Racing Underway at the Sydney World Cup!

So today kicked off World Cup racing for Team USA here in Sydney, and we are so excited to finally get out there and go after a week of acclimating and training!

Sunrise at the regatta earlier this week.

This morning, we were the very first race of the World Cup in our 4x heat. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing boat to be a part of, with Elle Logan in stroke, Susan Francia sitting in front of me, and Megan Kalmoe rounding things out in the bow. As far as atmosphere, there's quite a bit of it at the moment, as there is a controlled burn brushfire somewhat nearby and we've had some spectacular sunrises and sunsets (as well as a little haze) at the course.

View of the brushfire from our hotel.

As with any regatta, we had a few wait-around moments--officials figuring out where the bow numbers were, a last-minute photo ID check--but got in a solid warm-up and headed up to the start excited to see what we could put together for our first piece together as a crew. Lots of good things and lots to work on, but we met our goal of crossing the line first and heading straight to the final on Sunday. Like many of our competitors here, all of us in the 4x are racing other events, so the idea of having one fewer race added to that pile made the one direct-qualifying spot (if possible) an even more definite goal!

Off the start in the 4x.  Photo: Detlev Seyb/MyRowingPhoto.com.

We headed straight for the dock, weighed our boat, set it in slings, and went into intense recovery mode. The World Cup schedule has been greatly compressed because of the Australian National Championship Regatta and the smaller number of competitors, so whereas racing would normally run from maybe 8am-1pm and then 4-6pm for repechages, all morning races were condensed into 8-10am. That meant that Megan and I had a luxuriously long break compared to Elle and Susan--our second race wasn't til 9:30, whereas the two singles were racing at 9:12 and 9:18! We had enough time to grab a snack, go to the bathroom, and stretch, and then it was time to head back out again.

Megan and I launched and did a quick tune-up warm-up, since we were still quite "warm" from our race. This was my first international race in a small boat, and I have really been looking forward to the experience and opportunity to learn that will come from this regatta. Having a double partner who has as much international experience in that boat as anyone on our team--and who is helping me learn a ton every practice--has made this an amazing experience so far. Our race results were not what we had hoped, but it also was a great first race because it gave us so many things to improve in the repechage tomorrow.

Susan off the start in the single.   Photo: Igor Meijer/FISA. 

This afternoon, we're all resting up. Elle and Susan had great races in the 1x, with Susan taking a strong third in her heat, and Elle putting together an incredible piece and winning her heat to go straight to Sunday's final! I am so impressed with both of these women--both of their first international races in the 1x, and Elle's FISA sculling debut, and they are doing incredible things. So pumped for USA sculling!

Caroline and Meghan in the pair.  Photo: Detlev Seyb/MyRowingPhoto.com.

In sweep racing, Caroline and Meghan won their heat in the pair to advance directly to the final Sunday, and the men's eight finished second in their race for lanes. We're all dialed in here at the hotel, watching the women's eight's heat, as well as the men's Australia National Championships final in the straight fours.

The live race tracker for all races can be found here: http://www.worldrowing.com/live-results?type=live, and Sunday's live streaming for finals can be watched here (check to see specifics for your country, which may include pre-registering): http://www.worldrowing.com/video.

Finally, I want to give a big shout-out to our only other fellow Americans here in Sydney, the junior women's eight from Saratoga, coached by the awesome Eric Catalano. These girls are blazing fast on the water and crushed their final today by more than a length of open water (and they have some pretty sweet gear!) Way to drop the hammer, ladies!!!

Teams USA earlier this week!

Thanks so much for supporting us back home, and Go USA!

The Race of My Life!

Photo: row2k.

  What do you say about the race where you won Olympic gold? It was the best race of my career, and we were lucky enough to have that on exactly the right day. I am so thankful I got to share the awesome races we had here with my teammates, and with everyone who came to watch us and who tuned in back home. So many people helped us get across that line, and it was so wonderful to know that we had won for much, much more than just ourselves.

100m to go. Redlining it.  Photo: Peter Mallory.

  I finally had a chance to watch the race for the first time when we got back to the US on the 13th, and everything looks much clearer than it felt. We executed the same strong first 500 that we had in our heat, and when we finally lengthened down to our base rate, we just moved on the field. Just like our heat, it was a little strange to be able to see the entire field, but this time, it didn't feel like a fluke--it felt like we were doing what we came to London to do. There was a strong cross wind that picked up in the middle 1000, but our boat and the rest of the crews handled the sometimes tricky conditions well.

