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.

Olympic Final: Last One, Fast One!

First off--thank you for the tremendous support! We had our first race Sunday and the outpouring of good luck and go get 'ems that you sent to me and the women in the 8+ were so wonderful. It was awesome to go to the line knowing how many people we have pulling with us!

Mary Whipple, Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Elle Logan, Meghan Musnicki,
Taylor Ritzel, me, Susan Francia, and Erin Cafaro off the start!

Our race was a good starting point for us--our first race together in this lineup. Some good things and lots to improve on. We lined up against Germany, Great Britain, and Australia at 11:50am, just after some brewing thunderclouds had us wondering if racing would be delayed. We were called into the blocks pretty early, so there was a lot of time to sit there, get acclimated to the noise of the camera overhead, the 20 or so photographers on the dock, the spectators shouting, and the huge buoys that mark the starting line and the boot. The boot is a huge plastic guard that keeps the bow aligned as the boats sit ready; when the starting beep sounds, there's a huge WHOOSH as the boots drop into the water and the boats surge off the line.

We had a solid start and were able to get out of the blocks and into our rhythm. The cheering of the fans on the shore built as we went--especially cheering for the home town boat in our heat! We were very internal and focused on executing our race plan. The conditions seem to be craziest in the middle thousand, but everyone in our event handled them well. As we reached the last 500, the grandstands surrounded us, lessening the wind a bit but also enclosing us with the thunder of thousands and thousands of spectators. It was literally deafening and so awesome!!!

Natalie Dell, Kara Kohler, Megan Kalmoe, and Adrienne Martelli
showing off the hard-work hardware!

Today, we watched the first round of USA crews line up and race for Olympic gold. Our women's quad pulled out an awesome bronze finish, the first time the USA has medaled in the event since 1984! I'm so stoked for these women--the rockstars we train with every day--Adrienne "Hammer" Martelli, Megan Kalmoe, Kara Kohler, and my roommate Natalie Dell!

Sara Hendershot and Sarah Zelenka, two of the biggest rockstars I know.

Our women's pair had a heartbreaker of a fourth-place finish, just 0.2 seconds behind last year's World Champions New Zealand. Sarah Zelenka and Sara Hendershot have had an amazing year, building up to an incredible race that was literally stroke for stroke, surge for surge. Tough, gutsy, and so confident--we are so proud to have you representing the USA!

David Banks, Grant James, Ross James, Will Miller, Giuseppe Lanzone, Steve
Kaspyrzyk, Jake Cornelius, Brett Newlin, and Zach Vlahos gettin' after it.

Similarly, our men's eight nearly caught Great Britain at the line, and finished just 0.3 seconds outside the medals. After earning the last spot here just two months ago, our guys performed so well, and did our country proud. