On Tuesday, I went to the Zambia High Commission to find out the status of me obtaining a Zambian passport so that I can race at the World Championships. FISA (the international rowing federation) have said that the rules differ from the World Cup regattas, and I need to have the passport in time for Karapiro (World Championships). So, off I toddled to the little pocket of Zambia on Palace Gate. I met with an extremely nice man, and having explained my situation to him, he set me right on a few constitutional matters, namely, that Zambia does not recognise dual nationality. Apparently, at 21 I should have made a choice to EITHER remain “British”, or renounce this and choose to be “Zambian”. Being born at a politically turbulent time (1978) in Southern Africa, with South Africa persona non grata internationally and with Zimbabwe going through its own turmoil for independence, having a passport from Zambia was not going to be particularly beneficial. Mum and Pa would have made the rights decisions for all three of us. And in any event, I think it is pretty well agreed that if you’re going to have a passport, a British one is your best bet!
Now, I have two choices at this point in time. Either I relinquish my British passport and take up Zambian citizenship (not going to happen) or I wait. I wait until the Constitution of Zambia is changed. Funny how life works like that, isn’t it? All of last year I was sitting on the bike with my back injury, just dying to get out there and race for Zambia, but I wouldn’t have been able to and there wouldn’t have been any chance of it as they were not going through their constitutional review. So I would have given up the dream. But right at this moment the draft Constitution is with the 72 districts in Zambia, who have to submit their amendments and comments by the 1st of August 2010. Assuming all goes well there, the bill will go through, in goes the passport application and Robert’s your mother’s brother. Hopefully. In the meantime I have asked FISA if they are prepared to accept a provisional entry for Karapiro, on the understanding that I would not be eligible for the Development Programme support that I would ordinarily have as a member of a small and emerging federation.
As far as I am concerned, life and training go on as planned. I must continue to send out the positive vibes to the universe and hope that I get the passport for Karapiro. If not, there is a Plan B, and that is also very exciting and positive. In Plan B I have a year before the Olympic Qualifiers via the All Africa Games next July, plenty of time in which to get the passport, get really strong, fast and focussed, and crucially to have a normal training cycle process. With the Worlds being so late this year, it doesn’t leave much in the way of time!
So next up in the racing stakes is hopefully the Wingfield Sculls on the Championship Course on the Tideway on 24th August.
I don’t know why I do this to myself. Every time I sit on the start of any of the Tideway events, be that in eights, quads or my single, I say to myself, “I hate the Tideway. It’s smelly. There are dead cats, condoms and faeces in it, not to mention corpses and all manner of other detritus. It has given me urinary tract infections, eye problems and it can be a living hell to row on. And yet here I am again. Daft cow”. Anyway, it’ll be good to get out there and race again, as I am already itching to get back in the boat and I haven’t even got to the end of week one of rest yet!
On to the other constitutional matter. It was the Upper Thames Rowing Club AGM last night and it promised to be a humdinger. I came back from Lucerne on Sunday to find that all manner of shenanigans had been going on, with late nominations for Captain’s role being submitted, deadlines extended and apparently (although oddly I hadn’t received any), emails flying around asking for support in replacing the current captain. The meeting lasted three hours, and there weren’t the fisticuffs and shouting matches that I know have taken place in previous years, but it certainly made for entertaining listening. One of the biggest discussions was around what the role of the Captain should be and whether the role was exclusively rowing-related. Now, I happen to know that the current Captain, Justin Sutherland, does a hell of a lot more than just deal with rowing matters. He is at the club during the day, meeting with contractors and the council, talking to people about what the club should be about and so on and so forth. If, therefore, the Captain does more than solely rowing-related jobs, should then Associate Members, who are currently only allowed to vote on non-rowing matters (and therefore cannot vote for the Captain), be allowed to vote for ALL posts on the Committee, including that of Captain? In the end the results of the ballots emerged, and Justin is in for another year with a significant majority.
I firmly believe that you cannot please 100% of the people, 100% of the time. It’s impossible. When you’re trying to effect change, you’re bound to get someone’s back up somewhere. That’s why I wouldn’t run for Captain unless I had the time and the emotional energy to deal with it. Sometimes you’re someone’s best friend (when you give them what they want), and at others you are public enemy number one. That’s the way life is, but it’s no good just hiding your light under a bushel, you’ve got to show strength and determination, as well as have a very thick skin indeed!
On another, quite unrelated matter, Jules took this picture in Lucerne the other day.
I think this guy’s hat looks like one of the buoys in the last 250m of the course. Does that mean that each one of them has a Dutchman underneath it? We know how they like to swim, don’t we? Or is it just another example of a type of Dutch cap? Eurgh. And, what is it with the Swiss and tunnels? There are loads of them (tunnels, not Swiss)...I had visions of loads of Swissies burrowing around the countryside, tunnelling away into the mountains. Mad. Having said that, Jules did inform me that the longest tunnel in Europe is in fact between Austria and Germany, so I am perhaps doing the Swiss an injustice.
Ah, an insight into the mind of Antonia.
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