"Do you have any regrets?" | 3x Olympian & Boat Partner Gevvie Stone

*This transcript was auto-generated*

Kristi Wagner  0:03  
In the final we came in fifth place. I'm curious how that felt to you, then and maybe now?

Gevvie Stone  0:12  
Yeah, I think it's hard in a way because the goal, our goal was always to go as fast as he could, but also to be on the podium. Like that was something that we had discussed leading up. Like when we decided throw together like we're gonna give her all because the goal is the podium. We knew that we had really fast competition, and we were not going to be through Romanians, even on our like, very best day. But we had been really close to the Dutch in our World Cup races. And we really thought that, or I thought that like that third metal that bronze was something that we could do.

Kristi Wagner  0:46  
Welcome to the other three years, a show for anyone who has an Olympic sized dream they want to turn into a reality. In this episode, I'll be interviewing three time Olympian and silver medalist from the 2016 Olympics, and most importantly, my boat partner during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Jebi stone Jeffie is not only a very accomplished elite rower, but she is also an emergency medicine resident, and is currently living in working in Boston. So our conversation covers Debbie's experience balancing rowing and her career During her other three years. We'll talk about what it takes to be a champion and how she felt about going from racing alone in the single during her first two Olympic cycles to rowing with me during the 2021 Olympics. But before we get into that, I'm going to share an update on my current training. First, let's start with a review of the week. And for anyone that doesn't know you can leave me a rating and or review in Apple podcasts. And I'd love to be able to read your review on the show. So be sure to log on to Apple podcasts and give us a rating and a review. So this week's review comes from quote fairies cat and she says I love how Christie is so real vulnerable and funny. I'm really enjoying this podcast. It's so inspiring and makes me feel like I can really reach for some bigger goals in my own life despite not being an athlete, a must listen. So thanks, various cat, we really appreciate you listening, and I really appreciate your kind words makes me feel like I'm gonna cry. So thank you. Here's a special thank you to our sponsor palette. palette is a co working space and community that celebrates culture shared ideas and connections with offices in Saratoga and Schenectady, New York. palette is a comfortable place to get work done, escape from the challenges of home, or connect and meet with a group of friends. And they have great snacks. Visit pallet community.com to learn more and join today. All right, so here's what's happening with my training right now. I'm still in Chula Vista, California. last update, I talked about getting ready for a big race. And since then, I raced in the big race. And so last weekend, the last weekend of April, we raced in the national selection Regatta, which is a domestic US rowing race with my Orion teammate Boren and more than I actually won the time trial. And then we had the only fine five boats. So we all made it to the final. And we raced in the final on Friday. And we also won that which was exciting. It was a really close race in the final we won by like half a second. So it was really, really fun to race and being a close race. It's super exciting, but also fun to win. So it was great. It was a it was fun. The women's doubles had the fastest, we call it like GMs gold medal Standard Time. There's a lot, there's a lot left to do. So, but it's nice. It's fun to be in California. It's fun to be with the bigger group. The vibes have been pretty good. It's nice. It's nice to be at camp because you get to go to bed really early and somebody else cooks all your meals and all those kinds of things. Here's a special thank you to our sponsor the beauty bar. The beauty bar is your new glam destination for women on the go in Saratoga, New York. The beauty bar is amazing and can help you feel your best with many different services available including monthly memberships for blowouts and makeup. The beauty bar also offers bridal makeup brow tinting one on one makeup lessons and group classes. I had an awesome time with my stylist fun and she was not at all intimidated. When I arrived still gross and sweaty from a workout, it was a pretty amazing transformation, all while she kept me feeling relaxed and comfortable. I can't recommend fawn and the beauty bar more.

Kristi Wagner  5:16  
So now it's time to go back. And here are my interview with Jebi. Again, Jebi was my partner during the 2021 Olympics and is herself a Olympic silver medalist from the 2016 Olympics and a three time Olympian. She's also an emergency medicine resident. And without further ado, here's our conversation. I'm very happy to have you. I think it'll be really great to talk to you because we've obviously spent a lot of time together. But I also think what you've done in your other three years is a lot and I'd imagine helped you. Like come back to rowing, starting with balancing training in life. I think for people that don't know you, maybe you can share what you've done with your life beyond. In the vote.

