* Our intrepid adaptive rowing crew finished 4th in the repechage at the London Paralympics and was narrowly beaten for 3rd in the B final. It leaves them 10th overall.
Here is the story I wrote before they travelled to their training camp a few short weeks ago. Anne-Marie and Helen were getting their hair and then their nails done before the trip!
When Ireland’s adaptive rowing crew reaches the start line at Eton Dorney on Friday August 31, it will be the culmination of a long and arduous journey.
Since June 2012, the crew of four and their able bodied cox have sweated and slogged their way through hours of training in Cork, Limerick and London, with four of the five also attempting to keep down full-time jobs.
Adding to the stress was the knowledge that they had no back-up. If any one of them fell ill or got injured, the entire enterprise would collapse.
Such a nightmare scenario almost became reality at the crew’s final race – a World Cup in Munich last June. Stroke man Kevin du Toit had a virus and the crew was relegated to the B final.
“We finished seventh – dreadful,” says Anne-Marie McDaid. “Especially after we had finished fifth in the worlds both in 2010 and 2011. It was a kick in the teeth, but also a wake-up call.”
A few weeks later, McDaid was ordered to take a month off with an injury to her left wrist – her “feathering” hand. More anxious moments for the crew and their coach John Armstrong.
That fortunately has healed and, at the crew’s final preparations at the National Rowing Centre in Cork, they had one of the magic moments all sportspeople live for.
“In Cork, there was just one moment when it all came together and we thought – yes! What disappoints us is when we don’t row to our potential, when we don’t produce the performance we know we’re capable of.”
Balancing a boat of men and women with mixed abilities is a complex art. The Irish crew will compete in the LTA class – legs, arms and trunk. Two crew members are visually impaired, while the other two belong to the broad “les autres” class; Anne-Marie has multiple scleroris, while Kevin du Toit has a “club” hand.
“Our strongest rower would be Kevin, who sits in the stroke seat. He is 91kg in weight and I’m 62kg, so we are paired off. The same goes for Shane Ryan and Sarah Caffrey – Shane is 88kgg and Sarah 61kg, so that is perfect. About a year ago, Sarah and I were told to keep our weight at around 61kg and the lads were told to lose a few kilos. We are at our perfect race weight now,” says McDaid.
Sarah and Shane, the two visually impaired rowers, are in the middle of the boat. Like all visually impaired rowers, they wear goggles to black out whatever sight they may have and ensure everyone starts equal.
Looking after the tactics is cox Helen Arbuthnot, weighing in at 51kg, despite her previous career as a hammer thrower.
“Helen sits facing down the course. We can see nothing because we have our backs facing the direction we’re going. So we’re completely dependant on Helen,” says McDaid, who sits in the bow right behind Helen.
Helen is “the coach on the water”, firing out instructions to the crew depending on information she gets from the “cox box” a small device that measures the speed of the boat and the “ratings” of each rower. She also holds a steering wire to adjust the boat’s direction.
“She may be small, but boy can she make herself heard if she’s not happy with us,” says McDaid.
Arbuthnot became fascinated with the art of coxing while a student at Oxford and then at
the Molesey club near London. There she met former Irish coach Nessa Folan, who suggested to her that she contact Paralaympics Ireland.
“You have to have a feel for the boat. I have to know how to get the best out of each guy and when to ask for maximum effort. If something goes wrong, I will know who’s making the mistake,” says Arbuthnot.
Like the entire crew, Arbuthnot was paying close attention to the rowing conditions at Eton Dorney during the Olympic Games. “On most courses, lanes three and four are the best, but at Eton Dorney, because of tricky wind conditions, it’s lanes seven and eight.”
The crews they have to watch are the British and Canadians, who have traded world titles in recent years, and the Germans. Then there are the Chinese.
“We know very little about them because they don’t race outside China. I suspect they wouldn’t be coming if they didn’t have a strong drew,” says Arbuthnot. Also in the mix are Ukraine, France and Brazil, a county that has pumped a lot of money into their crew.
First target for the Irish is to make the final. Six boats will go through – two from each of the heats and two from the repechage.
“Realistically, we are looking at the repechage,” says Anne-Marie McDaid. “We have a plan, but we a keeping that secret, although we can say that our start has improved a lot.”
Whatever happens, this is a last Games for much of the crew.
“I had never sat in a boat before I went to the Paralions trial after Beijing and was told I might make a half decent rower.
“Now we have to find the next generation. So if you’re inspired by what you see over the next few weeks, watch out for the Paralions trials in a few months time and please come along,” says McDaid.
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