National Team Selections: World Cup II (Olympic Qualifier)

So, the official teams were selected for the World Cup (of rowing) II - the last Olympic qualifier in Lucerne, Switzerland on May 25-27. An amazing group of athletes have been put together to represent Canada in the last international race before the big games. Most of the boats have been already qualified for the London 2012 Olympics and I'm damn excited to see both events.  As you can tell, however, from the selection document, the Lwt 4- was not listed. This was the boat I was aiming a spot for - even if it was a long shot.

Now that there is no longer a chance to qualify for this upcoming Olympics I have gone through a bit of a shift in my mental focus. Actually, it has been more of a exploratory mission of what is possible.  Over the past few weeks I have gone through a range of moods from a bit confused, mad, and frustrated to more of an enjoyable feeling of confidence. I think if it now that it is more of a character building experience that I never knew I could get so close to my top goals.  The next adventures I go through I will take away this as a lesson learned, not without struggle, and build upon it. Also, I have made some good friends and connections.

I have now re-focused with the rest of the lwt group to the 2012 World Championships - Plovdiv, Bulgaria on August, 15-19.  We will have some selections for the team in the middle to end of June and then solid training up until the Aug. 6th departure.  I hope I have the "stuff" to make it.

Perspectives from Above

The time has come for a shift in focus. For most of the Winter training I knew that there was an inevitable boiling point for my goals . Regardless of what outcome it was going to be a fresh change and a concrete target to aim towards. Was it going to be toward the Olympics, World Championships or something else...  To paint a picture of what possibilities lay ahead I have drawn a pictogram web to follow; using classic Microsoft paint!

- - dotted lines have not occurred yet.

*Note: I have to clarify that if everything did work out I would still need to be selected for the boat that is racing at the Olympic Qualifier or World Championships, which is not guaranteed and is a long-shot with my limited experience.

Lately, I have been trying to put everything into perspective. I often have one focal point and try to block out   any external influences to complete the task at hand. It is now time to take a step back and look at the big picture.  Ultimately, I have only a certain amount of energy to focus on each activity and I want it to be 100% effective. When I try to take a birds eye view of my plans/goals and look at where I see myself going in the next 6months, 1year, 2 years, and 5 years out from now, I want to be going in the right direction.

Who knows, really, where our goals take us and if they change over time then that is completely fine. It was nice to have some more clarity these past few weeks with a new coach assigned to the lwt group. There has been increased communication between coach and athlete and I feel more involved in deciding outcomes. For me,  I'm now excited at a real possibility (with a ton of work) for the World Rowing Championships this summer, and possibly more...