Gevvie Stone  6:08  
Yeah, thanks for having me. How exciting how flattering to be included, jumped back into the rowing world. Not that I really left. But anyway, when I was training, as Christy knows, I alternated medicine and rowing. I graduated college in 2007. And knew that I was gonna take a year off before starting medical school, but um, it was the Olympic year. So I spent the year in Princeton trying out for the Beijing team and applying to med school, which kind of had been the whole plan. through college. I didn't make the Beijing team and went to med school and thought that I was done rowing which kind of set me up with for like how the next 12 years of my life went, which is that I started med school in the fall 2008 and kept going for fun on the side and kind of found that I was getting fast enough that maybe I had a chance at making the team and still had the dream of being Olympian

Kristi Wagner  7:07  
like what how do you think you went from rowing around just enjoying the sport to oh, I now feel confident enough to you know, was it just your performance on the water or

Gevvie Stone  7:19  
when I had left the camp doesn't eat I was pretty broken down in terms of my confidence as a rower I had been kind of on the bubble for the quad and was new in the camp system was one of the younger people and just kind of got beat up by the attitude in the camp. It's very competitive and you start hearing people say things about how you're not fast enough and and you believe those things yourself and I I think what ultimately I didn't believe that I was going to make it in Beijing and I took the whole summer didn't touch a boat. And then when I turned during that fall, my dad said you know, just come out with me we'll roll up side by side and Charles River and convinced me to enter like head this with a tonic and I was rolling with no pressure No Strings Attached whenever I could fit it in and September in Boston is definitely the most beautiful time to row and was winning these races by like a minute because I wasn't done no competition, but it is fun to win. And so as I began to just kind of figure things out in my single again and set practices for myself and have no time expectation like if I could only row for 40 minutes I could only go for 40 minutes so doing the practices I like to doing no expectations began to enjoy it more and then I want her to Charles that foul beating a bunch of women who had made the team for Beijing and that was definitely the moment I remember coming through Elliot bridge going downstream. So like on my cooldown row and Fred shock shouted from the balcony of CBC like you won. And just like that was my one I was like oh my gosh, like this. I want to do this I still want to do this.

Kristi Wagner  9:01  
Yeah. And now how many times have you on how to the Charles you know

Gevvie Stone  9:10  
10 single champs, the champ single was 10 It's pretty but then a bunch of the champion and then the master single twice

Kristi Wagner  9:20  
so how do you think that then when you started to add you know, expectations and pressure back in you kept? You know, the fun and the wanting to do it? How did you keep that you know that balance that you needed?

Gevvie Stone  9:37  
Yeah, that's a good question. Because I think when I did take time off to row again full time, I knew that rowing was my number one priority. I think by that point, two years into med school, I was really excited to take a break from med school. So there is something about flip flopping between two hard things like one the grass always greener on the other side of the fence. When you're sitting in a library, it seems great to be outside on the river Even in bad weather. So I think there was a there's like that newfound appreciation when you get to jump back into it. One of the great things about rowing is getting to get faster every day. And that singular focus of gaining speed every day. It's pretty special.

Kristi Wagner  10:24  
Yeah. How do you think you found the motivation to get on the erg? I think a lot of people, you know, whether it's something like that, or I think we saw a lot of it during the pandemic, like just wouldn't have gotten on. So how do you think that you made that step?

Gevvie Stone  10:42  
First of all, say that I wasn't perfect. There were definitely days. And my dad didn't find out about this, my dad, and my coach didn't find out until like, after London and I had skipped a few workouts in that winter 2011 2012 When I had been through just some relationship drama, and like, just couldn't get myself off the couch in the afternoon and just didn't do the workouts like End of story. And do I? If I could have changed it would I have? Yes, but I think I only had so much self control. At that point, I did get myself off the couch for the majority of the workouts. And I think having some accountability helps. So for hard workouts, knowing that I would have to email or text my dad my score. And then thinking about the big picture, thinking about what the goal ahead is, and having faith that if you do your job and put the work in that the results will follow. So at that point, in that winter, I had been the US single with them before but hadn't qualified to vote for the Olympics. And it was a step to get I had to get significantly faster in order to qualify the boat. And so not only did I have to have that goal of competing at the Olympics, but I had to say that I could be fast enough to qualify that vote. And then a little bit of anger to you know, it's okay to think about who you're going to race and get a little fired up, get a little spicy.

