Jenny’s Gold Medal

PRAGUE 2009 – 9TH IDBF WORLD DRAGON BOAT CHAMPIONSHIPS – AUG 2009
Jenny’s Gold Medal
Prague was an amazing experience. Winning a Gold Medal and singing our National Anthem is something I don't think Joanne (Jenny's younger identical twin sister) or I (Jenny's Husband) will ever be able to explain or describe.

World Champs!! – “Thank You Jenny”
Anyway, I should try to find some words about our Prague experience .. The thing I will remember most about Prague is ..

.. We met Mike Haslam (IDBF Executive President) a couple of times and we spoke initially for quite a while at the end of the third day. We thanked him for his ”Tribute to Jenny” and the wonderful article for Jenny in the July 2009 DBI Newsletter. It became apparent in talking to him that he was truly “touched” by Jenny and he spoke quite openly about the positive impact she had had on his own life over the years and in particular since her passing on the 30 June 2009.

Just before we parted, I asked him whether we could have a photo together, as this had become a bit of tradition with Jenny, Joanne and Mike over the years. This time instead of capturing the moment, I would be in the photo, taking the place of Jenny. After the photo was taken, we all became quite emotional and I asked Joanne to give Mike a comforting hug. As we parted, I was happy, we had said “ thank you” and I had the photo of Mike and Joanne, and thought that would be it for the Regatta. Well, maybe not ..

Geoff, Mike and Joanne - Prague/Racice - Day 3 - 28 Aug 2009

Mike and Joanne - Prague/Racice - Day 3 - 28 Aug 2009
The following day, the Australian Senior Mixed Crew, which Joanne and I were team members, won a Gold Medal in the Mixed 500m Event. For all of us, particularly Joanne and I, this was an amazing experience and a “Dream come True”. We all gave it everything we had and we got off the Dragon Boat onto the Lane 1 Pontoon, not “Wondering, ‘What If’?”. Jenny was our “our Guiding Light and Inspiration” and this was just one example of how Joanne and I are trying to live our lives in Jenny’s “Afterglow”.

Senior Mixed 500m Final - Day 4 - 29 Aug 2009 - "Don't Wonder 'What If?'" Jenny P

Australian Senior Mixed 500m Team – Prague/Racice - Day 4 - 29 Aug 2009
On the last day of the Regatta during the lunch break, Mike came over to the Australian tent to handout copies of the latest DBI Newsletter (the one with Jenny's story) and he again spoke to Joanne and I at length.

We talked to him about winning Gold and how everyone in the Mixed Crew and Squad felt that we had a 21st paddler in the boat when we raced the final. I told him about the wristbands we were wearing with Jenny's "Don't wonder ‘What If?’" quote inscribed on the inside (we all raced with the wristbands inside out).

Finally, I told him how we all went into Prague the evening of the day we won” Gold”, to quietly celebrate a truly amazing experience in our lives - as the German Team told us after the Final - "we made the impossible, possible". Everyone, except Joanne and I, wore their medals out that night (indeed, some are still wearing them :-). When asked on numerous occasions where were our medals? - We said “back at the hotel room with Jenny's photo”. I think everyone understood.

Jenny with Joanne and Geoff's Medals – Prague/Hotel Duo - Day 4 - 29 Aug 2009
Just before Mike left the tent, he said to us he felt that we should have a "Special" Gold medal presented to us for Jenny, in her honour, memory and contribution to Dragon Boating. Obviously, we were quite touched by his thoughts and this gesture. As he left he said he would arrange it all, though we were not quite sure how.

During the afternoon Mike came over twice to the Australian Team Tent, from the Official's Tower (a good 10 min return trip). Joanne and I were not around both times - either racing or watching races (my only chance the whole Regatta). When I got back to the tent I had numerous people tell me an IDBF official was looking for Joanne and I - little did they know it was the President of the IDBF.

Since the Senior Women’s Team were racing the 500m Final, I decided not to find Mike until I could "round up" Joanne. Our Women's Team placed a close 4th in the Final and just as they started coming off the water, Mike appeared from behind me (yet another 10 min return trip for him) and said he would wait until Joanne came through. Being a Final, it took some time to get all the Crews off the water and through all the celebrations, back slapping and hand shaking that goes on, particularly for the final race of the Regatta for all the Senior Women’s Teams.

