Being a Pro
Imagine this...you are getting ready to race your heat at the World Cup regatta and your bus is an hour late picking you up. Or perhaps you are warming up for your quarterfinal and thunder is sounding in all directions. Not enough excitement? Try waiting around during a heavy rainstorm right before your semi-final due to rumors of a rain delay, only to find out that your race is still on, and due to start in minutes.
What can you do in these hectic situations? Breathe, stay relaxed and win the damn race anyway.
It’s the night before the final of the first World Cup, and we’ve had quite a few obstacles threaten to impede our progress. What do you do when your bus to the course is very, very late? You tell the driver to step on it, run to your boat, shedding layers and filling bottles on the way, then simply head out and warm up as best you can.
In America, when lightning is flashing all around, the race is usually canceled or delayed. Not in Europe. It would take a direct hit to talk them out of their timely six minute centers. We watched as the thunder and lightning grew closer and closer to the course as we prepared for our quarterfinal. No word from officials to stop, so we proceeded to get into the blocks and start our race. Suddenly, during the first 250 meters of our race, lightning strikes right behind the umpires launch, followed by earth shattering thunder. Panic? No, just call it your soundtrack and keep on moving.
As we waited for our semi-final to get underway, heavy rain called off the racing temporarily. Seeing as it was 3 o’clock and our race was scheduled for 3:30, we figured we were delayed as well. Never assume. An announcement let’s us know that we were still scheduled to compete. Okay, 20 minutes to warm up and be at the line early enough to avoid an official warning. No problem. Just take a little less time in between our warm-up tens and try to keep dry.
You learn a lot racing at these events; mainly that not everything will be smooth and you have adapt quickly. The more races I do, the more I realize it’s the better crews of the world that deal with disasters, instead of using them as excuses. After the racing thus far, I’m ready for anything. Bring on the final...
