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Two new interviews added. Before and after the Olympics.
See below for transcribes of these new interviews

Paul Griffin
Kerry Olympian
This 24 year old young Kerry man from Barley Mount Fossa, three miles outside the town of Killarney, rowed himself into the sporting history of Kerry when he helped Ireland qualify for next year’s Olympic games in Athens in the Coxless fours rowing event. Paul and his team mates finished sixth in the world in Milan last month. He will become the first ever man from Kerry to row in the Olympics. He is a full time oarsman with the Irish team and is rated as one of the top oarsmen in the country.

Listen to Paul Griffin (Full listening instructions available here)
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Part 1 >> Weeshie Fogarty speaks to Paul about his Rowing achievements so far
and introduces the Kerry Olympian to the Terrace Talk Listeners.
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Part 2 >> Paul talks about the importance of diet, training and weight in his sport and
what it has taken to reach the mental, technical and physical standard he has acheived.
(Listen now)____(Download)

Part 3 >> The phone lines buzz with comments and congratulations for Paul.
A presentation is made to the Young Kerry Olympian.
(Listen now)____(Download)

 

An Interview with Paul Griffin - Kerry Olympain- After the Olympics
By Weeshie Fogarty
Paul Griffin Part 2

W.F: I’m delighted tonight to have Olympian Paul Griffin as my special guest to talk about his Olympic odyssey in Athens. It should make fascinating listening. He’s just back and it’s the first interview he’s given since he’s back and I’m delighted that he’s asked to come along to join us is his girlfriend Clare. Clare you’re very welcome.

Clare: Thank you Weeshie.

W.F: Paul welcome home.

P.G: Thanks very much

W.F: Listen to me are you coming down to earth a little bit or what was it like Paul. I don’t know where to start with you.

P.G: Yeah I’m kind of coming down to earth a bit alright now yeah. It’s been quite hectic for the past eleven months or so. Yeah I’m just trying to relax now and take the whole thing in and trying to access how it went and think about the future as well.

W.F: Paul the last time I spoke to you, you were going to become an Olympian. You are an Olympian now. You have written yourself into History’s pages. There are only four Kerry Olympians alive would you believe. Yourself and Gillian, Tom O’Riordan and Jerry Kiernan who was on the television for all the Olympics but was it bigger than what you thought. Was it more mind boggling? Was it frightening or was it less than what you had expected.

P.G: I think being honest it was just about what I had expected. The whole Olympic village where we were staying and stuff was just very impressive I thought you know but in terms where the rowing centre was and how the rowing went I thought it was just about what I expected. I had seen a lot of photos of the place and heard a lot about the place. I thought it was excellent actually.

W.F: Now you have a lot of rowing done you have rowed World Championships, European Championships, National Championships and everything but I suppose this was just a step above everything else the whole thing.

P.G: Yeah undoubtedly the atmosphere around the place the quality around the place in terms of the people walking around the athletes, the way we were treated the infrastructure around the place the logistics everything was absolutely perfect we couldn’t have asked for any more and everything was in place basically so all that was left for us to do was pull the oar really. It was as simple as that and I think that was the best way around it really.

W.F: Paul you had two objectives when I spoke to you last. The first was to row an Olympic final. You achieved that. The second was to come home with a medal. You didn’t achieve that. Was that a big disappointment or looking back in retrospect now was it outside your reach at the moment.

P.G: Going in of course you need to be positive. The final was always going to be a big thing for us to attain and the morning of the semi-final we were nervous. We were kind of saying to each other we should make this final we should make it but when we did make it there was absolute elation because it was sort of an underlying thing where we were all just really relieved initially and then delighted to be able to say ok we have made the final so we kind of surprised ourselves in that way but in terms of the final and not making the medal in retrospect and in hindsight. Yeah I can concede now that we are a bit young. You know I am personally young I have a lot of development to do as an athlete and I think its something that will sustain us for the next four years throughout all the winters and look to Beijing in four years time.

W.F: We’ll be discussing the heat the semi final and the final but Clare can I turn to you. You were outside at the Olympics.

Clare: I was yeah

W.F: I presume it was a wonderful experience and especially since you were going out to see Paul and the lads in action.

Clare: Yeah it was fantastic

W.F: Tell us what it was like to be there.

Clare: To be there in Athens itself for the actual Olympics was just unbelievable the amount of people that were there supporting all different sports and then to be there of course for the rowing out at the rowing course seeing other boats rowing racing seeing Paul’s four racing it was a fantastic experience.

W.F: Was there many Irish out there supporting the oarsmen Clare.

Clare: There was there was lots of Irish people. I travelled with Paul’s mother and sister and my sister and another few friends of Paul’s and there were also the other team members who had families and friends there but there were lots of people who didn’t have any direct connection with the rowers. They were just there to support all of the Irish team.

W.F: That’s your sister Susan not your sister Ann she didn’t go.

Clare: The others were just at home watching TV supporting.

W.F: I suppose the next thing you’re looking forward to now is Beijing. You think you’ll stay with him until Beijing.

Clare: I don’t know. I will of course yeah.

W.F: Wonderful experience Clare and Athens a lovely place.

Clare: Yeah it’s lovely yeah. Lovely city very well organised for the games for everybody the amount of people that were there. Yeah it was very good.

W.F: Paul coming back to you there now you said you had a lot to do to develop as an athlete and as a sportsman. Now your training regime is Spartan and it’s frightening really. We’ll go through that a little bit later on too but what have you to develop.

P.G: Well I feel I can get stronger. If I row at the next Olympics I won’t be any bigger or smaller because we have to weigh in so I will be eleven stone in four years time as well but within that weight limit I can be stronger and I can have a lot more endurance because rowing is an endurance sport it means you get better with age provided you have years conditioning and years training behind you so by virtue of getting older and by virtue of doing the programme year in year out you are automatically going to get better anyway and all the medallists in my event two weeks ago they were all average age 28, 30 so they say in an endurance event you peak between 28 to whatever 32, 34 there’s also a ten year rule where you have to be training at a high level for ten years to be capable of competiting at top international competition and I have been training high level for eleven years so I’ve just broken that threshold now so now I have to be able to perform on that level consistently but also another thing is also going to be experience you know dealing with race tactics I think that one thing this year is that tactics come into it an awful lot more so than I would have previously thought because there is very little between boats expending energy within the 2000 metre race works smarter basically.

W.F: And of course your team mates Richard Archibald, Eugene Coakley and Niall O’Toole. Niall O’Toole was the highly experienced member of the crew. Tell our listeners why he’s so experienced because he’s a World Champion isn’t he Paul.

P.G: Yeah Niall was World Champion in 1991 when I was eleven. He was the first Irish rower to win Gold at the World Olympics. That was a fantastic thing. He was a pioneer at the time. He was on his own there was very little funding at the time. The country wasn’t too well off at the time. He was fighting hard on his own training out on Blessington lakes a real fighter and he was only a young fellow 21 years old and since then its been ten years of up and down for him and in the last two or three years he has seen that there is a young group of men there now and he decided to slot in with us and try get to the Olympics.

W.F: Now I did mention a while ago four Kerry Olympians and I have been luckily enough to meet them. Yourself and Gillian, Jerry Keirnan and Tom O’Riordan who ran in Tokyo and they say one of the best Kerry athletes of all time another Olympian. Now if ye put on those headpieces there Tom O’Riordan joins us on the phone and I’m delighted to have him. Tom you’re very welcome to Terrace Talk.