When Joanne was finally free, I grabbed her and then Mike presented us a “Special” Gold Medal in Jenny's Memory and Honour. As you can see from the photo below, Joanne has used Jenny's paddle since she passed away on the 30 June 2009. We all had a few tears in our eyes, including Mike. An amazing gesture and a memory I will never forget.

Geoff, Mike and Joanne with Jenny's Paddle and Gold Medal - Prague/Racice - Day 5 - Sun 30 Aug 2009
Later that evening, as the sun was setting at the Regatta’s “After Party”, which was being held at the Regatta site, Joanne and I scattered some of Jenny's Ashes on the water from the Lane One Pontoon, where we had raced the Final from and celebrated the Victory. Below, you will see some photos of the serene and peaceful sunset as we reflected back on Jenny's life and the whole Prague experience.

Joanne and Geoff scattering Jenny's Ashes - Prague/Racice - Day 5 - Sun 30 Aug 2009


Jenny’s Gold Medal from Lane 1 Pontoon - Prague/Racice - Day 5 - Sun 30 Aug 2009
Death may have ended Jenny’s Life, but our Relationship lives on. Prague has shown us all that.

Thank you Jenny, you would often say that you felt Lucky (more here) to have experienced life with Cancer. However, I consider it us to be the “Lucky Ones”. You have given us the knowledge, strength, hope, guidance and inspiration to continue to live our lives to the full. We live on in your “Afterglow”.

You will be with us, Always ..

Don’t Wonder “What If?” – Jenny P

.. just one story from Prague.

Geoff Eldridge - Jenny’s Loving Husband - 30 October 2009

Postscript: The essence of the above comes from an email I wrote (high in the French Pyrenees just 10km from the famous Col du Tourmalet of Tour De France fame) to Julia Ryall, my Club Dragon Boat Coach at Pacific Dragon’s and a truly Great Friend. I wanted to thank her for all of the effort she has put into me as paddler (four years of hard work actually and still a "work in progress") and as a friend. As I said to her before we left for Prague, she has made me the paddler I am, and indeed has helped make me the person I am. It’s not just about the paddle. Since Jenny’s passing, she has shouldered much of the responsibility for keeping the Dragon Boat community informed and coordinated (as well as her beautiful tribute). Indeed, it was Julia I asked to inform Mike Haslam about Jenny’s passing. She has also provided a “shoulder to cry on” and has helped to keep me “pointing in the right direction”, when it all seems like it has become too much. I am not sure how to really thank her, but maybe her contribution to us as paddlers and people (there were seven PD’s on the boat that day), and as a result this Prague story, will go some way to do just that ..

Julia - Thank You.
"Triple J" - Joanne, Julia and Jenny - AusDBF Nationals - After Party – Kawana/Qld - Sun 26 April 2009

Introducing Joanne Petterson: Your 2013 Auroras Flag Bearer / YouTube - Gyor / Hungary (Sun 21 Jul 2013)

Introducing Joanne Petterson: Your 2013 Auroras Flag Bearer - YouTube (*) Gyor / Hungary (Sun 21 Jul 2013)
A tribute to Joanne and those that have shared her journey over the last 13 years in paddling and in life.

The song, Holy Grail by Hunters and Collectors is a personal favourite of Joanne's and I think it goes back to her first campaign - Poznan 2003. She would also choose it as her song contribution to the Tampa 2011 Senior A warmup / motivational CD compilation.

I hope you like it Joanne.

It was fun trying to sequence the photos with the lyrics - I hope I have not been too literal. All done on the road with final touches were made on the 80 min train trip from Budapest to Gyor (lucky i got that seat by myself) using an iMovie on an iPad mini - incredible really

These photos have taken right across Joanne's experiences in paddling and across the World. I was unable to title the photos, some places include Shanghai, Qingpu, Busan, Wujin, Macau, Hong Kong, Scotland, Sydney, Canberra, Kyoto, Berlin, Prague, Kawana, Cairns plus lots more.

I will change the cover photo of the YouTube video to that of the first photo in Kyoto when I get back to Sydney. This is the one YouTube automatically selected on upload.

It has been an honour to share these moments and memories with you and I know Jenny and your Parents would be so proud of you.

Go Joanne and Go the Auroras.

