Faster Five Racing Racing foundation for masters athletes

The Faster Five Racing document details how to improve your racing skills. Also included in this document is information about planning a 1000-meter race, and racing inspiration from Olympic singles champion, Xeno Müller.

The following five parts provide the foundation of Faster Masters racing: ● Racing and speedwork ● Exercises for speedwork and starts ● Planning your race ● The anatomy of a race: Xeno Müller’s Olympic gold ● Faster Five pieces of advice

Racing and speedwork The main purpose in doing speedwork is to help us work a little bit faster than base pace. We need to develop speedwork, for example, if we’re going to perfect our final sprint in a 1000-meter race, or if we’re a short race like a 500-meter dash.

Speedwork isn't intended to raise our base pace, which is our average pace for the middle of the race. Raising base pace is accomplished through endurance work. But there are times when we have to make transitions and raise stroke rates when we have to push, such as, the final 150 or 200 meters. At that part of the race, you’re fatigued, so in order to maintain or gain speed, you have to be able to go above the base pace.

Most often we do speedwork faster than we do our regular base race pace. You wouldn’t row your whole race at this pace. You have to learn how to make transitions so that you can raise your stroke rate effectively. Ideally, when your stroke rate goes up, your speed goes up. But in later stages of a race, you may simply have to take more strokes to maintain your speed. It just depends on what’s happening in the race.

You use speedwork to learn how to make clean transitions from one rating up to another. If you’re in a team boat, you have to do that altogether, ideally in one transition stroke. That transition has to be practiced well before race day.

You also have to develop the coordination to take more fast strokes. You have to develop yourself from a neuromuscular point of view. You have to develop higher reaction times and better coordination to simply move faster. Along with that speed, you have to bring your bladework with you. When you start to move faster, that means everything with your bladework has to be faster and has to happen at a higher tempo.

How do you practice racing? ● Time trials and local races First, do individual time trials. It’s important for you to be able to experiment with how you’re going to walk yourself through a race.

But we don’t race in isolation so we need to do time trials with other rowers. Try to attend some small local races that might not be high-priority races for you, but they serve as great practice just to go through the process of getting up in the morning, getting your gear, going to the race course, thinking about how you’re going to eat before your race, and having race nerves. Even if it’s just a low-key race, you still have to go through that same preparedness and that’s something you have to practice.

With small, local races you can experiment a little bit. Try different things in your race plan, or practice your pain tolerance, for example.

If you’re at a club where you have a group of people who get together once a week, try to organize races where you do pieces together, side by side.

Another option is a practice where you have handicapped starts and can race each other hard at the finish. Or you might have one heat and whoever wins a heat goes up to the faster group and the slower person drops back a group. During practice, these groups can run trials against each other.

Side by side practice is very important psychologically to have somebody right there next to you, because often when you’re out training on your own, there isn’t somebody one oar’s width away from you. Having that close proximity steering is important to practice side by side, too, but just the psychological pressure or

awareness that somebody is next to you is very different than when you train by yourself. Many more things that come into play, such as training your peripheral vision and training your awareness of the field of rowers.

These racing situations are difficult to replicate, but you can construct them during practices when somebody lets you move through them or somebody holds you off. You can include some practice of different race scenarios and plan what you would do, such as which element of your bladework you will focus on and how high you take the rate up when you want to pass someone.

● Practicing parts of your race plan Practicing parts of your race plan and your workout is important. If you’re practicing 500-meter pieces, maybe you’re going to practice the first 500, the middle 500, and the final 500. Even if you’re doing a steady row at stroke rate 18, you can row through your race plan stroke by stroke. Think through your start, transitioning to ten high strokes. Even though you’re not rowing at race speed, you can practice your race plan stroke by stroke.

Going through your race plan before you go to sleep at night helps because it works its way into your subconscious. If you think through the plan without emotions like fear and excitement, you’ll remember it better and learn it faster.

Racing for experience If sometimes you find yourself in a race category or a race situation that’s a little bit over your head, that’s probably going to produce a lot of anxiety because it could be too far above what you’re prepared to do. So, you have to make a decision whether you want to put yourself into that situation. Again, these are all very individual decisions, but if athletes go to races where they don’t have any competition, they get bored. They want the challenge. They want to race people that they can be competitive with. So, there is a balance in terms of what types of races you choose. Although everybody is nervous to some degree about the unknown, one of the benefits of going to a race that perhaps you are not quite ready for yet is to accept that you are going to be tried and you can chalk it up to experience. So, you can put very low expectations on yourself. It’s exciting to see how you measure up. Maybe there’s a local person or someone who frequently goes to the same regattas as you who is a little faster right now, but they’re your marker. When somebody first starts racing a single, it's important to do a number of races just for experience.

