BetterBriefs’ Post

I recently read about the story of "Will it make the boat faster" and was inspired by the thought of it. Such a simple yet most powerful question which led to the Gold Medal in Olympics. Will it make the boat go faster?" is a powerful story from the world of rowing that highlights the importance of focus, determination, and relentless pursuit of excellence. The story revolves around the British men's rowing team's journey to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Facing intense competition and the pressure to perform at the highest level, the team sought a way to optimize their performance and maximize their chances of success. In their quest for gold, the team adopted a simple yet profound mantra: "Will it make the boat go faster?" This question became their guiding principle, influencing every decision they made, both on and off the water. Whether it was choosing the most effective training regimen, refining their technique, or making strategic adjustments to their equipment, the team approached each challenge with a singular focus: to do whatever it takes to make the boat go faster. Even if staying up late or going to the pub, if it did not make the boat go faster, they wont do it. By aligning their efforts with this clear and compelling goal, the British rowing team achieved remarkable success. They not only won the gold medal in Sydney but also set a new world record, demonstrating the power of a unified vision and unwavering commitment to excellence. The story of "Will it make the boat go faster?" serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of clarity, focus, and perseverance in the pursuit of success. #whatinspiresme #focusonwhatmatters Ben Hunt-Davis MBE Thanks for this thought. Really Inspiring !!

“It comes with a prize”, a little story about averages.   On the first of August the Dutch Women’s four won gold at the Olympic rowing event by a margin of 15 centimetres. Half of this crew (Tinka Offereins and Hermijntje Drenth) were part of a talent identification and development program I set up together with Nico Rienks, Pieter Paul van Oerle, Korik Alons and many significant others.   The program aimed at attracting tall and strong women. Preferably with a sporting history in other sports and wanting to aim for the Olympics. The call was for women over 1.80 meters and around 80 kilos. This is not - of course - your average height and we identified this demand by looking at the most successful women in rowing and our own experience. Aiming for an above average performance, we searched for extra ordinary athletes. This immediately lead to criticism. Even from well-known names in Dutch rowing, most of them have never been close to a medal and were not meeting the requirements.   What the criticasters did not see was that the requirements were part of a method. We aimed for way above average performances and for that we needed way above average athletes.   These two women especially were verbal, challenging and demanding. They simply required more. Had their own challenges, did not always communicated well and were a ‘handful’ for us coaches. These raw talents came with a price.   Within this not so average group, a new average was created. And also this average needed to be beaten. In two/three years the two women developed and showed they were above average and were asked to join the national team. With the appointment of the new head coach of Dutch rowing Eelco Meenhorst, the system was set up to beat averages. Doing more than others. Great structure and governance. Training harder, more polarized than others. Again not average.   Within the national team, both athletes were under average and developed step by step towards average and above; by thoroughly executing the training program. Initially hanging by a thread to stay on the national team. The last average that needed to be beaten was the average of world class rowers in the international rowing community. And they did last year by becoming a World Champion. And they did this year by winning the Olympics in the closest race I have seen the last twenty years.   If you require extra ordinary performances, you need extra ordinary people. These extra ordinary people, whether they are high performing athletes or colleagues in your team are not average. So they might be a bit strange, act and think different than you are used to and may require you to change your management style. But please bear in mind that they can do extra ordinary things. They come with a prize.  

My latest article for JRN covers the importance of rivalries to the sport of rowing. From the success of the events such as The Boat Race we can see not only how integral theses rivalries are to the sport but also how they can attract a new audience and hopefully grow the sport of rowing.

The Rowing NZ Coaches Conference was held in Wellington over the weekend, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Working as a public servant, for an agency going through another round of changes, things feel a bit grim. So, to be able to listen to a fantastic line up of speakers was a nice distraction. I got way more out of the weekend than I had anticipated. I mentioned to ...Mark Weatherall that it was Professional Development in disguise. An opportunity to hear from others about their approach to coaching and leadership and how they inspire and work with their athletes. As well as reflecting on my own coaching style, just about every session was transferable to either the way I lead people at work, interact with friends, or how I can better understand my own adolescent kids. I had a couple of ahha moments in Kathryn Berkett's red/green brain and stress response session. Her point about letting kids find out that if you DDSIH (do dumb shit it hurts) and as a parent this means giving kids the space to try things and be in situations that requires them to build resilience. 'The Talent Trap' session led by Leigh Ashton made me think about how we give value to unreliable predictors of success. As Leigh said, "there's no such thing as an elite 10-year-old." When we fall into the Talent Trap we enable a misdirected, biased process to determine who should and shouldn’t be supported - instead, we should encourage a more holistic approach to encouraging participation and competition. Both Clarke Laidlaw (the Hurricanes Head Coach) and Tony O'Connor's (Coach of the Olympic NZ Men's 8+) sessions drove home the importance of putting people in the centre. It was like listening to a Ted Lasso Masterclass - make things fun, use language that means something to the receiver, and ask for feedback. Heaps of other great sessions, and opportunities to meet other coaches from across Aotearoa. Thanks Rowing NZ - that was just what I needed!