2011 Inspire Award - Pacific Dragons (Sat 16 Jul 2011)

Geoff, Lisa, Nicola and Joanne - 2011 Inspire Award Winners - Lisa and Nicola (Sat 16 Jul 2011)
Lisa, Jenny and Nicola - PD's Women Post Final Win Celebration - CNY 2008 - Darling Harbour / Sydney (Thu 06 Nov 2004)

Jo and I thank Pacific Dragons for Jenny's Memory to be remembered through the annual presentation of the Inspire Award (*).

Jo and I were honoured to present the 2011 Inspire Award (*) to Nicola Frowen and Lisa Green at the Pacific Dragons AGM held on Sat 16 Jul 2011.

My nomination for this award follows. As you will read, in many ways this award was a personal thank you to both Lisa and Nicola for the contribution they have made to helping me find my place in a new world.

From: Geoff
Date: 17 June 2011 1:21:04 PM AEST
To: "geoffeldridge@yahoo.com.au"
Subject: Inspire Award (*) Nomination ..

My nomination is for two people - Nicola Frowen and Lisa Green.

Why two people? I have thought about the nomination long and hard. For me, it came down to Lisa and Nicola, but when I started to write “why” for each of them, I found was virtually writing the same thing. As you will come to see, if you have not already realised – they are twins and that has meaning and implication.

Nicola and Lisa are actively involved in the running of the club, both from an administrative and paddling perspective. Both are long term committee members filling important roles, ensuring the short-term vitality and long term viability of the club. They are goal driven and process oriented, and constantly and consistently achieve results, through hard-work, effort and persistence. They are both adaptable and willing, and they will take on ad hoc and often difficult tasks at short notice. They are always approachable and fulfil the responsibilities in a collaborative and friendly way.

Lisa and Nicola have made vital contributions to the club as coaches and managers. Lisa and Nicola as OC6 Coaches – taking many club sessions and coaching the 2011 Takapuna Team. Nicola and Lisa have both helped with the Single Craft sessions. On the Dragon Boat side of things Nicola, with Lisa’s support managed the 2011 Macua bound PD’s Dragon Boat – they performed all the administrative tasks –before, during and after; arranged flights, accommodation, sponsorship, uniforms, etc. In my view we would not have left our shores, if it was not for Nicola and Lisa. The hardest thing about becoming World Champions in Macau, was not crossing the line first, it was actually getting there. Without Nicola’s drive, particularly, our world champion memories would still be just dreams. We cannot thank you enough.

As paddlers, they have excelled this year. Be it, in the Dragon Boat, OC6 or OC1, they have trained with dedication and purpose. This has resulted in PB’s in many areas and rankings in the top echelons of the various crews and craft. In this area they are twins again – often ranking within metres or seconds of each other in the various trials that are conducted for crew selections. In individual events, they are often on each other’s tail in the last metres of an OC1 race. They do all of this in a quiet, humble and modest way. I have seen them have draw confidence from their achievements and they have used them to keep improving – the best is yet to come for both.

It is easy to be inspired by their achievements as Club members. However, from a personal perspective, they have become role models to me – I see them as strong and independent people, and they have helped guide and inspire me as I try to find my place in the world without Jenny. Along with Joanne, both Lisa and Nicola have supported, guided and inspired me – they all already know this. I know Jenny would be touched by the time they have taken to listen to me, the advice they have given and the inspiration they have provided when I have questioned myself during times when I was completely lost in grief and the shock of Jenny’s passing.

When one becomes as actively involved in the clubs running, events and happenings (as Nicola and Lisa have), there are bound to be times that are difficult, and there have been a few such times. I know that they have each supported the other during such times and for that I admire them. For you see, being “twins” means they are best friends and I admire them for that and the “love” they have for each other.

I would like to think that Jenny would support me in my nomination and that the 2011 Inspire Award would be a worthy acknowledgement of Nicola’s and Lisa’s part in making Pacific Dragons what is today (and in the future), but also for helping me find meaning and direction in my life.

Lisa and Nicola - Great Wall / China (Thu 05 Aug 2010)
Jenny and Joanne - Great Wall / China (Thu 06 Nov 2004)

On Following and Leading - Tim Elmore (Thu 05 Nov 2015)

Untitled - Main Range / Snowy Mountains (Fri 01 Jan 2010)

Tim Elmore on the relationship between Following and Leading:

When you are an effective follower, you’ll eventually become a person of influence… and hence, lead other people. Following simply comes first.

via The First Lesson Leaders Must Learn by Tim Elmore.

