Emma Twigg, a Gold Medal at Bocconi
AT THE HEIGHT OF HER CAREER, THE WORLD ROWING CHAMPION FROM NEW ZEALAND IS ATTENDING THE FIFA MASTER AND TRAINING FOR THE NEXT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND RIO 2016The presence of Emma Twigg during lunch break at Unifit, the Università Bocconi gym, doesn’t go unnoticed. With her 1.82 meters and her athleticism, she’s strikingly at ease with weights and crushes the egos of anyone daring to touch the rowing machine. But there is a reason: Emma, 27, from Napier, New Zealand, is the world rowing champion of the women's single sculls.
She’s currently at SDA Bocconi School of Management until 21 March to attend the management module of the FIFA Master - International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport, the program organized by Lausanne’s CIES in collaboration with SDA Bocconi, De Montfort University (Leicester) and University of Neuchâtel.
Emma puts a professional training routine on top of classes that last from 9 a.m to 5.30 p.m. She takes two sessions per day out of three possibilities: "In the morning," she says, "I get up early to do one hour or ninety minutes of rowing machine at home before going to class. During lunch break I use the equipment of the gym and in the evening, conditions allowing, I row at the Idroscalo, otherwise I go back to the rowing machine". Over the weekends, she trains her resistance, sometimes rowing, sometimes indulging in long bike rides.
Her ultimate goal is to qualify for the Olympics in Rio, but Emma hopes to convince the New Zealand Federation to let her defend her title at the 2015 World Championships in France. "The problem is that, not being in New Zealand, I can not take part in the qualifiers organized by the Federation", she explains, "but I can boast excellent certified performance at the rowing machine and, in the coming months, I will participate in important regattas against top rowers from around the world".
Despite the problem of the next World Championships, Emma deems the FIFA Master a stimulus and not an obstacle to her growth as an athlete. "I’ve breathed rowing since my childhood: my brother was a racer and my father used to train him. I started international racing ten years ago", she continues, "and lately I needed new goals. The master gave them to me".
After Rio she’d like to work for the International Olympic Committee or for an international sports federation, "and I believe that the experience as an athlete is partially transferable to these activities", she says, "but I think I’m in need of specific knowledge of finance management, organization and law - hence the decision to participate in the FIFA Master".
Emma is enjoying her experience in Milan and the warmth shown to her by the rowing clubs she has visited, and her stay in Italy could last a bit longer than expected. In the next few months it will be winter in New Zealand and she is looking for a training base in Europe. Among the possibilities there is Lake Como, where she could train with Canottieri Cernobbio.
by Fabio Todesco
