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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.131 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Marnie McBean Interview |
Scope & Content |
Marnie McBean interview, 10 September 2008. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 01:14:09. 1 of 2; 00:00Differences between being on Olympic team and Mission staff: tries to tell the athletes what to expect but the reality is different 00:58Marched in with the team in Beijing, her job was shepherding the athletes in the parade, elements of the mission staff to keep on going, when you go it's your Olympics, the stress of it is so unique; no stopping in the work, athlete has their job and mission staff have theirs & they don't get to rest, the amount of looming potential is stressful, overwhelming; carrying the expectations of others 03:44Is there anything else you would rather be doing: no, it's a job, an extraordinary job, allows her the privilege of being close to the athletes in competition and preparing for competition, at some time it's theirs and you have to respect that; can't take the responsibility for their success, the athlete can include the people in 05:10On Al Morrow: coach, never included himself in the work that the team was doing although he was part of the team, respected them, lived by the standards that he wanted them to adopt, he had influence on the way she thinks & her career, attention to detail, openness to different things, never afraid to look to other sports and other elements of success, he never pretended to know all the answers, would admit it if he didn't know and would find the expert in the field; contrasts to Mike Spraklen, the men's coach, she calls him a guru type of coach with the answers, that would not have worked for her, she was the type to look around and outside of the box, took the elements and package them; Al taught them never to be afraid to ask for advice; she firmly believed they were normal people trying to do special things, key to performance, backbone to everything she ever did; "if you start believing you are special and entitled to special things that is the trap. Things will be left undone because you believe someone is doing them for you because that is the way entitlement works"; does have a healthy ego which means "I believe in myself. I'm proud of what I did" but not arrogant, has respect for others, entitlement breeds to arrogance 14:22What are the most misunderstood things about the sport: people think rowing is upper body position, because of the sliding seat most of the propulsion in rowing comes from the legs, it is a complete blend of muscle groups of the body; if you break it down it is the legs, back, arms; people can`t see if it is a team sport or an individual sport, not a chaos sport like hockey or soccer, don`t have one opponent, rowing is a team, can absolutely in the boat feel what each other is doing; balance is most precarious in a boat; tremendous amount of core strength required; the core is on a gyroscopic balance point; sweep events are pair, 4`s and 8`s with one person over each oar; sculling is single, double, and quad with two oars per person, balance is easier; sweep is a constant collaboration on balance with an unspoken dialogue 19:33How did you start: did all sports in high school, volleyball, basketball, cross-country skiing, track; tried all but didn`t have any special talent, saw the movie Oxford Blue and a TV commercial that featured rowers, the Argonaut Rowing Club in Toronto had a learn to row programme and took it in April 1985; at the end of the programme she was asked if she was going to be a recreational rower or a competitive one, she stayed with the club until she found a competitive crew to join 22:10On the disciplines: everyone in the programme starts in the sweep programmes, the first year she competed internationally was in the junior pair; not a lot of depth in sculling, switched from the port side where there were a lot of good rowers to the starboard side, tried for the 1988 team but didn`t make it, went to the London High Performance Centre and learned skills; 1989 -1992 in sweep rowing there were tremendous groups of women coming through, depth physically, mentally, spiritually contributed to being dominant internationally, Worlds 1991 Canada won Gold in the pair, 4`s and 8`s and most of the athletes doubled up (rowing in more than one boat); talks about women`s coxswain Leslie Thompson and her 28 years of racing; after `92 everyone retired, decided to try something new and moved to sculling; no one thought that was possible; Derek Porter did the same, both won medals and others started to do the same thing, Derek a pioneer in bringing out some extraordinary athletes from sweep into sculling 28:56On being a team: the team dynamics of the whole group is a testament to Al Morrow; Al`s gift was always about bringing people together, bringing a team together and having them understand a common goal, common focus; could have a lot of people in parallel lines coming to a common focal point; she was the top