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Here I am in Vancouver, my first time as Team Captain/Coach and life is sweet. Back in the UK, the hassles involved in bringing a team out here had started to irritate. Endless calls, emails, letters and diary appointments to ensure everyone got out here on time, paid up the entry fees, had a smart team uniform and knew what was expected of them on arrival.
Constant Weight Training was sporadic and not especially well planned. Some of the team arrived really early and arranged their own training, most of the girls arrived later. By the time the official training days came around, most of the men’s team were on a roll, knew pretty much what they would subscribe and were hitting personal bests. My job seemed to be to keep the girls calm as they acclimatised to the darker waters and found the change a little frustrating at times.
But now we are in the thick of it, after deciding on a team strategy of going for safe, solid points, everyone subscribed a depth they were fairly comfortable with and today almost all of them reached it. The urge to party this evening is being curbed as we still have two divers to go (our Alternate – Dave Harries has entered as an individual and Mark Harris is yet to dive) but you can be sure we will be up for some North American good times tomorrow.
Static is always a bit risky but we will stick with the safe, solid idea and see if it works. Now all I have to do is persuade them to come up when I tell them!
From my perspective – it is my first time as team captain and I am loving it. Admittedly the meetings are long and frustrating and at times the organisation could be slicker – but generally everyone is having a good time and performing to their best under the conditions. Not being able to dive myself is frustrating – especially as the water feels so much like home – but hey maybe next year.
More news later… watch this space, the UK rock!
