More than medals at stake

ROWING

This week’s national championships are heading towards being another successful one for the Waihopai Rowing Club. This year is the club’s 125th so it means a whole lot more than just medals, with the club aiming to achieve greatness as New Zealand’s best.

Last year we were second, but this year we have the opportunity to take the Centennial Oar which is awarded to the club with the best results and points from the nationals.

Today at 12.45pm, along with Mark O’connor, Matt Malcolm and Ollie Behrent, I will race in the men’s senior coxless four A final. Not only will we race, but we will start as favourites after winning our heat, which was made up of crews all going into the A final anyway.

Winning the heat is always a question of whether you want to show yourselves or just hold back and wait until the final. In our boat, I do the race calls as we progress down the 2000-metre course.

Our start is vital, to get out to a good rhythm and get established among the other crews. The initial 30 strokes are about getting the boat moving, with the 30th stroke setting the tone for the rest of the race. By then, we are 300 metres out and I start to give quick cues about where we are compared with other crews.

The approach of the 500-metres mark is usually where most crews make their next move, but in an attempt to stay out of this, we do it after 450 metres.

‘‘Seven strokes with a technical focus’’ is the call followed by a strong next 500 metres until the 1000-metres mark.

The 1000-metres mark is again another place for moves and this time we join the party with a strong 20-stroke piece. From then, I start to bring in some intensity calls.

‘‘Moving away’’, ‘‘Pressure’’, ‘‘Inches every stroke’’, ‘‘Let’s show them, boys’’ and so on until the 600-metres-to-go mark. This is when the mind can start to play games, and we will play them back.

The race becomes 5 per cent physical and 95 per cent mental. I call for teamwork and courage and talk about things that mean more than just pushing a boat along.

Reminding the team of why we are doing this and what we want to achieve, I start to call our sprint. At the 300-metres-to-go mark, we push as hard as we can right to the end.

The only word to leave my mouth from then is: ‘‘Go’’. Louder and louder, faster and faster until we get to the front or move further into the lead.

We want to be the best and we want to win. We want Waihopai to be officially the best club in New Zealand because it is the best.

This is for more than just a medal. We have a point to prove today.