T.O.R: It’s great to hear you again Weeshie and I think this is your fifth Olympian you of course did a programme on the famous triple jumper from Cahersciveen didn’t you.

W.F: You’re spot on indeed. That’s right we did Eamonn Fitzgerald. But it’s great to have you and thanks for taking the call now talk to this young Kerry Olympian who’s after his first Olympics how they achieved getting to the final and what advice you would give in what lies ahead for him.

T.O.R: Well Weeshie and I’ll say this to Paul and I’m not trying to be patronising but I watched the rowing because I covered a good few Olympics for the Irish Independent and I always followed the rowing and in fact I was in Atlanta in 1996 when the lightweight fours were fourth and were in the bronze medal position at 150 but that was 500 and eventually finished fourth and I think Sam Lynch was in that boat but what impressed me about Paul and I must say it to you Paul after the interview you gave on RTE television after finishing sixth in Athens was all that you said was all the work that needed to be done now how ye have to build on this and the importance of having good back up and a good professional attitude. It was a very mature attitude to have because obviously you know yourself that this was only the beginning for you and your colleagues so clearly your mindset is on the right track in terms of wanting to do better in Beijing in four years time. Would that be right?

P.G: That’s correct yeah. I feel in hindsight of course I was disappointed after the race and the adrenalin was flowing but I still have to take a step back and look to the future and say look this is going to sustain me for the next four years and pull me through all the winters and definitely going to stand to me the experience of an Olympic final. Its going to stand to us throughout all the years and hopefully leading into Beijing which is a lifetime away I know but its small steps in between that are going to take us there.

T.O.R: Well Paul at 24 I think I was 27 when I ran the Olympics in 1964. your 24 now your young its your first Olympics you have your best years ahead of you Paul and the important thing is that you don’t waste those years and you build on it and when your 28 and when it comes Beijing you will be at your peak in terms of strength and I see a couple of the other lads, Eugene I think is 25 and Archibald is 26 so I think they will probably be still there as well. Obviously you have the nucleus of a really good light weight fours for four years time provided ye can get the professional support. I was looking at the British rowing and the great support system that they have over there and ye deserve that I think the Sports Council and all the people involved in rowing from the top to the bottom will get behind ye because ye are the medal winners of the future lets be honest about it.

W.F: Tom would I be right or wrong in saying with all the hullabaloo about the poor performance of Irish athletes out there we were inclined to forget that Paul’s lightweight fours went to the final finished second in their heat and finished third in the semi finals and they rowed in an Olympic final

T.O.R: Rowed in an Olympic final and sixth best in the world that is absolutely phenomenal and it wasn’t given the credit. People have this mindset that Sam Lynch and Gearoid were the medal prospects and the others weren’t really considered and even one commentator said that when Lynch and Towey went out in the semi final that it left a bad taste in the mouth. I mean here were the others coming behind and it was a bit like Pat Hickey criticising the sailors before they had finished. I think it was fantastic to think that the fours came on and actually got to the final. It wasn’t completely unexpected considering what they had done in Luasern and in Munich earlier on this year.

W.F: Tom the overall picture Paul becoming Kerry first ever Olympic oarsman what impact will it have on rowing in this county?

T.O.R: Well I think its going to have a great impact I mean Paul has come up he’s been at it for the last two or three years. He was in the World Cup in 2002 he was in the World Championships they were fourth and sixth in the World Championships of 2003 so he’s progressed nice and quietly they have come up there they have the basis provided he gets the support. He needs the support that’s the important thing. He needs to get top financial support. He needs to have physiotherapists. He needs to have the right diet. He needs to get all the work done in the gymnasium and the people and the officials who are in charge of fours are going to have to get the right combination. I’d say Niall O’Toole at 34 is probably thinking that there has to be somebody else to come in and take my place. I’m not saying he won’t do it because he’s a fantastic ambassador for the sport but the thing for Paul is that he’ll have to continue what he’s doing and depend on the others to give him the support. Without the support there not going to get it that’s the thing Weeshie.

W.F: So Paul we’ll finish up with Tom do you want to say a last word to him

T.O.R: Well the other thing I want to say Weeshie and particularly to Paul he’s colleague said with Paul there are no grey areas. They know when they get into the boat that Paul will give 100%. I think it was a fantastic tribute that the lads all in unison said that Paul was the guy the cornerstone of this quartet and it’s fantastic to hear that tribute coming and it being paid to a Kerryman.

W.F: Tom as a matter of fact Niall O’Toole and I’m quoting him out of the Irish Times said “that Paul is probably and I say with real conviction the toughest guy in Irish Sport he is just so hard. He’s a Kerryman and it’s very hard for me to say that me being a Dub because we always think that we are a bit harder than the boys down there but he’s a tough bit of work. He’s not built for the sport from a height position but he makes up for it in heart. He’s such a racer and it’s great to sit in a boat with someone like that.” Doesn’t that sum it all up Tom?

T.O.R: That’s where I read it obviously. I knew somebody had said it.

W.F: Tom O’Riordan it was great talking to you and I could talk to you all night

T.O.R: Thank you and congratulations Paul.

W.F: That’s one Kerry Olympian to another. We’re going for a short break stay with us.

W.F: You’re very welcome back to Terrace Talk I’m talking to Olympic oarsman Paul Griffin. Clare you can give the people an idea really of the sacrifices Paul has made in the run up to the Olympics in the last number of years you’d be very close to him.
Clare: Yes that’s right particularly in the last year since last November he’s been away at training camps most of the time coming home once a month for five days or a week at a time again when he’s home just trying to get ready to organise himself for the next training camp again. He didn’t have much of a normal life really let’s say when he’s away all the time training. Even when he’s away they are training all the time training three to four times a day and I am sure it’s not that much fun

W.F: Very little socialising Clare

Clare: Very little socialising yeah even when he’s home for the few days trying to relax and trying to unwind again.

W.F: You’re kind of into that way of life now I presume

Clare: Well yeah.

W.F: But you’re proud of him

Clare: Indeed yeah

W.F: The heat Paul qualifying for the semi-final. Ye finished second didn’t ye?

P.G: Yeah

W.F: Second to America and ye left Russia and Australia behind ye. Did all go to plan in the heat?

P.G: No we wanted to win the heat. Thor the coach said to us “boys listen here this is the Olympics we want to find out how good we are here. This is the opening round”. Top three went through fair enough it wasn’t much in a pressure situation we had put the Russians away before and the Americans but we were a bit disappointed after that we didn’t feel we had a great row it was a very fast race the faster I’ve ever gone in a four. We had a 5-52 and that’s quick. We took heart from that but we felt if we wanted to progress any further at the Olympics we would have to grow horns and sort ourselves out and a few technicals in time for the semi-final. That was crunch day big time.

W.F: Well rowing has taken off in a big way because I know in Killorglin they have a magnificent new clubhouse back there. One of the men who was responsible for that and I want to find out what he thinks the impact of Paul will have in rowing in Kerry he’s Mick Fleming of that particular club a great man for rowing. He’s originally from the Muckross area. Mick joins us on the line. Mick you’re welcome to the programme.

M.F: Thanks Weeshie

W.F: Nice to have you my friend a great rowing man. Mick what impact will Paul’s appearance in the Olympics going to do for ye. Ye people involved in the rowing of Kerry or is it having an impact already?

