NO IMPORT Megan KALMOE Interview

Part II

23rd April 2012

April has been a busy month for Megan. She completed the first round of trials for Olympic team selection for the women’s double sculls (a boat yet to qualify for the Olympic Games) and celebrated 100 days until London by being part of the star cast at Times Square in New York City. Megan also moved from the West Coast of the United States back to the East Coast to continue her training. But she still managed to squeeze in an interview with World Rowing.

World Rowing: You’ve just completed selection trials for the women’s double. How did the racing go?
Megan Kalmoe: We had good competitive racing at the trials in the double. Our two training centre double sculls were made up of tough, experienced athletes who love to race and selection for those line-ups was very close leading up to trials. Ellen (Tomek) and I were disappointed not to have won at the trials, but the other double performed really well. The next step is to get in to selection for the quad and make that boat as fast as possible this summer.

WR: How did you prepare for the trials?
MK: Sorry, I'm not allowed to detail our training plan/selection.

WR: Why did you go to Princeton after the trials?
MK: It was a fun change to have our trials run in Chula Vista at the Olympic Training Center (in San Diego, California) but our primary training and trials location for the past several years has always been Princeton, New Jersey. We usually visit the OTC once or twice per winter for warm weather camps because our lake at home freezes. Because it's the Olympic year, we were able to have one extended camp that lasted from January to April, but the plan was always to return to Princeton in the spring. I rent a house in Princeton and my truck and all of my stuff is here, so it's nice to be back to the comforts of home after being in a dorm for four months.

WR: With all of this moving do you have a couple of possessions that you make sure you always have with you?
MK: On camp, I don't bring a lot of possessions beyond my camera(s) and my laptop or iPad, maybe some books. The main goal is to be prepared to train so the majority of my luggage is training gear. I do have a bad habit of over-packing "civilian" clothes when I travel – I can't leave home without fun, pretty things to wear, just in case we ever do something that isn't rowing. My hair products also take up a fair bit of space in my suitcase.

WR: You are a very active blogger. How much time do you spend on updating your website?
MK: I've never really counted the hours, but it's not as much time as it might seem. Writing comes very naturally to me, so writing individual posts really isn't that time-consuming. It's when I take on bigger projects like videos, The List, or committing to more substantial op ed pieces that I end up spending time over several days to put something together. I love writing and sharing my story, so even if things do get time-consuming, I am glad to do it.

WR: How do you decide what to write about?
MK: I've always envisioned my blog as a way to share the ways that rowing has allowed me to learn and grow – both as an athlete and as a person. It's very important to me that no matter what happens with training and results I'm always making progress in some way, and oddly, I think in its own way my blog keeps me accountable to that. I don't know exactly who reads my blog, but it's important for me to know that people who are interested in what we do know that we aren't just mindlessly slugging on the erg or rowing around in circles for days and days. That training with a group of talented, dedicated women for a common goal is something that is incredibly complex and rewarding. And that to support elite athletes is to support something that is so much bigger than an individual or a team, or even a sport; it's supporting the Olympic Movement and all that it represents.   

A lot of what I write is just basic updates about how training and racing is going. But for the more abstract topics that aren't reports from racing, regattas or erg tests, my teammates are a constant source of inspiration. They bring out the best in me and also reveal the most challenging and difficult aspects of our sport. Rowing at the elite level does involve a lot of repetition and monotony, but training with my teammates is anything but dull. They are vibrant, beautiful women with the most dynamic personalities. They are capable of the most incredible things. I am so happy to be a part of it and to capture even just small parts of it for my blog.

WR: One feature of your website is ‘The List’ of top 20 hottest male rowing athletes. What are your criteria for picking the top 20?
MK: I get asked this a lot. I think there are a lot of things that go in to it, but the most general way I can describe it is that I gravitate toward people who have characteristics that make them stand out in a crowd. It can be results, style, manners, confidence, a sense of humour, or any number of other things. I can't narrow it down to just any one thing.

