Charles Wrap-Up

Post # 116

I'm back in Cali after racing at Head of the Charles in Boston. The Oakland Youth doubles and I all raced on Sunday, which was a gorgeous sunny day. We had close enough start times that as I warmed up, I saw each of them power by in their races and cheered extremely loud for each of them. The boys placed 40th and the girls placed 10th. Now we have an idea of where we stand and a platform to improve on for this weekend.

(photos by row2k.com)

My race, which started right after theirs, was really, really difficult. No races are easy, but when you have a strong headwind pushing against you nearly the whole way down the course, it feels like a constant battle with the elements. Add to that the fact that I haven't trained as hard as I normally do in this post-Olympic "break" and it was pretty brutal. I know what it feels like to race when I'm in peak fitness and now I know that it feels a lot worse when I'm not. Ouch!

It's a good thing I had the help of everyone cheering. Being from Boston, I had a lot of fans along the river: Amory of In the Arena, her whole family, my parents, uncle, and cousins, my college team, a huge Wisconsin alumni tent, my Oakland rowers, and friends scattered along the whole course. There are so many bridges and riverbanks along the course that you can really hear everyone. It was great. I got back on land and learned that I had successfully defended my title and won my event!

The doubles and I are back in action, along with about 50 other Oakland Youth rowers, in Sacramento this weekend for Head of the American.

Head of the Charles

Post # 115

Boston, Massachusetts - The best weekend of the whole year is almost here. Head of the Charles is a three-mile race on the Charles River in Boston and it's a weekend filled with reunions and racing. Nearly the entire rowing world in the US convenes there and this year it also has rowers from over twenty countries. More than 100 London Olympians will be competing (myself included) which means it'll be a fantastic weekend to watch live or from afar. This is the live webcast and here are the results.

Below is my own "who to watch" preview. All times are eastern, so subtract 3 hrs for the west coast equivalent.

Saturday:
4:14 pm Men's Championship Singles - bow #1 is Mahe Drysdale, a New Zealander who is the reigning Olympic champion and five-time World Champion in the men's heavyweight single. Talk about some credentials!
4:23 pm Women's Championship Singles - bow #1 is Gevvie Stone, a good friend of mine and a fellow Bostonian. She won this event last year and was the USA's women's single in London. Bow #2 is Mirka Knapkova from the Czech Republic, 2011 World Champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the single. Bow #3 is Kim Crow from Australia, who won two medals in London.

Sunday:
11:55 am Men's Youth Doubles - bow #32 are the boys I coach, representing Oakland Youth Rowing. Cheer for the teal, blue, and yellow blades!
12:12 pm Women's Youth Doubles - Bow #17 is also Oakland Youth Rowing. So excited for these two doubles.
12:44 pm Women's Lightweight Singles - Bow #1 is me! I'll be representing the Wisco Alumni with red blades.
2:55 pm Men's Championship 8s - Tons of fantastic entries in this event. The Champ 8 at the Charles is pretty much the only time that colleges get to race national teams. Bow #2 has five US Olympians in it and bow #3 are the reigning National Champions from the University of Washington. Bow #4 is the "great 8," eight of the world's premier single scullers, all from different countries, who have come together in a superstar 8.
3:08 pm Women's Championship 8s - There's a ton of talent in the women's version of this event too. Bow #5 is the USA gold medal Olympic 8. Bow #6 is the Canadian silver medal Olympic 8. Bow #8 is the women's "great 8," including plenty of London medallists. Bow #9 is a New Zealand/Great Britain mix of some of the best small boat rowers in the world.
4:45 pm Women's Lightweight 8s - Bow #1 are the Wisconsin Lightweights, my college team. Go Badgers.

Good luck to everyone racing!

Olympic Day in San Fran

Post # 114

Last week, I was part of a big "Olympic Day" celebration in San Fran. Kids from seven different Boys and Girls Clubs came to hang out with me, Trooper Johnson (a four-time Paralympian in basketball), and Julian Munoz (an '88 and '92 Olympic alpine skier). They learned about three very different sports, saw some medals, asked a bunch of questions, and got our autographs. Trooper, Julian and I loved being a part of it and meeting all the kids. My favorite moment was watching Trooper and Ivan, one of the kids at the club who is in a wheelchair, play basketball together in Trooper's fancy wheelchairs. Ivan had a big smile plastered on his face the whole time. 

Thanks BASOC and BGC SF! (photos by Kristin Glickman)

The kids did a great job decorating the whole Boys and Girls Club for the event

Checking out my 2011 World Cup gold medal 

 Trooper talking to the kids. He challenged a few of them to play basketball with him, too!

Finally, a big shout out to Katya, one of my Girls on the Run from last fall, who is turning 10 tomorrow. Happy birthday!! I got to see Katya and be a guest coach for the team over the weekend, which was a blast. Have a great day, girl.

Yamile, me, and Katya at practice last week

Oakland Youth Rowing

Post #113

Oakland, California - As part of my ITA community work this fall, I've been coaching the youth programs at Oakland Rowing Association. Oakland Rowing is a club that started last year and is open to kids and adults from around the East Bay. We're growing fast and getting lots of people involved in the sport. In the youth programs, we've got mostly middle school and young high school kids, which is pretty crazy for me to see. I didn't know what rowing was when I was in eighth grade, and it's amazing to see how much some of my eighth graders (or the sixth graders) already know about rowing!

Much to their dismay, I've introduced some of my favorite college workouts to the boys' team over the past few weeks. They've done awesome on them though, and we've already made tons of progress in both fitness and technique. We've got a big intra-team scrimmage this Saturday (boys versus girls, it's on!) and our first race is less than two weeks away in Sacramento.

If you're interested in keeping up with Oakland Rowing, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook. And let me know if you want to come join the club and learn how to row!

The boys in doubles and quads 

 Our boathouse

The girls in doubles with San Fran in the background

Post-practice sunset at the boathouse