Kristi Wagner  12:22  
Yeah, motivation can come from many different places. What do you think, is something that, you know, you've learned, not in terms of like a workout, but just in terms of how you kind of lived your life from, you know, your first Olympic quad, or going to 2012, and then going to 2016, that, you know, you made you made those other three years different in some way. If there was anything.

Gevvie Stone  12:53  
Yeah, in 2012, I was really working decently part time in addition to the roaming, so I would go into the lab for five, six hours a day, and shadowing clinic for a full clinic day on Friday, so full eight hours of clinic. And so I really only had time to do to work out the day, because it be before clinic or the lab and then going in and and after. And I did that through the spring, really until we started to travel in the spring of 2012. And talking to everyone else realized that while I really benefit from having something else to do to distract me from growing, the amount of time I was spending doing it, so the full 30 Something hours a week was too much. And so in 2016 quad The goal was a medal. So a few people would come up to my dad, a few other international coaches, The End of London and said, You know, I think Jedi can be on the podium and Rio. And when I heard that I thought it was ridiculous because I'd play sevens in London and had the best race in my life. And I was like no way, I'm not going to be an Olympic medalist, like there's so much faster. But when I went back to med school at third and fourth year, I had that in the back of my head, kind of like mulling it over and tossing it around thinking, you know, what if I couldn't be on the podium, what if I couldn't be that fast, and knew it would take some changes. So I did continue doing some research, but it was more like on the side from my desk at my home. And it would add up to seven hours a week. So it's something to distract me, but not enough to take away from nap time or workout time. And so I could get those three sessions a day and on days that I lifted, in addition to the two sessions the other days and was napping, which I think in terms of recovery was really important. I also had a mentor who was a sports medicine doctor who sat me down in November 2015 I think and said you know you've worked with me but like here's my advice as a doctor to you and gave me a whole long list of things to start and some of them were really helpful. Like, Judy starting to see a chiropractor once a week. And to stay on top of injuries, who did deep tissue work and working with nutritionist who dealt in sport performance. Starting yoga, not just for like the flexibility and the structuring, but also for just like the mental side the focus. So, yeah, there was a list of about 10 things. And some of them weren't as useful. And some of them were very useful, and I think really did help that last little bit to get me on the podium in real.

Kristi Wagner  15:36  
Yeah. And then we started rowing together after. So the Olympics were postponed in 2020. And in 2021, the first race of the year was singles, trials, and Jebi came in second. And I came in third. And then I went to Boston to join a group of women that had been training there with Jebi, whom her dad, Greg was coaching, and we all rode. We went through a bunch of different combinations, trying out a bunch of different things. And then Jebi and I ended up growing together at the doubles trials, which we won. Yay. Okay, so that it was my first time making an Olympic team, but it was your first time making an Olympic team with another person. So what was that like? Was it and you won't hurt my feelings? How was it to you know, and I you rode with Sicily in 2019. In the double, but, you know, transitioning back to being in a boat with another person. How was that?

