On The Line - Andrew Lewis

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T&T Sailor Andrew Lewis takes Robert Dumas into his sailing community and shares his life changing experiences on his road to Rio 2016.
Transcript
00:00 This episode of "On the Line" is brought to you in part by Flo.
00:04 Out here in the sea, there are no lines.
00:08 The ocean opens up herself to everyone.
00:12 For TNT sailor Andrew Lewis, his job is to conquer the ocean.
00:16 With winds of adversity blowing him off course, and the sails of misfortune against him,
00:22 we'll tell you this story of Andrew Lewis on his road to Rio.
00:27 [MUSIC]
00:31 We're on the line.
00:33 In every sport, there's a line.
00:37 All athletes put themselves on the line for club and country.
00:44 [MUSIC]
01:14 [MUSIC]
01:28 Today I'm going to take Robert into my world, show him how it's done in the gym,
01:33 the fitness side of my life, how I get strong, how I stretch,
01:37 and how I'm able to do what I do for the strength side of things.
01:40 And then later on, I'm going to take him into the boat, throw him in the ocean,
01:44 and really see if this guy can really sail and see how it is to be in my world.
01:48 Well, I'm ready. Well, I think I'm ready.
01:51 All right, so what we're going to do is we're going to get your bum on your roller.
01:56 [MUSIC]
02:06 You're going to bend a little bit, and you're going to use your hip to thrust the whole time.
02:11 All the way to the hip.
02:13 All right, that's it there.
02:15 [MUSIC]
02:19 Throw the hip harder.
02:21 Throw it hard, right, harder.
02:23 Breathe.
02:25 [MUSIC]
02:31 All right, on to the next one. One ten.
02:33 [MUSIC]
02:37 Only going to hunt for four, all right?
02:40 [MUSIC]
02:54 Breathe, yeah?
02:55 [MUSIC]
03:01 Solid.
03:02 [MUSIC]
03:04 Solid.
03:05 Solid.
03:06 [MUSIC]
03:08 So this was a stretch and warm-up.
03:11 We eat now?
03:12 Yeah, we need some fuel, so absolutely.
03:14 Good, I like it.
03:16 [MUSIC]
03:21 This is Mr. Lano Griffith, my strength and conditioning trainer.
03:24 Pleasure to meet you.
03:25 He's the guy who's responsible for making me fit again, strong again,
03:29 and being able to put me in a position where I could actually get back in the boat.
03:32 How is that all working out for him and this whole road to Rio?
03:35 It's been going really well. Andrew is a very hard worker,
03:38 so it's been easy for me to kind of get things done with him.
03:42 He participates well, he's asked a lot of questions,
03:45 he's very involved in what he's doing.
03:47 I mean, everything couldn't be done without the support of the team that we work with,
03:51 and he's ready. He's ready for Rio.
03:53 So we head into the water.
03:55 All right.
03:56 [MUSIC]
04:02 There's going to be a long one out in the water.
04:04 Sun's hot.
04:05 Sure is. We need that energy.
04:07 We need that energy.
04:08 That's what I eat, hard-boiled eggs,
04:10 before that I have some oatmeal for the energy, protein.
04:13 Oatmeal and protein and oatmeal together gives you a solid day of energy.
04:19 I eat, you eat.
04:21 Bottoms up.
04:22 Cheers.
04:23 Cheers.
04:24 [MUSIC]
04:50 That's right. My muscles are now loose and so is my stomach at this stage.
04:54 We've had a quick protein snack and now suited up, make our way to the water's edge.
04:59 As Andrew takes the laser out for a quick test of the conditions,
05:02 I'm on the jetty thinking, how will we both fit in this thing and can my abs take it?
05:08 Well, I quickly find out.
05:11 [MUSIC]
05:39 [MUSIC]
05:57 I'm not too sure whether I'm glad to be on land right now or whether I want to be back out there.
06:02 But it's really deceptive looking at the water here at this stage.
06:06 It looks relatively calm, but when you're out there it's quite choppy
06:09 and it's unbelievable how fast that laser goes.
06:13 It literally is, as they say, like laser.
06:16 You were able to balance yourself.
06:17 You didn't fall out of the boat while you were out there going fast, which is important
06:20 because, as I told you, it's a lot of core and a lot of balance.
06:23 And yes, you have the strap there to help you, but it takes a lot of balance between the whole thing.