M.F: Well Paul has a huge impact on rowing not just in the Olympics but over the past number of years Paul has been to the forefront of rowing. He was always a convincing oarsman I was always convinced he was going to make it. I remember being in Copenhagen two years ago when he won the bronze under-23 and that day they could have been first in the world u-23 just as being third it was that close. So he was always convincing and even at the moment he was stroking this particular crew in actual fact for people who may not be so involved in rowing the strokesman is really the man who sets the pace he’s the brains of the boat he’s the man who must keep his head at all times and it was great to see a Kerryman in that position an outstanding athlete an outstanding performer and we are all so proud of him

W.F: And Mick your new clubhouse in Killorglin and I know the coastal rowing championships were held lately and I’m just including all of them Kerry teams did great, rowing in Kerry is going a-bomb isn’t it?

M.F: Rowing in Kerry has rocketed. You see you have a situation where the coastal rowing all over south Kerry up into Ballyduff people rowing by the coast. Kerry is a great rowing county it has a great tradition of rowing but over the years you know they were all using their own little corner now it has come under the umbrella of the Kerry Coastal rowing which this year is the first year we had a county championships which was a great success and went off wonderful and the following week they competed in the All Ireland coastal rowing and Kerry brought home night sets of medals so rowing has rocketed but certainly Paul Griffin has really helped the whole thing immensely and I have great memories of Paul Griffin he delivered here a few years ago and he’ll tell you that the first slider race ever won here in Killorglin was won by Paul.

W.F: Paul tell us about that slider race you won. You know Mick don’t you?

P.G: I do yeah I met him the last night. The first sliding race was 1994 I think I was with Fossa at the time and we were a bunch of young brats with loads of energy and sitting into a boat roaring coming down the river in Killorglin but I think it was one of the first years they had run it and it was a really good course really well organised well run and the water I remember was perfect that day it was fantastic and that was our first win and like any win for a young person it gives you massive confidence and that helps you throughout the years.

W.F: Paul on the other hand then people like Mick and people in Muckross and Brendan’s and all over Kerry and a new rowing club starting up in Tralee. The people behind rowing who would have brought you along and helped you become an Olympian didn’t they?

P.G: Yeah I mean these people are always there people like me come and go but these guys are the rocks in the clubs. These people are responsible for getting up early on Sunday mornings and looking after people and bringing them on and developing them and trying to look after people and these type of people are really important to the clubs.

M.F: On behalf of all people who do go out training young people coaching in all conditions. You have done all of us proud and further more you have given us that great lift that we needed. We needed someone to come right through like Paul did and no matter what club we’re from we’re all very proud of you Paul and thanks very much for giving us that great lift.

P.G: Thanks Mick

W.F: Well said Mick and thanks for joining us we’re going for a short break stay with us.

 

W.F: You’re very welcome back to Terrace Talk. Is the World Championships next and how many will be together for the next Olympics.

P.G: The World Championships will be next August September there in Japan so it’s a year away. How many of us will be together I’m not too sure. I would say the three younger fellows will definitely be around. I haven’t been speaking to Niall as to what he’s going to do because he’s got a wife and family now he’s 34 and I’ll see them within the next few weeks and we’ll discuss tactics for next year.

W.F: Do you know that’s what’s striking me you’re the first ever Olympian to sit here inside this Radio Kerry studio the first ever Olympian. It was in Killarney where we did our other programmes. Clare what was it like for you when Paul and the team were about to start the Olympic Final. How were you feeling?

Clare: Quite emotional actually. It was quite a few emotional minutes when they were lining up at the start and there’s a large screen opposite across the lake opposite the crowd where you can see what’s going on up the lake because you can’t see the race until the last three or four hundred metres so we’re watching them on the screen and they’re showing all the boats lining up and they focus in on the Irish team and silence just came over the group of us together and quite emotional I must say it was a very quiet time amongst all of us and then once the race started I couldn’t remember much about the actual race only that everybody was jumping around and screaming “come on Ireland”. It was only after the race when we watched a replay of it and when we came home that we actually realised what had gone on during the race

W.F: Well I was out at Molly Darcy’s at seven o’clock out there and the place was absolutely packed and the atmosphere was electric and like you I can’t remember much of the race but of course Clare you’re an oarswoman yourself and your sister rowed for Ireland didn’t she?

Clare: That’s right my younger sister Susan rowed for Ireland at the Home Internationals and the European Championships.

W.F: And Lord have mercy on your late sister Karen. She was a great oarswoman wasn’t she and your father Gene was a great oarsman.

Clare: Yeah he rowed with St. Brendan’s rowing club in Killarney

W.F: And your mother rowed she rowed with the Brendan’s

Clare: Did she?

W.F: She did and your grandfather Pa Doyle was a great oarsman so you’re absolutely stepped in rowing and where did you meet Paul?

Clare: Through rowing. I was rowing with Muckross and Paul was rowing with Fossa and that’s how we met.

W.F: Paul ye reached the semi final ye were in the semi final what was your plan for the semi final three to qualify for the final.

P.G: What was our plan well number one we were told to qualify and don’t come in unless we did.

W.F: Who’s this? Who’s in charge of ye by the way?

P.G: Well there were two people sort of in charge of us the head head man was Thor Nielsen the Norwegian he was the sort of head coach and then there was Tony who was sort of doing the ground work with us. The day to day coaching and Thor came into us beforehand and it was a tense day any day of a semi final at any major championship particularly the Olympics. Peoples dreams are made that day and peoples dreams are blown away that day in six minutes and it’s a very tense situation but also we had to remember we had to be professional we had a job to do and we had to stay focused and so we went out we knew the Danish would be fast we had a few other very good crews like the Dutch and the Germans anything can happen and anything can go wrong and anything good can happen at the other side of it. We found ourselves at the half way mark not in a qualifying position we were in fourth so we had to dig very very deep from the halfway mark home to make it. I think we were second for a while and we were third there was a lot of changing around a tense race but immense relief right after that race. Relief initially but then we were just really really happy.

W.F: How difficult was that particular race the last 1000 metres? When the race finished and when ye went over the finishing line how did you feel?

P.G: Not too good at all. I took out my feet and put them in the water trying to take away the legs as they were like sledgehammers after. A headache and what not the lungs were bursted but we sat there for ages afterwards we couldn’t move at all and it’s just one of those things a by-product of going for your life because that day we could have easily been going to the B final so we were prepared to go to hell and back particularly all the lads behind me I gave them credit at the time it was fantastic to have guys behind me that day I felt every muscles every millimetre they put onto the handles that day. They were with me every step of the way and it was really important to me trying to step up the pace trying to get into the qualifying position.

W.F: Germany finished in front of ye.

P.G: No the Netherlands and Denmark.

W.F: In the semi-final

P.G: Yeah

W.F: And who won the other heat then.

P.G: The Italians, Australians and Canadians.

W.F: So ye were in the final now how long rest did ye have before the final?

P.G: Thursday to Sunday so two days off.

W.F: What did you do with your Irish jersey by the way?

P.G: I have everything at home I’m going to hang onto everything.

W.F: How many jerseys did you get?

P.G: We got two racing ones a few training ones we got a load of gear too much gear really but I’m going to hang onto the one I raced in that’s special

W.F: Clare what did he bring you home from Athens?

Clare: He brought me home a little symbol of the Olympic Games an olive branch symbol it’s in the shape of a broach a little peace offering.

