Day 2: Getting What You Need from Trials
A unique aspect for all rowers who raced in heats on Tuesday at US Rowing Olympic Trials #1 is that no one from any boat class was eliminated. Over half of the athletes in the women’s single were sent packing after Monday’s time trials. Not metaphorically packing, either. US Rowing strongly urged that athletes who did not advance go home so as to reduce the number of people present during this COVID sensitive time. From Monday, 16/35, women in the 1x moved on. 19 did not. 16/24 men in the 1x moved on. 8 did not. All of the doubles moved on because of how their progression worked (see below). On Tuesday, those who raced heats would have another race.
US Rowing 4-Lane Progression
https://usrowing.org/documents/2019/9/30/2_Appendix_B_4_Lane_Progression_System.pdf
Any chance to race is a blessing, especially during this pandemic when over 500,000 American lives have been lost to COVID.
But even in pre-pandemic times, before every selection event, Mike Zimmer, director of National Team programs says some variation of “Time trials could seed you for finals…no race is ever guaranteed.”
So it’s kind of special for everyone who raced at trials today to have, knock on wood, one more shot to get what they want out of trials.
But let’s also acknowledge that the athletes racing tomorrow didn’t necessarily want to race tomorrow. Tuesday’s ultimate incentive was to make it out of Heats, skip Reps, gain a rest day and go straight to Semifinals.
For those athletes who are pleased with today’s margins, who are going directly to semi’s — that is awesome. Have you seen the Row2k pictures of these athletes smiling while racing? I believe it is also valuable to note that some of those athletes who are skipping Wednesday’s rep didn’t get to in years past.
One athlete we’ve been speaking to recalled that in a regatta prior, “The rep was my race.” It was there she faced a do or don’t moment. She chose to “go for it.” It might not have been important to others around her at the time because her result from that regatta was unremarkable. But it was significant in how this athlete learned from it. She saw how she could change momentum mid-race, and how little shifts made a big difference. This race set her up for her noteworthy rowing career.
This sport could easily become a zero-sum game: Win or Lose. Part of the reason that I’m so intrigued in following lightweight rowing is the attitude of some rowers: past and present who have decided that getting to the top itself is a worthwhile goal but it isn’t the sole goal. When someone drills down into their motivations and desires for training, racing, winning, and the nuances of what it takes to get there, we find that there is space for those who win to achieve that in a more fulfilling way, and for everyone to test themselves, explore and achieve aspects of those goals.
Angela Duckworth, who does research on high performers interviewed the CEO of Vanguard: Bill McNabb. He credits rowing towards building his grit. He says, “I’d come so damn close to quitting and yet hung in there, and because things eventually did work out, I learned a lesson I’d never forget. The lesson was that when you have setbacks and failures, you can’t overreact to them. You need to step back, analyze them, and learn from them but you also need to stay optimistic” (Duckworth, Grit 186).
Not hitting the top does not take away the pain of a bad (however the individual athelte measures it) performance. But this process of learning ensures that an athlete doesn’t stay wound up in the burrito of anguish. Feeling out the hurt of that is important, but a prolonged stay doesn’t serve anyone. Learn from it.
In competitive rowing, I would define quitting not as walking away from the sport altogether [because there are times when that is more than appropriate for everyone involved for multiple reasons. I am eager to go into this more at a future date] but rather as giving up when you have an opportunity in a race. But everyone needs to define these things for themselves.
After all, the rep may be the race someone needs.