06:28 So, yeah, I think you're pretty good.
06:29 You understood when to lean, when not to lean.
06:31 You got a taste of what the ropes do and how they affect the sea and affect the boat
06:36 and help power it up and depower it.
06:38 So, yeah, I think you did pretty good.
06:40 You're pretty good.
06:41 You touched the line.
06:42 You definitely touched the line.
06:43 I touched the line.
06:44 I didn't go on the line, but I touched it.
06:46 That's important.
06:47 [music]
07:10 For such a water baby, you'd think that Andrew Lewis grew up in the sea.
07:14 Right here at Vestini Beach is where Andrew had his first taste of saltwater.
07:19 Andrew.
07:20 Welcome, welcome.
07:21 Thank you, brother.
07:22 Thank you.
07:23 Welcome to my community, Vestini Beach.
07:25 It's a really, really nice place.
07:27 As you can see, we have lovely weather here today.
07:29 And this is not where I'm from, actually.
07:32 This is a place where I have a big place in my heart because I may not be from Vestini,
07:38 but this is where my sailing school is, the Vestini Vikings.
07:41 And this will be here over 10 years now.
07:44 And what you all will see here today is the youth get an opportunity to come and learn to swim
07:50 and sail for not a single dollar.
07:53 So, sailing down here is part of the community, part of everyone's family,
07:57 and it gives each child an opportunity to learn to bond with the sea and learn to do my sport.
08:05 Come with me and I'll show you.
08:06 Let's roll.
08:07 [music]
08:10 At this point, I'm not too sure who's more excited, these awesome young sailors or me.
08:16 Vestini Vikings is the largest sailing club in TNT,
08:19 and Andrew, through his vision, passion, and dedication,
08:22 has managed to really bring this community together and out to sea.
08:27 [music]
08:37 Up.
08:40 And then what?
08:42 Reach.
08:44 No, reach.
08:46 Up.
08:48 Downwind, finish.
08:50 Right?
08:51 Upwind.
08:52 Zachary, triangle sausage.
08:54 Upwind, reach, reach.
08:56 Upwind, downwind, finish.
08:58 Triangle sausage.
09:00 Right, do not forget the course and don't run the marks the wrong way.
09:04 How do we run the marks?
09:05 [music]
09:22 Five, four, nine, over the line, three, two, nine, twelve, nineteen.
09:30 [music]
09:39 Four, three, two, one, three minutes.
09:43 [music]
09:58 Two minutes, two minutes.
10:01 [music]
10:06 Get ready for one minute.
10:08 [music]
10:11 Thirty seconds.
10:13 [music]
10:17 Pull in your sail.
10:20 Five, four, three, two, one.
10:25 [whistle]
10:27 Stay with your competition.
10:28 If you're ahead, cover.
10:30 You don't have to cover here, but cover here.
10:33 He's in clearing and he'll go to the left.
10:35 When he tack here, you come here and you boot him.
10:37 [music]
10:43 Andrew has done a lot for the community here by coaching,
10:47 not just coaching the children in the sailing,
10:50 but doing a lot of motivation as speaking in schools and stuff like that.
10:56 They all look up to Andrew, seeing that he's one of the Olympians,
11:00 and not just being an Olympian, they look up to him.
11:02 He's like a big brother to a lot of the young sailors here.
11:06 He's really done a lot to bring not just his sailing, but sailing around the country,
11:11 and he's really shared that, especially down here in Vestany.
11:14 You can see all these kids are drawn here into this beach,
11:18 and they just want to go sailing.
11:20 We would like to congratulate, first of all, for coming out and putting out a good effort,
11:24 and secondly, for competing.
11:26 Congratulations to all of you all for just giving the best effort you all can.
11:30 [applause]
11:33 [music]
11:49 [music]
11:54 We're on the line with Andrew Lewis, a guy I met years ago,
11:59 just before he was attempting to go to his first Olympics.
12:03 That was in 2012.
12:05 Tell me all about that first Olympics.
12:07 Well, that first Olympics was a breakthrough, but it really started in 2007.
12:14 I was 16 years old, where the dream was really close to being alive,
12:19 and I thought to myself, "Man, Beijing Olympics, I'm a light, young kid.
12:24 Conditions really favored me.
12:26 Let's try and go down there and see what we can do.
12:29 Let's try and qualify and put my heart, my soul, everything into it."
