just a taste of what is to come where it actually matters. We will be wearing the colours of our country which was our shared goal up until this point. The next step is nowhere nearly as clear-cut. We will train as hard as we can, and then we will compete at the highest level. It is the reality that is only now slowly sinking in, and then only because I have to think of words to describe the feeling! ... ... Wow!!!

Carol touched on the fact that the five of us, as a crew, are all different. In the material sense at least, we could not be more so. Our heights; our weights; our disabilities and attributes; our very different life experiences; our personalities and aspirations. Nowhere is this more apparent than when we travel together. As the elder statesmen of the group, Pete and Carol invariably sit in the front of the van, or in the case of the last camp, a very sexy wagon! The ‘three kids’, (Lisa, Alex and I) squash in to the back seat where we do all the things that you would expect siblings to do on a family road trip; squabble, laugh, play corners, blame unfortunate odours on each other etc etc.

When we step in to the boat however, all of these things become irrelevant. Rowing as a single entity is everything. Each of us knows what we have to work on and improve, and we know that the ability to work together will have a direct impact on our boat speed. The slightly dysfunctional family has to transform itself in to a crew intent on being as proficient as it can be every time we hit the water. The fact that we are slowly but surely improving our times is proof that we are at least on the right track in doing this. The fact that we were selected at all demonstrates how far we have come as a crew over the last few months.

While individual fitness is undoubtedly important, one thing I have taken away from this experience thus far is just how crucial it is to be in the right frame of mind. This is true for just about everything we do both as a crew and in our individual training. I cannot speak for the rest of the team, but personally, I have learnt so much in the lead up to this. When doing an erg session alone at home in my dingy garage, it seems so easy sometimes just to take a breather. As soon as negative thoughts start to enter my head it is like a weight sitting on my shoulders, or a big question mark over all the time and effort I have spent on my technique and fitness. Why does it hurt so much? Why am I doing this? Can I really handle it? Am I honestly capable of holding this split for another ten minutes?

As my coaches Simon and Tony so often tell me, when the question appears, you have to find a very good answer. The answer has nothing at all to do with physical strength or ability. It has everything to do with mental toughness. It is premature to say that I have all the answers, and I do not ever expect to. I am learning however, that there is a massive gap between what you think it is possible to do, and what it is actually possible to do given a strong head screwed on to your shoulders. I would like to think that, in relative terms at least, I am a lot stronger in this respect than I was, even from three months ago.

Racing in the boat is simply an amazing feeling. Initially I found it so hard to relax! The pressure’s on, and I have three people sitting behind me who depend on me keeping a rhythm which they can easily follow. The more time I spend with the crew however, the more comfortable I feel. You can feel everyone’s confidence growing during and after each decent session which we have together. I think the up-coming training camp out at circ will be absolutely crucial for this confidence. It will be the longest camp we have had to date, so I am really hoping we are able to use it to make some inroads in to that untapped potential which I know we possess.

This has been a pretty general post and overview of my perspective of how things are going for us so far. I am really looking forward to making further contributions to the blog, and giving you all an insight into our training and progress in the coming weeks. Four Out!