WEEK 6
Date: September 4
Ship in shape and set to sail in Sydney
This should have been one of our busiest weeks training before relaxing for a
little longer leading into the Olympics, which start on September 15 - but we haven't sailed
for eight days.
The good news is that we will be back on the water today; the burn on Mark's arm, which he scolded in the shower, is well on the
way to recovery.
The accident has had less of an impact on our training schedule than at
first feared because we have been able to re-arrange our plans.
Our coach Chris Mason and Derek Clark have undertaken some fairly major work this week
on the boat we are likely to race in the Games.
The two biggest jobs have been
to get some weight out of the hull so the boat is down to minimum weight for
the measurement weigh-in and to sand off the bottom of the hull to get as
near perfect finish as possible. They have done a great job.
In the meantime we have brought forward our trip to Brisbane to the British
Olympic Association holding camp to collect our Olympic Team kit and relax
for a few days.
All the team kit, sponsored by Adidas and Marks and Spencer, was shipped in
containers to Australia to save the athletes from carrying it all on the
plane. It's like Christmas to be given so much free kit (30kg in all) and
while trying on the team tracksuit it really dawned on us that we were
about to be Olympians.
The holding camp was a great chance to meet athletes from different sports,
although it was a bit embarrassing us being on such a relaxed schedule while
the rowers, swimmers and other sports are training so hard.
It reminded us that each sport has its own very different priorities in
the final run in to competition. Most of our concerns seem to be about which
equipment to use and getting used to specific conditions, whereas the
physical side is everything in many other sports.
The training camp tries to
mimic the Olympic Village and was a great introduction to what life would be
like there for Mark who will be at his first Olympics in Sydney.
The BOA
have seemingly thought of everything an athlete may need from the right food
to the right training facilities, good accommodation and opportunities to
relax before heading down to Sydney to compete. Spirits are high in the
British camp, boosted daily by news of any sporting success such as Dwain
Chambers at Gateshead.
News passes quickly through the internet and the
BOA has 20 computers permanently online for athletes to use.
We are now back in Sydney feeling refreshed and ready to get back into
training. We still have an awful lot to get right and we can hear the clock
ticking louder than ever. We know we will only get one shot at this and we
desperately want to do well for ourselves, our country and everyone who has
helped and supported us.
Roll on the Games!
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Read Ian's and Mark's diary for WEEK 1 ...
Go back to Athletes' Diaries page