Exercises for speedwork and starts

Exercises for speedwork ● Speed play, or “fartlek” ● Speed bursts ● Acceleration drills ● Short racing pieces set by time or meters

Starts You will never win a race at the start but you can certainly cause problems at the start if you’re not careful. To improve your starts for 1000-meter events you have to develop skills that create stability, strength, and smooth coordinated movements. The basic purpose of a racing start is to get the boat moving from a still position up to race pace in the most efficient way. A well-executed racing start is calm and composed, the bladework is clean, and the hull tracks straight.

Elements of a good start ● Get off the line cleanly and quietly with no major disturbances. When we’re talking about that first stroke, we just want to get the boat moving. We don’t want things to be too abrupt. You don’t want to kick the boat backwards or kick the boat sternward. If that first stroke is too aggressive, especially in a big boat like an eight, you can actually push it towards the starting line instead of towards the finish line. ● It’s important to try and stay on course in those first, say, we’ll define our start as the first five or six strokes. It’s important to stay on course, especially if you’re in a blind boat – like a single or a double – and it’s important to stay on par with your competitors. Maybe you’re not the fastest person out of the blocks but you have to stay in touch as you’re getting out of the blocks. ● A good start gets you off cleanly, starts to get your boat so you’re up to full slide by your fifth or sixth stroke, and then you start to transition into your rhythm. There are various transitions in terms of how many strokes people take high and then they settle to their base and we’ll be talking about this a little bit when we talk about race planning of what are some of the different ways to approach the start of the race.

Bungee cord starts You can do bungee cord starts to work on explosive power for the first five strokes. The

bungee cord gives you a lot of resistance so is good for recruiting a lot of muscle fibres. The boat is going to have a lot of resistance with the bungee cord on it, but it gives you a strengthening workout in a rowing-specific way. When you take the bungee cord off for your last couple of starts, you feel strong and fast.

Planning your race Understand your individual qualities and your style of racing. Everybody’s physiology is a little bit different. Everybody’s psychology is a little bit different. The more you understand about yourself, the better it’s going to help you approach the race mentally as well as physically.

Identify some characteristics or some strengths and weaknesses For example, you might have a great start but, when you settle, you always seem just to settle too low. And then you can’t rely on your sprint to make up what you lost in the middle of the race. That’s one type of scenario. Some people have a much stronger first half than a second half. Some people have a stronger second half than first half. For most people, the third quarter is the toughest. So you have to prepare for this low point. Or is this your opportunity to know that everybody is going through the same thing you are? How are you going to get through it? Some people know that no matter what happens, they have an extra gear. It seems like no matter where they are in a race, they can get to the line first. But there are people who’ve got that second gear and so they don’t have to be nervous if they’re down a little bit because they know what kind of sprint they have. Look at the most difficult section and the easiest section of the race for you – these are all components that you can build into your race plan. Or are you an athlete of the hazard effect? The hazard effect is a term that usually represents what happens at the midpoint of the race. There are people who hold back because they’re still in the first half of the race. But as soon as they cross that halfway point, they’re not afraid to let loose because then they’re in the second half. They know they’re going to make it. Some people don’t worry about that, some people are very concerned about that. It’s just a matter of your own psychology. Those are some questions to help you identify your own characteristics. What do you look forward to? What terrifies you? There are a lot of different emotions connected to racing. If you’re prepared for a race that is at the right level for you, you’re going to feel confident and ready to go out and execute.

Warm-up Your warm-up area and your warm-up time can vary from regatta to regatta. It’s important to have a backup on land, if possible, such as a bike, an erg, or running.

Do some warm-up on land so you’re prepared to just do some pieces at a bit higher rate and some starts as an abbreviated warmup, because you don’t always have your full warmup time or space.

