One of my favorite parts about the Olympic Games and any event under the umbrella of the USOC is the constant care, attention and assistance that you receive while in that high level event. I’ve been lucky enough to participate in three of those events at three levels: the 2005 World University Games in Turkey, the 2007 PanAm Games in Brazil, and the recent Olympic Games in China. I joked amongst my teams at each event about how good it is being in “the envelope.” In reality it’s quite a grand experience. Every little detail is sorted so that you can basically sleepwalk through from the moment you step into the airport on your way to the initial team processing until you step foot in the boat for your first race. Like any top-rate organization the USOC makes sure that you are put in the best possible position to win at the end of the day. Flights, food, hotels, the village, every logistical thing is taken care of and you couldn’t spend a dollar if you wanted to. On top of it all: if anything is making you uncomfortable, there is always somebody there to answer your questions. Stepping into that envelope is sweet. If you show up in the right uniforms when the schedule tells you to, you can do no wrong.
Stepping out of that envelope is when reality smacks you in the mouth. There is a bit more freedom and you’re no longer under constant surveillance of people making sure that you’re alright, but at the reality is that you’re on your own again. For the US sailors that means you’re on your own budget, making your own arrangements and for most of us back to work. The Olympic balloon slowly deflates and all of a sudden there are months of time on the calendar sitting blank waiting to be populated by some good racing and good events. All those questions that you’ve been dodging about “What are you doing after the Games?” suddenly become more valid.
So I have to pose the question to myself, “What am I doing after the Games?” Olympic sailing for the US Sailing Team is a difficult endeavor demanding a lot of sacrifices. The time spent fundraising, planning flights, hotels, cars, shipping boats, chartering boats, hiring coaches, all take time away from the task at hand: training in the gym and on the water and racing. I’ll use an analogy from one of my coaches, that the US Team right now is much like a Club team at the collegiate level of the sport. All around the circuit and leading into the Olympic experience we were up against a number of different Varsity programs. When I was sailing for Georgetown, we had at least one, now two, coaches working full time to make sure that the logistics, fundraising, flights, hotels, cars, etc. were taken care of so that as student-athletes could use their time as carefully as possible to pass their classes and then hop in the vans and go boatracing on weekends. Club teams in college sailing are at a huge disadvantage because of the constant need to attend to that other stuff while taking care of books, practice and racing. If I had gone to a school with a student run sailing team, there is no chance that I would have had nearly the college career that I did. In similar context, my time with the US Sailing Team has been living that Club team lifestyle. Hoping for staff coaching at an event, constantly contacting sponsors, and trying to keep the ol’ blog up to date so that the campaign stays fresh in the national and international spotlight. I know that there are a lot of people in the US Sailing Team organization that are working hard to establish that Varsity atmosphere, but it is difficult to make that transition without proper support.
“What am I doing after the Games?” still hangs in the air. The attempt is certainly to break into the next level of the sport. Knowing that I perform best in the larger team environment, one focused on improvement and where corners don’t need to be cut for any reason, I have to remain open to the sailing at a Grand Prix or America’s Cup level. With the Cup at a standstill, the market is certainly full of people calling themselves professional sailors, but I’m ready to help some program out in a real way. Meanwhile, I hope to be able to put my writing to use and find work through that field. I’m in the process of settling into a new base of operations in Washington DC and may want to lend some services to my alma mater in some way, shape, or form.
The immediate next step is to thank all 208 individual donors to my campaign through the last two years. 208! Not to mention my family and close friends, I had a posse of 11 people in Qingdao cheering me on and am forever indebted to them. I had an unbelievable response from people back home via email and comments on the website during the Games and I wish I could thank everybody individually, but thank you. My product sponsors Kaenon, Sperry and Magic Marine have been no short of great through this campaign and I hope they will continue with me as I expand my range in the sport.
The next step is to get back in the boat: a group of friends here will be heading out to the Eastern Shore of Maryland this weekend to take part in some log canoe racing. I’m looking forward to our second shot at this crazy version of our beloved sport and will report back on how the weekend went.
More to come.
