| PART II 22 December What is it like for an elite rower during the festive season? For Tim Maeyens it’s business as usual with an increased level of training.
World Rowing: It’s 7.30 in the morning. How does your morning go before training?
Tim Maeyens: I get up between 7.30 and 8am and eat before training, usually Kelloggs, bread and yoghurt. No coffee, except in emergencies.
WR: How has this December month gone for you?
TM: I’ve been training quite hard. My amount of training has gone up, but it’s been very cold. Yesterday we couldn’t row because the water was frozen. It’s about 1 degree (Celsius).
WR: What about the erg?
TM: I hate the erg! I don’t do it very often.
WR: Are you able to indulge in any Christmas parties?
TM: Yeah. My girlfriend is back (from Milan) so between Christmas and New Years I will have an easy week with alternative training like running, cycling and swimming. I won’t be on the water. Christmas day will be a day off but I might do some light training like an hour on the bike after we’ve eaten.
WR: Do you have to be careful about what you eat?
TM: On Christmas eve, Christmas day and New Year’s eve I don’t watch what I eat but in between I do. I cut back on too much fat and too many fries. I eat a lot of vegetables, pasta and potatoes. My main problem is not getting too fat but getting too light.
WR: Do you have a favourite food?
TM: My mum is a really good cook so I look forward to her dinners. Favourite food? Hmm, I really like pasta.
WR: Do you have any national team testing coming up?
TM: No, for the moment it is just training because we don’t have the new coach yet. But next week on the water we will have to do 3 x 2000m at a progressive rating. Then on the 15th of January we go on camp to St Moritz (Switzerland) for altitude training. I’ve never been before so I’m not sure what we’ll be doing but I think it will be alternative training like cross-country skiing. We will probably have to do a 2000m erg test. Before we have gone to Sierra Nevada in Spain where there isn’t much snow.
WR: When is your next race?
TM: It’s a long distance race that we do in Belgium every year at the beginning of March. A 6km race in Seneffe. Most of the competitors are from Belgium and some from the Netherlands. Normally I win but I have to keep an eye on Christophe (Raes). He’s quite strong in the long distance. Our next 2km race won’t be until next summer.
WR: Is it difficult to have such a long gap until racing again?
TM: No, I’m used to it. We do some testing to keep the speed work up and even in winter we do some high-rating pieces. PART I 3 December Fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Tim Maeyens has notched up these results from competing at two Olympics and several World Championships in the men’s single. A medal eludes him. But the gutsy single sculler is not stopping. Already back in full-time training, Tim has just announced his intentions to carry on through to the 2012 Olympic Games. The 185cm tall rower is at the shorter end of his competitors, but that hasn’t stopped him from challenging the best. In the Final of the single at Beijing, Tim held a medal position for most of the race. It was only in the final sprint that Tim slipped to fourth. Tim’s spirit and determination makes him World Rowing’s December Athlete of the Month.
World Rowing: Now that you’re in the post-Olympic off season, what does your typical day look like?
Tim Maeyens: I’m getting up around 7.30am and have my first session at 9am. Normally it’s rowing. I finish around midday and go to eat and rest. The second session is at 3pm and it’s either rowing or cycling or running or swimming. I’m in full-time training.
WR: Are there other rowers doing the same as you?
TM: Yes, there are three international rowers in Belgium. Jose Verdonkschot who trained us through to the Beijing Olympics is back in the Netherlands and gave us a training programme for six weeks. We will soon have a new coach who will take over (still to be announced). For technical and practical work I have Frans Claes who has coached me from the beginning.
WR: Did you take some time off after the Beijing Olympics?
TM: I took three months off. I holidayed in Southern China for two weeks with my girlfriend and then took her to Milan where she is studying. I had no desire to get into a boat during that time but I did go running as I love running.
WR: Was there much interest in Belgium to you rowing at the Olympics?
TM: It’s a very small sport here and if you don’t get a medal people assume that you’ve rowed badly. Leading up to Beijing I had a lot of support and a lot of people interested in my progress but now everyone’s forgotten. I guess I’ll have to win a medal and then they’ll remember me. But it’s inspired younger rowers. Many have joined clubs since my Olympic race.
WR: Do you know the other guys in the men’s single race?
TM: I talk a lot with the others. Being in a single you can’t talk to yourself so you talk to the others.
WR: If there were more top rowers in Belgium what boat would you prefer to row in?
TM: If I find a boat that goes faster than the single then I will do it. We tried to row in a double last season but the single was faster. I like the single the best.
WR: If you could pick the perfect distance to race what would it be?
TM: The perfect distance would be 100m because I’m quite a bit lighter (than other rowers). I have an advantage that I’m quite explosive. I can get off the start line quickly. But I’m happy with 2000m. We analysed the Olympic Finals and my middle and start was good. Now I have to make my finish good. I’m working on heavy weights in my strength sessions to help this.
WR: Can you name your best race?
TM: The 2004 Holland Beker (in Amsterdam). I had just qualified for the Athens Olympics at Lucerne and I went to Amsterdam and raced Olaf (Tufte) and Jueri (Jaanson) and won. Olaf and Jueri went on to be first and second at Athens. I’m also really happy with the races I rowed this year because I came closer to the medals.
WR: What is the most memorable thing a coach has said to you?
TM: Sometimes when I race well Frans has tears in his eyes. Jose was upset that I didn’t get a medal at Beijing. Frans gave me a big hug. Knowing how much my race means to them is important. Beijing is the best I’ve done in my career.
WR: Do you have any athletes you admire?
TM: Tufte. What he did this year is amazing. For me he’s the best in the single that I’ve known. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to beat him!
WR: What are your future rowing plans?
TM: I’ve been fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. I want to be on the podium at the World Champs or the Olympics. Yesterday I decided to continue and commit to the next four years. The World Rowing team values feedback. |
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