Ashley Brzozowicz: Teamwork

I'm happy to share this post by Champlain's Scholar/Athlete in Residence

When you watch a men's or women's eight race at the Olympic Games it appears as though it is a seamless blending of eight people into one coherent entity. It looks easy, almost simple, as the bodies move through the stroke in nearly perfect harmony. 

The reality is, however, that the easier it appears to the outsider the more difficult it is to actually master. 

As rowers, we dedicate time to making our races look relaxed because it certainly does not come naturally. Years of training and practice go into each and every stroke and even still perfection is never really achieved. When a race goes well and rowers are happy with a result, there are always things that can be improved. The excitement and the joy of racing comes more from striving for perfection than from actually achieving it.

Working together is essential in rowing but competing against one another is almost as important. We only get the opportunity to race our international competitors two or three times a year. In contrast, we get to work with (and against) our teammates each and everyday at practice. We race against each other in small boats and through those battles, we gain confidence and respect not only for our own abilities but also for those others on our squad. 

Doing well in a workout is an awesome feeling but knowing that you gave it your all and still your teammate outperformed you gives you confidence in her ability to race under pressure--together. When working as part of a team, you can use the other members of your group to help you achieve excellence as an individual. It is motivating when you have others around you also striving toward a similar goal.

The real purpose of teamwork is to create an environment in which each member of the team can be at his or her best. No matter what the situation, each person has a unique contribution to make to the group. Each person has individual strengths and creating a way for each person to maximize those skills is truly what teamwork is about. When you maximize the ability of every individual in a team to work at his or her best the outcome is far greater than if a few individuals take over and dominate the group. Every person who participates in a team can be credited equally with the success of the group since each person understood his or her role and performed it best. 

Ashley Brzozowicz 

Ashley Brzozowicz: Preparation

I'm very happy to post this blog by Ashley Brzoozwicz, Champlain's Scholar/Athlete in Residence
Ashley's time at Trent has given her the opportunity to reflect on her Olympic experiences, and she'll share them here on the Champlain College blog.

Preparation.

People always ask if I was nervous before we started our race on August 2^nd, 2012. It is a fair question to be sure but my answer is always the same: Not really. There were plenty of nerves leading up to that final race day: would the traffic be bad, would some one get sick, would the weather be an issue? Those issues were mainly out of our control and by then we knew as a team that we had done everything we could to avoid the negative impact of any of those factors. After all the preparation, all the training, visualizations, the weights, the World Cup races and the heat at the Olympics there was no room left for nerves.  

I was told before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games that no matter what your coaches and teammates tell you, you cannot be fully prepared for the experience of your first Games. In many ways, that proved to be true for me. Maybe the reality is that you don't really want to be entirely prepared: you only get to have the experience as a rookie once. When that first Olympics is done and over, that is when you start to appreciate all the work and dedication that goes into achieving an Olympic medal. Some athletes are lucky enough to win a medal at their first Olympics but for most of us it takes a couple of tries (and a lot more training) to get it right.

             

            We had a plan going in to the Games that started well before we actually made it to the starting line at Eton-Dorney. Each athlete sat down with coaches and physiologists and strategized how we would get as physically prepared as possible. We looked at historical data from both our own performances and those of our competitors. Analysis of that data enabled us to set standards of performance that would ensure we were competitive. We looked at each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses and worked to improve in every area we could distinguish. We had nutritional consultations, anthropomorphic analysis and blood work drawn to ensure that our nutrition, body composition and supplement levels were on track. We had meetings with our sports psychologist and our teammates to make sure that we were mentally prepared and clarified our goals to be sure we did not shy away from voicing them. We were training and preparing to win a gold medal. It almost sounds simple but it takes a lot of work and dedication to not only be able to voice that goal but to really believe that specific goal is achievable as a team.

            Because we had outlined our journey and clearly broken it down into achievable steps we knew by the time race day came we would be ready. No amount of preparation can guarantee you Olympic Gold but knowing that you have done everything that you could have done will get you and your team into the race. And to be perfectly honest, that opportunity is as good as gold. 

Ashley Brzozowicz, Olympic Silver Medallist, is the Scholar/Athlete in Residence at Champlain College

Champlain Haroldtown Tour and Sustainable Trail Building Seminar

Hi Champlainers!

As I have mentioned earlier in the year my name is Myles Latter and I am a fellow Champlainer! I am working with Champlain this year to encourage more involvement from students, but especially off-campus students. The reason for this is because Champlain always shows the best interest and attitude towards an Active Living lifestyle. What my job is then is to plan and attend events that will get some of the off-campus, as well as on-campus, students involved.

