Story by Mike Lowe, Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)
Photo from Maine Today.
Anna Goodale has never given anything less than 100 percent to any of her many endeavors.
That's why she has retired from competitive rowing.
Goodale, the Camden native who was a member of the gold-medal winning women's eight crew in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, retired from the sport after helping the U.S. win a fifth consecutive world championship last November in New Zealand.
Instead of returning to New Jersey to continue training after the championships, Goodale stayed in New Zealand for eight months. That time away merely confirmed her decision to step away.
"I decided that I had a great run and that I am ready for whatever is next in my life," said Goodale in a phone interview Thursday. "It got to the point where I started dreaming so much about my future, I wasn't 100 percent into rowing.
"I know enough about the sport and how much it takes to do it. It would have been extraordinarily difficult to continue with the team if I was not in it 100 percent. So I retired."
The 28-year-old Goodale is moving to Cuenca, Ecuador, to live with her father, Nat, and his family. Goodale will work at a cross-fit gym as a trainer.
"I'm very excited," she said. "It's the new rage in workouts. It's less of a gym and more of a philosophy.
"It makes you fit for life so that anything you think you want to do, you'll be able to do because you are so prepared.
"It's a very well-rounded approach to working out. And I think it's cool that I'm going to go from being coached my whole life as an athlete to thinking, 'How do I explain this? How do I share my experiences and know-how?'"
Goodale said her time in New Zealand, where she lived in a van and worked at a winery, put everything in perspective.
Still, she called it "the hardest decision I've ever had to make." But she realized it was the right decision when she got together with the team about a month ago in New Jersey and didn't waver.
"The hardest part about this transition was leaving my girls, my teammates, and feeling a responsibility to continue and be there," said Goodale. "When I cried, it was when I thought about telling them. That was the hardest part.
"The cool thing is they are my family, some of the best friends I've ever made, and I will always be in contact with them."
Tom Terhaar, the coach of the national women's eight, was unavailable for comment.
Goodale is looking forward to her new job and continuing her artwork. Goodale has illustrated a children's book, "Wren's Summer Day" by Matthew Stevens, and is working on another book.
While she doesn't anticipate returning to the national program, she added, "I will never say never."
"Rowing has been my passion for the last 10 years; I absolutely love it," she said. "I always said I would be rowing until my mind, my body or my heart doesn't want to do it.
"The reason I came back after 2008 is that I believed I had more in me. But this year it wasn't where my heart was and my head wasn't in it. It's so hard to do when you don't have those three components working together.
"Right now I can't imagine coming back, but you never know. I will certainly be involved with rowing the rest of my life. I've done some amazing things and I can't wait to give back to the sport that has given me so much."
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