selection and the joys of mind control

We're one week into final selection for this fall's world championships. Three weeks to go. It sucks. Paranoia catches you like a wave; Get swept along one line of thinking, and you'll spend an entire night staring at the ceiling thinking about the myriad contingencies of getting cut and sent home (This was last night). Rowing, and perhaps all sports, reward the confident; confidence causes relaxation, which increases efficiency, which allows you win, which boosts your confidence. Resultantly, selection has a polarizing influence; some are buoyed up by confidence and success, while others are swept away into downward spirals of despair. The key, according almost everybody who knows anything, is to keep an even keel, not getting too excited about your ups, and not getting too discomposed by your downs.

I have my eyes set on making the 4-, which is the purported priority boat this year. At the moment, I am on something of an up, after winning the last race. Tomorrow we have another race, which has the potential to completely upset the order again. While the 4- is supposed to be selected by early next week, nothing will be official until the 20th of september. The only thing I can do, for now, is keep my head level.