Pre-race nerves and routines To deal with pre-race nerves, stick to your routine. Once you start a routine, stick with it. In addition to having a routine, make a list because it’s so easy to forget something really simple that you use at every regatta. Make sure nothing is loose. Make sure nobody tampered with your boat. Double-check everything so that you’re sure everything is in good working order and that you have your routine for where you put your clothes. Pack your bag the night before with the things that you need to have with you, the things that you keep at your boat, and the things you need to keep at your slings. The more organized you are, the better chance you have of being sure that you have everything with you because it’s very easy to forget something. Having a routine means that you’re taking responsibility for all the things that you can control. You’re not waiting for the coach or the coxswain to say, “Go and do your warm-up now.” Write down the time of every heat, semi-final, and final. Even if you don’t think you’re going to get to the final, write it down so you know what the routine is.

What are the priorities that I should have in each quarter of the race? The first quarter ● In our masters distance of 1000 meters, you’re probably going to have more emphasis on your start and your final sprint than you are on the middle 500 meters. The start is much more relevant in a 1K race than a 2K race because the 1K race is over so quickly. The quality of the start is a much higher percentage of your overall race. ● For a 1K race, your start is responsible for about 8 percent of your race. In a 2K race, it probably influences about 4 percent of your race. There is a reason to perfect your start and be very solid in your starts. ● The start and the final sprint both have pretty high anaerobic components to them whereas the middle of our race is going to be more aerobic. Even though it’s not very long, you’re still in aerobic metabolism in the middle of your race. ● One of the things you have to be very careful with in the first 250 meters is that you don’t use up all your anaerobic power credits at the start or in your starting sequence because you only have a limited amount of anaerobic energy that’s going to be available within the period of that 1K race. If you spend it all at the start, you’re going to get into the third quarter and you’re not going to have anything left in the tank to bring up that final sprint. ● See how you construct your start using 30 to 40 seconds. What type of pattern

do you want in 30 to 40 seconds? You don’t want to go too much over 40 seconds at a really, really high pace because then you’re going to start burning up that little bit of anaerobic power that you have left. The second quarter ● By the time you reach 40 seconds, you want to start transitioning. It doesn’t have to be an abrupt change but you want to start lengthening out to your base pace. Even if you’ve brought it down a little bit, you might need to step down your rating a couple of times to get to your base rating for the middle 500 meters. ● It’s the same thing with testing. It’s very easy to go out too hard. You know, you’re ready to go but you have to be disciplined and you have to practice this to see what’s going to help you carry your speed into the second quarter. ● If you study race results, a lot of times the crews that lose the most speed in the second quarter have the hardest time coming back in the fourth quarter. If you look at your average speed over the course of the race, it’s important in the second quarter to try to stay close to what your average speed might be for the whole race because it’s easy to settle too much and lose too much speed. The third quarter ● The third part is the hard part of the race. That’s where everybody is getting into the second to third minute and you have to get through this tough part of the race. ● If you lose too much to other crews in the second quarter, it’s going to be very hard to overcome them approaching the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter ● If you have energy left in your anaerobic tank, you can perfect your sprint. You might be able to make up some time on certain athletes or certain boats if you’re not too far off the pace. If you’re a good sprinter, you can just stay ahead of people. ● Be sure that you don’t settle too much in the transition from the first to the second quarter of the race. If you do, it might be too much work left to do in the fourth quarter. ● In the third quarter, everybody’s prepared to work. And then in the final quarter, you’re ready to be home free. But with each quarter, you have to pay attention and see how to make it work as a whole so that you can finish your race with the best average speed for the total race.

General racing strategies With race strategy, there’s no cookbook way to approach it.

Some options and guidelines: ● It's better to have some loose structure than no structure at all. Don’t think that everything is going to be alright if you haven’t thought about it before.

● Some other people do very well in more structure. ● You might change your race plan depending on the event and event courses. ● It’s important to be creative with it and experiment. ● Count strokes. In each quarter you know how many strokes it takes to move through it. If you count strokes, it might be easiest for you to know where you are. If you count strokes, you might not need to look for buoys, which can be good because sometimes the buoys aren’t there.

Knowing how many strokes it takes you also keeps you in the moment and helps you know where you are all the time. You know in your race plan, “I’m getting ready to move through the halfway point,” or, “I’m making my transition.”

● Be careful if you look at meters on a device during a race. Many things can go wrong, such as current or steering. You can steer from one side of the lane to the other which is going to add distance.

● Look at your time. Particularly in head racing, you can race in two-minute blocks and not worry about land-based markers that you’re going through. In a head race, you have some very obvious hurdles like going through bridges.

● For a head race, one of the things that can help is knowing what your target rating is, and stay focused on that.

● In a head race where you have bridges or other geographical markers that conveniently tell you where you are, you could have a technical focus for each one.

