UCLA athletes, coaches, alumni and staff share their experiences at the 2012 Olympics. UCLA Men's Volleyball head coach John Speraw shares another Olympic moment prior to the U.S. team's quarterfinal match.
Aug. 8, 2012
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Olympic moments come in many forms. Rowing finished up last week so they moved the athletes into the Village so they could experience living here (Rowing's venue was so far away, they stayed closer to the site during competition). A few of them moved in down the hall, and as I was heading to the elevator yesterday, I ran into Glenn Ochal. Glenn rows on our Men's Four team and happens to be the boyfriend of Dylan Gwaltney. I coached Dylan's brother Cooper in club volleyball years ago and have become good friends with the family. I met Glenn when I was invited over to the Gwaltney's home for dinner a couple months ago.
I asked him how things went, and he told me he had won a bronze medal. I hadn't even heard the news! But what was so great to see is how happy he was with the result.
You have to be careful how you discuss results around here. With some athletes, they come here for Gold. Silver can be a failure. But that wasn't the case for Glenn.
"I've never medaled in an international race. Never even been on a podium. I rowed the race of my life," he said and smiled broadly.
"Guess it's all about the timing. You try to be your best at the most important time," he concluded. Glenn did just that.
The legendary basketball coach John Wooden, whose philosophy and writings I admire greatly, never talked about winning. His definition of success was based around maximizing your own potential. Sometimes in our culture, we forget about that. It becomes all about result. And in America, that result is expected to be Gold. As Glenn took a left and headed to the cafeteria and I took a right to join the team, I was as happy for him as anyone who had won Gold.
I am on the bus ride to our quarterfinal match vs. Italy. The 45 minute bus ride every other day is when I have the brief time to write. Besides these blogs, the only other time I wrote this summer was after a loss to Germany in the World League Finals one month ago. I was frustrated and sent an email to the team. I won't share everything but here is the conclusion: "As we work toward London I think we need to reflect upon how we will represent our country. I don't know if we will win. I hope we do. But I know our chances will be greater if we start focusing on out-working, out-teaming and out-competing all of our opponents. I know that our pride in representing our country should manifest itself not in whether we win or lose but in how we represent these core values that make us American. Only then should we walk away from this experience with our head held high."
I can't guarantee that we will win tonight. Italy is very good. But I do know that we will give it everything we have.
We're just pulling in. Game time.
John Speraw
UCLA Men's Volleyball Head Coach/USA Men's Volleyball Assistant Coach