29 August 2011 - VAN DEN OEVER (NED): “Youth Olympics can be the backbone of my career”

VAN DEN OEVER (NED): “Youth Olympics can be the backbone of my career” Legnica (POL) – 29 August 2011   Rick VAN DEN OEVER (NED) won an individual silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. An experience that he wants to build on for future Olympic Games.   
After a great year in 2010, Rick went to an intensive training program in the winter. The work has not paid off as he wanted so far this season, but he is confident that in the long-term and even next year, it can bring him the highest satisfaction. We caught up with him during the World Archery Youth Championships in Legnica (POL).
   
Hello Rick! A year ago you won a silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. What did you take from it?
Of course it was great to win a medal, but the overall experience is what matters the most. It is the biggest event I have taken part in. I got the feeling of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Village, the media requests, etc. I am very happy that I shot there because it was a great learning experience. I believe it can help me a lot, if I make it to the real Olympic Games. Now I have some clues on how the Games take place. I also hope the medal will be the backbone of my career. Anyway it is a line that will stay on my resume forever. Sometimes I regret that I did not win the gold, but that day my Egyptian opponent Ibrahim SABRY shot superbly. Maybe if we would play today, the outcome would be different as in the long-run it depends on how much and how well you can train. I am not sure he benefits from the same training conditions that I do nowadays.
  
Please tell us about your experience in the Village?
When I qualified for the Youth Olympic Games, I did not expect it would be so big. I actually started to realise it was such a big event when I received a huge bag of official uniforms from the Dutch National Olympic Committee. I was impressed when I arrived in the Youth Olympic Village. There were so many athletes. It seemed so big, especially for the young athletes that we were. Of course, when you compete for a while at the senior level, you get used to bigger events. I think there were about 3,500 athletes in Singapore; there will be more than 10,000 in London. It will be huge.
   
What was the impact of your medal in your country?
Archery is not a big sport in Holland, but the medal made it to news. It really made the Dutch media talk about archery for a while. There was a little party at the airport when we came back and everyone wanted to congratulate me. It was very nice, even though we came back several days after I won the medal and we had already celebrated in Singapore.
  
Do you think about London 2012?
The Olympic Games are so important for a recurve archer! However, I believe that to get a “ticket to go there” is not a goal in itself. If your goal is just to go there, you will be overwhelmed by the event and you will not perform well. I will be thrilled if I qualify for the Games, but then my goal would be to win a medal. I believe once you are in the Games, it is easer to win a medal there than at a world championships. Moreover, going to London would mean that I have the potential to participate in more Games. My career will anyway not stop in London. I want to take every opportunity. When I am an 80-year-old man, I don’t want to say to my grandchildren that I missed such or such opportunities. I want to take them all!
  
How did you prepare for the next season after Singapore?
I trained hard this winter. I had never trained as hard actually. I would spend six days a week in our national training centre in Arnhem, a little town close to Germany. I would do 25 hours of shooting a week. In the peaks, I would shoot more than 1500 arrows a week. On a more relaxed week, we'd shoot about 1000 arrows. I would also do 2-3 hours of running and finally 3-4 hours of power lifting. My coach and I decided that it was important I become more muscular in order to cope with the long training sessions of shooting. On Sunday, I would go home but every two weeks I would shoot a little bit for myself or take part in an indoor competition. So basically, my life was fully dedicated to archery 13 out of 14 days.
  
How is your 2011 outdoor season going so far?
Not as well as I expected, to be honest. On a FITA Round (144 arrows at various distances), I was regularly shooting between 1310-1320 points last year. This season I have not reached many times 1300 points. We thought I would peak for the world championships in Turin but it did not happen. I shot 1270 and I was very disappointed, because it put our team out of the top 16 in qualifications. Therefore we missed the matches and the chance to qualify a team for the Olympic Games. If I had shot 1310 in Turin, we would have ranked 13-14th. It went a bit better for the individual matches, where myself and the other Rick (VAN DER VEN) finished 17th. Then we had to play the Olympic individual qualification play-off with seven archers for only two spots. Unfortunately, Rick and I finished tied in 3rd place. We just missed it. We have two more chances next year: at the European Championships in Amsterdam we could qualify one individual, but most importantly we could qualify a full team at the last world qualifier in Ogden (USA) in June next year. We really want to qualify a team!
  
How do you explain that you trained harder and got lower results?
First of all I did less competition and probably, when I did participate, I was missing a bit the competition feeling. I forgot how to deal with the pressure. Then, because of the heavy physical workload, my technique has been a bit rough. However, in the long run I am convinced that it will pay off. Previously I was tired if I shot 200 arrows. Now it is OK. To reach the truly top level, you need to be able to shoot these long training sessions with a lot of arrows.

I arrived at the national training centre in 2009. We already made some changes in my technique of shooting and it was difficult to adapt. In 2010 I had a great year. This year I again go through some changes and it is difficult. However my coach tells me that 2012 will be a great year (smile)!
  
What about the rest of the team?
The team here at the World Archery Youth Championships in Legnica is the same that competed at the senior level championships in Turin last month. So there is certainly a future for this team. However, I believe the whole federation has become more professional. We have better infrastructure, a better training plan that even includes dietary plan, etc. And there are more talented young archers coming behind us. I believe in the Netherlands for a long time we have had only 3-4 athletes able to compete on the national team. I believe soon we will have a large pool to choose from. This will be necessary to keep up with the other countries because the level is raising everywhere in the world.
   
How was your competition in Legnica?
I ranked 8th in qualifications. Rick was 3rd and together with Mitch (DIELEMANS) we reached the 2nd place in the team qualifications behind Korea. So this is really what we are looking for during the matches: a team medal. Individually, we will see. The matches will be tight (Redaction note: Netherlands won the bronze medal in the team event and VAN DEN OEVER was eliminated in the 1/16 round individually).
    
Thanks and good luck with everything Rick!
  
Didier MIEVILLE
World Archery Communication