  As we crossed through 750 to go, the roar of the crowd again got louder and louder. Even with the speakers turned to max, only stern pair could hear Mary for the last 500! But our experience and boat feel helped us execute the last 500 exactly as we'd trained to do. Canada made a last-minute push, but it wasn't enough. We kept rowing and rowing and finally...I saw the bubble line passing up near the stern. (No one heard the beep!) We were across the finish line! And WE'D WON THE OLYMPICS!

Can't feel my body, but WOW does this feel great. Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

  Immediately, I was overcome with emotion. The night before our race, and the morning of, I had thought back over everything I'd been through, and everything our team had been through, to be there, on that start line. A lot of training, sure, but also a lot of sacrifice, dedication, and above all, the support of the people who'd helped us become athletes who could win Olympic gold. Though I was beaming, the tears came, and I let them. Totally spent, I leaned forward and hugged Taylor, and then flopped back onto Susie. My girls. So, so proud of them and of what we had all accomplished together.

The best feeling--this WE won feeling. Photo: Getty Images.

  The rest of the post-race time is a bit of a blur. First to the media dock, where we were finally able to hug each other and share the moment with each other. Lots of interviews, lots of happy crying, lots of smiles. Then back to the boat to row to the medals dock.

Clear eyes, full hearts, strong legs, can't lose.  Photo: Getty Images.

  Wow. This is our Olympic podium. I could see my parents, my boyfriend, my brother, and way, way up in the very last row of the grandstand, yelling her head off, Liz O'Leary, my college coach. Susan punched me: "You HAVE to stop crying. You're ruining everyone's pictures!" We all held hands, waiting for the Dutch and the Canadians to receive their medals. And then: "THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!"

Hey, guys...we did it.  Photo: row2k.

  Such an incredible feeling. Just the nine of us, standing there at the end of a very long journey and a lot of very hard work, getting to share the pure joy of that moment with the world.

Photo: Charlotte Chuter.

The Row to London!

My roommate Natalie Dell and I with awesome door decor from our
teammate Sara Hendershot on the naming date!

We're now just 27 days away from our first race in London! After a few days of media tagging along to practices last week, we're back to normal, training and getting ready to race here in Princeton.

USRowing and the National Rowing Foundation have teamed up for the Row to London, a fundraising competition to cover the costs of travel, housing, and equipment for the 52 athletes racing at the Olympics and Paralympics, plus our alternates, coaches, and support staff! You can make a donation through my page here (I'm about 25% of the way to my goal of $2,500! Thanks to everyone who's donated so far!!!) and learn more about the Row to London project here.

We've also been reaching out to the incredibly supportive Princeton community. It's been awesome to meet so many great people who are excited about the Olympics and excited to support us! We hosted the inaugural Go for the Gold 5K last weekend and it was awesome to meet so many rowers, runners, and Olympic enthusiasts! We also got to meet the women's Under 23 8+. That was the first national team boat I raced in, and it was great to meet some of the women I'm sure will be heading to Rio in four years!

Some of the USA W8+ and W4x meeting the U23 8+ at the 5K!

My teammate Susan Francia and her family hosted an awesome Olympic sendoff Bar-B-Q this weekend...the highlight (besides the tour of the Francia home, getting to see some great awkward prom photos, and the homemade Hungarian goulash!) was this amazing cake Susan made of our eight! Yes, it's seven feet long...yes, the Barbies are wearing unisuits...yes, that's an Empacher...and yes, Mary is Skipper!

Erin, Susan, me, Taylor, Caryn, and Mary checking out the details!
Look out, Cake Boss!

For now, it's back to training and getting ready for the big show in just a few weeks! Thanks for your support and GO USA!!!

Warmup jog--ready to start another day of training on Lake Carnegie.

London Calling!

Extremely exciting news...the remaining boats for the USA's Olympic Squad were announced Friday, and...

I will be racing in the eight and representing the USA at the 2012 London Olympics!!!

Your 2012 USA W8+! Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Elle Logan, Meghan
Musnicki, Mary Whipple, Taylor Ritzel, Esther Lofgren (that's me!),
Susan Francia, and Erin Cafaro!

I wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of my friends and family, and from the people who read this blog. Thank you all for encouraging me to follow my dreams. It has been a long seven years working towards this--being the last one cut from the eight in 2008, again in 2009, working through injuries in 2010 and 2011, and the ups and downs of selection this year. But all those obstacles have made making this team and getting to race this summer even better!

