Going for Gold: Bryony Shaw Interview
May 30, 2008 @ 6:37 AM - Features: Interviews
For Bryony Shaw, Fat Face team rider and Britain’s number one RS:X windsurfer, life is pretty sweet. Since bagging gold medal at the pre-Olympics last year, the windsurfing sensation is now hotly tipped for Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We caught up with Bryony training hard in New Zealand…
Age: 25
From: I was born in Wandsworth, London, I grew up in Oxford and now I’m based in Weymouth.
Have you always loved watersports?
Yes, from a young age I was always in the water!
How did you get into windsurfing?
I had tried windsurfing on family holidays and loved it, as did my parents. It became a hobby when we got our own kit. I would go on youth windsurfing weeks around the country in the summer and made loads of friends. It was a great sport for a 12-year-old to get into.
When did everything turn serious and you decided to commit yourself to the sport full time?
I started racing when I was aged 15 on the 6.5m Aloha at national junior events and must have shown some promise as I made it into the national under-17 team. I had shown good potential but at that time windsurfing was still just a hobby. By the time I moved up to the 7.4m Olympic-sized kit, which was a much bigger sail and board, I had done a few international events and I worked my way up to become Britain’s top female rider in my age group in 2001. That same year, after finishing my A-Levels, I took part in my first adult World Championships aged 18 and finished 17th - only two places off achieving world class standard. After that summer I trained full-time and I set my sights on competing at the Olympics.
Can you give us a run down of your average day?
As a windsurfer, it is hard to maintain a daily routine. There is a lot of travelling to and from competitions and training venues around Europe and the UK. When I have a steady week I concentrate on my fitness and on water training. I go for a tough 2-hour bike ride in the morning and come back knackered! So stretching, rest and good nutrition is important post-exercise to recover.
In the afternoons, after lunch I will rig up my RS:X 8.5 sail and go out on the water with my coach and training partners for a 2-hour sail. This session varies with the wind conditions, so the focus could be technical, tactical, speed or fitness. A hot shower and a stretch afterwards, or sometimes an ice bath helps with recovery for the next day.
Evening activities could be a video debrief with my coach if he has filmed some of the sailing that day, or I might take a trip to the gym to do some weights to develop strength and power. Or I might simply chill out!
And if you could have the perfect day, what would it include?
I would be in a glamorous, sunny location with a surf beach, marina, beautiful bike routes and golf courses. I’d stay in a five-star hotel with a spa, hot jacuzzis, water jets and icy plunge pools. I would get a sports massage and acupuncture from a top physio, and there would be a wide variety of restuarants, bars and shops to splurge in. I’d have to be close to home though, so I could see my boyfriend and friends as often as I liked.