Gevvie Stone  16:58  
Yeah, I, when I decided to do the Tokyo quad, I thought that I would be in the single because I had been in a single and really hadn't had too much domestic competition. In the 2016, quadrennial, but care Kohler was really fast, and she actually hadn't rode the single, like when I decided to take time off from residency in the summer of 2017. Felice was the single, and Kara hadn't yet made that transition either. And so it was definitely the first time I lost trials was definitely hard. I also knew that I'd only been training for I don't know, it was like, almost six months, it wasn't a ton of time at that point, and had wasn't fully back up to speed. And Sicily, trained in Boston, and was really fortunate to have her there. And we jumped in the double and made it go fast. And at that point in time, I was excited to be kind of racing internationally again, and then did set my sights on gaining more speed and being the single again for Tokyo, and was definitely more of a disappointment in a way and the 2021 trials. Because I had had all the full time to be training and Kara one, in a way was also less disappointing because I did terrible race and 2019 trials and in 2120, and trials, I at least had like a legit race. So I had known that I left it all on the water and care of is really fast. So I was lucky that Chrissy came to Boston. And I think what I didn't realize until we were in the double together is how hard the COVID here was on me. But also I've been training for so long in the single and I think it's easy to get used to things. And being in a double was different. And I think for me, it made me rethink kind of everything that I was doing. Technically, but also just, we would talk about sleep and I'm like, oh, gosh, Christy's went to bed earlier, like I need to go to bed earlier. Like there's so many other things that I can do to be faster. And I think that having that fresh look on training even before we made the team and one trials, having that fresh look on training was really helpful for me. And then also being in a boat with another person. I think you have that peer pressure that we were talking about. And I had been away from it for so long. But I think having it at the end was really helpful for me like bringing it back in, in terms of like that accountability to another person and like just really giving your best in every single workout was critical. And I think the fascinating thing to me is how many women that I've raced in the single there are still rowing or have now transitioned into the double and I Think for similar reasons like you see Sunita and Maggie and

Kristi Wagner  20:06  
someone else and I'm blanking. Well, Emma was gonna do it.

Gevvie Stone  20:09  
Emma was going to do it. Yeah. And I think a huge part of that is that you the singles wonderful, and I love rowing it, and I still embracing it. But when you've been doing it for a long time, I think there's something about having another person in that accountability and the double that kind of brings new life and kind of more speed into your training and racing. So it's fun to see everyone else in the double now, they all kind of caught on,

Kristi Wagner  20:44  
I think you were the trend starter? That's right. You know, I think this is something that I struggle with. And I think a lot of people struggle with, like, you know, going after a really big goal and putting everything into it and giving it your best shot, and still not achieving that goal, and then having to kind of mourn that loss while also opening another door. You know, you didn't make me feel like I was a second option, even though I obviously knew that you wanted to win the single. I was, you know, aware of that. But it didn't, it didn't feel to me like I was a backup choice, or rowing, the double was a backup choice. So how do you how did you kind of navigate that like internally and switch your focus?

Gevvie Stone  21:42  
Fortunately, the Olympics is like a pretty great goal to have, no matter what boat you're in. So the possibility and the retention about possibility of I still racing Olympics and still striving for a medal. While I had seen myself doing it in this angle, just the fact that like that broader goal had never been, like go to the Olympics again. Even though I visualized myself doing it, the single the goal had never specifically been to do in the single The goal was always like to go back to the Olympics, and to try again for an Olympic medal. And so that broader goal didn't change when we hopped in the double together.

Kristi Wagner  22:24  
But do you feel like you have anything that you do, you know, like, Yossi told me, you know, you can be sad for 24 hours, you can be happy for 24 hours? And it's actually really helped me like, do you feel like you've had anything like that, where when something doesn't go? Well, you know, there's a way that you kind of worked through it, or,

Gevvie Stone  22:47  
yeah, and I think some of my bigger losses, like in 2011, when I didn't go off at about at the World Championships. And I had expected to, like everyone had told me, you know, you'll make a final and then when I was gonna be finished with all you'll win the the final. And when I was 11. Some of the final was a shock. And then in 2014, I came back from worlds after a terrible final, and had already taken time away from med school and decided not to apply for residency, that was really tough. And both of those times I went to my grandma's house in Maine, which is a great place to be in September and said, like, I'm not going to think about rolling, I'm gonna ride my bike to the bakery every day, I'm going to go on walks and be outside and just kind of embrace a simpler life and not think about what's next. Just kind of enjoy each day. And I after a single trials, you don't have the time to do that. Because there's like, what, four weeks, three weeks between singles trials and doubles trials. But I think it's kind of the same approach. And then I do need some time away. I don't remember how quickly you came to Boston, I think there was a period of at least like 24 or 48 hours. I think it was like a week. I had the drive up

Kristi Wagner  24:02  
from Florida. I think it was like a week before we started practice again.

Gevvie Stone  24:07  
Yeah, I had the whole drive from Florida to kind of mope. And my now husband Jonathan did it with me. And I was miserable for him. And he drove most of the way. And we listened to a book on tape, which is a great way to kind of just distract yourself. And I was so picky about where we ate when we stopped but like didn't want to do anything. But it did. It wasn't in my normal routine. So it gave me the time and the headspace to be somewhere else to kind of get over it. And so by the time I arrived back, like in my apartment, in my normal routine, I was ready to move on. And I think physically being distanced from my normal life was very helpful in terms of like all those things. When I got over Beijing, I went was a counselor my summer camp and I think that was the best thing I could have done. So I think Yeah, that physical removal from like, the normal environment to get a fresh slate is helpful for me.

Kristi Wagner  25:07  
Yeah, no, I think that's very true. So then we started, we rode together, and we won trials. And then we went to the Olympics, which is very exciting. And we slept in a tiny room, or our beds basically touched each other, our cardboard cardboard beds. And then we, in rowing, the top six boats may make the final, which is a big deal. And we made the final. And then in the final, we came in fifth place. And I, I've talked on the podcast, which you will hear, everybody will hear about how that felt to me, but I'm curious how that felt to you. You know, then, and maybe now, if it's the same if it's different.

Gevvie Stone  26:05  
Yeah, I think it's hard in a way, because the goal, our goal, and Christina had talked about this was always to go as fast as he could, but also to be on the podium, like that was something that we had discussed leading up, like, when we decided to throw together like, we're gonna give her all because the goal is the podium. And when you make the a final, you have to bring your podium outfits down, because the podium is like, within reach. We knew that we had really fast competition, and we were not going to be through Romanians. Even on our like, very best today. But we had been really close to the Dutch in our World Cup races. And we really thought that, or I thought that like that third metal that bronze was something that we could do. So it's hard. I mean, like we talked about, it's hard setting a goal and not achieving it. I think it's really easy to nitpick the details, especially in that moment. And think about all the little things that you could have done differently. Like, for example, I know, we talked about how, after a semi final, which was the day before, we did our cooldown without coming in to get our ICS first. And so without refilling our water bottles, which probably made a little bit of a difference. Did it make all the difference? I don't know. And I think one of the things that my dad said to me after Rio, when I decided to run again or in 2017 was you know, like Rio was a storybook ending, and the chances that you have that, again, are very low. Because everything had gone like everything had gone as good or better than we expected. down to like the lane I got assigned in the final down to where the wind was coming from. And the final that it was a little bit rougher, it was like the perfect amount to be like just like the bays and in Boston, they're just like all these little things like the semi final and final got condensed there, were back to back which like favored my endurance, like there's all these little things like one or the other, that kind of luck fell in the right places. And on top of all the hard training, like everyone puts in the hard work and hard training. And I knew that I went to the Olympics in a place where I could be in, like middle contention. But in addition to be having that possibility of being in medical contention, you also, sometimes you need a little bit of luck. And I think that in Tokyo, we had done what we could do in the time period we had in terms of putting ourselves in metal contention. And we knew after the World Cup that we were in that place. And I think some of the luck, things didn't fall our way, which is sad. And I still have periods where I'm mourning. I'm like, oh, like it would have been really great to have another Olympic medal. But I think much bigger than that is how much we got out of the experience. And it's been really, for me a joy to see Christie and other people that wrote in Boston continue to row and hopefully carry on, like the things they learned in that experience. In terms of like going to Paris getting medals there.

Kristi Wagner  29:20  
Yeah. And so what is your role, you know, within the US rowing community now, what would you say?

Gevvie Stone  29:31  
I am a member of the High Performance committee. I'm the female athlete, Representative highperformance committee and as such, I'm also on the athletes Advisory Council and an aspiring team doctor. So I hope to get back to competition someday just in a different not in a unison.