● For a 1K race, you might like to focus on 30-second intervals or some other pattern, such as legs, releases, or breathing.

● Three or four simple words that keep you rowing well can also work because the goal is really to row the best you can for the duration of the race as you fatigue in various conditions. Whatever little points help you, nobody else has to know about them. It’s your private mantra.

● “The first quarter is your start. The last quarter is your sprint finish. In the second quarter, be hard on yourself. In the third quarter, be hard on everybody else.” Harry Mahon, the famous New Zealand rowing coach.

How to make a race plan Jot down some notes about each quarter of your race plan. For each quarter, write down what your focal point is for each quarter of the race. For example: What’s going to keep you rowing the best that you can row? Those would be a couple of words that could be

focal points. What are your difficulties in that part of the race? Where do you have a need to improve something? ● You might write, “During my transition from my 20 high after my start to when I start to settle, I always feel like the boat kind of loses some energy or I feel like it’s too abrupt.” You can try ways to change that transition. Maybe you need to go down a stroke rate every five strokes until you’re into a rhythm. ● If you identify, “This is a hard transition for me to make,” try to brainstorm the ways that you can experiment and practice to make that a better transition.

In addition to those details that are particular to you or your crew, it’s important to factor in the following general aspects of racing that everyone has to account for. ● The pain element. Pain is part of racing. We can call it “extreme discomfort,” but you have to expect it. You have to understand when it’s going to happen and part of your race plan is a strategy to get through it. Getting through it means taking one stroke at a time. You’re not going to get through it thinking about a stroke that’s going to happen in 30 seconds from this moment. The only thing that matters is what’s happening right now. People are different when it comes to pain. Some people are genuinely frightened by the pain they experience, and some people have a very high tolerance to pain and can push themselves through extreme discomfort. Those who are frightened by the pain might have a different threshold, or they might not have learned how to to tolerate it yet. Part of pain tolerance is also fitness. Every time you’re getting into better shape, it doesn’t mean that the pain threshold is going to go down. You might think, “Oh, I do five times five minutes pieces and it’s always a difficult interval session.” You think, “Oh, when I get in shape, this won’t be so bad.” That’s not true. It will always be bad. It’s always going to be stressful. Just being prepared for the pain. Tell yourself, “My body has no memory for pain. As soon as I finish the race, in 30 or 40 seconds, it will be gone and you won’t even be able to recall it.” It’s important to come away from your race not regretting anything. ● Knowing your competitors is important, too. You want to study how they behave on the race course. They probably have certain ways of racing, just as you do. If you have access to information about them, it might help you to know things, such as, “he always goes out fast and then he slows down,” or, “he has a really good sprint.” The more you know about your competitors, the more you can have that peripheral vision and intuition. You can sense a little bit what’s happening on the race course.

However much we plan, sometimes it just doesn’t work out Something’s always going to go wrong on race day. Expect it and add it to your race plan. if nothing goes wrong, then you’re very lucky. But if something does go wrong, it helps to be prepared. So many things can go wrong: a thunderstorm could start and the race is delayed, you have to adjust what you eat for the race, or you have a false start. Or, you forget your bow marker, have to row back to the dock and then get to the start There are a lot of things that can happen. The first place to start is to sit down with your crew and brainstorm. Ask, “What are all the things that could happen to us in a race?” It could include what happens on land; it could include starting; it could include something during the race, such as a bad stroke, or catching a crab, something happens that you’re late to the start, or you had to go back to the dock or something. As a team, try to solve that problem together and say, “If this happens, first, let’s try this,” or “Let’s not let that rattle us. We’ll just take five strokes and focus on getting back to our rhythm.” There are any number of things that could go wrong. But in a team boat, you want to have a collective mind as much as you can. You can’t predict everything but if you have a general idea that if something happens, at least you have options. Write down your decisions. Another option is to use video review, which is a great way to develop critical thinking for your crew or for yourself. You could look at a video together and stop the video at a certain point and you look at what’s transpiring on the race course and say, “If you were in Lane 3, what would you do at this point of the race?” Analyse your options and say, “Let’s do this.” Write down your decisions. Those kinds of things all help you develop problem solving methods. You don’t have to be responsible for thinking of everything but, if you’ve run through even just a few problems as a crew, you know, “Okay, this is our secret command that is going to get us back together no matter what happens.” If something breaks or you get cut off in a head race, it’s important to know the rules of racing so you can react swiftly, if needed. For example, in some places there is a rule that if you have an equipment breakage in the first 100 meters, the entire race can get stopped and restart after you have repaired that damage. But, if it happens at 101 meters, too bad. There are rules that it’s important for coxswains to know, too, such as holding their hands up to if they’re not ready at the start. In most races, there’s usually a window of time after the race is concluded when you can file a protest because it could be a situation where they could rerun the race. Those rules are important to know.

