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Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.12 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Silken Laumann Interview |
Interview Summary / Résumé d'entrevue |
Silken Laumann, Order of Sport recipient, inducted in 1998, born in Mississauga, Ontario, talks about her rowing career. Silken explains why she transitioned from running to rowing as a youth. She shares the experience of competing with her sister and deciding to row together at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The interview delves into her dedication to rowing and her perseverance while recovering from a severe leg injury she received when her shell was broadsided in 1992. Silken emphasizes the importance of self-belief and surrounding oneself with positive influences. She recounts her Olympic race experiences of 1992 and 1996, the mental strength required, and the pursuit of excellence despite physical setbacks. Silken also talks about life after retirement and motherhood. Throughout the interview, Silken shares valuable life lessons from sport, emphasizing perseverance, personal integrity, and the significance of learning from both victories and losses. She concludes by expressing the need for community sports to reflect values such as inclusion, fun, fairness, and integrity, advocating for every child to have the opportunity to enjoy sports. Entrevue avec Silken Laumann, 20 octobre 2006. MP4 numérisé à partir d'une DVCAM 40 Advanced ME de Sony. Temps de visionnement : 00:35:57. Silken Laumann, récipiendaire de l'Ordre du sport, a été intronisée en 1998 et est née à Mississauga, en Ontario. Elle parle de sa carrière d'aviron. Silken explique pourquoi elle est passée de la course à pied à l'aviron dans sa jeunesse. Elle parle de son expérience de compétition avec sa sœur et de leur décision de ramer ensemble aux Jeux olympiques de 1984 à Los Angeles. L'entrevue explore son dévouement à l'aviron et sa persévérance lorsqu'elle a dû se remettre d'une grave blessure à la jambe, subie quand son embarcation a été heurtée de côté en 1992. Silken souligne l'importance de croire en soi et de s'entourer d'influences positives. Elle raconte ses expériences de course olympique en 1992 et 1996, parle de la force mentale requise et de la recherche de l'excellence malgré les revers physiques. Silken parle également de sa vie après sa retraite et de son expérience de la maternité. Tout au long de l'entrevue, Silken partage des leçons de vie précieuses tirées du sport, en insistant sur la persévérance, l'intégrité personnelle et l'importance d'apprendre aussi bien des victoires que des défaites. Elle termine en exprimant le besoin pour le sport communautaire de refléter des valeurs telles que l'inclusion, le plaisir, l'équité et l'intégrité, plaidant pour que chaque enfant ait l'occasion de pratiquer des sports et d'en profiter. |
Scope & Content |
Silken Laumann interview, 20 October 2006, digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Total viewing time of 00:35:57. 02:13Talks about being in a running club in school and realizing if she wanted to win the award she had to do more 03:21Switched from running to rowing because she grew bigger and her body type was not suited to running 4:06Talks about falling in love with rowing because it was technologically demanding 4:56Started rowing in the lightweight 8 but she was too tall so she was put into the open class as a single 5:25Both she and her sister competed as singles and came in 1st and 2nd at the Olympic trials for the 1984 Games; decided to put the two of them together; there was some sibling rivalry but they had fun and respect for each other 6:20At what point did you start to take rowing seriously? Ambitious right from the start and pursued it with a great deal of passion and focus 7:22Inspiration to keep going in a race: individual sports attract different people than does a team sport, realized she was more attracted to a sport that more solitary; although she is social and outgoing she recharged herself through solitude 8:05I like that direct connection that an individual sport really offers which is that your efforts translate into results and you're responsible for all your performances. It's very clear you screwed up, you did well and there's not whole difficult but wonderful element that working together as a team brings."; talks about the team around you, although not in the boat 9:40Talks about the accident, the dream of doing well and winning the Gold medal, of being at the peak in her training and the doctor's assessment: "it's difficult to let go of that dream, almost impossible to let it go after all that training" 11:10"I just remembered the doctor telling me about the injury and then thinking: 'But he doesn't know me', he is talking about the injury, not about me. I never really believed I wouldn't be going to the Olympics"; aware of the extent of the injury, her focus was on herself, knew her own body, soul and mind, her focus was on her goal and wanted no negative people around her; feeling of a miracle happening day by day and suddenly she was at the Olympics 15:16Had support from many people - her coach, the team doctor, her boat builder and her future husband 16:35Racing at the Olympics: "I just went with the magic of it all but there's moments when the athlete in me says 'it's just not enough and I always have to improve. It's not enough just to be here. I want to do my best. I want to have a great race because I'm not going to win an award for just going to the Olympics and that feels good but if that wasn't my best then it's not the satisfaction I need". She put pressure on herself for it to be her best race and to be a competitor and do her best despite the injury 18:30Talks about going from 4th to 3rd in the race, talks about shifting gears in a race and that it takes a huge amount to energy to change the pace, she was not in peak condition because of lack of training; mentally she dug down a little deeper and was able to accelerate, she had nothing to lose 20:22Felt relief at the end of the race and realized how exhausted she was, then felt pride in winning the Bronze; talks about the Silver in 1996 and rowing a great race; talks about being a mother and having to balance the focus to win against the focus of raising a child 24:09On retirement from rowing: loved it but has other interests and talents, and contributing today on child health, communication and as a child advocate: (24.56) "It's my own passion in that area, my own commitment that has really helped me to develop as a person" 26:10Life lesson from sport: "I learned an enormous amount from competing in sports. I learned a lot about perseverance, but I also really know that the road to actually achieving what is really in our heads is one of trying, over and over again and that's there is no shame in that."; talks about personal integrity and need to really know why you are doing something and not waiver from that to not compromise your integrity for anything. 28:02"The things that you learn from losing tend to stick with you a bit more because we tend to analyse our losses more than we analyse our wins. It is just the nature of the human mind that we are critical of ourselves and have significant amounts of doubt so that we tend to play out our mistakes in our mind, to the detriment of our own personal growth. But the lessons there do stay. The lessons from losing often prevent people from taking risks and from really realizing their potential." 28:56On being a member of the CSHoF: you don't start your career thinking of the awards but because you follow your passions, always looking for the bigger challenge 31:24On young children in sport: need to overhaul community sport to reflect the values we have as community - inclusion, fun, fairness, integrity; "Every kid should have the opportunity to play sport and have fun with it" |
Date |
2006/10/20 |
People |
Laumann, Silken |
Search Terms |
1984 Olympic Games Los Angeles 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta 1995 Pan American Games Mar del Plata 1987 Pan American Games Indianapolis 1991 World Championships Women in sport Silken Laumann Rowing Olympic Games Silver medal Bronze Medal Pan American Games Aquatics Interview Athlete |