starboard sweep and Kathleen was the top port, they were put together in 1990 and didn`t really click, they were a good pair and won the Canadians, stopped working well in a race, the next year in selection Al was in the process of putting them together again, each wanted to row with someone else, she was trying to make Kathleen more aggressive and competitive, Kathleen wanted someone calmer and quieter, Al told them the other was the fastest and to start paying attention to each other, finally clued in to each other, each has their own centre, Kathleen is aggressive and competitive but just quieter about it, when eventually earned her trust they would talk together, they completely bought into Al`s modus operandi ``you will win based on the task``; loved doing the drills, getting into the details, precision; they finally really clicked 6 years later, could communicate without words; rest of the team (names them) would be broken down from the 8 into pairs, talks about competing against them yet communicating with them, they were very professional on the water, important when it comes to the 4 & 8; talks about rowing in the pair and 8, every rowing boat has a unique profile, talks about being in the single is being responsible to yourself, in the bigger boat 9 smart people rowing together can be magic; she is the first person to medal in every boat class - single, double, pair, quad and 8`s 2 of 2; 00:00On rowing memories: depends on the day the question is asked; talks about one training session in Switzerland and how it was technically perfect, they from that point they could win; talks about the 8 race in Barcelona, how she looked at the other teams and knew they could beat them, a magical race, talks about Leslie Thompson calling for open water and their response, moment of grace when it all came together; talks about the pair race in Barcelona, they could hear Oh Canada for the women`s 4 and felt if their friends could win so could they, talks about focus in the race - focus on the task at hand not the outcome - a life lesson, no idea they had changed their lives when they crossed the finish line; the hardest race was the doubles in Atlanta, extraordinary amount of pressure going in because they were considered ``the sure thing``, they were professional and able to deal with the distractions such as the bomb, the competition was high and talks about them, talks about their strategy and the last 300 metres, completely exhausted at the end, leaned over and gave Kathleen a hug 21:38When she retired she realized the thing she missed the most was the stress, stress was a good thing for her, missed most being forced into the position of asking ``can I, will I``, doesn`t get that in real life, don`t get that extreme position in life, only thing that came close was adventure racing, eco challenges 24:03On being inducted into the CSHoF: went in before she retired, was special, when Al was inducted she could welcome him in 25:50On being on the Board for the Hall: special to be in things for the new hall, let others on the board mentor her in business matters 27:18Introduction to the Hall 28:51Role model or mentor: not anyone person she looked to, chose different elements such as friendly, funny and melded that into who she wanted to be; mentor in rowing was Al Morrow and that was his style as well 29:34Why should young people play a sport: her first trophy was in chess, which taught her strategy and tactic and thinking moves ahead; rowing taught her to be focussed and work together with other people and what you can achieve; life lesson you learn, more physically happy, learn co-operation, team work, gender equality, so many lessons to be learned 30:31What makes a winner: the person who crossed the finish line first, not always the person who is better, luck of the draw and elements involved - that`s life, that`s sport; a winner in the bigger sense is the person who can be happy with the results that were achieved on the day, can be pleased with the performance and disappointed with the result; a winner is a person who can accept both sides of that 31:31What is success: depends on if you are working on something specific, like a race; if you are happy at the end of the day with what you are doing; every day should include laughter, sweat, listening to someone 32:45The best leader: Al Morrow had his elements and was the best leader for group; different leaders for different situations and environments, leaders who motivate, leaders who build consensus 34:01Advice to youngsters: try, you never know what you can achieve until you try. Not to be afraid of stress. Stress is a good thing. It means you care and you want to try at it and it`s really normal. Stress, fear, doubt, they`re all normal things and don`t be afraid on them. |
Date |
2008/09/10 |
People |
McBean, Marnie Heddle, Kathleen Morrow, Al Porter, Derek |
Search Terms |
Marnie McBean women in sport interview rowing aquatics 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta World Championships 1987 Pan American Games 1995 Pan American Games 2008 Olympic Games Beijing |