This is it - Champ Single at Canley

I didn’t sleep all that well. Too many thoughts. We could wake up a little later because racing only started at 11am. We headed to the course, as we did every morning and I rowed my 12-16 kay warmup. The wind and current was particularly strong and there were very different momentums and feelings one way to the next. Returning to the Ridley Gate Manor for our usual, but still spectacular breakfast. Peter’s bacon that he cooks for one hour, beautiful cut and decorated fruit plate and eggs as you like them, fills a grandstand quality to the start of your day. The table was also filled with Bostonians who were rower parents. So breakfast was an hours affair filled with stories from George and Mary Jane, and Margaret and Tim. Great conversations again making such a quality impact to our day.

I went and rested and then the room got darker and rumbles were heard from afar. The rain set in as did the lightning and solid thunder resounded. Racing was delayed by 3 hours.
My start of 3:25 moved to 5:55pm.

On the return to the course, mud was everywhere. The humidity thick enough to cut. Rowing down to the start, the wind kept me on my toes. Lightly threatening but not.

It took longer than usual for the aligners to call us into the course. But when they did things moved really fast. More ready for the current pushing against my blades I waited for that beep. The start of all my competitors was quick. I was especially keeping a sense of where Isolda, (my nemesis) was. She was in Lane 5 and I in Lane 4. By 500m I was building my lead. Feeling connected and moving. Suddenly Isolda stopped rowing. For a moment I was unsure if someone had called the race off and I didn’t hear it. Or she saw something that needed us all to stop. But my other competitors didn’t stop, and I realised neither should I. So regaining the focus again I pushed on.
The result was a 7:15.03. I would have placed in the Men’s Champ single with that time! The goals of Carlos were achieved, and that is the end to our summer training 2009. I feel happy with all the training we have done and yet still look forward to the continual pursuit of excellence... and happyness.

Notes:
-I still am not sure why Isolda stopped. I’ll be sure to facebook her sometime.

-Thank you to NCC (North Cascades Crew) for allowing me to race under their club name.

-Thank you so much to Peter and Teresa Kellett who took these pictures and fed me so well! Peter came to the finish and asked the umpires where is the champ single trophy because he knows who’s winning it. To which they replied, “we have heard this before”. And after my race they returned saying, “boy you were right”.




-Thank you to the Huskies at the course and back home for facility use and support. Like Carlos said, we missed the whole college rowing and now we have this opportunity to be involved in it.

-Thank you to Josh who stayed for my race. I appreciate your support.

-Thank you to Lacey and Rick Crawley from U.Vic for trailering my boat!

-Thank you dad for helping me stay afloat. In many aspects.

-Finally thank you to DJ who gives me the platform to push myself. Thank you to Julie for allowing me to take up so much space in their life to perform, and thank you to Carlos for billions and trillions of things. Terabytes of words to say thank you for my speed, my development and life lessons. Here’s the first summer on the path to 2012.

We are all Champions.

Heat 2 > Lane 5 > 7:39.43

Event 81:

The weather was good. Not too hot, not too cold. The water was good. The current was a little strange, pushing the boat at the start. The shallow water with tangling undergrowth made sure I kept shallow blades, however I almost took a dive in the warm-up. On the way to the start my foot board nuts and bolts loosened and I had to make a stop at the umpire boat for a wrench. Other than that, the race went fine. Everything to get ready for the final now on Sunday at 3:25pm. This was my first race in the new single!

Some interesting things about my competitors:
I have a close friend who went by k. hearn. There was a k. hearn in my race and I thought that was very coincidental.
Lacey Crawley is the daughter of Rick Crawley who are our boat trailer drivers all the way from U. Vic. Thank you to them for driving the boats safely. Isolda from Heat 1 won this event last year. She also won her heat, so we will battle it out again in the final.

Then interesting according to Canadian Henley rules, I can’t race any other event, like the Senior Women single or the Lwt Women single for the 500m dashes both for open and lightweight because I have raced in a World Cup. I could only enter the Champ Single which is open weight category.

We also found out today that the masters World Champs will be here at St. Catherines next year September.

Peter Kellett, our host from the B&B we are staying at was at the finish grandstand as he was last year, and took a few shots! Thank you so much Pete and Teresa for your support. Ridley Gate Manor is a wonderful addition to my Henley experience.

Thank you to NCC, for whom I could race for. Go Orange!

What more can I say. On to the final on Sunday!