Digg
Facebook
Twitter
In 2003, Ursula Grobler left her home town of Pretoria, South Africa and traveled to Seattle, Washington to work as an au pair. A swimming and track athlete in high school, she ran some triathlons here in the states. But, she needed to fill some required educational credits for her au pair program, so she decided to take a beginners course in rowing on Seattle's Green Lake. Figuring it would provide some nice recreation, before long, she was hooked.
In 2004, Carlos Dinares came to the United States from Barcelona, Spain. An accomplished oarsman, coach, and rowing entrepreneur, Carlos married in Philadelphia and then moved his family to Seattle so his wife could pursue her doctoral degree. With Carlos offering his coaching services to the venerable University of Washington rowing team, the young family settled in a quiet Green Lake neighborhood.
Carlos let it be known that he would be offering his coaching services on a private basis and placed an ad in the local classifieds. When Ursula inquired about a coach, she was given Carlos' name and number. With a healthy amount of fear and trepidation, Ursula called Carlos to ask if he would consider coaching her. When he found out that she was in her mid twenties and had only been rowing for a few months, he was very skeptical. When he asked her what her goals were, Ursula mustered the boldness to say she wanted to go to the Olympics.
Carlos kindly suggested that he probably wasn't the right coach for her and hung-up.
Whether it was his conscience or his wife that got the best of him, Carlos reconsidered and gave Ursula a call back. When the subject of payment came up, Ursula admitted that she didn't have much. However, she did have some talent in painting room murals and offered to paint a mural for Carlos' young son in exchange for rowing lessons.
And so, from such humble beginnings Olympic dreams were born....
The Head of the Charles Regatta
Ursula's progress has been rapid and there's no better example of that than 2009. She placed second in a World Cup double sculls event in Spain earlier this year. More recently, she was first in a singles race at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ontario. But her most dramatic win so far was at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.
Comprised of three stages, the Head of the Charles Regatta presented three challenges for Ursula. Number one, Ursula had never experienced the race before. Many of her competitors were already familiar with the course - some having rowed, practiced, and raced on the Charles for a good part of their rowing careers. Secondly, positions in the race are based on rankings, and Ursula would start at the 19th position. With a staggered start, that meant she would not only be racing against the course, but she would also have to maneuver around the eighteen rowers ahead of her. Finally, since it is a timed race, Ursula would not know how she was doing until all the racers were in and their respective times made official.
Arriving the Friday before Sunday's race, Ursula was able to row the course three times before race day. But with a 19th position, staggered start, and the winner unknown until all the times are tabulated, the best advice Carlos could give Ursula was to go "all out" in hopes of bringing in the best time. On race day, conditions weren't the greatest, with Noreaster winds and ample rain, but Ursula went all out.
Ursula finished in a time of 19 minutes, 34 seconds - three seconds ahead of the second place finisher (who also happened to be last year's Head of the Charles winner). She felt "so, so fortunate" as competitors she passed had yielded, avoiding any entanglements. She could only describe them as "so gracious." And that's one of Ursula's wonderful qualities - she is so gracious herself. There is a humility about her that is wonderfully refreshing.
It was an impressive victory - one that no doubt got a lot of peoples' attention. The kind of attention that naturally causes people to try to explain her success.
And their explanations seemed to be everything but what coach Carlos Dinares knew it to be....
How to Develop Efficient Power
Ursula is a fine athlete. She also combines that with some fine personal qualities: she is humble and teachable, and at the same time, disciplined and dedicated. This has allowed her to embrace and thrive in the unorthodox training that Carlos has used with her. He admits that his approach has broken free of some traditional standards in the rowing sport. He also admits that there are some who think he is slightly crazy in his thinking. Well, the proof of his wisdom is in Ursula's performance pudding.
From the beginning of working with Ursula, Carlos wanted to focus on teaching Ursula to feel: to feel the movement of the boat, to feel her feet and legs as they pushed against the footplate of the boat. He wanted to teach Ursula how rowing should feel when done correctly. So, rather than simply telling her - and being a successful rower himself - Carlos got in his own boat and would row alongside Ursula, telling her how things should feel. In essence, he would tell her how it should feel by explaining what he was feeling as he rowed alongside her.
In addition to feel, like any coach, he also wanted Ursula to develop power. But the power he was looking for was not the raw, brute force that most other rowers work for. He wanted explosive, dynamic power - but most of all, he wanted "efficient" power (this gets back to the whole "feel" thing). He wanted power in the right amounts at the right time. He believes too many other rowers have incredible power, but it's power that may be over or under expended at the wrong times. He also feels that too many rowers focus so much on strength and weight training that their increased physical size may actually require their bodies to expend more power carrying the extra muscle weight. Its power they have that actually may be wasted. They don't have efficient power.
That insight has shaped Carlos' whole approach to training Ursula. He has made a conscious decision not to focus on weight training. Ursula does use weights in her training, but its not the focus on heavy squats and developing massive strength that most rowers pursue.
And the contrasts can be pretty amusing. Carlos took Ursula over to Spain to train with the Spanish rowing team. She joined in their typical training routines. When the women took Ursula through their weight training warm-ups (using lighter weights), Ursula could barely do one repetition while her counterparts were pumping out thirty. But in the boats, Ursula was out rowing everyone.
With this unorthodox training philosophy, Carlos and Ursula have adopted the Shuttle MVP. Perhaps, one of the things they like most about the MVP is how it simulates very accurately the rowing experience. Pushing or jumping off the MVP kickplate allows Ursula to develop the feel that is so similar to her boat's footplate. And Carlos has Ursula capture that feel on the MVP, then replicate it in a series of plyometric protocols. They also like how the horizontal positioning provides a safe environment to train rigorously while preventing injury.
Carlos' unique approach to training - while questioned by other coaches - is getting attention from the competitive rowers themselves. An elite women's rower from England has already contacted Carlos and will be coming to Seattle to begin her training with Carlos and Ursula.
The Race of a Lifetime
So, what does the future hold for Carlos and Ursula?
Like Ursula stated to Carlos on the phone just a few short years ago, her goal is to go to the Olympics. But, she wants to represent the United States of America. And therein lies, perhaps, her biggest challenge to date. She needs to become a US citizen - and in order to make the American team she has to become a citizen in time for the US Olympic team trials. It's not that far off. And so, Carlos and Ursula have another race against time - a race to make it through all the bureaucratic red tape.
If they win that race - and Carlos Dinares' maverick methods prove correct while Ursula Grobler Jame's efficient power prove superior - then this story could end with a gracious Ursula standing atop the medals platform in London with a vindicated coach smiling and cheering in the background.
Follow Ursula & Carlos in their quest for Olympic Gold