Always been an individual, a loner in many ways, which came from a lack of acceptance amongst young peers as a small child, one with wrinkly, dry, cracked skin that was very different to those around him. So, from a position of exclusion, and within the limits of the resulting introversion and shyness (two very different things), my Parents encouraged me to participate in team sports, hockey being the one that stuck. I have worked hard to be a good team member and a good follower from a young age. Never wanted to be a leader, it's just not in me. And, when forced into these positions amongst a group, it has been a mostly uncomfortable experience which have left a few scars, from which I have learnt much about myself and others. However, within a small safe area of influence, that which a shy introvert is comfortable, I have been able to make a contribution to something other than myself. At least that is what I would like to think.

Change - Ian Goldin / Tim Elliott (Fri 09 Jun 2017)

Broken - Learning to Fly - Glebe (Mon 05 Jun 2017)

Ian Goldin on Change:

The challenges are great, but change is incremental. If you can make a small contribution, then that's great.

via Nelson Mandela adviser Ian Goldin on our chances for a new golden age by Tim Elliott.

On Confidence - Drew Ginn (Tue 17 Mar 2009)

Five One Hundredths of a Second - 500m Premier Opens Final - AusDBF Nats / Penrith (Fri 19 Apr 2013)
Drew Ginn (*) talks On Confidence (*):

iNflating or deFLating confidence happens all the time. Do you notice how others can have such and influence on your own confidence, and that is not to mention how much your own self talk can magnify what others say and do. [..]

I have reflected on moments during my life when someone has said something that has boosted my confidence and when someone has drained my confidence with something they have said.

via Confidence Balloons(*)o by Drew Ginn (*).

I did a great RPM class (*) today and for some reason i came out of the class and thought of this post that Drew made way back in March 2009. Vincent gave us so much today and for me it was mostly about giving us the confidence to push ourselves past our perceived maximums and achieve new levels of fitness, no matter who we were or why we were there.

I also know this thing about confidence to be true based on my paddling experiences.

When I first started out at PDs in 2005, I received an email from one of the coaches welcoming me to the club and team, adding that they felt I would make a positive contribution. It was only a couple of words but it helped motivate me to be the best I could with the limited experience I had at the time.

Eight years on now, and I am always surprised what a few words can do to lift my failing self-confidence. It happened a couple time this year and the people who boosted my confidence probably had no idea how much they contributed to help push me on.

Another occurrence this year was in the AusDBF National Premier Opens 500m Final (*) where Darren our sweep calls with 150m to go, that you are doing it (*). An amazingly appropriate and uplifting call to make when we were a nose behind and the last part of the race to finish off. Without those four words I am sure it would have been a different result. They gave us the confidence to know that we were there and he believed in us to take It home and to nudge our nose across the line first.

I always try to be positive and as realistic as the situation allows, and I hope that I have helped raise the confidence of a few others over the years. I guess in some way that means I might have more self-confidence than I give myself credit for :-). Hey, nice positive self-talk Geoff.

I am just also reminded of this little incident (*) which was one of the highlights of the USA 2011 Trip (*).

On the other side of the coin I also have learnt what deflates confidence and contributes to a "sub-optimal" performance. I know and remember these times and try to ensure that if they do occur again, that they don't affect me as much as they have done in the past.

Using the Past - Some Advice from Ken Burns, Vern Gambetta and LottieP

The following three quotes are about the past and future, and how we might relate them to each other (if that makes any sense). There is some good advice in all three quotes and I thought that I put them here for future reference, so that they will become part of my past :-). Here they are:

As you pursue your goals in life, that is to say your future, pursue your past. Let it be your guide. Insist on having a past and then you will have a future.
Ken Burns - 2004 Commencement Yale Class Day Speech (as pdf)

Vern Gambetta wisely adds:

Be careful that you are not living in the past, learn from the past, use it as a reference point.

And finally, LottieP warns:

"nostalgia is the enemy of the future"

With the past in mind I thought I would dig into archive.org and drag out something from my past (it might explain the where eljeiffel came from). Here it is:

elj.com (Eiffel Liberty): Two Years On .. by Geoff Eldridge (04 Jul 1999)

Today is Indepedence Day in the USA which celebrates the 223rd birthday, being founded on 4 Jul 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This also represents a time of reflection for myself with elj.com (Eiffel Liberty).

