Tuesday 7 May 2019
6.30 pm for 7.00 pm supper; and in conversation with Debbie Flood
Annie Vernon- Olympic silver medallist (Beijing 2008) and two-time World Champion (2007 and 2010) rower- joins us to discuss with crew-mate Debbie Flood, Annie’s recently released book Mind Games -determination, doubt and lucky socks: an insider’s guide to the psychology of elite athletes.
It’s well known that to reach the top in elite sport, you need to have spent years honing and perfecting your physical ability. However, this is only part of the template required to win – the other half is about “mind games”.
Throughout her career as one of the world’s top athletes, Annie Vernon struggled with existential questions about the purpose of sport in our comfortable, first-world society: Why do we do it? What is it in our psyche that makes us push ourselves to the limit? What allows us to overcome mentally the physical pain?
Now retired from competition, Annie Vernon has decided to look for answers to these questions. Drawing on her personal experiences and interviews with some of the best coaches, athletes and psychologists from across the world of sport – including Katherine Grainger and Matthew Pinsent – Annie discovers the secrets of how athletes train their brains in order to become world-beaters.
Annie debunks the myth that elite performers are universally cool, calm and brimming with self-assurance. Through exploring the bits on the inside that nobody can see, Annie instead creates a new understanding of what it takes to be successful in sport and uncovers that, in fact, an elite athlete is not that different from you and me. It’s simply a question of mind games!
“A tour de force of elite sport, nerves, expectation and pressure from all perspectives”
Sir Matthew Pinsent
———-
Two course set supper at 6.30 pm for 7.00 pm
followed by talk and discussion with Annie Vernon
Cost: £20 per person, payable in advance
To book: Contact the Leander Club office on 01491 575782 or email events@leander.co.uk
Copies of Mind Games will be available for sale on the night- £15, cash only
