Transcript of press conference with Francis Hegerty of the Australian men's eight, and Brian Price of the Canadian men's eight.
Question was about the German eight Francis Hegerty: They're definitely a crew to try to beat, but we'll be going out there tomorrow to do the best we can, and I would guess everyone has the ability to go fast tomorrow.
Brian Price: I certainly respect Germany for what they have done the last two and half- three years, but I'm pretty sure that not one of the boat sin the final would be here if they weren't trying to beat Germany, that's the point when we're here, trying to be the best. So I respect what they have done, but we're here to win, just like everybody else; every other boat in that final is here to win, so that's what we're here to do.
Question (Jonathan somebody from the BBC): It's quite a turnaround from today's semifinal to the final tomorrow, because I gather some people aren't here at the talk table because they feel it's too tight, they've got other things to do.
FH: Jonathan I think especially in our camp we've come with the mindset that we're here to race, so essentially when we were told that it would be back to back racing, that was just something that we were prepared for. If you want to go out there and win, that's what you've got to do. The other crews had the choice whether or not to come today, but in our camp we're prepared and ready for the race tomorrow.
BP: Yes, similarly, we've known for a long time now that it was going to be back to back, so our training has gone such that we are prepared for that. It's not like we just found out two days ago, we've known this for a long time, and everything we've done is to prepare for this type of thing. If you have a World Cup, you go heat-rep-final in three days, so it's not really all that different, but certainly things are heightened when you get to the world championships. The semifinal today was heightened a lot more than the rep I remember in Lucerne earlier this year, so it's definitely another notch higher this year.
Question from Melissa Bray, FISA: your team since 2008 looks like it's just been humming along a bit; can you explain what's happened over the last two or three years up to this point.
BP: after 2008, a whole bunch of the guys retired. Our crew is a pretty young crew; right now there are three of us including myself from the Beijing eight, so there are a lot of young guys in this boat. Malcolm Howard just came back; he's been in the single for a couple years, so certainly his experience from being in the single and being part of the Beijing crew add a lot to the boat and to the experience. With these guys being very young, that was something that lured me back to rowing again. I was off for a couple seasons; they're eager to learn, they want to win, they're a determined bunch of guys, and I like being around that type of environment. So we're on the rise, and I think that we've shown that over the last couple years, that the eight is getting better all the time, and that's what we have been trying to do over time.
Question: when you are racing, you see the other crew, but do you feel the other crew next to you when you are rowing?
FH: I think it is something you are definitely aware of, purely because it's in your peripheral vision. I'm kind of in the middle of the eight at the moment, so within the pack it seems lot a whole lot of crews alongside. But generally it's probably more up to the coxswain, Toby in our instance, Brian in his boat, to let you know where you are. I think there was a fair bit of pressure today to get the top three spots, so you're fairly aware of where you are the whole race.
Question: you started in fourth position, and then you came through in second position; is it something you feel?
FH: I think you more go to your race plan, and obviously work off crews around you, but I think our plan was just to make sure that we got through to the top three at the end of the race, so as you say we might have been in fourth the first 500, later down the track is really where you want to be holding your position. Ideally getting out quicker, but we were happy at the end of the day to make sure we got through.
BP: well, like he said, being the coxswain I have to know where everybody is all the time, so I knew exactly where they were. I have a sense from looking and even from getting a look peripherally I have an idea of where everybody is, and I have to, as a coxswain, get a sense of what they're doing beside me even without knowing. You know, listening for little cues, listening to the sound of the boats around me, figuring out very quickly within a second or two what's happening and what I can do to improve the standing of my crew at that point. So I try to take in as much information as I can and process it to the benefit of my crew all the time.
Ed Hewitt from row2k, a question for Brian; you did two races in three hours today, what was that experience like?
BP: Today was the day of seconds for me; I came second in the coxed pair and second in the eight. The great thing about the coxed pair is that the guys have been really good about letting me focus on the eight when I need to, so that was good. I didn't go out with the coxed pair this morning, I went out with the eight first row, and then hooked up with the coxed pair for that race. I have to be careful because I have a whole bunch of different race plans in my head, so I have to keep those things straight (laughs) when I'm from boat to boat.
Getting off the coxed pair finish, I just rode my bike around to unwind a little and try to change gears in my head, because the eight's certainly a much different ballgame, and much faster, and we're qualifying for an Olympic spot whereas the coxed pair is a world championship spot. So it was getting my focus back in tune, but it seems like I was able to do it.
Question: you spoke about the qualifying spot; what is the thing you think about now? Is it the Olympic qualification, or is the world champion medal?
FH: I think most definitely coming into the pre-Olympic world championship season, the number one priority is getting yourself an Olympic qualification, so in some ways I think the semifinal today is going to be one of the most stressful races you'll have, because it ensures that you'll have a berth to the Olympics – or you'll be fighting it out for that one remaining spot in the B final. There's definitely relief after today in getting the spot, but now it's just another opportunity. As Brian was saying, everyone's out there to win, so it's another opportunity tomorrow to take the world champs.
Question: if I understand it, does this mean you are more relaxed for the final than you were for the semifinal today?
FH: I would say that we would be; we've got a fairly young crew as well – five of the guys, this will be their first A final at a world championships, so they're really excited, and I think for us that will bring another gear as well. But you're definitely going in a little more relaxed, because essentially you've got everything to gain out of the A final.
BP: for us, last year I wasn't in the eight, the eight finished seventh, and that would have qualified them for the Olympics had it been this year. But based on my previous experience in the 03 year and the 07 year when we were on top, and qualifying didn't even cross our minds because we knew we were going to, and we just wanted to win the world championships, and this year is slightly different, because we haven't been; Germany has been top dogs, so a little different mindset coming in, similar to what Francis was saying – locking up the qualifying spot was very key and very important to us, but at the same time I'm not thinking about the Olympics whatsoever right now, because in less than 24 hours I've got to come down that course, and we're trying to hop up as high as we can on that medal podium, so that's all any of us are really thinking about. It was mentioned for about two seconds today afterwards, hey we qualified, it was great, but we have a lot of work to do.
Question: About the conditions here, about the course itself, about the nature of the changing wind; what the island does about the nature of the crosswinds or anything like that; how have you found this particular course.
FH: in terms that it is picturesque, prior to this I hadn't been to Bled, and Lucerne was definitely my favorite course, and I would be happy to say that this takes the cake. All you have to do is look out the window (pointing) and it's fairly amazing. In terms of conditions, I think once again, it's an outdoor sport, you've got to be prepared for anything, and I guess when we're coming down the track; it's not really something that we worry about. We've got our plan, we've got our focus, and that's really all that we're worrying about out there.
BP: for me it's slightly different, because I have to steer that thing straight, so I'm pretty aware if we're sitting at the start if there are crosswinds, or if in the middle thousand it turns to a crosswind. I'm watching the water all the time to know exactly what's happening, looking for ripples and dark water and things, so I can see what I have to prepare for. Because if I get shot over half a lane, right, and we're in the buoys, then I've got eight guys who are ready to beat me pretty good, so I have to make sure I'm aware of the conditions and I know how to react to them. The nice thing is that where we train in Victoria, British Columbia, we get head-tail-cross on any given day, so we train in all of it anyway, like he said by the nature of it being an outdoor sport, so we're lucky in that sense that when we come here, we have prepared for all of those different conditions just because of where we train.
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