It is humbling to be a part of something as big as the Olympic Games, something that so many of my heroes--the ones I idolized as a kid, watching the Olympics on the tiny TV my mom had brought home from work for two weeks, and the ones I still tape into every training journal--have made into the ultimate celebration of humanity and sport. I am honored to be one of the athletes representing the USA, and I can't wait to get out there and race with my teammates and friends!

2008 Non-Olympic World Championships.

These last few weeks have also been really tough because of what didn't happen. Several women who have done incredibly well this quadrennium--four of them broke world records last month, for example--did not make the London squad, including my best friend on the team. We've trained together with the goal of making this team since 2008, when we were the last ones cut from selection for Beijing, and she has inspired me every day of the last four years. My friend and the rest of these women are amazing athletes and racers whether or not they are racing in London, and our team is as strong as it is because of what all of us have pushed each other to become.

So--a lot of emotions, a lot of excitement, and now the hard work begins! We practiced yesterday morning wearing our Olympic unisuits (NBC was there filming–wow!) and racing down the course, it really sunk in for the first time that I am going to be racing and representing our country at the Olympic Games! I can't wait to see how much more speed and power we can find as a boat now that we are all together, and I can't even begin to imagine what the whole Olympic experience will be like!

Thank you again for believing in me and supporting me, and for helping me make the Olympic team!

Go USA!

-Esther

Racing Underway in Lucerne!

  Yesterday was our first chance to get out and race outside of the squad, and across the board, Team USA raced aggressively and set a good tone for the regatta.

Erin and Elle off the start!

  Our pair, Elle Logan and Erin Cafaro, laid down some fast 500m splits en route to a solid win in their heat. We are all cheering them on for their semi this afternoon!

Stesha, Natalie, Adrienne "Hammer", and Kate racing to a record!

  Our two quads also did a great job yesterday. USA1, with Kate Bertko, Adrienne Martelli, Natalie Dell, and Stesha Carlé, pushed through the field to break the world record, but finishing a hair behind Germany. The rematch on Sunday promises to be more great racing! Our USA2 quad of Megan Kalmoe, Kara Kohler, Kady Glessner, and just-Wednesday-qualified-for-the-Olympics-in-the-1x Gevvie Stone had a tough draw and raced well. They will be racing for top 2 in the repechage this morning.

Me, Susan, Jamie, Amanda, Meghan, Taylor, Caroline, Caryn, and Mary!

  We had a really solid first race together in the afternoon and were excited to learn afterwards that we'd also broken the world record. More importantly, though, we qualified for the final Sunday, and are excited for the opportunity to race our brains out again!

Ken bending it in his heat!

  Our men's single, Ken Jurkowski, finished a strong second in his heat to advance to the quarterfinal today. And our lightweight women's double raced well in the bumpy conditions and will race the repechage for a spot in Sunday's final.
  In the meantime, we are enjoying Lucerne as always--the beautiful city, unbeatable breakfasts, and friendly people.
  Thanks for your support and GO USA!

It's 2K, 2K...

Photo courtesy Allison Frederick.

Howdy from the Chula Vista OTC! We're halfway through our winter training trip here, and California is still awesome. We've been able to get in a lot of good training sessions on the water thanks to a pretty mild winter. The camp group training for the light men's four has just joined us--all we need are Julie and Kristin from the light women's double to come down for another camp and it will feel like the gang's almost all here!

We're a few weeks out from the National Selection Regatta, which will be held for the first time out here instead of at the Princeton Training Center. And although we're not racing there this year, it's also just a few days until C.R.A.S.H.-B.'s, which was one of my favorite races as a member of Radcliffe Crew. I thought I'd share some of my ideas about getting ready to have a great 2K erg test.

Confession time: I had a period when I really struggled with erg tests. I would go out for every test shooting for a PR, and if I realized it wasn't going to happen, it was mentally very challenging to keep pushing myself to the end. What was the point of the test if it wouldn't show that I had worked harder and gotten fitter?

As an older and more realistic athlete, I now understand that while ideally every erg test is a PR, you can and should still have a good test no matter what your training and preparation have been leading up to the test. Sometimes an erg test will happen when you're training for a race later in the year, or when you've had to spend some time recovering from an injury or focusing on school or your job. Being prepared for an erg test is first and foremost about doing the things that work for you, but I thought I'd share some of what I like to do to be ready for an erg test!

It boils down to being prepared, and I like to break it down into three parts: the week before, the two days before, and test day. Confidence comes from knowing you've prepared. If you can check off those boxes leading up to the ergo, you'll feel mentally and physically prepared, and that's a huge step towards having a great test.

