Meet Margaret and Seth Wescott, courtesy of P&G

Today I had the opportunity to speak with Olympic Gold medalist Seth Wescott and his mother, Margaret. As a mom (and wanna-be athlete), I was very interested in speaking with not only such an accomplished athlete but also his mom. They are incredibly gracious and down-to-earth. Here is our conversation:

LM: Margaret, I noticed in our bio you are an athlete yourself.

Margaret: I was an athlete, but now I think of myself more as a dancer. I’ve been teaching dance for 42 years. But being an athlete gives me a different perspective on dancing. I studied kinesiology and the mechanics of moving and how our bodies work. I’ve taught dance to kids as young as five and adults as old as 95.

LM: Did you ever have Seth learn dance?

Margaret: When Seth was in the fourth grade his school had a special project requirement. We formed an inter-generational dance company and he participated in that. And then in the 8^th grade he was the sound person for my dance company. But other than that, he developed his own interests and I had to let him go.

LM: As a mother I want to know, how did you let him go?

Margaret: I was a pretty nervous mom. I over-prepared for parenting and I remember reading a biography and the woman said, “I never said to my children, “Be careful”. I tried not to say that [too]. I remember the first time Seth showed me a video of him snowboarding in Alaska. He took my hands and looked me right in the eye and very calmly said, “Mom, this is what I do.”

Seth has an amazing older sister, Sarah, and they like each other. I see their skills. He had a lot of bruises and scraped places and I always wondered if the pediatrician thought I was beating him. But he’s a hellacious athlete. I guess he just grew beyond my level of worry.

LM: Speaking about worry. Seth, I read that you were in an avalanche. I’m wondering if there was ever a moment where you thought, “This is it, I’m going to die.”

Seth: I’ve had 12 avalanche experiences. The most recent was last month in Alaska. The most publicized one was the one from 2003 that they showed footage of at the Turino Olympics. I never had a “I’m going to die” moment. I’ve been in a helicopter crash, car crashes, avalanches… You’re actually really calm. You focus on what you have control of. The one they showed at the Turino Olympics my mouth was full of snow. I was just taking my fingers and clearing my airway. I have a pretty instinctual ability to deal with what I can control at that moment and not focus on the outcome.

The one last month, there was a 100 foot cliff in front of me that I didn’t want to go over. So I decided to go under (the avalanche). I punched into the bed surface of the snow. It’s the only thing that’s fixed. It’s like duck diving a wave in surfing. So I punch both hands into the bed surface and stuck my arms into the snow which slowed me down. When I went back to the timestamp on my helmet camera I realized it was a four tenths of a second decision.

LM: Both of you were at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games. How did the first experience differ from the second?

Seth: For me, the experience of being a first time Olympian, it’s more overwhelming. The experience of walking into the stadium for the first time is more special. As an athlete when you’ve worked for so many years…. I nearly qualified in 1998 so I felt like it was in my grasp in ’98 so to get there in ’06… there’s a sense of relief and a sense of fulfillment of becoming an Olympian. It’s the biggest goal for someone in winter sports to achieve. I really felt and believed I could do it.

This time it was a different process. I was dealing with injury most the season. I went in with the singular mission of defending the title. It was less about the Olympic experience and more of a mission. It had a much different focus.

Margaret: Both Olympics were a great opportunity to spend time with my daughter who lives in San Francisco. So the both of us and Seth’s dad had the opportunity to see Seth compete. It was a family experience. Since 1986 his competitions are in Japan, South America, Europe, and New Zealand. I’m in the position to see him compete. I’ve never been to the x games and he’s been there 12 times. The accommodations in Turino were in a small town in the mountains. It was an hour by train so sometimes we would miss the events and just to get there from the place we were staying it could take 2 and half hours to get to an event.

For 2010, I didn’t realize we were going to get money from Proctor and Gamble so we swapped houses with a family who lives outside Vancouver. So we just had to jump on a bus. In terms of focusing on Seth – the opportunity to realize a dream, he’s been focusing on that so long… it’s very powerful to witness that process and his creativity.

In addition to that just all the excitement of the moment and the crowd and the cheering and the American flag. I’m now a Seth groupie. These last few days together has been amazing. It’s lovely and I’m continually surprised everything that happens every day. Yesterday we flew on a corporate jet!

And the pride of witnessing him do [his dream] is incredible. Sometimes that word pride – – I don’t always use that word. Sometimes that word is about me… and about something we (as mother’s) need.

LM: It seems you are at Sugarloaf and Alaska a lot, where else do you like to go snowboarding?

Seth: Sugarloaf is my home. I’m there in the summer. I do the restaurant then. Summer time is more real. Because of the World Cup schedule I get the most days snowboarding in Sugarloaf in the year, and that’s really only 20. Every Monday we’re on a plane and we’re in a different place. Ten years training in the fall in Chile and Argentina. A couple trips this summer to New Zealand. For 3.5 years I dated a woman on the Swiss national team so I spent a lot time training there. I’ve gotten to travel to 5 continents. So we train wherever the snow is… we follow it around. It’s a lot of travel.