W.F: Welcome back to Terrace Talk I’m talking to Olympian Paul Griffin and he’s joined by his girlfriend Clare who’s sticking with him the whole way right down to Beijing I’m reliably informed. One man I must mention and he gave you great help and I know that I say you below in his gym working out continuously was Aongus O’Donoghue in the Physique Studio in Killarney. I saw you in there a few days and I say you throwing weights over the ceiling.

P.G: No I didn’t break the ceiling. Nah he’s a good guy Aongus helped me out a lot this year financially as well and is always a fantastic help but he runs a great gym and he’s often been there giving me help and support with weights and what not inside there. I must thank him very much. Andrew Warton.

W.F: He’s your kind of secretary and your manager

P.G: Yeah he’s my right hand man he’s a great guy. He’s one of these guys that’s a doer not so much a talker he goes and does stuff. He’s been really a great help to me this year with a lot of things putting up the signs around the place and things like that.

W.F: We can’t forget Gillian of course heart breaking to see her not being able to take part.

P.G: I can’t imagine how it feels.

W.F: How would it feel Paul if you were in Gillian’s position now and you couldn’t have taken part and got injured in the run up to it?

P.G: I don’t know I can’t imagine it. Whatever about my initial disappointment after coming sixth I met her parents outside the stadium the night Sonia was running. I was talking to them and they said you know you got your chance to race and it put everything in perspective for me I was kind of picking myself up and gave myself a kick up the behind and said you got your shot take it into perspective and I feel really sorry for her.

W.F: Clare you’re a great fan of Gillian’s and you know her well don’t you?

Clare: Yeah it was very sad.

W.F: We send her our best wishes because she’s still our number one heroin I’ll tell you that. Paul ye were in the final and I know ye decided to go for broke tell us about the build up to the final.

P.G: Yeah we were in the final from Thursday on. We were realistic too were not in the business of telling ourselves lies so we decided yeah we were up against it. A medal was a possibility but we were outsiders and we knew that so we decided we had to be in the pack to be there at halfway because we had left ourselves down earlier on in the earlier races so we went from the gun flat out no question about it and we paid for it in the end and there’s no question about that either. The whole morning of the final is something that’s going to stand to us. It was a fantastic morning and it’s something I’m going to remember for a long time for the rest of my days probably because we were up early we were up at five as we’d a seven o’clock weigh in. Everybody got up on the scales checked the weight travelled out to the course still kind of dark out there. We got all our gear on went for a warm up run to sweat down a bit to make the weight. Nobody was tense nobody was nervous everybody was actually excited about the whole thing because it was an Olympic Final and I might never see a day like that in my life again. I might only see one more or two more top.

W.F: No Kerryman had seen it before

P.G: Yeah it was a special day. We did our weigh in and had a bit to eat afterwards rehydrated and the water was absolutely perfect that morning it was like a mirror and there was a bit of tension around the boathouse. We were getting our boat out of the boat bay so all the other light weight fours were in our bay and everybody was kind of eyeballing each other. It was good like it was great to be part of that the warm up went well. It was a great morning.

W.F: Would ye have done the same thing again got flat out or would you have used different tactics.

P.G: No I think we could have come fourth or fifth if we had raced for fourth or fifth we raced for a medal and we paid for that. I mean the Dutch came fourth by two or three feet. Them guys they didn’t go for it from the gun like they should have. If they went for it from the gun maybe they would have got a medal because they have a good finish but we decided to go for a medal we had to risk it and you get nothing in this life if you don’t risk it nothing big or good anyway and that’s what we decided to do. We paid for it but look we’re young but we won’t make mistakes in the future.

W.F: When ye crossed the finishing line physically and mentally how did you feel?

P.G: I was fairly bad now because it was the hardest race of all the three races I put my head in my hand and say a photograph there the exploding headache I had and the lads were in bits all together nobody was saying anything or moving for a long time afterwards we had to go onto the media podium and talk to the press. That wasn’t a good experience either we were upset there was adrenalin flowing we hadn’t even the chance to talk to each other yet and say what went wrong there but it was physically very hard the one thing I saw about that morning was the medallists they took it all obviously but no matter what colour the medal was. The Italians claimed bronze and they were Euphoric it was absolutely unbelievable they were heading to the podium we were heading in under the bridge to put the boat back onto the rack and go home with our tails between our legs but its something that’s going to spur me on because I want to be on that podium and I never want to be on that podium more than I want to be now and its because of that experience and seeing those guys they took everything that morning and rightly so taking nothing away from them but it’s something I want in the future.

W.F: Clare how has the experience affected him would you say? You would know him better than anyone.

Clare: I wouldn’t say it has affected him its made him more determined as an athlete maybe to continue on for another four years to experience that but I don’t think it has changed him as a person. He was even saying there yesterday that he can’t believe the amount of people saluting him on the street or out at night or whatever but he just takes it all in his stride.

W.F: Paul how often are you drug tested?

P.G: I was drug tested I’d say about five times this year they were mostly at my house fairly random stuff and it’s good.

W.F: Do they appear out of nowhere?

P.G: Yeah they would just ring the doorbell there’s no phoning or any of that crack.

W.F: Are drugs spoken about a lot outside at the Olympics?

P.G: Yeah it was a fairly big games for drugs. We of course heard the breaking news before we went out to the games. The Irish runner but its something I have confidence in the drug testing ability they are catching people and that’s always giving us confidence. I’m delighted they upped their ante with this new thing called W.A.D.A and that’s the World Anti Doping Agency and its important it’s regulated and get rid of the cheaters.

W.F: Are you determined to be in Beijing in four years time? Are you determined to sacrifice another part of your life for your country?

P.G: Yeah there are questions I am asking myself these days and I can’t start training next week or tomorrow and start thinking of Beijing there has to be something in between and because it’s a lifetime away in sport. Four years is a lifetime I’ll be going on 29 then and anything could happen in between. The first thing I’m going to aim for is the World Championships and to be a World Champion is going to be a massive incentive for me. They are on next August and there will be three World Championship between here and Beijing and they are the intermediate goals that I’ll need and it will be a fantastic incentive to be involved with new people again and getting boats up and running again and getting the backing to go there and do the business hopefully.

W.F: Paul what does it feel like to be an Olympian? You’re in an elite school now.

P.G: I’ll tell you it’s hard for me to step back and think that I’m an Olympian now. It’s very much for me just doing the business doing the job and maybe four, five, six, eight years time I might think of myself as an Olympian.

W.F: One quick question are you happy with the back up you are getting from the Olympic Council of Ireland and everything?

P.G: I’ve been very happy in the last year and a half. I can safely say there is nothing I would have wanted. I had everything. I had the physio. I had the nutrionist the physcologists we had everything backing us but I’m worried that if that goes it’s like kicking the stool from under me now. If somebody kicks the stool from under me now where am I going to stand?

W.F: Clare he’s driven isn’t he?
Clare: Yes he is and very focused.

W.F: Will he stay with it?

Clare: He will.

W.F: Well listen Paul and Clare thanks for joining me on Terrace Talk so from everybody on Terrace Talk thank you.

 

An Interview with Paul Griffin - Kerry Olympain- Before the Olympics
By Weeshie Fogarty

W.F: You are very welcome to this pre-recorded Olympic Terrace Talk special and with the 2004 Athens Olympics almost upon us my guest on this programme is a young Kerry man who is preparing to write himself into the pages of Irish and Kerry sporting history. Excluding the terrible possibility of a late injury Paul Griffin will become the first Kerry man in history to row for Ireland in the Olympic games. Paul since your last appearance on Terrace Talk in September life has been absolutely hectic. You can officially tell our listeners that you have been chosen to become an Olympian.

