By Olympic Champions Etienne Stott MBE & Tim Baillie MBE
When we read this inspirational book, we were struck by several parallels and similarities between our journey to the Olympic Gold Medal at London 2012 and the adventure Sean undertook with his friend Shaggy on the Congo. For us, these parallels are important, as we were inspired by the stories of other athletes in our sport, athletes in other sports and by any number of people whose undertakings could be put into the ‘extraordinary’ category. These parallels give a person the notion that maybe they are not that different from these so-called heroes or superstars, these adventurers and daredevils. If you can understand one of these heroes and see where they are coming from, then who is to say that you could not decide to try to do something ‘extraordinary’ yourself, in a domain that excites and interests you?
We knew each other from a young age, and grew up together in the sport of canoe slalom, sharing many adventures and experiences. We attended the same university and lived in the same house for many years; we had some big highs and some tough lows. It strikes us that a good yarn is helped by a good sidekick. While the Congo mission was Sean’s vision, the adventure is theirs. It is hard to imagine this story with only one of the lead characters.
We also share the idea of a journey and a destination, as well as the blurring of the lines between them. Many would think that sports are all about the destination, that is winning. Many would think that adventures are all about the summit, the objective, the claim. We would contend that the journey never ends and that these targets are just places on the way. The Congo was Sean’s dream, and our dream was winning the Olympics in canoe slalom, but looking back, even the shortest shortcut would have taken something away from the satisfaction of the route. It may have been said before, but sometimes the journey is the destination, and sometimes reaching it just begs more journeying.
Finally, like Sean and Shaggy, we have been fortunate to meet many brilliant people along the way (although it’s fair to say, perhaps we haven’t encountered some of the ‘darker’ characters that they came across). The people we met have sometimes affected us directly and immediately by their actions, but sometimes they have left us with something else of great value: an idea or a thought that reveals its true significance further down the line. It is always interesting to meet new people, however and wherever you meet them. These encounters add something to the journey and to the tales that come afterwards.
It would be nice to think and hope that people reading this book might find something that pushes them to make a choice, be that in nature, sport, art, science, love, or anything else. That one choice might propel them in a direction that takes them somewhere that was up to that point inconceivable. Potential adventures are all around. You just need the inspiration to take the first step. That’s why we think you’ll enjoy reading Sean of the Congo, it is an adventure that tempts the imagination to get up, stretch its legs and hit the road!