Review the race afterwards After every race, write down ten points that you think went very well 24 hours before your race. Include things like eating, sleep, hydration, your travel plans, how the hotel was,

whether you get lost getting to the hotel. Anything that affects your energy and helps you focus up to the point of the actual start of the race. Look at your preparedness, your travel, what happened on the course, in your warmup, right until the moment you locked in at the start. Some of those points could be, “I wasn’t hydrated enough. I should have had a small snack just before I launched for my race warmup because I felt like I was losing energy as I was warming up.” The review could also include things that happened during the race. The review points could be related to technique, bladework, or strategy, such as, “I abandoned my race plan in the third quarter and I know that I have to stick to my race plan.” There could be a lot of things, but you learn a lot from this exercise. If you keep a log book and you write down ten points, ten points is a lot. Before your next race, review what you wrote and pick two points to improve for the next race. In this way, build one race experience to the next race experience. Some of the top masters athletes write race reports that are so detailed down to the millimeter – that’s how they prepare for their next race. They analyze everything that went well for them and they learn from it and they take that experience to the next race. Little by little, you’re building towards the best experience for your peak race. But you constantly have to assess and reassess and re-evaluate because you’re going to do better in some things in the next race and then you might see some things that need a little bit more improvement. Keep building one layer onto the next one, and it keeps you moving in the right direction.

Design and practice is the key to rowing to your potential This section is an excerpt by Marlene Royle from Planning Your Race, Rowing News ​ ​ 13-4, June 2006.

Your race plan is your design for getting down the racecourse from start to finish the best way given your skill, fitness, and mental preparedness on the day. Your tactics will give you the best chance of winning the race. Sir Steven Redgrave, five-time Olympic gold medalist, offers his insights towards approaching a race in his book, Steven Redgrave’s Complete Book of Rowing, “Try to obtain as much information as possible about the crews you are going to race against: What are their usual race methods? When do they push? Do they have a particular fade pattern? What is their weakness? The race plan is an imagined line of the course that the race will take. It should not be looked upon as a scheme of bursts, for with anticipated bursts the tendency is to soften off prior to the burst- and there is no overall gain in speed. Race plans are designed to guide the crew through an expected situation, but the cox and/or stroke may have to take the initiative to alter the race plan if the opposition appraisals have been incorrect. It is essential to remain flexible.” Redgrave continues to relate that the crew and coach should discuss the race plan a couple days before the event so the crew has time to mentally register it

and visualize it. He advises discussing all eventualities, possible changes that may have to be made, to stay alert in the race, and respond appropriately. Redgrave concludes, “A race may be won or lost by the ‘race intellect’ of the crew. Above all else, keep the race plan simple but positive, be confident in your own abilities but be realistic.”

The most efficient way to cover the racecourse is by rowing close to the same time per 500 meters. In the chapter, “Mental Skills and Racing Strategies” from his book, Sculling: ​ Training, Technique, and Performance, Paul Thompson says, “When assessing race ​ strategies, an effective method is to calculate the average speed and review each 500-meter split time, above or below the average race speed. To compare across boat categories and weather conditions, the time can be expressed as a percentage above or below the average speed.” Thompson illustrates the race strategy used in the final of the Athens Olympics Games in the women’s quadruple scull final, where Germany won the gold and Great Britain the silver. Compared to their average speed, the German crew rowed +2.77% the first 500 meters, -0.26% the second 500 meters, -1.29% the third 500 meters, and –1.22% the fourth 500 meters. The Great Britain crew’s values were +2.80% the first 500 meters, -1.27% the second 500 meters, -0.89% the third 500 meters, and –0.64% the fourth 500 meters. “Using this assessment,” Thompson says, “you can see how the German crew stayed closer to their average speed throughout the second 500 meters, a strategy that gave them a clear lead. The British crew closed the gap the second 1000 meters and raced much closer to their average speed than the Germans; however, they could not overcome the deficit from the second 500 meters.”