It is two years ago since I registered elj.com. The name Eiffel Liberty was easy to come up with. It represented a vision and a hope for Eiffel that somehow it might be liberated from its miserable place in the language landscape (I thought how could such a great contribution, be so categorically and overwhelmingly dismissed by the programming community). Also, Emma Lazarus's words struck a chord with me, particularly

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Just as America provided opportunity for many from other lands, I thought Eiffel could provide the same kind of opportunities for the syntactically and semantically battered from the other language landscapes :-)

Also, the name Eiffel Liberty made what a I thought was a nice connection between two famous landmarks that Gustave Eiffel had contributed to, being the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty "Eiffel undertook the challenge of creating the steel structure because of the enormous challenge it afforded him".

The 4 Jul 1997 was to be the launch date for the Eiffel Liberty Journal. However, I came down with a very bad cold (too many late nights preparing for the initial launch) and I decided to publish the launch issue of the Eiffel Liberty Journal, not from my newly acquired elj.com but from my progsoc web pages (this would remain the case for another six months).

It was fun putting together the first issue as I received cooperation from all I contacted. These included:

• Bertrand Meyer who allowed to me publish some small extracts from OOSC2.



• John Potter (my Software Engineering Lecturer who introduced me to Eiffel in the spring of 1993) who specially wrote an article on
  Project Bruce: Translating from Eiffel to Java



• Victor Putz who wrote a great article titled Toymakers and tools: Why one game developer is switching to Eiffel. Victor is a game programmer by night and a helicopter pilot/instructor by day. I remember Victor making a special trip (about 30 km each way) to send me the article because of flooding in his area which made his normal internet access impossible. BTW, I have found that Victor shares and
  articulates (much better than I ever could) my own vision for Eiffel.

Also Bertrand Meyer's classic newsgroup posting from early May 97, Avoiding the second historic mistake (I remember Bertrand once referring to this as collective hypnosis :-) gave the opportunity to publish a few articles from the newsgroup thread that ensued - eg Jeffrey Stulin's If Eiffel is so great, why isn't it popular? and Thomas Beale's Eiffel: An Industry Experience.

I was delighted when Bjarne Stroustrup allowed me to publish Why C++ is not just an Object-Oriented Programming Language and Melier Page Jones allowed me to publish Object Orientation: Making the Transition

Two years on, elj.com has changed from a random journal to a daily random news update covering the Eiffel and related worlds. In many ways elj.com is really just a log of the links and resources I have stumbled across and that I might learn from (or even get a laugh from).

Eiffel certainly enjoys a wider exposure than it did back in 1997. I hope elj.com has helped in a small way. It is hard tell what impact elj.com has had as there is little feedback. However, occasionally I do get a note saying that elj.com helped someone get started with Eiffel, which seems to make it all worthwhile. I guess elj.com could have been much more effective but there is only so much time.

For a number of reasons I renamed Eiffel Liberty to elj.com Extraordinarily Large Jumble in Feb 99 (some of the reasoning behind this was that elj.com was and still is, an Extraordinarily Large Jumble of seemingly random links and more significantly there was little or no Eiffel news). Fortunately, there now appears to be more Eiffel news than I can handle/report manually and I am making efforts to address this through a more automated Eiffel news feed at elj-daily.

elj.com has amassed an incredible amount of links, quotes and resources relating to Eiffel and related worlds. The time has come for elj.com to be able to extract the information from this mass. A keyword/search facility is on the way.

I believe that for [open source] projects to thrive, information needs to readily at hand. I hope the new elj.com that you will see over the coming weeks/months (depends on how much time I get to work on this) will reflect the ability to provide this information efficiently and effectively.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support that Jenny has given me over the last few years. She has had to cope (in more ways than one) with more than anyone should reasonably have to tolerate.

Funny to read this after all these years. Shows how strongly I felt about the Eiffel programming language and method (and still do, but not just as visible). I even chose to start this blog with some posts on Eiffel - not the language, but it's inspiration, the Eiffel Tower and it's creator, Gustave Eiffel.

I had better stop here as I think I might be getting a bit nostalgic. Anyway, hoping all of this might help me find the inspiration to get a future project off the ground.