12:33 I really thought I had this in the bag, and didn't qualify.
12:37 When you have so much confidence in yourself and so much drive and passion behind something like this,
12:42 it could also flip the opposite way, and that's what happened.
12:44 It took me away from the sport.
12:46 So I left the sport for a good year and decided I would go and get a university degree
12:51 and get a job in some other avenue in life.
12:55 I did that for a year, and then the real bite came back to me that I want to be sailing.
13:02 I have a passion for sailing, and dinghy sailing especially, which is the small boats that I sail.
13:07 So having that whole drive and passion, I really thought, "Andrew, let's give it one more shot.
13:12 Let's see if we can do a better campaign towards London 2012."
13:16 So said, so done. We put our heart and soul into it.
13:19 We bought in everything.
13:21 I gave 100 percent, and I was able in May 2012 to qualify for the Games and make that dream a reality.
13:29 Back up until 2012, what would you say would be the biggest sacrifice you made?
13:37 The biggest sacrifice I made was, I would say, being in a position I was in,
13:45 where I was in a big financial situation where I really couldn't afford to do what I was doing.
13:52 I went to the bank to take a bank loan to go to the Olympics.
13:57 It was really, really scary, but having that on your shoulders, failure was not an option.
14:05 You've got to do what you've got to do to make it happen.
14:07 So tell me about actually being in London now.
14:10 When you walk out inside that stadium with hundreds of thousands of people,
14:16 that moment is when I said, "Wow, this is what it feels to be an Olympian."
14:23 Hearing your name, hearing your country called Trinidad and Tobago,
14:26 you really say, "Well, that is why I do this for my country."
14:30 I love to hear my country's name called in a global place like this.
14:37 Four years on, 2016, an understatement. We didn't think we'd be here.
14:44 I didn't think I'd be here chatting with you now, at one point in December.
14:50 Can you relive that experience for me?
14:53 Yeah, definitely.
14:55 Last year, Pan Am Games, when I had qualified for the Olympics,
15:00 I had really got an opportunity to confer my spot to the Olympics.
15:06 We were there for one week of a training camp and then one week of a pre-Olympic event.
15:11 It was my first time actually racing in Rio de Janeiro.
15:16 I'd been training there prior and whatnot.
15:18 So we trained, had an excellent training camp,
15:21 and then we had a day and a half off where I said to my training partner,
15:24 "Let's not cook dinner at home. Let's relax our minds, change the situation,
15:28 go and have dinner outside."
15:29 Had dinner, came back home...
15:32 and realised he'd forgotten the house key.
15:40 So, me being the smaller person, I decided, you know,
15:45 we decided that he and his girlfriend would lift me on top of the wall.
15:49 So I'll just jump over the wall, get over as normal.
15:51 I think I've jumped over many walls in my life, nothing different.
15:54 Open the door for them on the inside and go inside the apartment.
15:58 When I was waist-hanging down, I looked down and said, "Cool, let me let go."
16:02 I let go of the structure and as soon as I let go of the structure,
16:06 it followed me down.
16:08 So it rolled off of the wall and followed me down.
16:10 500 pounds?
16:11 500 pounds of concrete.
16:13 I broke my leg, my left leg, fibula and tibia.
16:17 When I was found, I was being crushed under the concrete structure.
16:21 It never broke up.
16:22 Every single bone in my face pretty much broke, you know.
16:25 To fix my face, they spent 13 hours with my face off
16:29 to really put it back together with all the plates.
16:32 So, yeah, being under that for a long time, breaking the ribs,
16:36 puncturing the lung and breaking the leg off,
16:39 somehow caused a lot, a lot of damage.
16:41 I had four surgeries in Brazil.
16:43 My dad arrived only seen because, in theory, it was life-threatening.
16:48 So they said that I was going in to do my leg and my foot at the same time,
16:53 and it should be about eight hours.
16:56 But I went in to do my face, started my face, and my dad was there with me.
17:02 He was sitting outside waiting, and people were actually passing
17:05 that had passed away from surgeries.
17:08 He looked at his watch and he said, "12 hours have passed.
17:10 "My son has definitely probably passed away."
17:13 So eventually he asked the nurse what was going on,
17:16 and the nurse said to him, "Yes, they're now putting your son's head back together,
17:22 "sewing up his skull, and he will be out in about an hour,
17:27 "but you can't see him until tomorrow."