THE WEEK BEFORE: Test plan, playlist, logistics.
Having a plan for your 2K is extremely helpful. Your coach can give you suggestions for a race plan—usually what works is something similar to an on-the-water race you’ve had that went well. A few times in the week leading up to the test, make time to sit on the erg for 2000 meters and visualize your race plan while holding steady state splits. Practice transitions—when you want to increase the rate or drop your split—and rehearse in your mind encouraging yourself through a good test. If you have no idea what your plan is, check out my post on the three best 2K erg test strategies.

If you can listen to music for your test, make a playlist several days before. A 2K is only two or three songs long, so pick ones that you know will inspire and encourage you. I’ll be putting up a playlist this weekend that you might find some good ones on! Check back Monday for my February blog playlist! You can also look through my teammate Megan Kalmoe’s playlist that includes one song from each of the women training here in San Diego.

If your erg test is somewhere besides your normal boathouse, figure out logistics ahead of time. Make sure that you know how to get there and plan backwards so that you can arrive with plenty of time. Figure out what options are available for warming up and cooling down, and plan to bring a book if you’re going to be there well ahead of your race. The first year I planned to race CRASH-B’s, I showed up at the event site ready to register and come back later to take my test—only to learn that I was supposed to pre-register, and I only had 30 minutes to test in the “Bullpen” before it closed! Planning ahead will make race day that much easier.

TWO DAYS BEFORE: Sleep, nutrition, hydration, final preparation.
As you probably already know, a good night’s sleep the night before the night before your race, as well as the night before your race, are very helpful towards performing your best. Try to get the things that might normally keep you from that—such as schoolwork, work, errands, etc.—done earlier in the week so that you can be relaxed, get to sleep early, and log some good ZZZ’s.

Eating well and staying hydrated will also ensure you have a good performance. For the two days before your race, stick to foods you’ve eaten before and that you know sit well. Drink lots of water and other fluids, and if you’re not trying to make weight, consider adding a little salt to your meals to increase hydration.

The day before your test, if you are able to, do one last erg walkthrough. See yourself hitting your goals for each 250- or 500-meter portion of the test. The night before, pack your bag with water, snacks, your sweats, your mp3 player, and whatever else you want to bring to the test, so that you know you won't forget anything for the big day!

Philadelphia City Rowing throwing down at the Center City Slam this morning! Photo courtesy smugmug.com.

RACE DAY: Stay calm, focus in, trust yourself.
After so much preparation, your race day will hopefully be without too many hitches. You’re physically and mentally ready—all you have to do is your erg test! Don’t worry if you’re still nervous about your ergo. As my dad says, “Everyone walks to the boathouse a little slower on test day.” But also be excited for the opportunity to test the work you’ve done and knowing that you’ve prepared for a personal best.

This article from High Performance Rowing has specific nutrition and warm-up recommendations for 2K testers—it’s definitely worth checking out! One thing that was especially helpful for me: you can fuel up with a solid meal 3-4 hours before your test, but stick to gels or electrolyte beverages within 2 hours of your test, so that ideally you're racing on an empty stomach.

Ali warming up for a 30-minute! Photo courtesy concept2.com

My PTC teammate Ali Cox also put together a great post for Concept2 last year about the specifics of race-day readiness for C.R.A.S.H.-B.'s, which you can find here.

This is a long post, but if you take anything away from it, I hope that it’s that with a bit of preparation, you can put yourself in a good position for having a personal best on your 2K! And also that you will probably look better than this when you're in your last 250.

Sprinting for the finish a few years back. Beastmode!  Photo courtesy row2k.com.

Good luck with your 2K preparations, and check back on Monday for the February playlist!

It's Time for Bled!

Racing is finally underway this morning here in Bled! The whole city is literally abuzz with the regatta. The announcer's booming voice can be heard over the whole lake. The starting line is just feet away from our hotel window. And the racing is on every TV and computer screen! It feels a bit like waiting to start your race at C.R.A.S.H.-B.'s...you're ready to race, but you're also never able to stop thinking about the fact that you're going to be racing!

We've seen nearly the full spectrum of weather since we've been here--the week started out HOT and sunny, then warm and windy, and then a huge thunderstorm yesterday, perhaps trying to give us a small dose of Hurricane Irene? It's calmed down a lot, but more weather will be rolling in by the end of the day--more challenges for all the small boats starting racing today!

The view from my office...

