The 4 Year Olympian Quotes

“The Germans are the worst kind of enemy. They are too gracious in victory, making it hard to hate them.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“You’ll tell yourself, “I’m feeling grotty, I can’t continue, I want to stop,” but you can continue. The body lies. You know this feeling is coming, so prepare mentally for it. Don’t listen to the body. Push through, and you’ll find you can, if you’re determined. — Mike Spracklen, on pushing through the pain 45 seconds into a 2,000-metre rowing race”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“the squishy patter of runners on the sidewalk; the first woody knocks of carbon while picking our oars out of a pile; the sound of spandex sliding against skin; and finally the splat of the boat hull displacing water.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“The fundamental thing moving the boat is the understanding that seven other rowers are suffering just as much as you are. Until they stop, you don’t stop. You can’t believe they continue, but they do. It’s thousands of hours of training side by side, wondering who’s going to break, just to become teammates in a long, skinny boat, wondering how the hell you’re still going 750 metres into the race.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“Paper sounded nice in his hands; he tended to gently massage it with his fingertips while he spoke, giving off soft scrapes and crackles.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“The next morning I shit three times. Once when I woke up, once after our early morning paddle, and once again forty minutes before the race. Some people throw up when they get really nervous; I evacuate my bowels.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“Mike once said in a meeting that a crew is capable of a true all-out 2,000-metre race in the eight only two or three times per year. He said the psychological and physical toll of racing was too intense; if we attempted more, we would risk dulling the sword and backing off subconsciously.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“I know you’ve heard this from me before; however, it bears repeating why we train the way we do. We train length and power at low rates during the winter so that come racing season we are able to maintain more power and a longer stroke at race pace.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“Listen for a bell tone at the catch; that’s when you know you’ve locked on. If your catch is slow, you’ll waste the first quarter of the stroke. — Mike Spracklen, coaching the catch”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“Sometimes the only difference between a clumsy fool and a future Olympian is the determination to continue.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“The only thing between me and a moment like that was a mountain of hard work. An Everest-sized mountain of hard work.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“The idea of working at my relationship with Amy was not something I understood. I did my duty; I was manning up. Wasn’t that good enough? Couldn’t she see?”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“explained the elements of each stroke: the catch, the drive, the finish, and the recovery.”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist

“On the ergometer beside me the team’s best male rower, Aubrey Olsen, sat down on the sliding seat, dropped his feet into the heel cups of the Concept 2 ergometer, and strapped them securely to the footboards. He smiled at me, confident but wary that he was going to have to go hard against me (I didn’t have an intimidating build for an offensive lineman, but I did for a rower).”
― Jeremiah F. Brown, The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist