Sitting at home nursing a fever is not the preparation I was looking to have going into my battery tests week. And it sucks to feel crappy over the holiday period. You just don’t get as much out of a conversation when half the time you’re either stoning or zoning out. It did give me plenty of time to reflect on my further plans. After all the discussions on training and plans, supposedly to move forward, it was made quite clear to me that the emphasis will not be on high performance. Yes, it was rather disheartening to hear. 4 years of self perseverance and hard work have been turned a blind eye. I gave my word and committed to compete in rowing and I am just starting to make some head waves. Now these crownies want to ride on my sweat and blood, hoping to juice out some funds for their own plans, which to me based on plenty of years of statistics, have failed. So what makes this time different? None of who they have ‘groomed’ have gone this far. Or should I say, all they have ‘groomed’ are dropouts. Probably found the going too tough to handle.
All the fiasco did not stop me in the past, and it isn’t going to stop me now. The ideas of rowing are way beyond them and I am going to show everyone how it should be done. And this time, I’m not going to keep quiet about it. Asian Games was a milestone I set myself and achieved with the determination and help of my dedicated mates and I think people should know the truth about it. I chose to continue to train by myself at the end of 2008, all the way through 2009. D.Plews was there to kick my butt in the lab, Gay was the guiding light that brought me through one of my toughest times. It got me to the Games. Though I didn’t come back with silverware, it was testament that perseverance and hard work does have its rewards. If I wanted to scrutinize the support given, I can say how none came to see me off at the airport, none asked if I needed help with transporting oars to/fro from the airport and the icing on the cake would be a boat request rental form was not even submitted. So that means, I entered the regatta without having a boat. You paint the rest of the picture yourself.
The next step up is going to be a much bigger and harder climb. It is probably going to seem drastic to those who think small, but I think the situation calls for it. The best thing is, technically speaking, there is really nothing wrong with it. Unfortunately for some, this isn’t going to be done hush hush. I just hope I’ll be able to pull it off this time.
Believe 