Motofish recently launched a new project with the University of Washington Men's Rowing Team entitled Rowtown, USA. The idea of Rowtown, USA was created to embody all rowing in Seattle, both its history and its future, ‘This small city in the Pacific Northwest has produced so many Olympic medals and national championships and we wanted to show U.S. Rowing and the rest of our nation that you can develop Olympic class athletes, not just in 1936, but also here in this day and age. It's something we're really proud of.’ - Michael Callahan, Head Coach, Men’s Rowing, UW All of this is to say that over the course of six months we spent a lot of early mornings on the water. We had some freedom to shape this project through what we saw and through an understanding of what would be valuable to the team. The feature length piece draws a line between the ‘Boys in the Boat’ team and the current program. We also provided the UW with snappy cutdowns for social and loads of stills. Writing and directing Rowtown, USA really allowed us to go deep. While there are very few of us that can produce 600 watts over the course of 2000m there are some universal truths including this last thought from Coach Callahan, ‘Of course, we want our athletes to win races and we want them to succeed. I think you learn a lot from the pursuit of success, but I think the most important thing is that you realize that the work developed you. The journey with your teammates will serve you for the rest of your life.’. Woof. https://lnkd.in/gfnfQWYu

Are you a reader? Maybe you want to read more … but never find the time? Our bookclub is for business owners who want to learn AND grow their businesses. Sounds like something you’d like to try…. ? Drop me a message. We meet at the Saxon Mill, warwick, each month to discuss the learnings from the book, share business knowledge and enjoy networking over a delicious meal. What’s not to love? 📧 Sue@coaching-360.co.uk

Dear Chris Noel OAM Rowing Australia Life Member Sydney University Boat Club, Why wasn't the 2022 NSW AAGPS 1st VIII race stopped when Sydney Boys High School were forced off the regatta course and into the Rowing NSW Umpires speed boat wash? Didn't Sydney Boys High School deserve a safe and fair race under the Rowing NSW Laws of Racing? Didn't they matter as much as The King's School crew? Why wasn't the race re-rowed as per the Rowing NSW Laws of Racing? Why didn't Mr Michael Smith Sydney Grammar School AAGPS Rowing Convenor inform all the schools involved that a protest was been lodged, and re-row would be held? Why didn't the Rowing NSW Boat Race Officials uphold the Laws of Racing during and after the race? Was undue pressure placed upon the Umpire and Regatta Referee? How were the coaches awarded Rowing NSW Schoolboy coaches of the year? A position that you support? One of the coaches is now a Rowing Australia National Team Coach. Do you support that position too? As you support the outcome of the 2022 race? And why didn't the expert commentator, Mr Simon Pennington OAM St Joseph's College Hunters Hill, mention that six of the eight racing crews had failed to complete the race? However he did congratulate The King's School crew, and the AAGPS Convenor Mr Michael Smith Sydney Grammar School, and the Rowing NSW Umpires, for winning in what was a smoothly run regatta. That doesn't sound correct to me, does it make sense to you under the Laws of Racing? Was this incompetence, ignorance of Laws of Racing, or complicity in an event that had gone off script and outside the bounds of sportsmanship, the rules, and Code of Conduct? Given your close connection, what's your view Chris Noel OAM and Rowing Australia Life Member? Sport Integrity Australia Australian Institute Of Sport Australian Olympic Committee Australian Sports Commission Newington College SHORE Saint Ignatius' College Riverview The Scots College TAS The Armidale School John Boultbee Nick Wainman Kanishka Raffel Michael Jensen Nick Foord Sydney High School Old Boys Union Play by the Rules Timothy Wright AM FACE Tony George Stephen Edwards Mark Ticehurst Jane Spring AM #integrity #accountability #transparency #legacy #rowing #governance #safeguarding

Without the power of dreams, the Olympics would be pretty mediocre. Each and every athlete started off with a dream. Whether it was to make the athletics or swim team at school. To play football for MUFC (other teams are available). To beat their big sister/brother at table tennis. With the recognitions of different sports over the years we have seen youngsters start sports which they would never have imagined. I for one was inspired by the rowing teams in Rio (2016) to start rowing. I wasn't able to row on a lovely flat lake, so I have joined an amazing coastal rowing club. There is a man at 51 y/o who competed in the skateboarding event for GB. Kudos for him! Some 30 years older than the majority of other competitors in that event. 🛹 There are so many athletes who blew my mind. Toby Roberts won gold for GB in the climbing event. Did you see the upside down, reverse hold as he transversed one of the sections on 2 fingertips??? 🧗♀️ Djokovic eventually winning tennis gold at 37 - just amazing! 🎾 Helen Glover at 4th olympics after having 3 children - no mean feat 🚣♀️ It's all about the mindset. I want to do that. I can do that. Then having the support system to takes the multitude of steps to make it happen. Parents, teachers, coaches, they all play a huge role in the athlete's journey. Do you dare to dream? Or are you putting obstacles in your way? If money and time was no obstacle, what sporting event would you like to tackle? Or have you already started on your journey and have some tips? Do you know where to start to clarify your dreams? Would you like to make sense of your life and start on a new trajectory? Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. #dream #ambition #coaching #mindset

The Erg Score: The Heartbreak of Junior Rowers In the world of competitive rowing, the ergometer (erg) score is often the difference between realizing a dream and facing heartbreak. For many high school rowers, the dream is simple: to be recruited to row at the college level. Rowing in a college program can be a life-changing experience, a continuation of the passion nurtured in junior programs. Yet, for so many dedicated and disciplined young athletes, this dream is never realized. And the reason? The erg score. ### The Reality of College Rowing Recruitment The truth is, there are far more high school rowers than there are recruitable spots in college rowing programs. These programs use the erg score as the number one metric when setting up their recruiting lists. The sad reality is that many juniors come to this realization too late in their high school rowing careers. They discover that despite their dedication—attending every practice, performing every task from cleaning the boathouse to rigging boats—they won’t be recruited. Why? Because they missed their recruiting time by five, ten, even twenty seconds. ### The Misguided Focus of Junior Rowing Clubs Here’s where things get even more frustrating. Many junior rowing clubs don’t emphasize the importance of the erg score early enough. Instead, the focus is often on creating a great on-the-water experience. While there is immense value in this, it overlooks a critical aspect of the sport: the erg score is not just a byproduct of rowing; it’s a key to unlocking future opportunities. This misalignment in priorities can be devastating for rowers who love the sport and want to continue rowing in college but are held back by an uncompetitive erg score. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for a rower to excel on the water, only to have their college dreams dashed because their erg score isn’t recruitable. This is a heartbreak that could have been avoided with the right guidance from the start. ### The International Competition To add to the challenge, American juniors are not just competing against their peers in the U.S. They’re up against international rowers who often have better technical training and, as a result, more recruitable erg scores. I know this from personal experience—I was a foreign kid with great coaching, and I ended up being the top rowing recruit of 1990-91, even setting an indoor world record as a junior. Keep reading in the comments:

The purpose that drives BREWYD is to provide opportunity to athletes with exceptional potential – we’re challenging the funding model of elite sports because money should never be a barrier to individuals delivering world class performance.   To do that, we work with organisations to drive high-performance through collective coaching across leadership teams – we're just as passionate about seeing corporates thrive. The win is that while organisations are improving their outcomes, they're also changing the lives of our future sporting champions.   But no one works alone, even those in individual sports are surrounded by a team of people supporting, challenging, coaching and believing.   Last weekend BREWYD Athlete Luke Willian competed in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Weihai China. Luke clocked the fastest bike time and placed 6th in the race, moving him into 5th position in the WTC rankings.   By his own admission Luke didn’t perform the way he wanted to in Paris. This result shows that he belongs at the top of the table with the best triathletes in the world.    Luke’s story is one of resilience, he embodies our name – Break Records Even When You’re Down.   When the WTC commentators at Weihai turned their attention to Luke and his performance during the bike leg, their retelling of his story and the team of believers that surround him couldn’t have been better scripted.   It’s been a hard road for Luke, but it’s one he’s embraced.  The challenge has made him stronger, tougher and a more self-aware athlete. But he’s not done, and we’ll be here supporting, challenging, cheering and believing in him in the background.   #brewyd #highperformance #athlete #triathlon   Warwick Dalziel Craig Alexander OAM Warren Anderson Brent Anderson Cassiano Margoni   Video Credit: World Triathlon Series Championship