P.G: That’s right Weeshie it has been hectic. I have just recently been selected to confirm that I am in the actual boat for the Olympics in August. That was my goal all year I said back in the last Terrace Talk show that I was going to be under serious pressure and under constant selection and being constantly watched to hold my place in the boat all year and finally after a long winter and a hard spring and a few early season races I can confirm I am back in the four and am there for the Olympic games.

W.F: Now Paul the crew has been chosen tell us how it is chosen who’s in who’s out and what has happened.

P.G: Yeah the whole thing was that there was a panel of people there very well trained athletes. They’re were six or eight of us there really and in March or April it was knocked down to six for the four seats and six into four doesn’t go so obviously decisions have to be made. It wasn’t any athlete’s decision it was going to be made by the management and it wasn’t made on any one day of any one-month this year it was made throughout the season and continuous observation always under pressure always being watched and assessed. Anytime we do a test piece lets say on an indoor rowing machine times would be recorded and it was like continuous observation like in school or college nowadays where its like your final exam your final mark isn’t given based on the final exam its based on through all exams throughout the year and that’s like the selection of the four. Three of last years four are still in the four myself included the other two are Richard Archiebald from Coleraine and Eugene Coakley from Skibeereen County Cork not too far away from here but the big change really is Timmy Harnaday who is also a Skibeereen man has lost out unfortunately that is the brutality of top level sport that’s the way things pan out some times but the man in his place is now ex-world champion of 1991 Niall O’Toole from Dublin and I am very excited about Niall being in the boat. I think it has added a freshness to us now and its funny the way the world goes but I mean in 1991 when Niall won his first Gold World Championship medal incidentally it was the first gold medal for Irish rowing at the World Championships and he was a pioneer of sorts. I was eleven years old then he was 21 so there are ten years between us little did I know looking back when I was watching videos of him racing that I would be sitting in front of him stroking the oar with him behind me backing me up bracing the Olympics in Athens in the year 2004.

W.F: Its great to have him in the boat of course Paul great experience and everything a strong man but for the man that didn’t get it for Timmy he must be absolutely gutted after training for four years and then being told you are not in.

P.G: Yeah this is it we are all friends and we are so involved in it together and basically since last year and yeah you could go back to the last four years we’ve been living with each other, training together, seeing each other strip down to the bare minimum seeing each other suffering hard just doing the hard stuff running in the rain doing all the hard things you can possibly imagine and bearing our souls to each other if you like you learn what a person is about when you live with them and train with them for so long it’s early mornings there is no bow attached the pleasantries are detached everybody knows everybody inside out and when somebody loses out unfortunately it has to happen because six into four doesn’t go. I just hope the guys who have lost out will give us the support and I’m sure the guys that have lost out will give us the support and wish us well.

W.F: You are home on holidays this is the end of June now Paul we are doing this programme because you will be so busy now you won’t have time to talk to us. What happens from here now we’ll say until July?

P.G: On Monday now I am leaving for Sweden we are going to be there for three and a half weeks. Basically we are going back to basics we are going up there its very like Ireland very like Killarney. We are going to go up there and go back to basics back to long rowing back to long steady rowing going back to lifting weights back to running going back to the basics and build everything up from there. If you like its like a new season after this break and that’s the way traditionally in rowing we have a season that starts in October and lasts until the middle of June which is the big regatta which was Luas Hern so that’s one half of the season and then we do a sort of miniature season after Luas Hern regatta to the final which is the Olympics. So we are going to go back to basics now in Sweden for three and a half weeks and then we come home for two or three days rest then and then we are going to go to a pre-Olympic training camp. It’s a climatisation camp in Zagreb in Croatia and that’s where we are going to acclimatise to the heat that’s where we are going to do our sharpening work and that’s where we are going to gain the speed that we will need down in Athens.

W.F: And your first choice of music

P.G: Yeah one of my first songs that I thought was good it was around 1995-96 it was Wonderwall by Oasis

 

W.F: Paul lovely choice there Oasis a group I like myself remind our listeners where you came from and who are your parents?

P.G: I’m from barley mount in Fossa outside Killarney. My parents are Donie and Mary Griffin. I have one brother and one sister, Danny and Maureen. I started rowing initially in Fossa. Fossa have a club and had a club back then in 1993. When I first started rowing I got involved a few friends of mine started up and I went down then with them. We got a group together and trained from there and this is where I have come to at this point ten years twelve years later.

W.F: You have indeed come to be Kerry first ever Olympic oars man. We’re going for a very short break stay with us on Terrace Talk

W.F: Welcome back to Terrace Talk. I am talking to Olympian Paul Griffin who is getting set to head for the Olympics in Athens in August. Paul since I spoke to you last and in particular the past two months you have been very busy in the pre Olympic World regattas. Talk to us on how ye got on because ye actually won a silver medal in it. Tell us about that
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P.G: Yeah this is it the thing about rowing is what makes it so different from other sports is that we put in massive volumes of training and we only end up racing three times a year in three major regattas usually and one of the major regattas is either the World Championships or the Olympic games which is on only every four years so needless to say its very important and we treat every regatta as very important as we get so little time and such little opportunity to race other crews and just to see our form so we have to treat it with great importance. The first regatta really this year was in Dursberg in Germany and was just a weekend event it was not as important as the other two regattas we were at. We raced there and did some switches with the crew just to try out people and again it was a part of the selection and we won both days there convincingly that was kind of a positive thing. The opposition wasn’t very strong there we only beat the Polish crew who weren’t even qualified for the Olympics so we had to wait until we got to Munich regatta which is part of the World Cup series of regattas which was two weeks later.

W.F: What date was that on?
P.G: It was early June and that was our first taste of real hard international competition this year and it’s a big deal when you do the work all winter and it’s a nervous time as it’s the first race of the year. You want to know how good you are. You want to know if the winter has paid off because very often my take on it or I believe that 90% of our summer speed is built up in the winter so we can only influence 10% of our speed in the summer so basically if we screwed up the winter and we come along in Munich and we come 12th or 15th we can change very little about that but fortunately we did really well in Munich or first race it was in the heat we were racing last years World Champions from Denmark and we beat them by three seconds to win the heat and we progressed to the semi so that was very positive. We kind of screwed ourselves with the semi because we had won the heat so we were going to get a harder semi and we had five of last years World Championship finals in the semi and there are only three to go through to the final so again we really performed positively and we actually won beating the Italians and Denmark and Canadians and French we’ll say. So then the final, we were semi final winners and we went to the final and a medal was a minimum requirement really because it had happened last year at the World Championships where we had won the semi final and we went into the final as semi final winners and by right we should have got a medal but we didn’t we were inexperienced we were young so we ended up coming last out in sixth but we still managed to qualify the boat for the Olympics which was the goal last year so it was the same situation this year we had to put that to bed the big final day we had to perform after performing in the semi final we had to actually perform in the A final which was the business end of the race which is what you train for all year what you come to do and we got a silver the Italians beat us by about two and a half seconds and we were happy with it I’ll put it that way. We weren’t delighted we were happy enough with it like.

W.F: Paul put it in perspective for our listeners two and a half seconds that is a lot in a boat race.
P.G: Yeah two and a half seconds that’s about three quarters of a length in a boat race two and a half seconds over about six minutes.