Thompson refers to the work of rowing biomechanist, Dr. Valery Kleshnev, who assessed a total of 977 World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic races between1993 and 2001. Winners were found to be faster relative to their average speed in the first part of the race compared to the second and third place finishers, who were faster in the last part of the race. During these years deviation has decreased and crews raced closer to their average speed changing from 2.7% in 1993 to 1.7% in 2001.

A race plan for 2000 meters can have simple reminders every 250 meters. The cox calls ‘lengthen’, ‘blade depth’, ‘legs’, ‘length’, ‘rhythm’, ‘catches’ based on what the crew needs to be reminded of to row well. Or it could be more detailed: 5-stroke start, 25 high with quick legs, lengthen 20, tempo for 20. At the 500-meter mark: 10 for sharpness, tempo for 20, 10 for sharpness, catches for 20. At the 1000-meter mark: 30 strokes for long leg drive, tempo for 20 strokes, 20 strokes to prepare for the final 500 meters. Final 500 meters: concentration 10, tempo for 20 strokes, acceleration 10 to raise stroke rate 2 spm, the increase 1 spm every 10 to the finish.

Whatever plan you work out for your singles race or for your crew, write it clearly on a paper and copy it for each rower in the boat. Know the sequence of the race and be able to rehearse it mentally before practices and in the evenings. Use simulation pieces in practices to refine each part of the race. Use your race plan to ground your concentration at a busy regatta course. Your plan reflects your commitment to your goal and what you

have decided will be the best way to get to it.

Richard Burnell leaves us with this note in the classic text, The Complete Sculler, “A man ​ ​ comes to the start of a race with just so much strength and energy to expend. Perhaps, psychologically, he can squeeze out a little more than he realized he possessed. But he cannot squeeze out more than he actually possessed. If he races himself to a standstill, and is beaten, that is that. And it ought to be a matter for congratulation, not for condolence. For no man can do more…how much better to have ‘had a go’, while there was still time, and sleep easily that night, in the knowledge that he was beaten by a faster sculler, rather than by himself.”

Anatomy of Xeno Müller’s Olympic gold medal race Xeno Müller’s account of his Olympic gold medal race will help develop your competition plan. This account is followed by personal correspondence with Xeno Müller.

Once your training is done, a peak race rides on your ability to stay in a positive mindset and your ability to execute. Events with qualifications, semi-finals, and finals demand that you reset your start mode numerous times during one regatta. Each successful row will bring you closer to the podium but may require you to regroup your thoughts to get through to the next round. Having a planned approach to each race is a key aspect of reaching your rowing potential.

The is the ultimate testing ground of will and determination for an athlete. You can learn valuable lessons from the experience of those who have manifested their dreams on the world scale and bring that knowledge into your boat.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, Xeno Müller (Switzerland) won the men’s single sculls event in 6:44.85, ahead of (Canada) 6:47.45, and Thomas Lange (Germany) 6:47.72. From his Iron Oarsman Rowing Studio in Costa Mesa, California, Xeno gives us a detailed account of the build up to his gold medal race.

“Pain is my least favorite part of competitive rowing and that is why I really enjoyed putting in long hours of training, in order to be fitter and stronger than others when the push for the finish line would near. Throughout my career, all my races were about energy conservation. My goal was to ride the fine line between efficient acceleration and the final push for the line. At the Olympics in 1996, everything went following the text book.” Xeno recalls his 2,000-meter race plan, “Start and 20 strokes, during which I gradually settled to 37 strokes per minute. I preferred rowing at a higher rate with less torque than the other way around. Thanks to the heat against Iztok Cop, 1995 single scull world champion, I knew that he did not have the gear for the second 1,000 meters, but was a superb athlete to pace with in the first half of the race. Cop was an important part of my final race for the gold medal as you will find out.”

“In the semi-final,” Müller continues, “I was pitted against Derek Porter. We knew from his prior years of racing that he liked going out in front to control the race. We also knew that his second 1,000 meters was not as strong as his first half. We tested him out in that semi-final, in which I prolonged my race plan with the intention to go all the way to the finish line. I used my speed from the heat in the first 1,000 meters, then I switched gears at 700 meters to go in order to reel in Porter, that took exactly 400 meters. I won the semi with the fastest qualifying time. At that point I had a day off before the gold medal final. It was at that point that my coach, Marty Aitken, was pivotal.”

