A life changing week indeed.We are Vice World Champions!!! And...WE ARE SELECTED TO REPRESENT GREAT BRITAIN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES. Wow. Still feels funny to say, it almost feels like someone else did it!
Event debrief:
I want to talk mostly about the physiology of it because it is one, if not the most import thing when it comes to these big events, and I think it is a strength of mine.
Having not raced since August last year, I felt a bit blind going into this one in terms of where we stacked up in the fleet. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect but I knew we had to use what we did have and fight bloody hard! What everyone else does is out of our control, we needed to channel our learning and bring the best versions of ourselves and I was confident we would come out well. And boy did we do that! I’m very proud to say we found the best versions of ourselves - through solid routines and utter focus. Every day I would go out with the thought of right, I’m just going to concentrate a hard as I possibly can, knowing that our boat WILL go fast!
After 6 months of training I was SO ready to go racing. Waking up on day 1 of the event, I was literally vibrating with energy! This is why we do what we do. It’s for this moment.Getting on that start line, heart rate elevated, I channel that energy into absolute focus on the task at hand.
I can’t explain how much I love racing! There is nothing on planet earth like it. The pureness and intensity of it is incomparable to any other racing.
Every day I was awake at 6am (body just decided to) buzzing for the day ahead, I literally couldn’t contain my energy and excitement!
We kept things simple, were comprehensive and consistent with our pre-race routines. We would always have the right conversations; about the conditions, identify priorities and style of sailing needed for the day.It is so great to have such experience in the boat with me. This was Twiggy’s 15th World Championships! Knowing that he’s been in this pressure 15 times before is so reassuring and allows me to fully focus on my job, knowing full well that he is doing exactly the same.
What I determined was this... we race very well together. Things feel simple and collaborative, that’s not to say easy!It made me realise that for us, our training has been about learning how to race together; verify our roles, routines, strengths and weaknesses, and where we can collaborate. This is what made us so powerful.
The most impressive part our our week was the consistency of our series. We never got a result outside the top 13. This is very rare in such a long series, and shows we can always fight back from a tough position. This is extremely powerful and not something easily achieved.
After such an encouraging performance, we have eyes on the top spot! There was not a lot between us and the gold medal performance. I have full faith that if we continue like we have been, trusting the process - that gold could be ours.
Stay tuned in - you are part of our Olympic story. Let’s make history!
