Meet Simon Herbert
The proud recipient of the 35-39 Lightweight Men’s silver medal at the 2009 British Indoor Rowing Championships.
And when he’s not training or competing Simon juggles the roles of Firefighter, dad and househusband.
“I started using the Concept2 a couple of years ago to help me recover from a running injury and my love of the machine grew and grew. I ended up entering the Indoor Rowing Champs in 2008 and was gutted when I came in 4th, missing bronze by just 1.8 seconds. Needless to say rather than congratulating me on an outstanding performance for a novice, I got a fair amount of ribbing from the guys at the station. As if I needed any more motivation I vowed to leave the next event with a medal.”
“As a Firefighter there’s no one standard day and so fitting in the training I needed required a real focus. If we’re not responding to emergency calls we’ll be giving out fire safety advice, training, checking our kit…the list is endless. We’re certainly not sitting around drinking tea and reading the papers between shouts!” But Simon found that the Concept2 was an ideal training partner and he managed to slot in training sessions between the demands of his job. “Regular short workouts helped me build strength and stamina, and training for an event kept me motivated and interested. There was no way I could come away empty handed again!”
And so dawned the morning of Sunday 22nd November 2009 in Birmingham. After a concentrated year of training Simon took his position and waited for the start of his race. “I hadn’t been too well in the run up to the race itself,” commented Simon, “and so hadn’t managed to fit in as much training as I’d have liked. However my wife and children were with me and so I was determined to make them proud.” And so he did. Simon managed to improve his 2008 time by 2.5 seconds. “I was over the moon. I’d beaten my personal best, captured the silver and the icing on the cake…I’d beaten a fellow firefighter who snatched bronze!”
As a Firefighter there’s no one standard day and so fitting in the training I needed required a real focus ... Regular short workouts helped me build strength and stamina, and training for an event kept me motivated and interested
Simon Herbert
When asked if he’s got ambitions to add a Gold medal to his collection in 2010 we find a more reflective Simon. “The guy who beat me pulled a Championship Record out of the bag. Assuming he’s planning to defend his title I’d need to knock over 14 seconds off my time… It’s a tall order, but who knows. I love Theodore Roosevelt’s, “The Firefighter”. It’s packed full of inspiration, whether I’m working or striving to achieve something outside of work…so bring on BIRC 2010.”
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt 1910