The final was growing closer, Müller recollects, “In the morning of my day off, I had to tell Marty about my state of mind. I told him that I needed a wake up call. Because I had “beaten” everyone throughout the week, directly or indirectly by time, my motivation to do it again was fizzling. By telling Marty I knew he was going to let me have it. He put it very simply, “XENO, you have nothing to lose. This is the second time at the Olympics, but your first time in an Olympic final. Don’t focus on the gold medal outcome, work yourself up. If you are in sixth, work to go for fifth, then down to fourth, then secure bronze, go for silver, and if all goes well, you have power left to charge for gold.” He relit my will to get the job done and primed me for the final gold medal run. My gold medal race plan was to conserve energy and work the first half with Cop. Add torque to the stroke rate at 700 meters to go like Thomas Lange did in 1992 and 1988, finally attack the last 30 strokes the same way I had been training every third workout throughout my month of training before the Olympics.”

To fall asleep at night he would imagine a stop sign which forced him to quit thinking about the race. Before arriving at the course for the final Xeno said he listened to ZZ Top’s Legs, “In 1996 I had absolutely no worries, everything revolved about my preparation for the Olympics, very little responsibility toward others. I thought about the sacrifices I made to get to the boat speed that I had attained. My heart would ache when I thought about my father who died too young to watch me race in 1996. I wanted the other scullers to hurt more than I; I wanted them to regret having chosen to race me at the Olympics. I wanted to give them hell on water, the same way I was given hell on water in 1992. It was time. I was in search of my identity and by winning gold I accomplished that task.”

To stay focused upon arrival at the race course, the Swiss sculler would not look up. He kept tunnel vision and would avoid other rowers he knew. “The morning of the gold medal race, I kept hearing the national anthems from freshly baked Olympic gold medalists. I worked hard that it did not distract me from my own race which happened to be the last one of the day. Redgrave had won his fourth gold medal an hour before I would launch for my own race.” Müller knew where to leave his sports bag and where the boat was. Those were his only stops at the race course. He relaxed as soon as he rowed away from the dock, “once I sat in the cockpit.” Müller’s advice to racers is never

underestimate training thousands of miles below 2 mmol of lactic acid for the aerobic threshold.

Personal correspondence with Xeno Müller, 16 April 2008 Marlene Royle: In your preparation for the Olympics (Atlanta 1996), what were elements of your race plan that you focused on? How detailed was your 2000-meter race plan Xeno Müller: If you want to watch the actual race footage, you can find it on google video. Pain is my least favorite part of competitive rowing and that is why I really enjoyed putting in long hours of training, in order to be fitter and stronger than others when the push for the finish line would near. Throughout my single scull career, all my races were about energy conservation. My goal was to ride the fine line between efficient acceleration and the final push for the line. At the Olympics in 1996, everything went following the text book. Start and twenty strokes, during which I gradually settled to 37 strokes per minute. I preferred rowing at a higher rate with less torque then, the other way around. Thanks to the heat against Cop, single scull world champion 1995, I knew that he did not have the gear for the second thousand, but was a superb athlete to pace with in the first half of the race. Cop was an important part of my final race for the gold medal as you will find out. In the semi final I was pitted against Derek Porter. We knew from his prior years of racing that he liked going out in front to control the race. We also knew that his second thousand was not as strong as his first half. We tested him out in that semi final, in which I prolonged my race plan with the intention to go all the way to the finish line. I used my speed from the heat in the first thousand, then I to switch gears at 700 meters to go in order to reel in Porter, that took exactly 400 meters. I won the semi with the fastest qualifying time. At that point I had a day off before the gold medal final. It was at that point that my coach Marty Aitken was pivotal. In the morning of my day off, I had to tell Marty about my state of mind. I told him, that I needed a wake up call. Because I had “beaten” everyone throughout the week, directly or indirectly by time, my motivation to do it again was fizzling. By telling Marty I knew he was going to let me have it. He put it very simply. “XENO, you have nothing to lose. This is the second time at the Olympics, but your first time in an Olympic final. Don’t focus on the gold medal outcome, work yourself up. If you are in sixth, work to go for fifth, then down to fourth, then secure bronze, go for silver, and if all goes well, you have power left to charge for gold.” He relit my will to get the job done and primed me for the final gold medal run. My gold medal race plan was, conserve energy, work the first half with Cop. Add torque to the stroke rate at 700 meters to go (like Thomas Lange did in 1992 and 1988), finally attack the last thirty strokes the same way I had been training every third workout throughout my month of training before the Olympics.

