The Next Generation

Post #91

Oakland, California - I visited a Lake Merritt Girls on the Run practice before the NSR. My practice and race schedules are so packed that I can't coach the team full-time this spring, but it's fun to visit the girls I worked with back in the fall. My two awesome co-coaches from the fall are still running the program now, so I keep tabs on the girls even if I can't come to many practices. The team is lively and the girls are making great progress. On the day I visited, they were challenged with the Jumprope Competition. The goal?  To get all the girls from one side of the jumprope to the other without touching it.  When they started out, some of them would get through but then a different girl would touch it each time and the whole team would need to start over.  After a couple tries, they communicated tricks and ideas to each other, worked as a team, and did it!  Great job, girls.

While we're on the topic of community events, I went to Oakland Strokes, a local high school rowing club, with my USA teammates last week.  We were there for the "100 Days Out" celebration, which is part of USRowing's new Row to London campaign.  We talked with the juniors, got to know them, and answered their questions. In many ways, Oakland Strokes is similar to my high school club in Boston, and I remember just what it was like to compete as a junior rower.  I also remember what it was like to come in contact with US National Team members as a junior.  Whenever I saw or met one of them, I was completely in awe.  I thought they were the most amazing thing ever. Now, to go back and talk to junior rowers as part of the national team is a pretty crazy experience. It makes it seem like the last 10 years of my own career have flown by. The coolest part is telling these high school kids that they might not realize it now, but maybe they'll be part of the next generation of Team USA. 

The Whole Group

NSR Wrap-Up

Post #90

Oakland, California - Well, I’m back home in Oakland. After unpacking and doing lots of planning/logistics for the upcoming trip, I finally have a moment to wrap up the NSR trip on here.

Throughout the regatta, there was a lot of pressure on the competitors as only the winners earned the right to go on to the next step. Thursday was a good day for us though. We were able to manage the pressure, have a great race, and execute how we wanted to. Here is USRowing's press release for the event as well as the full results sheet.

When we came off the water after the race, we were greeted by our families, high fives from friends and supporters, and text messages/voicemails from dozens of friends watching from afar. My dad flew out from Boston to be there for all of our races. He has always been my #1 supporter and it was great to have him there.

What impressed me most after the race was the sportsmanship of our competitors and their coaches. Nearly every one of them came up to me and Julie afterwards, gave us hugs, and wished us luck at the World Cups.

Julie and I spent most of the rest of the day on Thursday sharing everyone’s messages with each other. We were amazed by how many people were tuned into the event. Julie’s family in Australia woke up at 2 am to watch. The Wisconsin coaches had a viewing party in the boathouse office in Madison, where the live feed was on the computer and my dad was on speakerphone from the racecourse. And then there was the photo that ITA Director Amory texted me of her kids holding up cheering signs from their living room in New Hampshire. How great is that? We are so lucky to have a great cheering crowd backing us up.

One of my favorite stories has to be the one from Shelly Miller, one of my former Wisco teammates. She brought her laptop to Meineke so she could watch the race while she was getting her oil changed. When our race came down, all the mechanics huddled around the computer and were cheering for us.

Julie and I didn’t do a whole lot to celebrate. We see this as just one step in the process and there are still other races where we need to perform well. That said, we did stop for the requisite ice cream on the drive back up to Oakland. That was pretty much perfect for me.

So what’s next? We are leaving in less than two weeks to race at World Cup I in Belgrade, Serbia (May 4-6) and World Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland (May 25-27). If we notch a top 4 finish at either one, we will be named to the Olympic team. If not, we will be racing at U.S. Trials in June.

Congrats to the winners of all the other events (Gevvie, Will and Andrew, Warren and Sam, Kate and Stesha). See you in Europe!

NSR 2, Day 3: A Win in the Final!

Post #89

Chula Vista, California - Julie and I came away with a four second win in the final at the NSR this morning! We are thrilled to have proven ourselves as the fastest lightweight double in the country and to be able to to represent the USA at the World Cups.

More to come in the next day or two (I must sleep) but I cannot thank all of you enough for the support. It means more than you know.

For now - here are some photos from today.

Crossing the finish line

Last minute of the race

The sprint

NSR 2: Day 2

Post #88

Chula Vista, California - After winning our semifinal comfortably this morning, Julie and I are on to the A final tomorrow. It was gusty and rainy during all of this morning's races. What is this?! I thought we were in southern California!

We'll be racing at 9:40 am pacific in lane 4. The live stream for the event should be up and running all morning. Here are some shots from today. Here we go!

(thanks to CRC for the photos)

NSR 2: Day 1

Post #87

Chula Vista, California - Julie and I kicked off the 2012 season this morning by racing the time trial of National Selection Regatta 2. The weather was awesome: blue skies, perfect racing temperature of about 60 degrees, and calm winds. We placed third behind the Lake Union crew from Seattle and the Oklahoma City entry. The time trial is run single file, so while it was great to get out on the course this morning, I'm itching to get some real, side-by-side racing going tomorrow.

(photo from row2k)

The time trial seeded us into two semifinals of five boats each. The schedule and progression are below and results will be posted here. "LW2x" is the abbreviation for our event.

