USA Lightweight Women's Double Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford qualified for the A-Final at the Olympics today in a heated semi that saw them and their Italian opponents both finish faster than the previous worlds best time in the event. row2k caught up with them after the racing.
row2k: How was that out there?
Michelle Sechser: We're feeling good. It was a really challenging race out there. I'd say it's certainly one of the hardest races I've ever put together in my rowing career. I mean, not only the speed of the field, but some of the most challenging conditions we've ever faced as a crew.
It felt good to come away in qualifying position. I think we certainly tried to open up a margin in the third 500 that could give us a really commanding position, keep our eyes on the field. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite hold off the charge from the Italians, but we advanced, and we will see them against tomorrow.
Molly Reckford: Races for advancement are races for life. We talk about that a lot. I think that today - with these conditions, with the speed of the wind, with the speed of the field, with the fastest competition we've ever faced - it absolutely did feel like that in a lot of ways. It was the race for life, and I felt so lucky to have Michelle who is a master of the wind in front of me, and to have been training with her in all of the different conditions in Sarasota and Hawaii and all of our training spots - even in Chula Vista. It was absolutely challenging, but in one of the best ways. It was a very exciting challenge.
row2k: Leaving the conditions today aside for a second, what were the things you discussed going into this race?
Sechser: I think the first step was being really positive about having raced to the rep. Not that we could have foreseen it, but with the slight delay from weather, being able to get one more race before that delay came in actually really benefited us, I think.
You know, staying positive that we had another 2K in our legs and another weigh-in under our belts than the other crews, I think the main thing was staying a little more internal, trusting our fitness, our power, and not getting so caught up in the conditions that we forget how hard we're capable of just driving that footplate.
row2k: Between your trials, your multiple sets of trials and your trip to Europe for the FOQR, you've actually raced quite a bit more than most other USA crews. Do you feel like that's helped at all?
Sechser: Absolutely. It's certainly the most that I've ever raced with a partner in a single US season, so it feels good. You know, each one has had a really different goal.
Trials one, obviously in Sarasota, we wanted to come out swinging and secure that spot for the US. Trials two was just seeing kind of that underdog, punching above our weight mentality, racing for "fun" which was also a really good thing to practice - the looseness, the nothing-to-lose mentality. Final Olympic qualification was good. You know, there's a lot on the line, so in that we were able to practice ignoring the pressure, ignoring the stakes, and just racing like hell.
And so, each one has been really different, and it's been really special. You know, as a US boat, this is more regattas than we typically do together.
Interviewer: Has the Olympic experience been what you expected?
Sechser: It's different than I thought it would be. You know, we talk about the Olympics with such grandeur, and it honestly feels so natural to line up, to be pulling into the state boat, to hear the announcer calling my name, saying that the boot is being raised.
I know some people say, "Rowing is not my whole life!" or "My sport isn't who I am!" but I think very much this sport is who I am, and it is so natural and exciting to be in that position where I get to line up with a great support crew on the other side of the camera, people at the finish line waiting for me, and being able to do this thing that I've been doing for 20 years of my life. It is the most fun and exciting challenge that the pressure is complete homeostasis for me.
Interviewer: Molly, can you talk a little bit about the fact that you thought that rowing was never going to work out for you?
Reckford: Rowing has always had a hook in me - even when I didn't make the novice team in high school and rowed for the freshman crew instead. I have never truly been able to get away from rowing. And so, I've begun almost thinking about my time, my hiatus post-college, like that was the anomaly - not this. This is really coming back into who I am, coming back into where I want to be, and what I wanted to be doing.
And so, no, I don't think back on it a lot because this feels so right, and this just feels like the path that I always should have been on, and the reason that I was always a little uncomfortable in my jobs was because this is where I wanted to be, and I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy to be here with Michelle. I'm so happy to be here with our coach Casey and with Team USA. This is an absolute blessing, and it has been awesome. And so, I'm just trying to soak in every moment, and enjoy everything that this whole experience has to offer because it's really something.
row2k: You've got one more to go. Do you feel like you're going to reach to continue to improve?
Sechser: Absolutely! Today was a good performance. I'm personally a little bummed out that we were just shy of that new world's best time, so there is a little bit of hunger flavoring tomorrow's race. Well, you know, we will absolutely need to level up. There's no question about it. The five boats we'll be against tomorrow will be faster than the five we raced today. You know, there's absolutely another gear that Molly and I have yet to tap into, and it doesn't feel like pressure, especially with the conditions.
You know, from this quick turnaround we're going from this afternoon, we race tomorrow morning. It's almost like there's not time to think about anything else.
You know, you're thinking about the foot stretcher, you're feeling the load behind your grips, you're feeing all the mechanics we've talked about, the sounds we're listening for in terms of what good rhythm is like. There's so much focus on that that it doesn't seem like there's time to really worry about what's on the line or the stakes or the pressure or the media. It's just like every race I've shown up to: we need to perform at a level that we haven't done before. That's exciting. It's not something to fear. It's really exciting.
Comments | Log in to comment |
There are no Comments yet
|
row2k's Olympics coverage is brought to you by:
row2k's Olympics coverage is brought to you by: