No Reservations — Looking back on London 2012
Ten years ago today, I was on the start line at Eton Dorney Lake for my Olympic reserves race.
It had taken me six years of relentless dedication and grueling training to work my way up the ranks to earn seat number 7 in the Lightweight Men’s Olympic Rowing team — the reserve.
This position meant I was not in the final lineup for the Olympic boat classes — lightweight men’s double and four — that went on to win silver medals. However, I did get to experience some racing by winning the reserves race, but no medals were up for grabs, my role at the Olympics was to serve my team and represent my country. At the time, to make myself feel better, I compared myself to the Apollo astronaut, Michael Collins, who piloted the spacecraft to the moon with Armstrong and Aldrin but didn’t get to set foot on it.
Despite my ‘reserved’ experience, for me, the Olympics was and is all about striving to be Faster, Higher, Stronger, and now included in this motto since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Together.
The Olympic motto has its origins in grassroots sport, it was adopted in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics having been inspired by a school sports day opening speech from Henri Didon, a Dominican priest, in 1881.
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Ten years ago today, was also the spectacular 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, for us rowing athletes we experienced the ceremony on TV from the hotel near Eton Dorney. As big as the ceremony was it wasn’t worth the risk of picking up an illness or having tired legs from standing all night at the stadium. Instead that afternoon we paraded around the garden of the hotel in our shiny gold kit and watched in awe as these historic games officially opened.
I am sure lots of you have wonderful memories of what that ceremony meant to you, for me Chariots of Fire is always a morale booster and Mr. Bean was the perfect quirky British twist.
As an athlete, my memories of the games were unforgettable but the journey to the games was part of what made the experience so euphoric.
For me having been undefeated in the 2012 season in the single scull, winning national titles, the Olympic trials, and the most prestigious and competitive World Cup regatta, Lucerne. It was in the weeks running up to the Olympics in our final training camp in Italy that I hit my peak and went faster than the World Record by 0.07 seconds, posting a 6:46.81 time for 2km.
Following that personal milestone, that afternoon was a good time to soak up the Italian weather and have some fun on the water.
When I wasn’t in training in the boat, I was supporting my teammates. Experimenting with a GoPro attached to an oar and climbing around on the coaching boat, here is a clip of my teammates in the lightweight four.
Reflecting on my 2012 experience has made me think about the journey and experience of our Team England athletes on eve of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. I know that there is a tremendous amount of hard work that has gone in and the anticipation and excitement of competing and delivering a personal best performance will be at an all-time high.
These days my work at Sport England has given me an opportunity to have a connection with the Birmingham 2022 games, by working towards maximising the impact at grassroots, with the NGBs and the Innovation and Digital Accelerator, and in the competition environment the Lion’s Den athlete areas and some of the innovative equipment being used. I am also looking forward to volunteering at the games on the Sports Aid’s — Team England Futures, alongside lots of my Sport England colleagues. The old athlete in me is excited to meet the young Team England Futures athletes and I hope the experience of a major event helps them imagine what it might be like to compete, inspiring them to go on and achieve their own sporting memories.
If you made it this far thanks for reading and watching. Please feel free to share your own favourite moments and memories of 2012 as we love to hear them and it all helps keep the spirit of the 2012 games alive.
