Silverskiff - Torino 2011 - CANCELLED

Well how about that. The race that didn't race. In 20 years it had never been cancelled, and this is the year.

We arrived on Sunday and was immediately immersed into the course with the compliments from the Cerea Club launch and our wonderful host Vittorio Soave (the man who started the Silverskiff). This 77 year old is filled with vitality and logistical persistence. And a heart filled with love and dedication. As the week progressed he treated us to lunch, dinner, another dinner and a movie showing of their voyage rowing from Torino to London; a 1500m feat.

I rowed and mapped the course daily in the Cerea Club single, and enjoyed the calm water. It was in direct conflict to surfacing weather reports mapping out disaster. I felt this was impossible, and a false weather report (who believes the weather reports anyway.) However rain came. Then an update that we were now racing on Saturday. Filippi boats were to be arriving on Thursday, and in true Italian style, arrived Friday!

Friday was rigging in the rain. Went out for a row in the rain. And then rigging again in the rain, and dampening cold. The first boat rental from Filippi didn't work for me. Luckily there was another boat available. However 4pm now, Friday- race tomorrow. This has got to be training in overcoming adversity.

Saturday morning I went out early for a row in the other boat just rigged late last night. There were gushing river inlet flows. I left the last 500m as my cherry for later that day's racing. On my way back a Police vehicle were riding alongside the course. Funny how I noticed that, when I don't usually see the cars driving by. I guess a sense of something to come. Back to the hotel, and resting waiting for my start which would come at about 1:20. Then it happened: an email from Hillary: race cancelled. And indeed on the Silverskiff site, there it said: Race cancelled, determined by the Police.

Well, later we walked over to the course to scoop out what cancelled looks like. Walking umbrella'd under pouring rain. Looking over the course, it didn't seem that bad. And knowing that I had rowed it that morning... it wasn't that bad. These guys should come row an NSR on Mercer sometime! So now you had people scrambling looking for earlier flights home. Then Enzo came by and said, we are going out at 2, want to join us? Now Enzo and I battle paddled each other earlier the week. So I was up for the challenge. Just had to check in with Filippi if I could keep the boat a little longer. Yes, with a beer in hand, they would wait for me. So at 1:15, little earlier than scheduled, we embarked. I was not quite geared to race, no stroke coach and garmin, so estimated by time as 45-46min. There were a ton of tree branches. One branch that was perfectly in a v-shape hooked my skag caused a complete stop and backing and swerving to dislodge it. I guess I didn't have the difficulty of steering around competitors, but the tree branches gave me something else to overcome in fall head racing style.

So that is my Silverskiff report 2011.

I have some more photos here: Flickr

Silverskiff Web

Mystro

Hands waving clearly describing

Elegance in fingers combined instruction

The beauty of the motion

The breathtaking glide

Absolute simplicity

Coach to rower, to race, to victory.

--6/27/07 10:11 PM

Regatta Blues

White deck constant

White deck constant

On top

Spider webs of linears

Arms, legs, shafts

Crisscross

Intertwine

Extend and contract

On edges

Water reacting to

One, Two, Push off.

--6/26/07 09:18 PM

Training

A week change

In the training

Resulting in

Beat up

Bruised and thoroughly

Used body

Muscles laced with

Weary

Just behind the eye

Tired

But the mind

Unchanged

Week after week

The goal stays the same.

--6/25/07 10:20 PM

"Come Together "

At 16, I was drowning out my teenage angst by blasting Bush's Sixteen Stone. It got me through some pretty tough and dark times. More than 10 years later, I saw Gavin Rossdale in concert, live, right there, in person, and it was awesome. He was so animated and connected with the crowd. I felt like I could get a sense of him, as if I knew him. Feeling this connection through the distance of a stage and rock-band persona was memorizing. The real thing can not, CAN NOT be beaten. The influence that these guys had over me, makes me realise the connection we have as human's to each other. I recently watched a Lindsey Vonn documentary. She spoke about a woman downhill skier she idolized as a child saying one day, I want to be like her. And now she is; even better I would argue.
You never know when you could be that platform for someone else to jump from. But only if you be the best you can be and build your own platform to perform on can that happen. Life is but a stage and we have our part to perform our finest hour.

Vote for America Rows to help them win a $12,000 grant

Vote for America Rows, the diversity and inclusion program within USRowing, to help them win a $12,000 grant from the United States Olympic Committee.

All you need to do is vote on Facebook by clicking on the link below. First, "Like" the USOlympic Team site and then vote in the USA Grants tab for America Rows. It's simple.

http://usoc.kickapps.net/_USRowing39s-America-Rows-Program-USRowing/video/1625274/193981.html

Right now, USRowing is in second place. We need your votes to ensure we win the grant.
Voting goes through midnight Sunday, September 18 and you can vote once a day.

