Motivational Case Studies
Zac Purchase
Related tags: Sports, Rowing, Racing
Date Added: Thu, 26 Mar 2009
If you look in either the Indoor Rower or the Forum sections of the website, you'll see someone on the rowing machine who might, as yet, be unfamiliar to you. The rower in question is 21-year old Zac Purchase, one of the exciting new generation of British rowers to emerge since the retirement of the likes of Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent et al. Although he's only been a full-time rower for a few years, such has been his impact on the international stage he's already hotly tipped as one of the ones to watch in London in 2012.
Zac first started rowing at his school, King's School Worcester when he was 14. At that point he was playing a wide range of sports, including swimming for the county, but he soon realised that it was rowing where his true talent lay. He left school at 18 and, rather than going straight to university, decided to try and make a go of it as an oarsman.
A silver in the lightweight single sculls in the 2005 World Championship was followed a year later by the greatest moment of his career in the 2006 Championships at Dorney Lake. In front of a large home crowd he won the Lightweight Men's Single Sculls, setting a new world record in the process.
"Winning at Dorney was a real mixture of elation, satisfaction and relief. It's such a great feeling when you cross the line and you know that all the sacrifices have paid off and you can just enjoy the moment."
Getting to the top of any sport does involve plenty of sacrifices, both on and of the water.
"I enjoy going out and seeing my friends and socialising, but sometimes that's just not possible when you need to be up at the crack of dawn the next day, no matter what the weather. Training-wise it definitely goes through stages of being really tough. The one thing that keeps me going is I love racing. That's what's always given me the buzz from day one, and it's that I keep in mind during the cold winter months."
Zac's training changes throughout the year, but in general he does 2-3 sessions a day, seven days a week, training between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m "and then sleeping in the afternoon". Every day will see him on the water at least once or twice, with another session in the gym, usually on the Indoor Rower. A typical piece on the Rower will be an 18k or 24k session at 1:49 or 1:51 pace. One of the test pieces for the British squad is a 30-minute piece capped at 20 strokes per minute, for which he's managed 8,500m. How does he make sure he gets the most of his training? "I always set myself realistic goals and targets, and go into each session with a definite aim in mind. It's also really good to have a training partner, as you can spur each other on and encourage each other when things are getting tough."
His best 2,000m time on the rowing machine is 6:09.5. So does he look forward to rowing 2,000m flat out? "Err, no", he laughs, "I pretty much dread it. You're pushed to the limit when you row 2,000m and you really find out what you're made of."
Racing at the British IRC, however, is something that does make it enjoyable. "Like I say, I really enjoy the act of racing, and the British IRC is such a great environment to be in. The ability to link up the machines makes for an amazing experience. In an international race, for example, you're normally up against only five others, so to race against over 100 others is a lot more intense and interesting."
So what does he think he can get his 2,000m time down to? "Well, the world record is 6:02.6, so my ultimate target is 6:02.5. I'm definitely aiming to get down to 6:07, 6:06 in the near future"
Zac's current targets now includes the Olympics, which means he's had to move from the single scull into an Olympic discipline and he's now racing in a lightweight double with Mark Hunter. London and 2012 is their long term goal but he's got his sights on Beijing next year. "I definitely think we've got a chance of a medal. I wouldn't turn up if I didn't think we could get on the podium."
As an all-round sportsman, he's also looking forward to the experience of being around other athletes. His current sporting hero is Kelly Holmes, and he vividly remembers her races in the Sydney Olympics. "Anybody who gets two Olympic medals is obviously doing something very right, and watching her win was fantastically exciting. Her book's very good as well, which always helps! Having said that, I'm inspired by anybody who's ever done anything and got their timing right so that they're in the right place at the right time."
Back to all Case Studies