W.F: Were ye disappointed with that?

P.G: It was a bit of a fifty fifty-one as it was our first major race as a unit together. It was actually the four that was selected with Niall O’Toole in and that was one of the reasons we were selected because we can perform under pressure. I was happy with the fact that we put the Danish away again for the third time that weekend who were reining World Champions. We put away the Chileans who were a so so crew, the Dutch who had beaten us previously and the Germans which we had never beaten we had never actually beaten the Germans until that race on that weekend and now in sport as you know physcological edges and when you get to the top when there is so little in it physcological edges are so important and I like the fact and I like the idea of putting down markers earlier on in the season to put these guys away to put them in their little boxes and say to them look this is our speed here now you are going to stay there and no matter what you do this year we are going to try and beat ye.

W.F: Now what was it like for a young man from Kerry to stand up there on the podium, receive his silver medal and look down at the rest of the world and say we have beaten them all. What were you feelings Paul and how difficult was the finishing of the race in the lines of physical and mental tryings circumstances.

P.G: Yeah I felt relieved in a way that I had finally got on the podium. I mean I have been knocking or been there or there abouts for the past two or three years and eventually it was going to happen at one stage it was only a matter of timing and finally we got there and it was great we got there the first regatta of the season in Olympic year in a strong field with ten of the thirthteen boats that were there are going to be at the Olympics. Physically as regards the race its funny because some times it can be excruciatingly painful and more times I can cross the line and wont remember anything about it because your just so clued up your so clued in your so concentrated its difficult because my job is steering the boat and I have to be so focused on that and so sharp that I don’t know what’s actually going on around me and I am just so focused when I cross the line that I won’t remember of anything that happened but I will be in a heap basically and things will be happening like some guy behind me puking his guts out over the boat or something like that but sure it all pays off when you get some present to bring home to people.

W.F: And your next choice of music

P.G: I will go for the Pogues this time with the Irish Rover it’s a good wild mans song so we’ll go with that one

W.F: Thanks for that Paul the Pogues a little good old Irish song as you say and after that regatta then two weeks ago from today now ye raced again in another regatta the final one before the Olympics talk us through that.

P.G: Yeah the last regatta of the World Cup Series was in Luasern in Switzerland. Again it was another high-class field. They’re were two new fours into the field that made up the full complement of the Olympic programme so all the fours that were going to be at the Olympics were at this regatta. The Australians had come over and we knew they were going to be fast because they had some previous Olympics medallists in the boat, previous World medallists so we knew they would be fast. Then we had the Russians who we didn’t know much about because they tend to keep themselves….

W.F: And this was being held where?

P.G: This was being held in Luasern in Switzerland so the preparation for Luasern before I start wasn’t as good. We’d been in Ireland for most of the time, before the other regattas we had been away a lot but it so happened we were in Ireland we didn’t get away as much as we would have liked before Luasern so we came cold from Ireland right into the cauldron out in Luasern and I feel now we weren’t as prepared. We ended up coming fourth point six of a second behind the Australians. The Aussies got third. We had a hard weekend we had two hard races we had a photo finish in the heat and we had a photo finish in the semi and both times we were beaten we were second in both of them. The Danish pipped us in the heat actually so they turned things around again and they are going well again so they are a crew to watch. Incidentally they didn’t even make the final as they were in the other semi so they are a bit inconsistent at the moment so the first time we actually raced the Australians this year was in the semi and we led them all the way to the last stroke they pipped us at the line which isn’t ideal either and we’re disappointed with that and its something we are going to have to address over the next six to eight weeks when we’re in Sweden and in the sharpening camp in Croatia. Having said that we are still there or there abouts on the fringes in the pack. I mean it’s our own goals we are setting for ourselves. You know there are different expectations from different people. I remember reading in the paper today the Irish Times it was an article about the selection of the four and this guy says yeah we have a possibility of making the final at the Olympics he says. There are different goals set by different people but what really matters are the goals set by ourselves in the four in the group as a private unit as a compact unit and that’s what will matter when we head down to Athens in August.

W.F: Your welcome back to Terrace Talk. I am talking to Paul Griffin Kerry’s first Olympic Oarsman. Paul looking back at those two regattas now there must have been an awful lot learned out of it looking forward now to the Olympics and you’ll be rowing against all of these countries what are the prospects?

P.G: That’s a good question. It’s one I have been thinking about a lot. It’s a serious question. It’s a big thing to say that you want to get a medal at the Olympics. It’s every mans dream it’s every top sports mans dream to get a medal at the Olympics and it’s very easy to say and I don’t want to be drawn into saying these things but we know we have improvement to make. We’re making the finals of the regattas consistently and if you don’t make the final and you’re not in you can’t even get a chance of getting a medal. The nub of the whole thing is that we go to Athens. We get out of the heat. We make the semi and probably the biggest hinge race in the Olympics will be the semi final because if you don’t come out of the semi final you are not going to be in the Olympic final. You have no chance of doing well then. We just have to train ourselves and to train ourselves mentally to be able to deal with that type of pressure to perform under pressure and I think we have experienced that in the racing in the two regattas to a point this year. We’ve been dealing with pressure. We’ve exposed weaknesses in ourselves one of the things we are doing this week because we are home is we are away from each other we are on a bit of a holiday so to speak we are still training but its actually a break from each other we’re actually mudding it over and one of the things that is going to come out of the week is a list of things we feel we can improve on so I am going to go home at some stage and write down ten or 15 things I think we could have improved on we could have been better at in the regattas and a list of solutions that we can use in the next six or eight weeks to be faster in Athens and already I have a good few and I think everybody in the four is going to do that and we are going to compare notes and if any of them overlap and match we will have to address them I think its professional things like that that will definitely make the difference at the end of the day.

W.F: Now you are home in Killarney from your travels around the world for four days what are your training schedules for each day in Killarney because I presume you are not staying in bed until ten or eleven o’clock and I also presume you are not out at night drinking pints of porter and smoking fags and I presume you are in bed early so what’s an Olympian’s training schedule in Killarney?

P.G: An Olympian’s training schedule in Killarney on a holiday is yesterday now for example I did an hour and a half run so I left home. I love running from home and I love running around here because there are so many places to go and its so fresh so I just ran down Fossa in by the golf links down the demesne around Ross Castle and back home again.

W.F: Somebody told me you did a trip up to the top of Carrantoohill.
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P.G: I did actually before Luasern because I was home for a few days then as well so I did that as well again it was like I drove back and I togged off and treated it as a training session it was a fine day it was really nice and I said I’d bomb it up to the top.

W.F: How long?

P.G: John Lenihan might be listening and I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of him (laughing) and I took a different route John so it was from the car to the top in 58 minutes and I felt I could have gone quicker I was down to 45 minutes so.

W.F: Why did you mention John Lenihan’s name there now?

P.G: I am a fan of John’s big time he’s a fantastic athlete and I have been following his career with ten years really as I have always been interested in the mountains and in guys who can run mountains. Now there are guys getting geared up and climbing mountains but this guy is absolutely phenomenal I followed his career closely in the papers and I have met him once or twice at various award dos and very nice guy and an excellent athlete and ex-world champion as well.

W.F: Well said because he is one of my favourite all time Kerry athletes so go on to your training schedule.