LM: I would ask someone what they like to do for fun, but snowboarding is fun. Intense, but fun. So, what do you do to wind down?

Seth: My two favorite activities are golf and surfing. I remember when I was a teen I thought, ‘How could people do [golf]. In 2005 I was picked up by Nike and was given some clubs and now I play every day I can. We have a beautiful course 3 miles from home and membership is part of my sponsorship. The restaurant takes up a lot of time. Since Turino life has changed a lot… there are demands and requests on your free time. I try to create space for myself. Next week I’m headed to Peru to surf for ten days. I love to do photography… part of living in Maine is I’m around my friends from when I was a child. Part of it is just staying at home and having a normal life at home. My friends live a normal life. For me to get to share time in their lives and have a sense of normalcy is what the off-season is about.

LM: Who do you read?

Seth: I don’t have a favorite author. But I do read Hunter Thompson, a person who got me interest in politics because he was so outside of that spectrum. He had a number of books that are a chronology of his correspondence for years to people like Jimmy Carter and Lyndon Johnson. He had interesting friends who were involved in the world. It is really fascinating to see he loved to discuss what was going on. I read a lot of non-fiction. I’m fascinated by history. I dropped out of college after a few semesters to pursue [snowboarding] but I truly enjoy the process of learning.

LM: Margaret, when was the first time you overheard someone talking about Seth and realized, “that’s my son”.

Margaret: I don’t remember the first time it happened, but it happens all the time now! He’s twice been declared the Ambassador to Maine. There was a ceremony and the governor was there and big band was playing. Maine is important to both Seth and I. I’m a fifth generation Mainer and he’s sixth generation. They’ve been saying ever since Montessori school that he’s amazing and he is!

LM: Seth, what are some of the projects you are working with now?

Seth: Protect our Winters is an organization my mentor Jeremy Jones started. I haven’t been able to take an active role but I like to speak about it whenever I have the chance. Being someone who is involved in winter sports and watching global warming and the amount of time I spend in the glacial world. People who don’t get out in nature very much don’t see the effects of it all. But when you have spend the last 10 years going out to glaciers and you return each year and see the difference you realize the effect of global warming.

I also work with Winter Kids. Michelle Obama just started Let’s Move and the governor of our state does something called Take it Outside. Maine struggles with obesity in children and adults. It’s a long cold winter here and people tend to stay in side. Using the platform of being an Olympic athlete I am able to help get the message out about how winter sports are cost-prohibitive to a lot of kids. Last year we were able to get 10,000 inner city kids access to ski equipment and slopes and exposure to a life-time sport. I do a lot with the kids program. I do a lot of school speaking to kids. I tell them just because you live rurally doesn’t mean you can’t set goals and chase after dreams and be able to accomplish those. It’s fun to be able to give back in that way.

LM: With Mother’s Day coming up, Margaret, is there a Mother’s Day that sticks out for you?

Margaret: This one! There was a time when Seth and Sarah made me breakfast in bed and brought it to me on a wooden tray. But because Seth is on the road so much he is usually traveling on my birthday and in Costa Rica on Mother’s Day. This Mother’s Day is great because we are in Manhattan and have several days together.

Seth: Literally since high school I’ve been training all winter. The Proctor and Gamble “Thank You, Mom” program was amazing for us. For her to be able to take off work and get to come to the Olympics… her birthday was during that time. It was an amazing highlight.

LM: Margaret, having raised two children, if there is one piece of advice you can give us young moms, what would it be?

Margaret: From what I can tell, the only reason for being on the planet is to love and be loved. Hug your kids. Talk to them. Love them. Seth is an excellent hugger. In Vancouver, we got to the mountain right before the event. You’ve heard of how people get in ‘the zone.’ We had just come through the security and he came through with his coach. He hugged David (Sarah’s partner) and Sarah first and then hugged me. It was the most profound, full-body hug. It was almost mystical because he was so in that place. I will never forget it.

Proctor and Gamble sponsored the mothers of Team USA athletes to attend the Olympic games in Vancouver, Canada through a program Seth mentioned called “Thank you, Mom”. They have extended the program for Mother’s Day opening it up to the general public. Go here to find out more about how to enter to win $1000 toward a trip to see your mom or toward a day of being together.

And for more on Seth Wescott, you can visit his website or type his name into youtube to see him in action.

Here are my favorite quotes from the interview… one from Seth and one from Margaret. Here’s Seth’s nugget: “I have a pretty instinctual ability to deal with what I can control at that moment and not focus on the outcome.” Boy, can I relate to that one…. And a real thought-provoking quote from Margaret: “Sometimes that word pride – – I don’t always use that word. Sometimes that word is about me… and about something we need.” Ouch! She is so right on the money that sometimes as moms we try to steer our children in ways we want them to go instead of what is best for their interests and goals.

What is your favorite quote?