The full message link here: >>

A Goal

 "One should strive for infallibility without claiming to have achieved it." —Malebranche

Tipping Point

A brunt of buoy smacking madness in my World Champ final places me in 4th. I am without the fulfillment of racing my race like I did in the semi. Just one race too soon I had the best race of my single career. And then one race too late, making such a mistake is painfully unlucky... And I laugh thinking of Gary Player's comment: "The more I practise the luckier I get."

I am thinking that the boiling point, or tipping point must be approaching. With just a few changes, a sticking attitude and good training environment, the point is tipping.

Finally - the final. Broke through the semi-final ghost

12:27 LW1x (Lightweight Single) with

Canada

Brazil

USA

Great Briton

Switzerland
Germany

World Rowing Live

World Rowing Live

Row2k Coverage: World Championships Photo Galleries - World Championships - Tuesday Boatyards

Row2k Coverage: World Championships Photo Galleries - World Championships - Tuesday Boatyards

HEAT ONE DOWN

Made it through to the Semi-Final on Thursday. The girls are fast and ready to go. So will I, be ready.

The Entries are UP!

Check it out, the Entries are up: http://www.worldrowing.com/events/2011-world-rowing-championships

Here is the schedule for the racing : http://www.bled2011.org/en/event/programme.htm

The challenge of fundraising continues

The lightweight single is a non-olympic event. That means that USRowing will not fund any part of this opportunity to go represent the USA in a World Championship Regatta. The cost is $3550.00, and that's airfare, NOT INCLUDED!

Ways you can contribute:
1. Paypal (on line)
2. NRF (on line and mail in cheque)
3. Full Email Campaign

National Rowing Foundation (tax deductible)
Mark the boat selection as LW1x and it will be used towards my fundraising efforts.

Or by cheque to:
payable to: National Rowing Foundation or NRF
mail to: National Rowing Foundation > 67 Mystic Road > North Stonington, CT 06359
memo: LW1x boat class

Thank you to everyone who voted in the BMW athlete voting poll. The results will be announced at the end of August. If you would like to still vote, or view the results here is the link >http://www.bmwusa.com/performanceteam

Funding Elite Rowing – a conundrum by Mike Sullivan

As I continue to fund raise, some interesting thoughts have been shared on the google groups of rec.sport.rowing. One post that came from the dilemma's of funding was posted by Mike Sullivan. You can read some of his thoughts here >. Carl Douglas also comments on this thread

His first post on the subject went a little something like this:

The US elite program is sadly dysfunctional, and the biggest problem is simply money.   Masters' Nat'ls are happening in Okla City right now,  you'll see old slow farts like me there with millions of dollars in spending money for shiny new shells,  top of the line hotels, air travel,  fine wining and dining. In the meantime,  a year ago I helped a few elite men over the winter with their training in sculling, and they put together in a pair to race at the Speed Orders in Princeton. These guys were Stanford grads with the potential to make a lot of money in real jobs, smart guys, and absolute athletic studs.    They had the presence and look of pro athletes that could be making millions on a pro team,  or could go out and work in Silicon Valley and make a fortune by the time they turn 30.     They scraped together
money from parents to travel,  and from working part time (good jobs but part time),  and even then
they had to scrounge for a pair to race in at Princeton, I believe it was a 6 year old Wintech from Yale.  They got moved four times in a year and a half to uncertain rowing futures, chasing wherever the nat'l program, coach, and other athletes were supposed to train and have found it very difficult to see where their long term path to success is. No I didn't get paid for coaching them for that 4 month period,  but I
get offers all the time from Masters' people who want individual lessons,  get them ready to go butt-slow over 1k. My response was,  "no I don't have time to coach you or any other masters, but would welcome you paying me to coach our US Olympic team candidates". I would take that money and chip it in to their travel anyway, I don't need the money.
If I sound bitter, I am...   :^)
The Graves bros trained on their own in Newport the last year.   It's possible they got some help from the Newport foundation, I'm not sure, but they won trials, are going to Bled,  with very little support from the US rowing community.   Bless them but their road was difficult in ways that had nothing to do with simply the training and racing.
Ursula Grobler might be the single best rowing talent in the US, and perhaps the best chance the US has for a gold in rowing outside the women's eight.    She's gotten some great help here and there,  Rebecca has been doing good,   but has been bounced like a pinball,  been scrutinized to the Nth degree, criticized, and exploited.   If she were making a pile of money like pro athletes, then some of this scrutiny might be warranted, but she's scraping the bottom like every other elite.
The poor ppl at the local club that have to deal with me.   A guy told me he had $5k to spend on a new
single.   "what should I buy?". 
"you should buy a $2500 Maas 27 and give the other $2500 to the US
Rowing Foundation toward the nat'l team effort".
Then I shrug.  I suppose he could raise $10k, buy a used Empacher for $5k, and give $5k to NRF.  That would be cool. When I coached out of Newport years back,  there were just beginning to be some guys who had singles that wanted to keep them in the rather limited one bay boathouse.    My rules were
simple.   You can have a spot,  give us a little money but I'm going to give your boat to use by an athlete who has nat'l team aspirations that cannot afford his own boat. I'll pick the guy,  there'll only be one,  and these are the hours where he will row it, and he can negotiate with your schedule
for additional hours.     
We insured the boat, and my boatman fixed all dings no matter who dunnit.
Most boat owners liked that arrangement and accepted it,   Not sure if I'd find many takers these days if I did that again. Sort of a commie act, I guess.