WR: Have you personally met all of the top 20?
MK: I have met most of them, but not all of them. So far, the guys have been pretty good-natured about it all and seem to have fun with it.

WR: When is the best time to do ‘research’ for the top 20?
MK: I do joke a lot about doing the "research" when we travel to race, but when I'm out for competition, I'm there 100 per cent for my team. Training and race preparations always come first, so that doesn't actually leave a lot of time for scouting! If I meet new people it's usually off the water during down time going to and from the hotel, etc.   

WR: What do you think about to motivate yourself through the really tough sessions?
MK: I'm actually a compulsive counter. It varies depending on the length or type of piece, but the best way for me to stay relaxed and make tough workouts more manageable is to break them into segments and count strokes. I've done erg tests where I count every single stroke – whether it's by minute, or by counting to 30 over and over.

WR: Where can you be found in the hour before a big race?
MK: I have a well-deserved reputation for being one of the slowest people on the team when it comes to launching for races or even just regular practices. For some reason I have never figured out how to expedite the process of getting myself from the boathouse into the boat. So with 60 minutes to go before race time, I'm probably either absent-mindedly doing something completely inane that has nothing to do with launching, or I'm running frantically to and from the bathroom, or to find my teammates/coach, or take oars down to the dock, etc. It's really hard to say.

WR: What do you picture for yourself after London?
MK: I also get asked this a lot as well. I haven't decided. I haven't ruled out the possibility of continuing to train, but I do think that will depend a lot on how things go this summer.
 

Part I

Coming from a background in United States university sweep rowing, Megan Kalmoe made the switch to sculling and after getting fitter went to the Olympics. As World Rowing’s April Athlete of the Month, Megan is right in the middle of selection trials for the 2012 USA Olympic team. She’s fit and ready to race. Megan talks openly to World Rowing about her beginnings and rise in rowing and how it is shaping her life.

World Rowing: Where are you at present?
Megan Kalmoe: I'm currently at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.  I have been here for winter training since the end of December and will head back to Princeton, New Jersey, on April 13.  The USA sweep women were also here through the first National Selection Regatta which ended on March 18, but now I'm one of just five scullers that are left in California to race Non-Qualified Trials. 

WR: What are your training plans for the month?
MK: I will be racing a women’s double at the Non-Qualified Olympic Trials in Chula Vista, CA, April 9-12.  I will then fly immediately back to Princeton, NJ to rejoin the rest of the USA women.  We will use the last two weeks in April to select the group that will race at World Rowing Cup I and II.

WR: Tell me a bit about how you first started in rowing? 
MK: I started rowing during my second year at the University of Washington.  I played softball, basketball and ran cross country in high school but wasn't good enough at any of them to play at the collegiate level, so my freshman (first) year of college I didn't play any sports.  I studied a lot, got great grades, partied a lot, and gained about 30 pounds.  I felt and looked terrible, so was ready for a change.  I met some other women in my college dorm who were rowers, and they encouraged me to try to walk on to the (rowing) team. I walked on as a true novice in 2002 and really liked how difficult it was and how hard I had to work.  Everything about it was a good fit–I got to meet so many new amazing, competitive people; I got to be out on Lake Washington every day; I was exposed to coaches and mentors who pushed me to learn about myself as an athlete and as an individual; I got to travel and represent my school; I got into the best shape of my life (to that point) and eventually I earned a full athletic scholarship which covered the cost of my education.   

WR: Was there any turning point that made you decide to continue on to the elite level?
MK: My college coach suggested that I try out for the under-23 Team in 2005.  She told me that to get an invitation to selection camp I had to break 7:00 on my spring 2k erg. I was so proud– I pulled a 6:59.6, and got invited.  That summer was my first taste of full time elite training as we selected a women’s four to go to Amsterdam.  I didn't have a great attitude at camp and was very frustrated most of the time and even considered quitting after I was selected to the four.  But I stuck it out and went to Amsterdam, and surprisingly our four won.  That entire first experience–the ups and downs of selection, representing my country, coming together as a crew, and winning a medal–was enough to convince me that I should try to continue rowing at the senior level after college. 