Marlene Royle: The day of the final, before arriving at the course, how did you prepare for your race, what was important for you to do or not do? How did you feel during this time? What type of routine did you have to help you prepare mentally?

Xeno Müller: I listened to ZZ Top: “Legs”. In order to fall asleep at night I would think of a stop sign which forced me to quit thinking about the race. In 1996 I had absolutely no worries, everything revolved about my preparation for the Olympics, very little responsibility toward others. I had a key massage therapist, and physiotherapists. My coach Marty was a great road bike partner when he would come coach me in California. Between 1995 and 2002 I had no training partners, except when Marty would ride the bike with me. I thought about the sacrifices I made to get to the boat speed that I have attained. My heart would ache when I thought about my father who died too young to watch me race in 1996. I wanted the other scullers to hurt more than I, I wanted them to regret having chosen to race me at the Olympics. I wanted to give them hell on water, the same way I was given hell on water in 1992. It was time. I was in search of my identity and by winning gold I accomplished that task.

Marlene Royle: Once you arrived at the race course, what kind of routine did you have for getting ready to go on the water? How did you feel during this time? Xeno Müller: In order to stay focused I would not look up. I kept a tunnel vision and would avoid other rowers I knew. I knew where to leave my sports bag and where the boat was, those were my only stops at the race course. I would relax as soon as I rowed away from the dock, once I sat in the cockpit.

Marlene Royle: Can you describe your warm-up and gold medal race? Did everything go according to plan? What were the most important factors that led to a successful race? Xeno Müller: The morning of the gold medal race, I kept hearing the national anthems from freshly baked Olympic gold medalists. I worked hard that it did not distract me from my own race which happened to be the LAST one of the day. Redgrave had won his fourth gold medal an hour before I would launch for my own race.

Marlene Royle: If you would like to describe your experience at Sydney compared to Atlanta, it would be interesting to know if you approached the race plan of your final in a different way. Xeno Müller: Sydney was a totally different ball game. I had experienced the birth of my children. My fiance from Atlanta became my wife. I was far more weathered as an adult, parent, and spouse. I knew I had been rowing better than ever. I had beaten in Vienna a couple of months earlier. I knew my competition and what I was capable of. I was truly cold blooded about racing in Australia. I loved that feeling of

know how, without too many emotions clouding your abilities. The most amazing thing about Sydney is that it was my best race ever. In the middle of the race week I started getting nightly sore throats and started having a dry cough. I kept taking all this homeopathic stuff, but nothing worked. My kids had gotten the same bug, and I was kept away from them halfway across our Australian living room. During the final I had NO problem putting the pedal to the metal until the fifth minute, then whatever I was carrying with me, blew up badly. I started freezing up and Rob kept his speed. That was an incredible feeling of catastrophe. I had to pull it together. The five second lead we had on the rest of the field started dwindling down to nothing. Rob kept a little margin in front of me, Porter, and Hacker. I kept hearing voices of my former coaches and Marty saying to me to stay clear of 3 and 4 because they might gabble me down and I would end up without a medal. It was an unbelievable feeling to get away with a silver medal, having two children, married, and having enough time to spend with the family. Marlene Royle: What is the most important factor to prepare for a peak race that you would like to pass on to those readers who are preparing for sprint competitions this summer? Xeno Müller: Never underestimate training thousands of miles below 2 mmol of lactic ​ acid which is for most the aerobic threshold.

XENO

Faster Five pieces of advice 1. Every time you start rowing, go through a mini start sequence. It doesn’t have to be at full starting pressure, but if you do a start sequence every time you start a piece, go through the motions slowly so that it becomes second nature. Then, the start isn’t something special that you do. It’s something that’s integrated into every piece so you get to know it becomes a lot less stressful that way. 2. Execute the best race you can on race day. Do the best you can because you really can’t ask yourself to do more than that 3. We don’t have any control over other crews. We don’t know what other people are going to do. There are things that can happen that are beyond our control but we can prepare for what helps us row the race the best way, what fits with your level of conditioning on this given day, and what our focus might have been from a previous race. 4. Having a plan or a strategy is going to help you maximize each stroke of the race because every stroke counts. There’s no stroke that doesn’t count in a race. 5. If you have a plan and you practice that plan and you know what your plan is, when you step in your boat, “you’re in your office” and you know what to do when you’re in your office. You’re in a separate bubble that doesn’t have anything to do with what’s happening on-shore, or anything else. Stay in the present and do everything possible to keep yourself in the present.

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