Challenge
British Rowing was looking for a solution that could consolidate the various platforms it relies on to run critical data analysis for its teams and provide online services to its members. The solution would also need to provide continuous, uninterrupted access to the data gathered and stored across each of those platforms.

Pulsant solution
Pulsant designed a bespoke private cloud platform which it hosts with its managed backup service providing security and scalability. Hosted in Pulsant’s cloud environment, the platform hosts competition administration and supports the new digital content platform British Rowing Plus while also helping British Rowing operate in-line with GDPR compliance.

Results
The bespoke Pulsant platform has updated, scaled and raised the standards of British Rowing’s data and content management platforms. Pulsant has also improved the security
and compliance of British Rowing’s IT systems and its hosting solutions will support British Rowing’s Olympic and Paralympic teams in their competitions.

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For much of 2020, the world as we knew it changed. With unprecedented global measures governing our every move, it’s clear that the Coronavirus pandemic has touched everyone in some way. But when you’re an Olympic team that relies on co-located training, how do you overcome physical separation to stay in sync?

In the second instalment of our British rowing blog series, we sat down with GB rower Rowan McKellar to talk teamwork, training and keeping connected as a team.

A shared goal

At the end of the day, everyone has the same goal.

On a rowing team, you can be the best in the boat – but nobody knows. You either win as a team, or you don’t. Of course, we are all individuals with different personalities, and those do come into play. The key is knowing how to approach each person, so you can maximise the abilities of each member of the team and identify training practices that align to people’s strengths. To help us pinpoint personality types, our team psychologist gives us a test where everyone answers questions designed to identify certain traits. This helps the coaches understand how to best engage the team, as well as giving the athletes a better idea of how to interact with each other. Overall, having a good understanding of what people respond to – and what they don’t – really helps us work together as a team.

Throughout the lockdown, British Rowing has been a pillar of support. We had two phone calls a week, as well as whole squad meetings, which helped keep everyone on the same page and aligned with what the rest of the team is doing. And a lot of rowers live in the same area, as they often have to move to be near the rest of the team. I’ll often bump into other British Rowing teammates at the supermarket or whilst on a walk, so we feel that sense of closeness all the time. Quite a lot of team members even live in the same house – including myself – so they’re very good friends, which can help with that overall alignment.

Of course, if there’s disagreement in the team, it’s easier if you don’t have such a personal relationship! Falling out with your friends can be hard. But as previously discussed, people have different personalities; athletes can be quite headstrong, and this can cause clashes. When this does rarely happen, we all recognise that it’s often just situational frustrations. And the coach will often jump in to act as a mediator, which can be helpful!

Keeping team spirit alive

With social distancing a long term consideration, it’s important for athletes to try and keep up with what the rest of the team is doing. In British Rowing, there is a plan to train at home until September, which means at least we have a clear plan and we know exactly what we’re doing for now. Of course, as an organisation, we need to look at risk versus reward; we can’t go back to normal too quickly, especially when we’re in such close proximity in the boat. So, if we go rowing, it’s completely recreational at the moment.

Whilst we are training apart, we’re staying in sync by keeping in touch via regular meetings. We have Zoom calls each week; sometimes we have coffee mornings. We also do yoga twice a week, which helps to give us all a bit of structure! The most important thing to note is that nobody is taking their foot off the gas when it comes to training. The Olympics might have been postponed, but the only thing that’s changed is that we have an extra year to prepare.

Above all, we’re a close-knit team – so we’re making sure we keep working together even though we’re apart. We’ve just got to deal with the situation and come out of the other side stronger!

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It’s safe to say that life has changed exponentially since the beginning of the year. Not only are societies still enduring the effects of an unprecedented global pandemic, but for the first time since World War II, the Olympics were postponed.

Of course, 2020 should have been a summer of sport. But as we come to terms with these cancellations, there’s one particular topic that’s been at the forefront of every athletes’ minds: resilience and overcoming adversity.

With that in mind, we caught up with Olympic rower John Collins, who gave us the lowdown on adapting to changes, bouncing back, and how he and the British rowing team stay resilient through adversity.

Turning threats into challenges

Resilience is a form of mental toughness.

To use a sporting metaphor, people often approach difficult situations by taking a ‘mental backswing’ first; but being resilient is about having the capacity to whack the ball without needing to take that backswing.

In athletics, as with anything, life will throw a mixture of ups and downs at you. Depending on your mindset, failures can weigh heavy, or you can use them to move forwards. The key is in turning a downward spiral around. It can even come down to something as simple as the language you use. If you look at failures as opportunities, or threats as challenges, it can make a huge difference to your mentality – as well as your physiological response. It’s easy to sit on the start line and worry that that single race will affect the rest of your life; but really, it’s just another race. By keeping things in context and rationalising situations, you can turn a stressful situation into an exciting one – and by embracing this change in mentality, you can then modify how you approach obstacles going forwards.

Sometimes curveballs can actually improve things. I faced a situation where the order of my boat was swapped around, and it took me by surprise; but it was actually a fantastic change, and my doubles pairing went from strength to strength. Change doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.

Putting up a fight

Sometimes the biggest opportunities for personal growth come from the biggest ‘failures’. When something really hurts – for example, if you are expecting to win a medal, but you come fifth – it’s easier than dealing with the disappointment of a near miss because you feel so far from achieving what you thought you could that you’re actually more motivated to do things better the next time around.

