WHO IS HE

WHO IS THIS MAN?

(In the earlier series the readers were given an anecdote as to how it makes a difference when one drop the garb of pride as to ‘I’, ‘ME’ and ‘MINE’ factor. The moment it is dropped one becomes a divine self. It is so described in ‘Geeta’ by none other than the ‘Lord’ himself. It was also so beautifully presented in celluloid form in a movie called “Guide”, where the hero of the film realizes at the end of the movie that ‘selffulness’ was the only reason of all of his worries and sorrows. The writer here presents one another instance as to how it makes a difference to life, when one learn the difference between chasing a goal and selecting a right path to travel for humanity. It is in this hope presented for the young readers)   

He was participating in his dream Olympic game of Seoul 1988 at the age of 32, representing Canada, and competing for single-seated Finn dinghy sailor race. Coincidently his fellow countrymen Ben Jonson was also taking part in athletic events. The sailor rightly deserved an Olympic berth for his country,      because of his astute sailing skills, and was confident to return with a medal. But the ‘moments of truth’ had something different in store. 

He is ‘Lawrence Lemieux’, who remains in rainbow till this day even after 25 years of that fateful day. When he started his race in the hope of a medal nobody could imagine he will become a humanity   hero.

What Lemieux did on 24^th September 1988 afternoon, no one else but God in action could have only performed. Lemieux was far ahead in the turbulent sea amongst all the participants at that time, and could have easily reached for the silver or gold medal position. But a turning moment changed the whole course. Without wasting a second he made a u-turn to proceed to save a competitor couple in trouble who almost gave up any chance to survive.  Lemieux not only picked up the drowning one first and helped the second one to get resuscitated and waited till the Korean Navy Rescue Team took the participants away.  He then resumed his race to finish 22^nd in the event.

Lemieux was awarded the highest Olympian ‘Sportsman Ship’ medal more than the worth of winning a gold medal. The IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, in his citation said “By  your sportsmanship, self- sacrifice, and courage you embody all that is right with the Olympic ideal”. Later he became the most sought after ‘sailing coach’ for the aspirants and countries. He was honored by many countries thereafter. He retired from all the activities of his sport at the age of 57 in 2012. He was fittingly included in the ‘Alberto Hall of Fame’ in September 2012, and got enshrined as living legend though without winning a medal, in his dream Olympic of 1988.

Lawrence Lemieux grew up sailing on the lakes of western Canada. So adept was he that, throughout his teens and twenties, Lemieux won many competitions throughout North America. He began racing solo in the 1970’s and found that it relies on the individual tactics and strategy. “It is you and the boat. You are in control of your destiny; you can develop a technique that works for you. It is all you” he says. In the first world champion ship he finished eighth. But he also believed that they were not the best sailors in the world. “We were a new breed then in the late seventies and early eighties. There was a group of us, I was the only guy from Canada, and may be four or five Americans. We sailed full time and that’s all we did. We lived in vans, we ate in camp grounds, we had no money- but we excelled. We took the sport to a new level.” Skilled and self assured, the 32 year old Lemieux easily earned a place on his sailing team of the country for the summer Olympic  games to be held in South Korea . 

Born on Nov. 12, 1955, in Edmonton, Alberto, who competed in the 1984 summer Olympic in star class and at the 1988 summer Olympic in the Finn class. He became famous for his feat, in the later competition, which resulted in him being awarded the ‘Pierre de Coubertin Medal’.

September 24, 1988; history was about to be written for an Olympic medalist aspirant sailor:

Lawrence Lemieux was waiting for his turn to go for his lap that may decide his position on winner’s podium. The waters of Pusan, 450 kilo meters away from the coast, were calm, the wind blowing at 10 to 15 knots- nearly ideal sailing conditions. The first four races went smoothly, with Jose Luis Doreste of Spain  and Peter Holmerg of the Virgin Islands earned comfortable leads. When Lemieux turn came, with the fifth lap, the winds picked up to a dangerous 35 knots.

