I HAVE TO ROW WITH THE FLOW
Paul staying calm as Olympic qualification trials loom large
UNDERSTANDING the fleeting nature of success means Paul O’donovan will go with the flow when it comes to
Olympic qualifying.
The 26-year-old is one half of the famous O’donovan brother combo which won silver at the Rio Games and, since then, has lifted four world golds.
So if anyone knows about dealing with triumph, it is the medical student from rowing hotbed Skibbereen.
O’donovan (left) knows he is expected to row in Tokyo.
Irish team-mate Shane O’driscoll has left for an engineering job – but four hopefuls into two spots in the lightweight double sculls won’t go.
O’donovan faces competition in the April trials from his older sibling Gary and from the Mccarthys, Fintan and Jake, although the latter is only returning from a back injury.
O’donovan requested time off from his work in Cork University Hospital because it was time to get back into top shape.
“Some people assume that I’m in the boat and I have to think about being in peak shape in the last week of July for the Games,” said O’donovan.
“But selection for the boat is really early and the boys are in better shape than they’ve ever been. So it’s going to be really competitive.”
O’donovan has always come across as a laid-back character but is that the case with qualification at stake? “You have to go with the flow,” he said. “You think of all the possible situations before and you either make or don’t make the crew.
“If you make it and perform well and you win or don’t win a medal... you just think how is that going to affect your life afterwards.
“In the end, it doesn’t make that much of a difference.
“People think winning a medal would be the happiest moment of your life and remembered for ever more. But really, the happiness doesn’t last that long – maybe half an hour of peak happiness and then it declines pretty quickly.
“After a few days – or even a day – you don’t think about it at all. You just totally forget about it.
“So when you do that, know what the outcomes are and how you’re going to get on with life after, it’s a bit easier to be a bit calm. You’ve just got to manage the stress. There’s a bit of a sweet spot in how much stress you leave yourself to build up because some of it is quite good.
“Too much is bad and no stress isn’t ideal either.”
But even before Rio 2016 he understood how to move on.
“Early in my career, I made a bags of a few races,” he recalled.
“I came fourth at the World Junior Championships, a World under-23 and fourth in a senior.
“Especially as a junior I was quite annoyed by it, a bit disappointed in the moment. But afterwards you move on.
“There’s plenty more racing and training to do. You just learn that it’s not that bad when things don’t work out – and it’s a little better when they do.”