17:29 Andrew, it's all come together,
17:32 from December to now, to us sitting down here.
17:36 You're now back in the water.
17:38 You're back on the road to Rio.
17:41 How is that for you?
17:43 Very, very special.
17:45 I would say I'm about 80% to where I want to be.
17:51 It really is something where I don't ever not pay attention to what I'm having in life.
17:59 I used to be like, "Okay, today's training, today's da-da-da."
18:02 I now appreciate what I'm doing so much more.
18:05 I never didn't appreciate it. I always appreciated it.
18:08 Just walking, I get up in the morning and I get to walk around.
18:12 I get to eat certain things.
18:14 I couldn't eat for a month and a half. My jaw was locked.
18:17 Eating, I super appreciate.
18:19 All these little things in life that people take for granted, I am super appreciative.
18:23 Having the opportunity now to do all these things again,
18:27 they're just a million times more special.
18:29 That's why I think this next Olympic Games is going to be a really special experience for me.
18:34 I'm going back to the country or even the town where I once died
18:38 to race the biggest competition in the world or in my career.
18:42 All these things are very special to me.
18:45 I look forward to going back down there in June and July to practice,
18:49 to just get back into Rio and get over any fears I might have down there.
18:53 As I prepare for August, I really and truly can't wait.
18:58 [Music]
19:13 So, this is a bit of me bringing Andrew now into my world
19:22 after the torture he put me through in his world.
19:25 I don't think he quite knows what he's in for just yet.
19:30 But this is how we start.
19:32 We go out. The car is one thing.
19:35 We have an idea of the car, the mechanics, what they need to do.
19:38 But this is one of the most important functions.
19:41 So, when I used to race for the Games, we're going to meet in a bit,
19:44 we will be John's main competition.
19:47 And a lot depends on the notes because other than that,
19:50 they're just focusing on driving that car.
19:52 So, they listen to everything you say.
19:54 If you call him wrong notes, that's why I tell you, you know,
19:57 most sports require one ball.
20:00 So, what we do is we walk the course.
20:03 Sometimes what happens is Ainsley will drive, I will navigate or co-drive,
20:08 and then Ainsley will co-drive and I will drive,
20:11 just so that we all get a feel and an appreciation of what each other is doing.
20:15 So, Ainsley was known as Ainsley Missed Action Luchon.
20:18 And then when I came on board, it was called just the crazy pit.
20:22 At the end of the day, we had a lot of years racing, a lot of challenges,
20:27 a lot of turns, and when I say turn, I mean turnovers.
20:31 But I trusted with my life.
20:34 I will never sit down on another seat, but with Ainsley,
20:37 which is why I'm saying I'll take this pole and wipe the brow again.
20:42 It's like all sort of motorsport.
20:44 Not to defame anyone, but rallying is where your heart is,
20:49 and no one can contest that.
20:51 But it is a team effort, and I think that will rallying is.
20:55 Because as Robert said, he trusts his life in my hands.
20:59 The same thing I do with him, because he's the one who's telling me where to go.
21:02 [Music]
21:27 So, it's time now.
21:29 Let's see if he does it.
21:31 He's going to race.
21:35 Andrew, welcome to my world.
21:38 [Music]
22:07 [Music]
22:36 [Laughter]
22:38 [Music]
22:45 I represented Trinidad for a number of years with ceiling.
22:48 We know you had a little hiccup this year.
22:50 You're back in it.
22:51 We're very happy to see you back on your two feet back training.
22:54 So, give us an idea about what you thought when the car left the line
22:58 and your experience in one of the most impressive machines we have in the Caribbean.
23:04 Thank you very much.
23:06 My stomach felt like it was in a trunk.
23:09 My neck felt like it was in a tube.
23:11 What an experience.
23:13 I've never felt that before.
23:15 Definitely way different to my craft.
23:18 But I'm really grateful.
23:20 I'm really happy that tonight I was able to come here and see the world.
23:23 It was definitely something I've never felt before.
23:25 And I don't see why anyone else in Trinidad can't see this upset.
23:29 It's phenomenal.
23:30 Thank you very much.
23:31 I'll wave to Andrew Lewis as we bid him farewell to Rio in a couple of months.
23:35 Thank you very much, Andrew.
23:37 [Music]
23:52 This episode of On the Line is brought to you in part by Flow.
23:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]