Barnes, rowing with teammates including Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle, won two gold medals in a four and an eight. Seven years ago Barnes came to England to study sports psychology at Bristol University. She re-established contact with British rowers she had met at the Olympics. One of them, Terry Dillon, is now her husband. Dillon rowed for Oxford in 1989 and recommended his new wife to Oxford coaches looking for a way to end a seven-year losing streak.
Barnes takes a refreshingly practical approach to sports psychology.
The athletes I work with are good. My job is how to make them better by putting them in the right frame of mind. Barnes works on planning and organization, identifying strengths and weaknesses and improving mental skills. She's a firm believer in visualization, mentally rehearsing a big event. For example she shows the Oxford rowers videotapes of previous boat races.