Thanks Coach! Anna Meares to Martin Barras
Issue: Volume 30 Number 1
When Anna Meares suffered what could have been a career-ending fall at January’s Los Angeles Track World Cup, one person who was constantly by her side in the painful hours that followed was coach Martin Barras.
Meares came away from the accident with heavy skin grazing, torn tendons and muscle tissue in her arms, a dislocated AC joint in her shoulder and a hairline fracture of the neck.
The coach she fondly calls Marv was with her on the track after the fall and at the hospital immediately after.
‘He was there when I was having the burns on my face cleaned and was encouraging me to put up with the pain, but that it was okay to cry,’ Meares recalled.
‘He organised everything for me from having a change of clean clothes at the hospital to packing my bag for me. He came to see me every day and spent time talking and making me laugh.’
The 24-year-old had been training hard to make the team for the Beijing Olympics, where she planned on improving on her bronze medal in the women’s 200-metre sprint at the Athens 2004 Olympics.
The fall and her resulting injuries meant that Meares was sidelined for six weeks, forcing her to miss the final two Olympic qualifying events — the Copenhagen Track World Cup and the Manchester World Track Championships.
It meant that if she recovered in time, she would be relying on other cyclists to perform poorly and therefore maintain her world ranking in the women’s 500-metre time trial and therefore gaining a ticket to Beijing, or to be awarded a wildcard.
‘Marv was very honest with me about the whole Olympic qualifying situation, which was very hard to hear but at least I knew where I stood,’ Meares said.
‘I didn’t even know it but [by the time I got home] he had things in the works should I not qualify for the Games to request a special exemption to go from the UCI. He was looking out for me and my future.’
When Meares did return home a week after the accident, Barras spent much of his time watching over her recovery.
‘He came around to check up on me and how I was going. He said he didn’t care about anything except for me getting better. That was the primary focus, then he would look at getting me back on the bike and training. No matter what it was or what I did, I knew I always had his support and encouragement, which made a huge difference. He and his family even came around for dinner when my parents were in town, which was lovely.’
Meares then began a training program primarily focused on gym work to build back some strength and muscle mass. She started track sessions based on rotating between standing starts and rolling accelerations, with the view that these exercises, combined with the gym work, would see her fit enough to begin training with the cycling team when they return from the world titles.
Through it all, Barras monitored her workload, lightened it when necessary and encouraged her to stick to the program.
‘I can always rely on his honesty,’ Meares said. ‘He reminds me to believe in myself and in my ability. If there is something that needs to be said to me, we have the kind of relationship where honesty is the best policy even if it is something I don’t want to hear.’
It has not always been that way. Meares was a teenager trialling for the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games when she first met Barras. He struck her as being young and having training ideas that were different to those Meares had encountered growing up in Queensland.
When she began training with him, Meares said she was a ‘very shy, timid little girl’. ‘I remember being very scared and almost crying every time I had to have a one-on-one chat with Marv, because I automatically thought I was in trouble and had done something wrong. Now we regularly have one-on-one chats, although he can beat around the bush a bit,’ Meares laughed.
‘In the five years we have worked together he has become very good at being direct but there have been times when I’ve had to call a “time out” and he then goes away and comes back when he can tell me what he needs as briefly as possible.’
While she jokes, Meares does not take lightly the qualities Barras has taught her, not only in cycling but for life outside cycling.
‘We started early on with our honesty policy, making sure that it works both ways. We don’t hold anything against each other, but appreciate the honesty and work on any areas that need it. That helps immensely for race day and preparation for race day to have this kind of relationship. It has also helped me to express myself or [share] my points of view with people and not be afraid to do so.’
Meares said Barras is also a great motivator, finding just the right words for her to focus on during preparations. ‘Every time he puts me on the start line for a sprint match he tells me, “your track, your race, you make the moves”. This year with the Olympics we are working on “masterpiece … getting everything right”. He’s also introducing me to [American baseball legend] Babe Ruth with “have a swing Miss Anna”.’
One thing Barras did not prepare Meares for was being awarded joint Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year in March, alongside walker Nathan Deakes.
‘I actually thought they had it wrong,’ Meares said. ‘In every sporting award where I have been nominated as a finalist, I have always lost predominantly to a swimmer, so to get one from an enormous array of sports and athletes … I was shell shocked.’
‘I have considered a career in coaching, particularly for women sprinters in regional areas. I would love to make them tough and mean and unleash them on Australia and the rest of the world,’ she said.
‘I have definitely grown through my experiences in my career shared with Marv and many others to be confident in whatever I do. I certainly would not have achieved what I have achieved or grown as a person without the support and guidance of Marv.’
On 12 June, Meares gained selection in the Australian Olympic cycling team after posting a world-class time of 11.189 seconds for the flying 200 metres at the Resolution Three event in Melbourne.