Battling the winds, this man forged ahead, clocking a time that would have qualified him for a silver medal overall, but in his mind he was sure to go for gold at that moment. When all of a sudden he abandoned the race, and changed his direction to a capsizing boat that had been competing for Singapore in different category. The boat’s injured crew members, Shaw Her Siew and Joseph Chan, were in the turbulent oceanic water, Chan having been thrown nearly 20 meters from his craft and Siew clinging to the overturned boat. What then this man did, became folklore in Olympic.

He reminisces the day till this day,even after 25 years very clearly. Once in an interview he narrated the fleeting moments as if it happened yesterday. The race was for a competition to win but it turned out to be a race of a lifetime. Eventually humanity won the race. It is way you look at the events at a particular moment. And that’s make all the difference. The moments of truth in his own words:

“I was sailing for Canada in a one-man Finn dinghy, which was sharing its course with two other races; the men’s and women’s 470 two person boats. The conditions were unexpectedly challenging, with strong winds and currents causing exceptionally steep waves. I was winning my race, much ahead of my category of competitors, until I dropped to second place, as I missed a marker- the fluorescent buoys that signaled the course were eight feet high, but the waves were so large that I simply didn’t get them. I had raced in that much wind, but the steepness of the waves, was altogether of a different proportion. I could have managed to overcome all, because for almost 18 years I was living with many of them like.”

”A number of other competitors were also running in difficulty in the heavy seas, including those two Singaporeans. I spotted their upturned dinghy- one had made it onto the hull but the other was drifting helplessly. The distance between him and his boat was quite a way and the boat was drifting faster than he could swim. And if could not see those big orange markers, who is going to see a little head bobbing in the water? He would have been lost at sea. I had to make a decision and once I recalled the dynamics of the problem there was no other question.”

“I sailed by and used the momentum to flip him up into the boat. In a single-handed boat there is no room for a second person so I headed back towards the upturned Singaporean boat. This one had cut his hand, he was bleeding all over, and they lost their rudder as well, so they could right the boat. My hopes of the medal vanished as soon as I changed the course to head to the rescue help; I eventually finished 22^nd place.”

 “The first rule of sailing is, if you see someone in trouble, you need to go for help, except that, this was different.” He recalls,  ‘That wasn’t just  another sailing trip in the rough waters, I was competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympic, and my dream was about take shape, I had built up enough lead to have time to manage the situation, a medal was most likely in sight.”

“You just do it.”  Life is more important than a medal hunt, it struck to him, just go for help. “My thought process was; do they really need help because a lot of times you are able to save yourself. But I couldn’t understand  if they were saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ I just had to go. If I went to them and they didn’t really need help, it would have shattered my dream of two decades. If I didn’t go, it would be something you would regret for rest of your life.”

“I could have won gold. But under the circumstances, what I did, I would do again.” Lemieux says with pride; who while never making it to Olympics again, collected silver medal at the 1990 World Champion ship, and won all seven races in 1991 to win gold at the Pan-American Games. But more than that won the hearts of millions of people around the world, making them proud of being living-being in his times. Heads of states of many countries invited him to bestow ‘honour’ and to feel honoured by standing beside him. Lawrence Lemieux is the true role model and hero of sportsmanship.

God give opportunities to serve, to those who have genuinely big hearts. Let us develop a big heart with love and compassion.

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This is adapted version of my series on “IT IS THE WAY YOU LOOK AT“ in a book form (manuscript stage). ONI feel privileged that the introductory section to the book “WHO ARE YOU?” was considered for readership in “the Speaking Tree”. I hope this one will also be interest to all. I also work for “Punjab National Bank”. Age 59+. In the course of my occupational journey I have tried to serve a lot of people but in the process I rather learned more from them, briefly to say ‘a true meaning of life’.

Submitted for your kind consideration. ‘THE TIMES OF INDIA’ a habit formed for almost 50 years.

Note : I have mentioned the name of Ben Jonson only once and opted to just name him once only. It is because though Ben went on to win an Olympic medal in the same Olympic, but he was later stripped of the medal for using steroids. Ben Jonson also represented the same country like Lawrence Lemieux. It is coincidence that one returned with honour without winning a medal, and fellow countrymen in disgrace even after winning an Olympic medal