A close look at chamipons - the interwiew with Szczepan Mazur and Jarosław Skrzyczyński

A CLOSE LOOK AT

CHAMPIONS

AUTHOR: MAGDALENA KOMAREK PHOTOS: TOR WYŚCIGÓW KONNYCH SŁUŻEWIEC

They are both somewhat iconic in the disciplines they represent. It is only when you get to know them better, however, that you see surprising similarities. Not only do they stand out from other athletes in terms of the number of successes they have achieved, but also in terms of their attitude, way of thinking and being. It is such observations that inspired this conversation.

What is your day like?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: I practically live in a stable and I am not saying that metaphorically, I have a stable right next to my house. We start a bit later than the racers, I’m at the stable at about 7:30 a.m., but then I finish work later, because I ride more or less until 4 p.m. Anyway, work at the stable isn’t only about riding, there is also a lot of other things to do and sometimes you have to fix the tractor or take a paintbrush and repair something. There is no letting go for anyone and there is nobody who will do those different things for us. Now we are in the season, so actually every week from Thursday we are at a competition, we come back on Sunday and on Monday we are back in the stable.

Szczepan Mazur: I arrive at the stable at 6:30 am every day, I have to leave home about half an hour earlier to be there on time, and then I have about 6 - 7 rides. It all depends on what training plan the trainer has put together for each horse. In the meantime there is some work to do in the stable and I finish around 2 pm, come home to eat something and go out to work out - go cycling, jogging or to the gym. On Saturday I am also at the

JAROSŁAW SKRZYCZYŃSKI is the highest ranked Polish rider in the FEI ranking, leader of the Polish Equestrian Federation ranking, four-time Polish Senior Champion, representative of KJ Agro-Handel Śrem.

stable in the morning, but I only have 4 rides and we go straight to Służewiec, where I go to the sauna and then to the races. Sunday is a bit easier, because I have the morning to myself, while Monday is a day off.

What makes an athlete become the best?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: I don’t know if there’s a formula for that. I guess everyone has their own path, but I think it’s mostly about being consistent, repetitive. You have to repeat one action thousands of times until you get bored (which at some point seems not quite normal anymore), but if I had to choose something, I think this is what ultimately gives the best results. I would also add patience, which isn’t exactly my strong point, but I keep working on it because it’s really necessary. Some people say that you need to keep calm, but it’s more about controlling everything that goes on in your head.

Szczepan Mazur: I think you just can’t stop, you can’t settle for a moment. You have to work all the time, get to know the horses, learn them and know what each of them needs. This sport is very demanding, you can’t let go even for a moment, because every decline in shape, any deficiency, lack of information about the horse is immediately exposed and reflected in the result. It is only through constant work that good results can be achieved.

If you achieved everything you dreamed of, do you think you would step away and take a welldeserved rest or would you continue to work hard?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: I don’t know if there is a clear boundary where you have achieved everything. I don’t think so. For me I strive for something and the moment I achieve it, it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I leave the arena satisfied, and an hour later I have a new goal and I am 100% focused on it. I don’t spend my time living the victories. I don’t know if it is normal that I don’t cherish it, but I have another plan, new goals, I think about other horses, I move forward.

Szczepan Mazur: It’s not even about resting, but there are constantly new goals popping up somewhere. You can never fully fulfil your dreams, you can always do something better. You can win important races, but next year there is another stake of horses, another challenge. One dream comes true, then another one appears.

Point to a single character feature that determines a winner.

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: Persistence.

Szczepan Mazur: Persistence.

What is the hardest thing once you reach the top?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: The hardest thing is that you not only have to maintain your shape all the time, but also constantly improve it. Your competition never rests so you cannot give up even for one day. I know that if I slow down for a week, I am already far behind. The biggest mistake in such a situation is to say that you don’t have to work the same way, then your form plummets. Horses and people can’t be in top shape all the time, that’s why you have to manage it so that you are ready for

SZCZEPAN MAZUR is a six-time champion jockey, three-time Derby winner, outside the season in Poland we can watch him on the racecourses in the United Arab Emirates, where he has also been very successful.

the most important of times. That energy management and a training plan is especially difficult now, when there are so many different competitions.

Szczepan Mazur: The pressure to stay on top. I think that’s natural. Here, in racing, success means more chances and more opportunities. When you are one of the best, you get better horses, but it doesn’t mean that it is easier. Managing horses for competitions is also a kind of art, so as not to lose anything, not to offend anyone. You always have to give something up or reject something when making a choice. These are sometimes very difficult decisions. It turns out that success brings us different challenges, maybe even more difficult than when you were on your way to the top.

Would you have expected to be where you are now when you started your career?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: Maybe somewhere in some very bold dreams, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it. It was out of reach for me...or so it seemed. I was rather always somewhere off to the side, most things were out of my reach. It all came with time. I wouldn’t have dared to say out loud one day that I would be where I am now, but it was persistence that led me to this place. It was hardly an easy path. It developed through painstakingly repeating the same actions over and over again, getting up in the morning. The more I worked and the longer I spent with the horses, the more opportunities and possibilities opened up.

Szczepan Mazur: I am not from a so-called „racing” family. My parents once bought a horse for their farm, I got on and that’s how I stayed there. At that time I didn’t know what I could even dream of. I rode, I worked, as time went by I received some offers to go further, but I didn’t know where it was going to take me and I wouldn’t have expected to be where I am now.

Do you easily forget defeets to avoid straining your mind or do you go back and analyze them repeatedly?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: It goes without saying that I process defeats much longer than victories. Winning is all about the moment; 5 minutes, the decoration, the honorary round. By contrast, I analyze defeats, I work through them, because even if the arena is in the same place during the competition and I have different horses, each time it is different. There are people walking, or a dog, or children, then it is the sun, shade or rain. You have to draw conclusions for the future and prepare yourself and the horse for all these situations. This is how you build intuition.

Szczepan Mazur: I always analyze lost races, I wonder what could have been done differently, why the horse reacted the way he did. I analyze the lost races, but I do it because I want to draw conclusions, not to torture myself mentally.

Who is your inspiration?

Jarosław Skrzyczyński: The best ones. Everyone has their own style and you can learn something from everyone, to get some inspiration. You have to have your own style, but all the time observe those who are successful. We can’t simply rest as you can learn something from everyone.

Szczepan Mazur: I have been watching the best jockeys in the world forever. Each one is a little different, they have different styles, but it’s interesting to observe the nuances that are critical in a race.

Do you see these similarities? There is one more important piece of information here - the athletes were interviewed separately, one could not hear what the other was saying. What is the conclusion that comes from this? To be a Champion, you have to think like a Champion.