US - U.S. Olympic Sailing Team Train Under the SEALs

The United States Olympic Sailing Team got a taste of training like no other, as they trained under the U.S. Navy SEALs.

The 38 men and women who comprise the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team underwent SEAL training at Memorial Park, near the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado on March 10 to 11.

The Olympic Training Center staff and United States Sailing Coach Kenneth Andreassen requested the SEAL and SWCC Scout Team to lead the Olympic sailors through two sessions that consisted of demanding exercises with heavy logs, as well as calisthenics in the freezing Colorado wind. The goal of the effort is sharpen the mental edge of the team, as they prepare to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

On the first day, the SEALs taught the sailors techniques on goal setting, visualization, and anxiety-suppressing breathing techniques, in order to help them condition their minds for tough situations. They also shared stories of their personal trials and tribulations, as they went through BUD/S.

The team then ran one mile to Memorial Park to warm up, and then performed countless push-ups, teamwork exercises, swam in the lake, and rolled in the dirt. Coach Andreassen shared: “I think today was fantastic… It was phenomenal and it really taught us some good lessons. When things get tough, we have to keep on going. You have to put yourself in tough situations because if you can manage that, you can manage anything.”

Skipper Amanda Clark, on the other hand, shared: “I think everything in goal setting rings true… Its race to race, tack to tack. It’s not looking at something as big as the Olympics because it is so long that it can distract us from achieving our goals.”