The course, town, and buses have all filled up in the last two days. This morning, we were joking that our odd-fitting USA team jerseys were the reason we were almost run over by crews at both ends of the course--they must have wanted to see them up close for themselves! We finally escaped the ITA LM8+ that seemed intent on clashing oars. The bus ride back had a bit more breathing room than this morning's: we were so jammed in that the doors wouldn't close, when the UKR W4x decided that that was the sign to also get on!

On the bus, everyone gets a bit of the your elbow-to-my head move...

We haven't had too many adventures here--we're in racing mode, so it's mostly just lounging around our hotel rooms...or around the hotel lobby...or eating...or sleeping. We're sharing a hotel with the Kiwis and Aussies, and even though the seating in the dining room is separated by country, we at least have the "DMZ" of the lobby to catch up with each other. The lobby has also been the source of nightly entertainment--from the "A Minute to Win It"-style show shooting a nail-driving contest to Slovenian folk dancers performing--which makes up for the consistently terrible lounge music playing on repeat. (I love Whitney Houston, but I don't know how many more times I can listen to "I Will Always Love You"!)

Slovenian folk dancers invading the lobby!

I'm rooming with Elle Logan, whom I've had the pleasure of rooming with since 2007. One of our favorite things to do is to watch bizarre Euro MTV music videos; this year's top find has been the slightly scandalous "Love Banana". We may have also watched a bit of the "William and Kate" movie, which was on TV *in English* last night!

Today, it's just watching racing, and our last practice before we start racing tomorrow! We are on tomorrow (Monday) at 11:06am (that's 5:06am Eastern); you can listen to live race audio and follow the live race tracker at http://www.worldrowing.com/live-results, or check results for all races here.

Keep cheering for the USA crews--great racing so far today from everyone, with props to our LM1x, W2-, M8+, and M4x, who all qualified for their respective A/B semifinals!

I also put together a slideshow of our trip from Munich to Slovenia and the goings-on so far in Bled:

View all

Get your own

That's all from Bled for now. Go USA!

Henley Sunday: Double the Fun!

Sorry it’s taken me so long to post—Saturday and Sunday of this week were a bit crazy, and I’ve finally just started to feel like we’re settled in here in Lucerne.

The USA ladies of the 8+ and the 4x with the Remenham Challenge Cup (8+) and Princess Grace Challenge Cup (4x)!

Sunday was another adventure at Henley. It started off with a bit of a bang-up during our paddle in the “Tall Quad” (rhymes with “awkward”) in the morning. I didn’t realize that motorboats were allowed to double-park inside the booms, and took off half my rigger during our trip down. Thankfully, aside from my rigger, the rest of the equipment was fine, and everyone was fine as well. After we got in from the row, I found out that unfortunately my teammate Erin Cafaro wasn’t going to be able to race that day. Thankfully, she’s doing much better, and is back in the 8+ for our racing this week in Lucerne.

The aftermath.

I headed down to the course ready for a day of racing and resting. We launched the eight and had a solid warm-up down to the start. After making sure we were aligned and both sitting ready, the official in the launch started us, and we were off! Our race was solid, if not quite as fast out of the blocks as the boat’s race Friday. We pushed towards the end, including a big move where we all pulled for Cafaro. We ended up tying the course record that the eight had set on Friday, which was really exciting to find out afterwards. The British national team definitely pushed us, and I’m sure there will be some good hard US-GB racing here in Lucerne.

Last strokes of the Remenham Cup final!

After our race, I felt like a crappy boatmate, but I was told to go recover and rest while the rest of the boat derigged and prepped the eight for travel to Lucerne. Luckily, the showers at Henley are freezing, and I had packed plenty of snacks, recovery drinks, and water, so I was good to go. About 40 minutes after I finished my cooldown from the 8+ race, my 4x teammates arrived to start warming up for our Princess Grace final! So, it was back to work.

We launched and had a much less eventful row up to the start than our paddle that morning (thankfully!) We were early to the start, and were hanging out waiting to pull into the starting blocks when we started being heckled by some tipsy teenagers on the bank. “Where are you from?” I pulled on my uni so they could see the “USA” down the side. “Oh, USA, huh? Well…row this one for Sarah Palin! I mean, for KFC!” Luckily, before they got to Walmart, it was time to row it up to the start.

Final strokes of the Princess Grace Challenge Cup. Photo courtesy row2k.com.

We had a really solid start, and as we lengthened down, we discovered we were in the middle of the best piece we’d had together as a boat. We executed our race plan and were able to push out, bit by bit, to a little bit of open water. It was really exciting to have our best piece be the final—it’s great to have awesome teammates who thrive under pressure, too!