The key to staying resilient is to roll with the punches, dust yourself off, and keep going. Recognise the opportunity to improve and regain that momentum. But if you know you’re facing an unavoidable negative outcome, change your mentality. Stand up to it and recognise that it doesn’t matter if you fail, as long as you put up a fight.

When you’re an athlete, you can experience small failures every day, whether its an off-moment in training, deviating from your diet, or losing at an event. What helps you bounce back is thinking about it as a victory every time you overcome a failure. To really fail, you have to let the minor setbacks get the best of you. If you can pick yourself up and keep going then in many ways you’re already winning.

Adapting to change

The most successful people are usually those who lack a fear of failure.

Most people are put off by failing, and ironically, block their own success by trying to avoid failure at all costs. Of course, you can’t succeed at everything, every time. But by being tenacious, and trying again and again, you dramatically increase your chances of succeeding. It’s about rediscovering a willingness to take a dive over the edge; pushing limits to transcend what you thought was possible. And that’s how you break barriers. To overcome adversity, you’ve simply got to change how you view it. After all, nobody ever looks at another person and thinks they’re failing; they see someone who’s trying hard.

The pandemic has, of course, forced us all to adapt to a new normal. As athletes, we’re no different. Personally I’ve been combining steady training and hard training through lockdown; making the easy stuff easier, but doing more of it; and really going hard at the more difficult things. It’s about trying to find limits, and nudge past them – and I’ve found that my limits are a little bit further than I previously thought.

However, when it comes to resilience as an athlete, you also have to recognise that motivation is not a consistent thing. Some days, it’s difficult to get motivated; and that’s okay. But when you have motivation, use it to do more. That way, the quality of your training will stay the same. It’s about adapting to a new situation – to a new environment – and recognising that it’s impossible to stay too rigid when you’re in a completely unprecedented situation.

Putting a positive spin on things

Of course, we’re all disappointed that the Olympics has been postponed – and as an athlete, this can be a real blow if things have been going well. But at the same time, lockdown has definitely presented opportunities. Athletes can experiment with the way they train, using methods that work specifically for them rather than being coaxed into more universal training approaches – and they can try new things without an audience.

Amongst athletes, the universal feeling is that this lockdown has been a big opportunity. An extra year will make us a lot stronger; it’s a massive learning experience and a chance to reflect on what works for us individually as well as a team.

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For top athletes, finding motivation in circumstances outside of their control is vital. 2020 has forced sportsmen and women to come to terms with the most significant disruption to the worldwide sporting calendar since the Second World War, which has been a challenging, but unavoidable facet of their lives. Athletes affected by the disappointment of the postponement of major events, such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have needed to dig deep to find the motivation to keep on pushing ahead with their punishing training routines.

For the third instalment of our British rowing blog series, we sat down with GB rower Becky Muzerie who opened up about the keys to staying motivated, overcoming motivational dips and what inspires her to succeed.

The power of preparation

Mental preparation is just as important as the physical for success.

For me, self-motivation is simple. It’s all about reminding yourself why you are doing what you do, understanding the great privilege of the opportunity you have and drawing on inspiration from the hard times.

In preparation, finding perspective is all important. As an athlete the many occasions you suffer lows from missing out on selection, or being injured, make the highs of participating in big events all the greater. To fill myself with confidence the night before a race, I often remind myself of all the things I have achieved in the months preparing for the event.

Supporting each other is a great part of the camaraderie of team sports, However, when that support is not available you need to be able to rely on yourself. In our 2018 eight, a teammate who gave motivational speeches before each race provided a tremendous boost in confidence. But sometimes when such support is no longer there you have to leave your comfort zone. This can mean stepping up and taking a leadership role, even if it doesn’t come naturally. This was the case when we later raced without that crew member, which provided an opportunity for me to take up the mantel and spur the crew on before the race, something I’d never been confident enough to do previously.

Many athletes, including myself, often find motivation peaks straight after a big race or event. Following a win or a good performance it is normal to get excited about the next goal and you want to jump straight back into training again. Sometimes it is better to give your body a break and it is always worth making time to review what has happened, good or bad and sitting with that emotion before moving on to the next challenge.

Overcoming adversity

During periods of low motivation, half the battle is just getting a training session started.

Having a routine with quite limited time slots to do training sessions is a great way to overcome motivational dips. You just have to get on with it because it becomes a matter of now or never!

The amount of mental energy it takes to get back on the rowing machine can be exhausting, but you’ll often find that once you begin, it gets easier. It’s like going to the gym or for a run – the thought of getting ready and driving all the way there is the biggest demotivator, but it’s not never as bad once you’re there.

With the Olympics now feeling so very far away, I’ve set short term goals to focus on. This attitude has helped me to keep on taking the next stroke during the long lonely sessions.

If you are feeling low, it is important to remind yourself that training is a choice. Personally, I have chosen to dedicate this period of my life to trying to be the best I can at rowing. You don’t want to look back and have any regrets about skipping sessions when you didn’t need to.

Finding inspiration in sport

Sport is an integral part of a healthy society. On an individual level it is fantastic for our wellbeing, both physical and mental. On a group level it provides a social benefit for people to learn and work with others. And on a national level, sport has a unique power to bring a country together.

I am driven by the idea that I might be able to inspire other people to take a risk and follow their dreams, in or outside of sport. This is what motivates me to push my limits beyond what I thought possible in order to reach my goals.

Afterall, success in sport is just like success in every walk of life – it’s all about striving each and every day to become the best version of yourself.

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