7/14/10

So much has happened! Yesterday, after fifteen hours of traveling (due to the fantastic reliability of our airline) we finally made it to the racecourse in Oakridge, TN. The lake is extremely pretty, and better yet, the water was pretty much perfect. We rigged and went out in small boats to practice. For some of the lineups, this was our first time out on the water in our boat orders. The two fours came from the B boat, and the A four was divided into pairs and one straight four (which isn't rowing this regatta, but is racing CanAmMex). After practice we had enough time to go back to the hotel to freshen up a bit before going to a reception for the CanAmMex rowers from all three countries. It was a lot of fun because we hadn't even met the American boys, much less the other teams and it was cool to hear about how the selection process played out in other countries. Mexico didn't show up for some reason, but we got along great with Canada and there was spinach dip so...it wasn't too upsetting.
Today was the first day of Club Nationals. The only race today for us was the fours, which were entered in the intermediate category (as opposed to Junior). The B four won the first heat with 7:57 and the A four was fourth in the fast heat with 8:04, which means that both boats qualified for semi-finals. We then returned to the hotel for some down time and after the last race of the day we returned to the course for additional practice. One small side note: because we're representing America in the CanAmMex regatta, all our purchases from JL are half off. It's a good day.