Wednesday April 11: Semifinal #1 at 10:10 am, semifinal #2 at 10:20 am. Top 3 from each semi move on to Final A, bottom 2 move to Final B.

Thursday April 12: Final A at 9:40 am, Final B at 10:30 am

Aside from functioning as selection for our event, there is racing going on in the men's and women's heavyweight doubles, men's lightweight double, and women's single. Good luck to all those racing!

National Selection Regatta #2

Post #86

Chula Vista, California - Yup, it's that time of year again: selection time. This is an Olympic year, so things are a little different than usual. The first thing you might've noticed is that we're already on to National Selection Regatta (NSR) 2. Every other year, NSR 1 has all of the lightweight women racing each other in singles, but this year none of us participated in that regatta. In fact, there wasn't even an option to. That's because the double is our only Olympic event, so we're all focusing on that this year. The other difference is that we're on the west coast. All of the NSRs in recent memory have been held on Mercer Lake in New Jersey, where cold, choppy April mornings welcome us to the racing season. This year everything has to happen a little earlier, so it's out here in California instead. The sun is out, the temps are approaching 80 degrees, and the winds are calm. Feels a little weird!

So that brings us to this week's NSR 2, which runs Tuesday April 10 - Thursday April 12. The weight of this race is significant; whoever wins it earns the opportunity to represent the US at the World Cups in Europe this summer. If they place high enough there, they will also represent the US at the Olympics in London.

I'm racing with Julie Nichols, my doubles partner since last April. We will be facing nine other doubles this week. The athletes in our event include former Olympians, national team medalists, Pan American Games medalists, national champions...the list of accomplishments goes on. It is an excellent field; maybe the best for an NSR this quadrennium. I can't wait to get the racing started.

USRowing has posted information and a schedule. Times are subject to change.

Tuesday April 10: AM Time Trial - to determine seeding for the heats

Wednesday April 11: AM Heats - top 3 from each heat advance to the A final, the rest to the B final

Thursday April 12: AM Finals - these will be broadcast live online.

More updates to come once racing begins. Stay tuned!

Sunday Run-day

Post #85

Oakland, California - On some Sundays, we cross-train instead of rowing. Often times, I just go for a run near my house but over the winter, I tried to use my "Sunday Run-day" to explore parts of the bay area. I did Muir Woods in December and it was gorgeous. In February, I ran the path along the beach leading to the Golden Gate Bridge. Last Sunday, I ran the Nimitz Trail at Inspiration Point, which, if you live in this area, you must do! It goes along the top of the Oakland Hills and overlooks the entire bay in one direction and out to Mt. Diablo in the other. I managed to do the whole thing, which is 8.5 miles. Not bad for a day "off"!

Golden Gate run: complete!

View of the bay

Getting There From Here

Post #84

Oakland, California - Here's a great explanation about US Olympic Selection titled "Getting There from Here." Selection is very confusing as each boat's procedures depend on whether it's a big or small boat (no choice there for lightweight women!) and whether the event is already qualified (determined by last year's Worlds).

National Selection Regatta #1 begins tomorrow morning in Chula Vista. It serves as the first trial event for the men's single and the men's and women's pairs. Plenty of my teammates and friends are racing there and all of us up here in the bay area are eager to watch results filter in over the next couple days. With our own selection (NSR 2) only four weeks away, it really feels like the racing season is upon us. I can feel the excitement building every day.

Also, here's the latest training gallery of the US men's 8 group - the guys we train next to every day.

Jog for Jill

Post #83

Berkeley, California - This morning I joined with hundreds of other people in the third annual Jog for Jill 5k on the UC-Berkeley campus. The event raises awareness for lung cancer, a disease that hits close to home for the Cal women's rowing team. In 2010, one of the seniors on the team was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. She had never smoked before in her life. She continued her studies and practices with the team throughout her treatment and was part of Cal's varsity boat at NCAAs in 2010. She became a hero not only to her teammates and friends, but to the entire nationwide rowing community. Jill's Legacy now aims to raise money and awareness for the disease.

Julie, Lou, and me. Lou rowed with Jill and flew in from Massachusetts for the event.

It was a great morning. Even though I never knew Jill, I had heard so much about her. She impacted many people at this university in such a powerful way. She was so courageous and taught those around her to celebrate the things you love every day. This morning, the community got together and celebrated Jill and her lasting legacy, and it was so cool to be a part of it.

Heaven

Post #82

Oakland, California - I snapped this picture of the lake right after we had finished practice the other day:

We'll go out and row in most conditions (unless the water looks like an ocean and we think the boat might swamp), but water like this is a rower's heaven. You can feel the hull moving and accelerating underneath you in a way that you can't when you're battling a headwind or a crosswind. The balance of the boat is generally easier to achieve in flat water and when you get it perfectly, it's magical. Definitely one of my favorite things ever. When the lake first comes into view in the morning and it looks like this, I can't help but do a little cheer in my head, knowing it's going to be a good day.

Only about six weeks until the National Selection Regatta!

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