I want to append the rant with the following.   I know some masters are offended deeply by my attitude,
clubbers in redwood city see my attitude as 'elitist' and get bothered by some of my advice on boat
purchases, I've seen it here.   I should point out that I teach hundreds and hundreds of new scullers, adults and kids to scull at two different clubs.   In the past three weeks I've introduced a dozen adults to sculling,  treated them with the same respect I treat elites,  taught them all the same things, the
exact same approach and discipline to boat handling on and off the water I expect of a competitive elite.
My attitude is peculiar, but is definitely not elitist.   I've spent too much time with raw, old, out of shape,  unconfident, uncoordinated non-athletes who really want to learn to scull, and learn to scull correctly for me to accept that criticism.

Help Send Me to Bled for the LW1x!

USRowing Senior Trials

On the 4th August at 8:20am I raced in the Senior Trials to secure my spot on the 2011 team. The racing took place on Mercer Lake in Princeton, NJ and the calm waters welcomed me. Thunder and rain the night before left me wondering what dawn would bring. And by dawn, I really was up at 4:30am to see what winds there may be. As a lightweight, our routine starts early. Two hours before the actual race we need to present ourselves to the officials and stand on a scale. 130lbs (59kg) and no more. Making weight is the first part of the 'race'. The second part comes when you launch 40min before, row to the start line, and wait for the call-down. Ms Goldsack, Ms Grobler, Ms Daley... Attention... Holding my breathe, the sound of the buzzer catapults me into a sudden preoccupation with speed and power. Jen Goldsack is from the UK. She holds dual citizenship and raced an unbelievable race in 2007 and got a silver medal for the USA. Watch this great race here >
Our commonwealth commonness gives me a sense of home when I hear her talk. But today, its all on racing and who's bow ball will signal the ending siren first. Down the course we go. My start was a little flimsy. Ok, not what I wanted I mustered, but move on, and move down. Correct. Yes. Light. Legs. These words circle stroke after stroke gaining me momentum that put me ahead. "Final Results in the lightweight women’s single sculls, Ursula Grobler (Pretoria, South Africa) won her race in 7:51.41." Results sheet

On land again, I read over my form that says, Well done, now pay up...

LW1x

Lightweight Woman Single Scull

Help me

get to Bled and back...

Herein starts the dilemma: The lightweight single is a non-olympic event. That means that USRowing will not fund any part of this opportunity to go represent in a World Championship Regatta. Not only do you train all day, with little income, you must also pay $3550.00, and that's airfare, NOT INCLUDED! A starving athlete plight, I ask if you could please consider a pledge, cash, donation, moolah, quid, $dollars, £pounds, €euro's and/or Rrands to help give me the chance to race in this World Championship Regatta.

Paypal donations here


Or Tax Donations by cheque to:



payable to: National Rowing Foundation or NRF
mail to: National Rowing Foundation > 67 Mystic Road > North Stonington, CT 06359

Note:
The IRS does not permit us to accept tax-deductible gifts on behalf of an individual athlete but we are able to accept donations to your BOAT CLASS. Please be sure to ask donors to mark the memo line of checks 'LW1X' or, if donating online at www.natrowing.org to check off "Other" in the gift designation box and type 'LW1X' in the space provided.

King 5 TV Channel Tomorrow at 5pm News

Today Allen Schauffler from King 5 News interviewed me, and Dave was on the camera. The story will air tomorrow on the 5pm News Slot.

How Fun?! Allen and Dave endured my entire 20km workout on the water around Seattle. It started with the rain, and grey clouds looming (this is Seattle right?!) but the rain cleared for us, and made the morning quite beautiful. The story aired one year to go towards the Olympics and here is a link to the story > The long, strange journey of Ursula Grobler

Watch the interview clip here >

Racing in World Cup III - Luzern

If I were to make a soundtrack to Luzern, it would go something like this: cowbell, cling, cling-cling. Cling-cling.