P.G: Yeah I am doing weights now a lot like I said we are back to basics so I am lifting heavy weights now so I am inside in Aonguses Physiques Fitness Studio inside in town and I’m pumping iron inside there so basically its training away from the boat but at the same time relaxing it and enjoying it maybe you know going for the odd pint of I want like its not like that’s critical at the moment. The most important thing about this break at home is that I go to training camp feeling refreshed and ready for fighting again

W.F: Your third choice of music Paul

P.G: Yeah the third choice I will go with is a new man Paddy Casey “ Saints and Sinners”

W.F: Paddy Casey’s “Saints and Sinners” that was Paul’s third choice there. Paul before we go for a break are you nervous about the Olympics?

P.G: I won’t say nervous but I am very keen I’m very keyed up about them I really want to go and enjoy the whole thing while I want to perform there and I want to nail it down I want to enjoy the whole experience and I have been asking around to people who have been there before by all accounts it will be good and that’s why I am really looking forward to it.

 

W.F: You’re very welcome back to Terrace Talk I am talking to Kerry’s first ever-Olympic oarsman Paul Griffin. Paul you are the Cox in the boat explain to our listeners and many of them wouldn’t know what a Cox is or what the job of a Cox is explain exactly the crew and what people will see when then are looking at the television screens when the Olympics come around and they watch you coxing the Irish crew tell us about the crew and the Cox.

P.G: There are four of us in the boat and we have one oar each. I am sitting in the stroke seat in the Cox seat steering the boat so I have two jobs. My prime job and my most important job is to stroke the boat and to set the pace basically for the crew and to lead it out and to go up and down in stroke rates and go up and down in power output throughout the whole body of the race and my secondary job because of where I am sitting in the boat, it’s at the back of the boat and I can see the lanes more clearer then anybody else in the boat, I’m steering the boat and it’s a technical enough job and requires a lot of concentration and I am just using my foot and my foot is on a sort of a swivel and is connected to guide wires which are connected down to a little rudder connected onto the stern of the boat so it’s a demanding job like I said before in the stroke seat you always have to be on the ball sharp and knowing what’s going on exactly you know with the guys behind you feeling everything checking the boat is it going well have we got the proper length stroke are we accelerating the oars through the water correctly

W.F: One slight mistake

P.G: Yeah one slight mistake can cost you so much. As I saw we lost by point six in Luasern who knows how we quantify that that could have been anything down along the race it could have been me using the rudder a bit too much to correct a wind error or something like that

W.F: Paul three boats level a hundred metres to go who calls?

P.G: Who calls? Generally the bowman he is the guy opposite to me.

W.F: What does he do?

P.G: Richard is our bowman he’s very good. I have asked him so many times because I can’t actually understand how he can speak in a race. I wouldn’t say he speaks he gives key calls he shouts out he bellows out.

W.F: Tell us what does he does

P.G: Yeah in a typical race everybody is well drilled we know what we are doing from the first stroke it’s well discussed generally after the first five strokes and twenty so that’s twenty five strokes we are absolutely nailed flat out to the mat just to get out ahead if we can generally no one gets out ahead all six boats are going to be in a line at the finish he’ll call a rhythm call or a length call he’ll say length there or rhythm there and length and rhythm are two things that are really important that we establish a length and a rhythm of a stroke length that we can actually sustain for the middle of the race and generally he’ll tell us what position we are in the race if he feels there is something not right with the boat like if he feels our length is not as long as it should be he’ll make the call length or slide up with the seats and his most important job is to call the pushes and the moves generally from the half mark on we’re going to lift the stroke rate by half a pip per minute every 250 meters to the finish line so basically we are going for the finish line from half way on and it’s his job to have a sharp eye out to see what’s going on around but also to be rowing himself flat out and making sure the boat is going well.

W.F: What will your lifestyle be like between now and the Olympic games in relation to sleep, diet, heat, relaxation, drinking and fear of sickness or injury?

P.G: Yeah that’s a good one about the fear of sickness or injury. I am not going to change anything in my life. I’ve got to this point by doing what I have always done I fell and that’s the reason I am where I am at the moment and I find if I start changing things now if I start being more careful maybe I’ll build a little cocoon for myself and start thinking too much about being careful and maybe something could happen me then if I am just thinking about it all the time. I just have to be natural, natural in my actions and movements around the place and just do what I normally do and regards training and our regime its going to be pretty much the same as it has been all year we are going to have to watch the weight I mean we haven’t much of a problem with the weight but I mean were going to have to be right on the weight when we stand on the weighing scales in Athens two hours before the heat on the 15th of August so that’s something we are going to have to address all of the time and that means just eating the correct fuel for the training and basically pushing the training all the time pushing right to the edge but never ever going over the edge because if you go over the edge you will have to take time off and you will be afraid to have to push it again and it’s just going to be a disaster so basically being careful enough to walk the tightrope and to make the difference between winning and losing.

W.F: In charge of each team and every group of people taking part in the Olympics there is a coach. Talk to us about your coach.

P.G: Our coach is Thor Nielsen he’s a Norwegian man he’s 73 years of age. He has 50 years experience in rowing he has worked for the Italians, Spanish, and Irish.

W.F: Mick Dwyer has a bit to go to catch up to him.

P.G: Yeah he has alright (laughing) Thor is unique in his coaching style. His big thing is that he doesn’t tell you what to do he more or less guides us. His philosophy is that he coaches us to coach ourselves because he won’t be there at the end of the day. He a won’t be there in the race and also a big thing with him is and I’ve noticed it very much this year it’s that he tries to develop us as people as well to make us more strong willed to help us get something out of sport and that’s what sport is for essentially it’s for the betterment of mankind really and that’s a big thing with him but I think he’s training programme is very good and we have great confidence in him and he’s a guy that commands a lot of respect he’s like a school teacher or a garda or one of these people in position’s of authority. He’s a guy that commands respect that when he walks into a room everybody shuts up and listens and he’s the guy making decisions and he’s the guy that picked us and we’ve confidence he’s doing the right things for us.

W.F: Does religion come into any of the crew’s lives or does religion come into the crew’s life?

P.G: Religion. We do a bit of relaxation and it’s good when we’re away in camps a lot of us and we go away on our own and have time to think and time out and take perspective on the whole thing. I find actually music is a great help especially when your sitting down after the weigh and are waiting for the race or waiting to go out and race it can be a really nervous time really it’s an unbelievable situation you know and sometimes we throw on a walkman and a lot of the guys have their own ways in dealing with things but generally I like to chat and joke around just to keep relaxed But I must say the walkman has been my best friend all year out running and has helped me through an awful lot this year.

W.F: Have you been measured up for your Olympic suit and have you tried it on?

P.G: No I haven’t tried it on we were measured up in January actually they measured everybody because we weren’t selected then they measured everybody involved. They have my sizes and I hope they get it right.

W.F: Have you met up with any other Irish Olympians that are going to Athens?

P.G: Yeah we bumped into a few out in Seville in Spain because there was a kind of multi sport training camp out there around Christmas. They’re were a few cyclists out there, there was one or two from the athletics so there was a bit of banter and mixing between us alright. Of course Irish people out in Spain you know mix together and I am just looking forward to meeting the rest of them out in Athens you know mingling and being part of the Irish team.

W.F: You are very welcome back to this final part of Terrace Talk. I’m talking to Paul Griffin Ireland’s Olympic oarsman. Paul unfortunately another great Kerry oarsman just failed to make the Olympics Sean Casey.

