Day 5: Olympic Trials Finals, Partnership and when English falls short

The purpose of US Rowing Olympic Trials #1 is to determine who will represent the US this spring at either the Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne Switzerland ( one winner from M2x, LW2x, LM2x) to then earn a spot at the Olympics, or the Olympics themselves (W1x). To be the best, one has to beat the best. Of the 8 athletes that were selected, the other, roughly 107 who competed this week were not.  Still, by having the best in the country around them, those winners can know they’ve earned this spot to represent the US in 2021. For those athletes who didn’t win, their sheer presence was a huge part of making that happen. 

And this is where English as it’s used today, can fall short. 

A lot of times sports media discusses and highlights the moment of winning, and it is special; the whole journey is special, but these athletes became what they are because of their competitors. 

“Compete” comes from Latin “competere”* which roughly means to strive together and come together. This definition is quite different than that of the way American culture and athletics use it in this cutthroat way. Yes, that exists. And yes these athletes are highly motivated to be on top.  This is actually actualized through being pushed to one’s fullest potential by through competition. 
Today Molly Reckford and Michelle Sechser won the LW2x.  It was all of the racers here and before this race that had a role in motivating these athletes to be the best.  Additionally, the support of friends, family, coaches, teammates, thorough years of training, and competing in and outside of the sport led to this. It was years of unremarkable moments that lead to this remarkable one.  

South Africa has a 2000-year-old concept of “Ubuntu” that roughly translates to “I am because you are...our presence has an impact on each other.” In rowing, we see this across athletes, boat classes, and generations of rowers. 

Linda Muri, Molly Reckford’s former Dartmouth coach, someone who had coached numerous athletes including lightweight finalist Christine Cavallo and semifinalists: Cara Stawicki, and Olivia Farrar served in this regatta as an official. 

Conal Groom is the Mission rowing coach. Casey Galvanek is Molly and Michelle’s coach. Their athletes competed today in the final. 

25 years prior, Galvanek and Groom raced each other in the 1996 US Olympic Trials in the men’s lightweight double. 

After their race today, Molly and Michelle discussed the importance of their partnership:

Michelle shares a bit about her partnership with Molly saying, “It is really fun to have Molly as a partner, because, as she's new to the double and newer to the national team, there's just a level of excitement and everything's through her eyes is so fresh, and it's the first time you know, and that I think that really helped me get through.”

Molly adds, “The flip side of that is if I have a question, [Michelle] can answer it because she's seen everything. And so it's been great having a partner who's so steady and so knowledgeable and who I can lean on when I don't know what's happening.”

Their coach, Casey said “one of the things that make the double the most, this sounds stupid, but the most magical of boats...in the single you can get away with whatever [technique] is fast for you….In the double, if the power doesn't align, it doesn't matter if they're the two best single scullers”. It is a boat of true partnership. Molly and Michelle don’t match up exactly in height, but their power matches and they build on one another to make each other better.  

Full results here: https://herenow.com/results/#/races/20858/results

The last item of note:  Vesper prioritized the men’s events this year and its success showed. The winning Lightweight Men’s double: Jasper Liu, and Zach Heese were pushed by their other Vesper teammates: Josh Remland, Jimmy McCullough, Cooper Tuckerman, and Chet Bickhart who also earned a spot in the final. The men’s open weight double that won, JP Kirkegard and Kevin Cardno had been a part of this training group as well and expressed how important that was in shaping them.

*When I started researching and writing all of this, I never thought I’d get deep into Latin roots, but here we are.