This is why I am excited to introduce my first event! This first event will be held on October 13th! It will be a mountain bike ride through the trails at Haroldtown, a local ex-ski hill now turned into some amazing single and double tracks by some local trail builders. I have friends from Wildrock and the Peterborough Cycling Club who will be coming with us and making sure the trail is safe and fun for all levels. This means that anyone who is a Champlainer can come out and enjoy this ride. But I’m not done there. After the ride everyone, and anyone Champlain affiliated, is invited to come to Splice after where there will be presentations done by some of the trail builders who made Haroldtown the amazing place that it is. The presentations will focus on sustainable trail building and also the history of Haroldtown and how anyone can get involved.

I will be making a Facebook group which I will post a link to later but I am hoping that anyone who is interested comes out to this event and likes the Facebook group.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at mlatter@trentu.ca

Thanks,

Myles Latter

More Info to come. 

#London2012

As the Olympics have come to an end, I have decided it is time to share my experience with all of you.
I flew out of Toronto and into London Heathrow on a red eye the night of the opening ceremony. All through the airport in London there were signs about the Olympics, which just made me more excited to be there.

On my first day in London I went right into being a tourist, taking the big red bus tour around the city. We saw all the main areas of the city and I saw the changes the Olympics brought to the area. Flags of all the countries and for London 2012 were draped across the roads. In trafalgar square they had put a statue of the logo with a countdown to when the opening ceremony started and by the time I got there it showed the date and time. The square and the streets were filled with people there to watch the games.

When visiting any country there are bound to be tourists, but this was something different than the ordinary. Everyone had something on to represent their home country, which was amazing to see. People were showing off their pride and excitement for their athletes. The city had been transformed for the Games!

I spent the next three mornings at Eton Dorney, the venue where the rowing events took place. I saw all the Canadian rowers race at least once, including the womens eight with our athlete in residence Ashley. I watched them race in their heat and for them to move directly onto the final they had to come in first. They were set to race in the second heat, the first heat went and the USA won with ease. The Canadians race started and was displayed on the big screen across from the stands. By the first 500m Canada was out in front, my section could not be more excited. As they moved through the 1000 there was a clear winner of the race. Our section of Canadians, including most of the womens 8's family and friends, burst into cheers as they were in the last 500 of the race and were racing in front of us. This was their last big push of the race and with open water they sailed into the finish line. Canada had one their heat and steered clear of the reps (the repeat race to get into the finals, since in international rowing the rule is you have to lose twice).

Even though I was not able to stay and watch as the women raced in the final or as they were awarded their well deserved silver medals it was still an amazing experience being able to cheer on my country and a fellow Champlainer!

Something Fun!

Don't know what to say? When in doubt, Say it in Llama!

Translate it here: http://llamafont.com/

For Example: Hey There! Welcome to Champlain College! 

• h
• e
• y

• t
• h
• e
• r
• e
• !

• w
• e
• l
• c
• o
• m
• e

• t
• o

• c
• h
• a
• m
• p
• l
• a
• i
• n

• c
• o
• l
• l
• e
• g
• e
• !

Summer Reading!

Champlain College Summer Reading! 

Suggested by Mac Fenwick our Senior Tutor, simply because he "never read a better book about what starting university feels like."

This weeks book is by Lewis Carroll, and it is ... 
Alice in Wonderland! 

 

http://bit.ly/QLB9OK

Or Watch the Movie!

Summer Reading!

This week's Champlain Summer Reading is suggested by Cath D'Amico, from the Trent International Program!

The book is by Joan Clarke, and is called 'An Audience of Chairs'

Good Reads describes it as: 

Joan Clark’s An Audience of Chairs opens with Moranna MacKenzie living alone in her ancestral Cape Breton farmhouse, waging a war with the symptoms of bipolar disorder and grieving the loss of her two daughters, taken from her over thirty years previously. There are few people remaining in her life, as Moranna cannot help but tax the patience of nearly everyone she encounters. Her long-suffering brother Murdoch has her best interests at heart, though he is fatigued by her enormous needs and pressured by his ambitious wife to invest less time in her. Pastor Andy politely sloughs off the peculiarly intelligent yet unpalatable sermons Moranna pens for him. Her neighbour Lottie knows what it is to be an eccentric and can be counted on to come through in a pinch. The local RCMP constabulary smooths over her legal scrapes. And her lover Bun, who lives with her when not working on the ferries between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, knows how to give her a wide berth on her “foul weather” days. Thanks to the assistance of these sometimes reluctant guardian angels, as well as to the carefully planned inheritance left by her father (not to mention her own sheer ingenuity), Moranna has managed to get by all these years despite small-town gossips and tormenting youths.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about the devastating effects of Moranna’ s mental illness on her life and that of her family. ButAn Audience of Chairs also gives us a glimpse into the mind of a true iconoclast and wild spirit, who has managed despite overwhelming odds to keep hope alive.

Of An Audience of Chairs, Quill and Quire said: “Elegantly written and deeply grounded in place, this moving, compassionate novel is far more than a story of mental illness. Moranna’s quest is for peace, joy, and connection–the same yearnings that drive us all.”


Find out more at: bit.ly/MIAj3l

Sourced from Good Reads