P.G: Yeah unfortunately Sean didn’t make it and you know like I was saying earlier on before on Timmy not making the four it’s just one of those things it’s the brutal reality of sport. Sometimes people don’t make it sometimes people lose a medal by point six of a second you know it’s just one of those things that happens it’s what you take from that experience is more important than the actual failure of getting there and I know Sean well and I know what kind of a character he has and he’s a fighter. We’ll see Sean back in four years time going to the Olympics and we’ll see him every year between here and then every year going to the World Championships. He’s a fighter and that’s the kind of character he is and if you fell at the first fence if you walked away after one failure if every fella walked away after one failure then we would have nobody in the sport

W.F: Yeah we wish him well because he’s a lovely fella. I did a full Terrace Talk on him there some time ago and a lovely fella I’ve no doubt he’ll be back and of course Kerry for the first time ever have two Olympians. Gillian is of course going out in the walking race she’s injured at the moment but hopefully she’ll be ok I know she’ll be alright. Have you met up with her and what does it mean to have another person from Kerry being with you. Have you met with her lately I should say?

P.G: No I haven’t met her lately I mean we have been away doing our own things really. It’s actually when you really think about it it’s actually a great achievement or great honour for the town or the locality to have two people going to the Olympics in Athens. The population of the place isn’t that big it’s not like any of the cities where you would have a lot of athletes coming out of there. It’s special in that way and it’s also great that we have come out of this place and we have learned our sports in the locality so we’re home grown talent and that’s a great thing because you know for so many young people around today they can learn at home and they can get to the top. I’ve done it. I’ve done it all from home and they can learn from that too.

W.F: What would you say to young people listening to you know to parents who are listening and who can turn around to their children and say this Kerry Olympian said this. They all won’t become Olympians but they could become great sports people. What do they have to do?

P.G: If I was a parent I would get my son or daughter involved in every kind of a sport there is around the place because chances are they will be good at one of those sports personally growing up I remember I wasn’t very good at football I wasn’t very good at swimming I was okay at running. I was good at long jump for example it was as diverse as that and the more things you try and the more things you give a go at the chances are you will find something you are good at and the chances are if you are good at it you will like it and if you like it you are going to stay at it and if you stay at it who knows what could happen. That happened with me and rowing I fell upon the rowing thing I was good at it, I liked it stayed at it and became obsessed with it and now I am going to the Olympics doing it.

W.F: Who inspired you up along the away from Fossa to Muckross?

P.G: Jimmy Doyle really in Fossa he was our driving force there I’ve said it before he’s the guy that thought me how to pull and that’s not an easy thing to teach a young kid coming down who’s green to the world to pull and to be honest to fight and to struggle. Essentially what he did was he thought us how to win and that’s not an easy thing either and then I went to Muckross and Sean Coffey was down there and Ulick Daly great people to be involved in a club and they showed me to bring it on where I had left off from with Fossa to even develop more and more to get into the more technical aspects of the sport. It’s real good people like this honest people that love the sport and are actually driving clubs around the country producing people like us.

W.F: Well said Paul. You are going off to where did you say your next training camp is?

P.G: Sweden

W.F: Bring us into the training camp from dawn to dusk are you called early in the morning what time do you go to bed?

P.G: Sweden won’t be too bad it will be just twice a day rowing that’s all but I’ll tell you the hardest time I put down this year. This is just an illustration of the work we done in the winter which we are going to reap in the Summer basically the 90% 10% split the way we work it. The hardest time I went through was in December of 2003 last year out in Spain we were getting up at half seven crawling out of the bed like really crawling as we were really tired from the day before and the day before that and the day before that and we’d go for an hour run. So we go for an hour run it’s not hectic but I mean it’s just a warm up wake up and burn some fat. We come in have a shower come down eat come back and straight away we’re out into the gym lifting weights for an hour by then we’re warming up for the day. Then we go rowing for an hour and a half out in the water and generally we are going to be doing a lot of hard working pieces in the water lots of different rates striking your rate. Then we have lunch and the evening we did a lot of sprinting this year actually running interval training and a lot of sprinting and that was always competitive like there was a group of us there and there were fellas knocking each other and real aggressive stuff because I remember our asses were on the line every day and that’s what it was a part of sometimes we would have a rowing machine session and again same thing fellas pumping it trying to be the best as everything was going to be written down and documented and you knew that information was going into that seat if you got into that boat and usually in the evening we’d finish off with another gym session of sit-ups and push ups and stretching session. We were doing six seven hours a day back then it was really hard but I mean we knew we had to do it and hopefully we will reap the benefits of it next month.

W.F: When you’re out foreign on your own and your talking to people does anyone say how does a fella from Kerry become an Olympian an oarsman. Would people be astonished that there is an Olympic oarsman coming from Kerry?

P.G: Yeah if they can understand my accent like (laughing) yeah its fairly unique for Ireland all right because generally the rowing stronghold was Dublin it’s the whole Kerry Dublin thing with the jackeen versus the Kerry man. I feel very proud of where I’m from and I’m really glad there is a Kerry man in the four pioneering for future Kerry men maybe to come out of the county and to get into boats and go rowing and nail it at the Olympics.

W.F: Are the Olympic Council looking after you well financially and otherwise?

P.G: Yeah they are giving me a grant which I got for the past three years and that was based on results I have got in the past two or three years. They are also financing the rowing union who are developing the camps for us and setting up camps for example Sweden sending us to general camps and things.

W.F: Briefly Paul talk to us about the boat we are going to be watching on television are ye rowing in that particular boat now is it specially made for ye and tell us about it.

P.G: The boat is an impacer boat. It’s yellow, it’s from Germany. It’s made from carbon fibre. It’s about 18 inches wide. The seats are on wheels and they slide up and down. There are two pairs of shoes fixed into the boat so we sit in onto the seat put our feet in they’re strapped in. In my seat I have a little digital clock telling me what stroke rate we are doing how much time we have done and how many strokes we have done. I also have the steering mechanism up in my seat as well so I don’t know what way the Olympics… I presume Ireland will be written across the back of it and our boat is basically our tool so we have to be very careful with it and we are careful with it we have been using it all year and we’re very comfortable and happy in it and generally it’s like an old shoe you wear yourself into it and it’s our instrument to win and to compete so we are happy with it I suppose

W.F: A few quick one to finish with Paul. What’s it like to be an Olympian?

P.G: I don’t know yet like. I don’t think I’ll reflect on it until I come home or maybe for another year or ten years but that said its an enormous amount of pride for my family my friends and all who have been involved with me throughout my career to this date and I think really it’s more of an honour to them that I have gone on and progressed. I mean I owe so much to them people.

W.F: You have a long-suffering girlfriend.

P.G: Yeah Clare suffering is right waiting for me to come home every time.

W.F: But madly in love
P.G: Hopefully anyway the last time I checked we were anyway (laughing)

W.F: Finally Paul the eyes of the world and of Ireland but in particular of Kerry will be on you what would you say to the listeners of Terrace Talk?
P.G: Don’t expect too much. Just be careful with the times we’ll be good but we’ll have to see I’m not saying much because I want it to be a surprise (laughing)

W.F: Paul Griffin Kerry’s first ever Olympic oarsman it was a great honour and a great privilege to have you on Terrace Talk and the very best of luck to you win lose or draw as the fella says your well prepared ye have put in the work and you are going to be a credit to Ireland and to Kerry and to Barleymount
P.G: Right thanks Weeshie good luck