WR: After competing on the under-23 team you then didn’t compete internationally again in 2008. Did you take a break?
MK: After 2005 I still had one year left at university, and then moved to Princeton, NJ to train full time with the USA Senior Team.  Coming straight out of college in 2006, I didn't have the fitness, strength or experience to compete with the senior women who were already in Princeton.  It took a few years of training to gain the aerobic base and technical confidence to try and earn a place on the national team.  I also switched from sweep to sculling during that time, so learning how to row the single and double added an additional challenge to my training in 2006 and 2007.  I came very close to making the quad in 2007 but didn't quite make it.  But missing out on the 2007 team was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it was a huge motivator for me over the following year and helped me to make the 2008 Team.

WR: Having been to the 2008 Olympics what made you decide to continue on to aim for your second Olympics?
MK: Both Ellen (Tomek, my doubles partner) and I arrived and started training with the USA Team in 2006 and started sculling at the same time.  We were both very inexperienced as international competitors and really had not been training for very long– so we were very excited to have made the 2008 team and then to have made the final in the double in Beijing.  After our final, we came back to the dock and were very disappointed with our 5th place finish–despite it being the best finish for a USA women’s double in several years.  But our coach just looked at us and smiled and said, "You're not even fit yet." I knew almost right away that Beijing was going to be just the beginning for me and that I had the potential to be much stronger and faster if I came back to try and make the team for London.

WR: Are you currently a full-time athlete?
MK: Currently I am a full-time athlete.  I do have a part-time job with the Princeton Family YMCA doing social media and marketing/design but as we move closer to final Olympic selection, I have less time to work.  I am really lucky to have such a generous and supportive employer; they have been really flexible and supportive with my training and travel schedule and many of them are more like family than co-workers.

WR: Tell me the best and worst parts of a typical day at present?
MK: Right now I'm in a really good place, mentally.  A part of this year that has been really special for me is the way I've managed to appreciate every day that I get to spend with my coaches and teammates.  I have spent enough of time over the past three years thinking about this year and anticipating it so that now that it's here I'm just trying to use every day to get faster and to enjoy the process as much as I can.  I'm not sure if I'm going to continue rowing after this year, so I'm really trying to have as many "best parts" to every day that I can while I'm still training and living the dream. Right now, the worst part of my day is not getting to see my teammate, Susan Francia, every day.

WR: What do you think is more stressful, Olympic trials or racing at the Olympics?
MK: Both opportunities are stressful and challenging in different ways.  For me, Olympic trials and Team USA selection are presently more difficult because in the middle of selection or trials it's easy to lose sight of the long-term goal–which is to beat my competitors from other countries.  It's a fine balance to focus all of my effort to have my best performance during trials or at selection camp in order to stand out amongst my teammates because our group is so intensely competitive, but also to remember that just having a good performance at trials or just making the Olympic Team doesn't necessarily mean that I will go on to win a medal.  Maintaining perspective about the purpose of trials, what they represent and the further opportunities they provide, is sometimes the greater challenge. 
 

WR: Do you have a favourite race?
MK: One of my favourite races is still the final from the 2008 US National Selection Regatta II.  It was the first real success I'd had since beginning my training with the senior team and was the first step to eventually qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Team. 

WR: A favourite regatta venue?
MK: Racing at Lake Bled absolutely blew me away. There wasn't a day on the water in Bled that I didn't appreciate the beauty of the venue.  But my favourite regatta venue has to be the Montlake Cut in Seattle, Washington.  It was my home race course in college and racing there–especially at the Windermere Cup–is unlike anything else in rowing.