Focus

“Athletes Who Are Able to Stay Completely Focused in Pursuit of Their Dreams Are the Ones That Are Most Likely to Become Champions.” - Steve Backley Obe, Former Javelin World Record Holder. as the Competition Season Closes, We ‘FOCUS’ on the Champions and Podium Placers Who Were Successful in Their 2016 Pwa Campaigns. What Was Their Focus, How Did They Maintain It and How Will They Carry It to 2017? Read on for Some Motivation for Your Own Season Ahead.

- John Carter, Finn Mullen

MATTEO IACHINO – 2016 PWA SLALOM CHAMPION

My focus has been to do everything in my power to be here in this moment as PWA World slalom champion. For the past six years I have been working in this direction. I have been focusing on windsurfing and slalom training. I have trained in every kind of condition in and out of the water. I think if you want to be first in something, whatever it is, if it’s sport or your career, if you want to be at the top you need to be focused 100%. If you don’t focus on this then there will be somebody else that is more switched on than you. It is a matter of what you care about and how much you want to push yourself.

I try to train in every aspect of racing. I practice gybing, starts and how to improve my speed. After what happened last year before the last event, I tried to work on my mind as well. I think it is really important as a professional sports person to be ready and focused with your mind. Anything can happen but you need to keep your mind clear of all the possibilities that can affect you and not stress. You have to take one day at a time. I had to learn how to keep my mental side focused. After last year in New Caledonia I learned a lot from what I experienced.

My dreams keep me focused. Since I started windsurfing when I was ten, my dream was to become a professional wind surfer. I wanted to live my dream, travel round the world, compete on the world tour and be the best one day. If you have that in your mind all the time as your goal, then when you are out of focus, you just think about that again and go back to your dream.