Justin Longo

My guess is that the titans of the rowing “industry” will look skeptically upon the central argument of this book. Clearly, the Olympic movement in Canada is led by those with a gold fixation, revealed in jingoistic slogans like “Own the Podium”. But my hope is that some of the athletes that aspire to reach the heights of Olympic glory will be inspired by this story to look within themselves to find the motivation to reach their highest potential. My only disappointment with this book is that, by being focussed on the esoteric sport of rowing, it won’t receive the wide readership it deserves. This is a book that should be read by coaches and competitors regardless of their sport – in fact, it will be valuable for anyone who has to confront the challenge of setting goals, staying motivated and inspiring high-performance athletes to reach their highest potential. It’s slightly frustrating that what isn’t revealed is exactly how to motivate those athletes in the absence of trying to beat the competition. But perhaps that’s the point: don’t look to someone else to tell you how to reach your potential. Look within to learn that.