Kristi Wagner  29:49  
Have you enjoyed, you know, playing that role like I I was impressed with kind of how quickly it seemed like you pivoted from, you know, being on the team to playing these other roles. Did you feel like having a new role would help the transition or, you know, talk about the transition a little bit

Gevvie Stone  30:16  
after people had said about finishing and like knowing when they retired. For me, I had that feeling in the Tokyo quadrennial, I distinctly remember, ONE ERG workout in the COVID season. And I think the extra year of the pandemic kind of really solidified that I would be done after Tokyo, just that, going that extra 12 months. But one work or workout in the winter, where it was harder for me to do mentally than most workouts are, and it was just one workout and the rest of the workouts after that were fine. But on that one workout, I was like, You know what, I don't think I can do this again for another winter. And I knew that I could get through the summer and like, Go hard to the whole summer. And it definitely helped to be in a double and have that accountability too. But I knew that I didn't have it in me to do another winter. And it's a mixed bag. Now. I mean, I highpoints May is great. And it's I love hearing the gossip still, because, you know, just love my mind me my rowing gossip. But um, and being involved in those decisions and seeing kind of some of the good changes, or I think good changes that US rowing is making. And it's kind of a privilege to be a part of that. I do miss rowing. And like when the race has happened, I go gosh, like, it'd be fun to be back to, like, you know, be out there and be on the start line again, and I think I could do it. And then I ride my bike to work on like a windy, cold day. And I think you know, I don't want to go rowing on this day, like, I don't have to go out in the bad weather. So while in an idealized world, it seems really great to be training full time, I think. I didn't realize I loved it when I was in it. But I also didn't realize how exhausting it can be, and how much energy it takes. Because you're just, you're in it, and you're doing it and you're totally immersed in it. And now that I'm out the other side. I know how much I gave to it. And I don't know if I could give 100% Again, because I know that I wouldn't be able to give 100% again, and I wouldn't want to do it if I wasn't giving 100%

Kristi Wagner  32:26  
I mean, that must be a bit of like a freeing feeling. Right? Like,

Gevvie Stone  32:32  
yeah, I don't know, it's like a little bit. I don't know, it's weird, because it's like, it was a morning, something else. Like a result. Were a friend or family member. It's like a morning like a little part of view that's going away. Which it becomes so much a part of your identity. Like, the more I grow, the more I became invested in

Kristi Wagner  32:54  
it. Yeah. But rowing is I mean, you'll row forever. Like,

Gevvie Stone  32:58  
I go row forever, probably.

Kristi Wagner  33:01  
I think that's one of the really cool. That's something I've always really loved about rowing like it. I mean, yes, there are barriers to it boats and water and oars and you know, other people and stuff. But once you have those things, you can do it. You know, you see people out on the water that are in their 80s and 90s. And that's just amazing to me. Like Yeah.

Gevvie Stone  33:28  
Yeah, it's a special sport and special community. That stuff Yeah, it'll always be that way. It's not the same as getting on the start line at an international race. From here's a little secret had a Charles to the Masters not the same as big a big start line. But that I mean, I still wouldn't give it out. But still, I still love it.

Kristi Wagner  33:52  
So our next episode, I'm going to talk about teammates, and kind of teammate relationships and all of those things. And I personally feel very lucky that I got to be your teammate. I think it was an awesome experience. I am sad that it was so short. It would have been awesome to have done it for longer, although maybe. Maybe because it was so short. There. Were only good. I'm not sure.

Gevvie Stone  34:27  
We were in our honeymoon period the whole

Kristi Wagner  34:28  
time. Yeah, but I don't. I mean, I think we've both had a lot of teammates. And I think it's you know, we're not we don't talk every day 24/7 But I feel like we've become good friends and and it's lasted beyond, you know, rowing which I don't think always happens. It only happens sometimes. And I think that doesn't necessarily you don't have to be best friends with people in your boat to go fast but but you can be good friends. So people like, I think navigating that is a challenge for anybody. It's true in rowing, and probably also in life, you have to work with people that you get along with and that you don't. So, you know, do you miss the teammate aspect of rowing? Or do you feel like you still have that, and that part hasn't really gone away.

