World Championships, here I come!
The World Rowing Championships take place in England this year
20-27 August at Dorney Lake near Windsor. Debbie Flood is planning
to be part of them! A Olympic silver medallist in the quad sculls in
Athens, Debbie will be writing for the website every month. Keep in
touch with her progress here!
"Hi from Sunny Seville where I am in a training camp with the GB
rowing squad. We are here until 19 January, then I am home for 3
days when we have 2K ergo tests. Then on 22nd I am back to Spain for
a training camp with my club (Leander in Henley). Need to practise
my pool skills for that. We work hard all day and then relax on the
pool tables in the evening.
"People often assume that because I was in the quad boat in the
Olympics, that I will be in the World Championships but it does not
work like that. At the end of the season everyone is back in the
melting pot. It means that the system is fair to everyone and gives
new people an equal chance to break into the squad. In any
case most of the year we train individually. In fact for 8 months we
compete individually against each other and then for three months we
compete together against the world.
In Seville we are working in pairs – everyone rows with everyone
else. That is quite demanding as everyone has a different style and
temperament and we have to learn to accommodate each other.
Selection for the World Championships will be based on a combination
of our individual performances – I was third in the last trials –
and a matrix with calculates our individual standings from the
doubles times.
I would appreciate prayer especially for discipline in
spending time with God each day. In one sense it is easy because in
the training camp you don’t have to worry about the chores of life.
On the other hand you are so exhausted that you can sleep all your
free time.
Debbie Flood
January 2006
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