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DOWNING COLLEGE ASSOCIATION2012 Olympians Annie Vernon and Rod ChisholmAt the time of going to press, we are aware that two alumni were heading forLondon 2012 – Annie Vernon (2001) has been named as part of a squad often for the women’s Eight and Rod Chisholm (1992) has qualified to representAustralia in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls. At the time of writing, wewish them well – their fate will however have been decided by the time ofpublication!As part of the CARO Olympic project, 2008 silver medallist Annie Vernonsubmitted the following, which can also be viewed online at the CARO website.What does winning feel like? “When you win, it’s a relief not to have messed it up, thenhappiness and joy sink in and you feel it’s all worth it.”“I grew up in rural Cornwall, which meant passing my driving test gave me awhole new freedom. When I passed my test, I was 17 and in the sixth form. Iwanted to do something different and meet some new people. My brother hadjust started rowing, and suggested I try it. I loved it immediately and thought:‘This is the sport for me. This is what I love; this is what I could be good at’.Of course, Cambridge is rowing mad. It’s the number-one sport there.Within a few days of arriving at Cambridge, I realised that the rowers had thebest social life and the most fun, with a great boathouse on the river and lots ofsocial events like dinners and cocktail parties. People ultimately do thingsbecause of other people, and the kind of people that row are the mostentertaining, relaxed and also hard-working people I’ve met. It was the naturalthing to do at College.In my second year at university, my goal was making the Boat Race team.Then I gave the under-23s a try – and then I thought I would give Seniors a go.I just wanted to see how good I could be. One thing led to another and, beforeI knew it, it was 2008 and I was on a plane to China for the Beijing Olympics.Beijing was an absolutely mind-blowing experience. I don’t think anybodycould have prepared me for just how special it feels to be an Olympian forGreat Britain. I went into it thinking it would be a lot like the WorldChampionships, which I’ve done three times, except bigger and with lots of41