BRIAN TALMA has some fond memories of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, not so of Barcelona four years later.
From his performances in the water to the conditions and even the way he was received by the local people were chalk and cheese.
Talma qualified to get the Olympic spot after Randal Valdez – who later made a name for himself rowing across the Atlantic Ocean with Philip Als – had pulled out of the Games. Talma had just returned home after four years, armed with a degree in business from Eckerd College.
Eckerd was one of the few colleges in the United States which had a windsurfing team and Talma had competed with some success at the Florida Nationals.
“I realized there was an opportunity for me to go to the Olympics and represent Barbados and do my best,” he told MIDWEEK SPORT.
“Ironically, I was training heavily in the US on a triangle sail but in the Olympics in those days, they were using a board called a lechner, not one I was accustomed to using, which is a very difficult board to ride.”
Talma laughed as he remembered his last-minute admission caused delays at every airport the team went through, but they eventually made it to Seoul.
“Everything was a new experience. Seoul was a great experience, the people. Of the two Olympics, I thought it was the better one culturally.”
The competition also proved to be a challenge on the lechner.
“They had huge – I would say 20-foot swells – strong winds and all of the other Olympic sailors were not accustomed to these conditions. So I cranked the action. I did really, really well,” Talma said, with a big laugh.
“Although I did not medal, comparable to not sailing on that board, I was really happy with how I did. A friend of mine called Jan Boersma from Curacao, he was an unexpected person. He wasn’t even in the ranking. He came from nowhere and won the silver,” recalled Talma, who finished down the line.
“The wind was blowing so hard. I would never forget the whole fleet got floored. I was down in the back of the boat and this fellow from Italy was in third place and he was screaming and crying.
“He was cursing and he was very disappointed. And I thought ‘there is no way I can do good in this race. I’m out’. But I said ‘Brian, I’m gonna roll the race and continue.’ I could not believe it. All of a sudden people were just coming closer and I was passing everyone.
“The majority of the people couldn’t handle the strong winds and from my experience in Barbados sailing with waves and dealing with strong winds, I was able to do really, really well. I had two good races, but I also had some DSQs [disqualified]. It was a great amazing, Olympic experience.
“Even the locals really pulled for me. Every day when I came out of the water they would come and bring me apples and food and I’ve been very fortunate travelling the world. The Olympics were the first time the locals really gravitated towards me and were really backing me 100 per cent.”
It was that response which convinced Talma he wanted to be a professional windsurfer and he turned pro the following year.
From just playing in the water to windsurfing at age 16, Talma was living a dream, “getting paid to play” across Europe, the Pacific, the United States and back home in the Caribbean, doing really well in the four years until Barcelona.
“But the difference between Olympic sailing and professional sailing are opposites. People who do Olympics tend not to be professionals on the tour because it is a different type,” Talma said.
“So I went to the [Barcelona] Olympics from the Canary Islands where the wind is blowing strong and there’re waves. I go to the Olympics now and there is no wind. It is barely a puff. It was the most disappointing situation ever. It was frustrating after being so successful on the tour.
“The conditions were not favoured for me. I did not do that well.”
He had already done indoor surfing in the same venue in Barcelona while on the tour, but with no wind, he didn’t shine.
Also, Talma said the Olympics had become more commercialized in the four years and it was harder to get tickets for other events or even go and support the other Barbadian athletes as he had done in Seoul.
“I would say that I was a world champion. I may have come ninth or tenth overall but your ability to absorb all of what is going on, the competition, the Olympic Village, the whole atmosphere around the event and to do good and to also have heavy backing from sponsors, you win the event,” Talma said.
“I respect all Olympians, all Olympians from Barbados who go over there and it is very difficult. It is not easy to compete against world-class athletes.”
