Q&A with Olympic Rower Claire Collins
As the Olympic Games approach and as NYAC athletes are selected to compete in Paris, we will be speaking with them to gain insight into their journey to the Games, into their preparations and into their aspirations once competition begins in the cauldron of Olympic competition. Here we speak with two-time Olympian, rower Claire Collins.
How did your pre-qualification training block compare to your current training preceding the Games?
Frankly, the training block before selection and the training block now do not differ that much. We will still maintain a lot of volume until right before the Games. We added in a little more robust type of training right now, focused more on aerobic threshold instead of race pace like we did in selection, but we will add in more race pace work as we get closer. Training for us is like a pyramid, where the racing type of work is the top part of the pyramid, but you need to have a strong base and middle for the top of the pyramid to stand.
How are you mentally preparing for the Games?
The Games still feel a bit far away, so I choose to keep the same mentality I have for the last several years where I just focus on improving every day. That is all I can control, and it is what has gotten me in a position to compete for Team USA again.
What have you enjoyed most about the months preceding the Olympics, and what has been the most challenging?
My team is incredible. We are a fun, curious, interesting group and I really enjoy working with them every day and look forward to continuing that through the Olympics. It has been really hard training, but my teammates and I have supported each other through it. The most challenging part is to not get caught up in the gravity of the year. When we try to grasp at something special rather than doing our day-to-day work and focusing on tangible things, that is when as athletes we can start to get frustrated or confused. I always think it is best to remind each other that things aren’t going to happen overnight, but rather by small improvements and repetition.
Is your Olympic journey how you imagined it would be, or different?
I can’t really say that I can imagine a journey. I can imagine my goals, but not necessarily the whole journey to get to them; that unfolds as we go. I have met several but not all of my goals throughout the last couple years and accomplished things I didn’t really have as goals, too. But that is what goal setting is for – you are aiming to accomplish several goals but in reality maybe not all. They wouldn’t be goals if it were easy to reach all of them.
Do you have any plans, athletic or otherwise, after the Games?
I am going to Cambridge in the UK for my MBA starting this fall.
In addition to the physical component of elite rowing, there is a significant psychological element. How do you train for that?
The psychological training for rowing is like the physical in that there are several elements, but you will have good days and bad days. A lot of the psychological training is keeping the attention to detail active for long stretches of time and having a deep feeling for how your body is moving with the boat. The more this is ingrained, the more it can become second nature. Another element is pushing your body further than your mind thinks it can go. We practice this when doing hard pieces at least twice a week. Another element is either keeping calm or tactfully using your emotions, which can be really up to the individual to figure out what works best for them. I personally love getting hyped and excited to do something hard, so I utilize that excitement as a positive and I am trying to be better about open communication with my teammates and coach to stay calm and keep things simple.
The Tokyo Games were not successful for USA rowers, with all boats falling short of the podium. What are your hopes and expectations for Paris?
I almost cannot emphasize or shed enough light on how different our preparation is this time for Paris compared to Tokyo. The world was in a different place with the pandemic and our team and system was in a different place, too. As athletes we are different and we have evolved. All that being said, we have to go out and execute on the day. The preparation will help, but we have to execute on race day. Obviously, the goal is to win gold. My expectations are that it will be tough competition, but that we will focus on what we can internally to put out our best races.