Me and J.P. Newport/Harvard pride!

We only had a few minutes after the race to meet and be excited about the great race we’d had, because then it was off to get dressed in twenty minutes to get to the Steward’s Enclosure for the awards ceremony! We managed to get in a shower, throw on our dresses and hats, and powerwalk over just in time (there is no running at Henley!) Being in the medal stands were a great experience. I got to catch up briefly with J.P. Hogan, who won in the Harvard 4+, and with whom I’ve trained over breaks at the Newport Aquatic Center for the past few years.

Sir Matthew Pinsent was also our trophy-tender (you don’t leave with the Cup, you leave with a picture of the Cup!) and it was such an honor to meet him. After teasing our quad when we asked for a boat picture with him—“Ah, yes, the women’s quadruple sculls, the event for which I am best known”—he congratulated me and our team on our successes.

Pimms Cups with two of my favorite ladies, Meghan Musnicki and Elle Logan!

After all of the hoopla, I finally got to sit with a few teammates, friends, and parents, and have the obligatory Henley drink, a Pimms cup. Well, I didn’t entirely make it through the Pimms…turns out my stomach wasn’t up much for celebrating after all that racing. But I enjoyed the half a Pimms, and all of Sunday’s racing and Henley adventures, quite a bit. And I’m so proud of Team USA for our success throughout the racing. What a great first trip to Henley! 

Henley Saturday: Doubling Down!

  Today started off with finding out that I would be racing both the 4x and the 8+ in the semifinals today. Not something I expected to be doing at Henley, but also a great experience and what ended up being two really great races.

  In the eight, we got a lap on the course during morning practice to row together, and after about 500 meters, I felt ready to race as part of the crew. I then jumped back into the quad and we got in a paddle together. After a quick trip to Starbucks, it was time to start warming up for the 8+ race at 11:30. We had a solid warm-up and went into the race feeling good and excited to race. The rest of the boat set the course record yesterday--to Barrier, Fawley, and overall--and we went after it again today, managing to beat the 2006 record (this time in a headwind) by 3 seconds. It was a good piece, but also one we felt we could build off of. It was a good step towards the final tomorrow at 12:20 against Leander (the G.B. eight).

  It was a pretty quick turnaround from cooling down from our 8+ race (there is no cooldown area on the course, so crews either jog or erg to cool down) to warming up for our 4x race. Luckily, the showers are FREEZING, so there was no need to locate an ice bath! Refreshed, we headed back out into the lunch break madness for our 4x warmup. After passing a gentleman who'd overturned his kayak in the middle of the racing lane, we made it through our warmup and to the starting line. The umpires were a bit late getting back from lunch--we discussed it with the Aussies and decided there must have been some really delightful cucumber sandwiches at tea--but otherwise the race went off without a hitch. 

  We had just gotten into our base strokes when THWACK!!! My starboard oar hit what I thought was a buoy, until I realized that there are log booms at Henley, not buoys...and regardless, the hit was on the racecourse side! We all looked out and saw that I had in fact clobbered a duck, which I would like to think then righted itself and swam away, but which Elle (2-seat) confirmed was not doing very well after the hit. However, we did get a big kick in the pants from the incident, and found another gear. We ended up with a win to advance the boat to tomorrow's final at 3:40, again against Australia (we raced their 4x today; tomorrow will be against what we've heard is their W2x combined with their LW2x, and who set the course record today).

  Our teammates in the other USA 4x had an extremely challenging race against the other Australian quad, who threw down some very high ratings--from what the announcer said, "striking a 38" for much of the race--and in spite of also breaking 2001 course record, they did not advance. Some other USA crews today also had great but challenging races: our M8+ finished just 2/3 of a length down on defending world champions Germany in their first race together, our M4x was back the same distance on the G.B. quad, and our M2x was back 3/4 of a length on the 2010 WRC silver-medalists G.B. However, our M4- advanced with a 3/4 length win over Australia, and will race the final tomorrow at 3:00 against G.B. Gevvie Stone, who is preparing to try to qualify the 1x for this year's worlds, advanced to race against Knapkova tomorrow at 11:50.

  All in all, it was a great day for racing. We decided in our boat meeting after the 4x that the duck helped power us along--Elle: "Really, there were five of us rowing that race." R.I.P., little ducky, but we're on to the final in the 4x and the 8+ is ready to race as well. Time for bed here. Go USA--good luck to all crews racing tomorrow!

***Photos courtesy of row2k.com***