Row, row, row your boats lads. . . .
If all goes to plan, on Sunday three heroes from the North West will have achieved the most difficult, gruelling yet ultimately rewarding goal of their lives to date.
They are three sportsmen who could walk down any street here without attracting much, if any, attention whatsoever. That could all change come Sunday.
Over the past weeks and months, as the launch of the Olympics grew nearer, I found it difficult to muster any enthusiasm for it.
Negative news reports about China's human rights record and sports riddled with doping scandals had blunted any enthusiasm tI might have had. That was until I watched a documentary on the BBC about the efforts being put in by a group of rowers from the North West.
'From the Bann to Beijing' was aired last Wednesday night and had me riveted at the effort and sacrifices three men from Coleraine put in to achieving their goal of reaching the Olympics this summer.
BBC Sport Northern Ireland's Season Ticket told the remarkable story of the last 18months in the lives of oarsmen Alan Campbell, Richard Chambers and Richard Archibald.
The candid personal diary footage that the men recorded gave a startling insight into what it takes to make the grade at Olympic level.
The training, for a start, was ridiculous. In one clip Alan Campbell was filmed doing a serious session on Portrush beach. To finish off, he then ran up and down a massive sand dune...twenty times. Did I mention it was Christmas morning? When most of us were stuffing ourselves on a breakfast consisting mainly of Ferrero Rocher (well, in the McDaid home anyway) he was torturing his legs in the cold sands of the north coast.
The men only took one-day off a month as they prepared for one of the toughest endurance tests in sport. They willingly gave up the prospect of nights on the town with their mates and dodgy kebabs on the way home. Their dedication to succeed is both admirable and inspiring.
Alan Campbell has been competing in the single scull event for Great Britain, and the two Richards will race against each other in the Lightweight fours - Chambers for Great Britain and Archibald for Ireland.
It's been a longtime since we have had someone from up north competing for medals at the Olympics. The last I can think of was Wayne McCullough in Barcelona in 1992. I have vague memories of watching him fight whilst holidaying in Butlins. I couldn't really appreciate what he was going through - I was only ten - but now that athletes from my age group are out there, I can only stand back in admiration and awe.
Campbell has succeeded in landing a place in Sunday's final, despite missing six weeks of training recently due to having an operation on an injured knee.
After Wednesday's heat, which got him through, he said: "I am ecstatic. Realistically, any one of us can win it (the Gold). I have an outside chance, the underdog's chance. But it is always better to be the underdog."
Archibald (for Ireland) and Chambers (for GB) went head to head yesterday in the semi-finals of the lightweight men's coxless fours for a place in Sunday's final. By the time you’re reading this, the top three teams will have progressed and, fingers-crossed, both will have made the final cut.
Chambers, 23, the youngest of the trio, is a world champion in only his second season as a senior whereas Archibald, 30, is in his final year in the sport.
Despite being in direct competition, Chambers said of the elder statesman: "I started to look up to him at the 2004 Olympics and he's the guy you aspired to be like. I've the utmost respect for him and he is still the guy I look up to.
"Whenever we go out to race, there's obviously that little bit of rivalry about, but I want to race him for the respect I have for him and the respect I have for his crew."
Respect
It was refreshing to hear the rowers speak of one another with such respect. All three are articulate, motivated and driven beyond the realms of normality.
Chambers trains, on average, for six hours a day and has only one day off a month. However, he is loath to complain and believes the Olympics is worth every hour in the gym and in the water.
He said: "For every sportsman who wants to do well they've got to aim right at the top. For a footballer it's the World Cup final, for a rower it's got to be the Olympic Games and you've got to aim right at the top and set your goals as high as you can.
"It's six minutes of your life. It’s six minutes of that day and that's nothing in the grand scheme of a 24 hour day, so you get on and do it. You just got to get on and do it."
He comes across as an intense and serious person - not as jocular as Campbell and Archibald - but I’ll be rooting for all three of them. They are a credit to the North West and absolutely deserve our full support.
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Weather for Derry
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