Gevvie Stone  35:25  
I think that part is probably the part that I still have both, because I'm still rolling with the Masters guys, once a week, so we still go out in quads. And like now people who Kendall who was trying for Tokyo and Spalding are a part of that group. So it's still have that fun camaraderie occasion on the water. Also, because I keep in touch with you, and Mary, and kind of get a little sense of that. And I think, more importantly, is the day to day everyday is that just the nature of my job as an emergency medicine resident, we have that team. And it really does is a different type of team. But we are also pretty reliant on one another and work together towards different goals. But I guess different goals enrolling, but we're all on the same page as to what we need to get done in the emergency department every day. And I think that's one of the things I liked about emergency medicine is that you're on a team with the other residents, the other attendings, the nurses, the text, everyone in terms of patient care. And I think that carries over from sports, which is pretty cool that I got to do it forever.

Kristi Wagner  36:40  
That's cool. And I can text you with my weird medical questions, which is very helpful. All right. My last question is, you know, which I feel like it's kind of a cliche, last question, but what kind of advice would you give, you know, you had such a long career going through, really four cycles, and not that, you know, I know, it wasn't all like rainbows and daisies, but I feel like you You did make it through and, you know, had a lot of success, but had a lot of fun in the process. And what's like, you know, if you feel like there's a secret, what would you say that was that that you think you did that other people don't do?

Gevvie Stone  37:26  
I think making hard work fun, is the biggest part of why it was successful. It's not an easy thing to do. Because I think like the natural instinct is to avoid hard work, or to dread it, and to just wait for it to be over. But I think whether it was like rolling with the Masters guys, or traveling to to train with other international rowers, or just the camaraderie had among international small boats, and knowing my competition, I think it was it made working fun working hard fun. And you can't do it without working hard. Like there's, there's no easy secret to be like, oh, yeah, this is how you do it. It's, it's going to be hard work. And whatever you can do, whether it's like your solo dance party, or rewarding yourself with ice cream or doing with someone else, I think making the hard work fun, and enjoying the process is really what had me doing it for so long.

Kristi Wagner  38:37  
So now it's time for one of our fan favorite segments ask Christy anything. Our question this week is from s, she is a student athlete at Yale. And she asked the question, we have a massive race this weekend. And our main goal is to open the race aggressively and sustained speed through the third 500 Do you have any words of advice or wisdom, it'd be much appreciated. So for all our non rowers out there, the third 500 is the third quarter of a rowing race, it's when your legs and lungs really, really burn. It's one of the hardest parts of a race and where races are usually won or lost. So it can be a really, really big important moment, but also a hard, hard time during the race. So to answer answer the question, I'd say that sometimes when I get tired, I like to think that that means that other people are tired. So if I can just push through the next like 10 strokes or 30 seconds or whatever, then I'll just have pushed through a little bit harder than everyone else, and that'll kind of been the racing moment for me. So sometimes that try that flips the switch of instead of feeling like Oh, No, I'm tired. I think like, yes, good, I'm tired. That means other people are tired too. And that means that I can push ahead right now. But the third 500 is, you know, it's tricky time, I feel like it happens to everyone. It's kind of like, the sky is darkest just before sunrise, which is kind of a emotional country song lyric probably. But it's also true. Like, it's, it's hard to keep going in that moment when you're tired. But then before you know it, it's almost over and you get that kind of jolt of energy you get right before the finish. So if you can just push through like a really hard time, you know, in life or you know, darkest just before dawn, you can push through the third 500 of the race then before you know it, you're almost at the end which is the exciting part. You get that extra jolt of energy you feel picked up again and then you know you can accomplish more than you thought. If you have a question you'd like to submit to ask Christy anything, head to our website, the other three years.com You can find more information in the show notes. Coming up next week, we're going to talk about the difference between teammates and friends get excited.

Kristi Wagner  41:18  
I'd love to hear from you. So send us a topic suggestion or if you'd like to submit a question for our Ask Christy anything segment, head to our website, the other three years.com

Transcribed by https://otter.ai