The beauty of the place was escaping, meaning the task of racing seemed pleasurable. Sweat runs were dreamy, along the lake and tourist cobbled streets. Dark chocolate was really dark, 99%, and made for a great treat to look forward to after racing. Helvetica signage neatly architectured above the buildings made me smile. And seeing fellow athletes from Spain was great to catch up, as everyone keeps on the journey, believing.

Here is a race-recap>>
Friday morning:
We lost our heat today. Tough draw with Canada, winners from last year. Placed second to them. Only 1 through to semi from heats. We have another chance to race in the reps tonight at 6:24 to get through to the semi tomorrow. It means an additional race making the weigh-in process tomorrow morning a little more tricky. It's my first time going through the reps. But nothing on this comeback is easy and yet everything that comes in our way makes us stronger.

Friday evening:
Tonight we raced the reps at 6:25 instead of 6:24. The delay was caused by us. And it was a comedy of error that luckily had a happy ending. With 5 minutes before our start, waiting for them to call us into our lanes, I noticed my port oarlock making more noise and my pink oarshaft was moving around alot. Oh no, the white elastic holding my oar in place had come in place. Calmly, but desperately I'm trying to slip the loop over the hook. I'm crushing my fingertip and I'm hearing the announcement for our heat. The white elastic falls into the water. I see it sinking and I grab. Got it. Ok I can't do this on my own and we row to the umpire boat. Abby calls out we have a technical issue please notify the start. The umpire is with spanner trying to slip the elastic. Then he opens the gate and it brings the hook closes and I slip in on. Thank God! Abby and I motor to the start, 'USA lane 3'. We connect with the stake holder and barely line up when the country countdown begins. I look at the lights and confused the red line is not on. What the? Then I see the umpire above in the start tower with flag over head. I hear his voice: Go! I jumped. But something is missing. My seat is between my legs! Oh no Abby I cry out. Crashing blades, Abby patiently instructs me: get back on your seat. I grab it, put it under my butt, and pound ferociously down the course. Abby says, we are back in the pack. But I can still see boats around me, and I'm not settling. I'm going. On the 1000m I'm starting to see boats away from me. Inches. France is starting to move. Abby is determined they will not gain on us. I'm finding power and rhythm in the head. We come into the last 500m holding. We won the rep. A rainbow bowed above us from the rain we warmed up in. Rowing from the rain to the sun Abby said.

Saturday Semi:
Leading for the first 1000m, we were off to a good start. Then the third 500m, the boats picked up speed and we stayed at the same pace. We put our energy into legs, power, but still the boats came and unfortunately, we placed 4th. That pushed us into the B-Final.

Sunday:
Our B-final we met our friends from the Netherlands, and the Kiwi's. We raced a better rhythm, but our start out us in third and third we held all the way down the course. A result that was bitter-sweet and many lessons to go from. However, team-mates Julie and Kristin made history by placing 3rd in Luzern thus holding the highest points in the World Cups. The USA Lightweights have some great momentum going!

Bicycle and Boat

There are only two ways to experience Holland: By Boat or by Bike.

Training in a rowing shell most days, I'm confined to a 2km course of the Bosbaan, so not much tourism there. But on the Amstel River the channels allow the pleasure boats, powered by petrol, to come out when the sun shine. Its a traffic jam like typical highway at rush -hour and near-mere crashes. We got the experience this on Fran's power-boat and cruised the channels while eating grilled chicken breasts cut in squares for easy finger bites. Potato salad made with a tahini-dill mayo (no actual dairy used) and large grilled veggies like broccoli and zucchini with garlic.

Or early mornings allow rowers in their singles to wonder the Amstel. I ran along the river while Frans rowed. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of single scullers out there. It had the feel of Seattle, where many row for it power, grace and beauty.

The other way is by bike. The bikes litter the streets like plastic bags. Buckled or bent, wrapped or locked around fences, bike stands, they come at me like people with distinctive personalities. They come at me when I'm driving too, so better to bike than drive. More Amsterdam bike portraits >

I remember a college mate, Nic Grobler, who did a bicycle portrait project for South Africa raising money for the underprivileged. Really nice photos and videos of his work can be seen here > www.bicycleportraits.co.za

Tshirts designed through JL

Walking in the crowd at the Holand Beker, I saw a familar t-shirt! The grey JL swirl Seattle skyline print. The man said he bought it in Denmark and enjoyed it, since he had visited Seattle before. He was delighted when I told him, I was the designer for this shirt and through the partnership with JL allowing me the canvas of a tshirt, I get to see my print worn. Look out for for designs and tshirts as well as the more pattern-black/white prints known as the shwe-shwe line originating from my South African heritage. More Pictures on the JL Gallery.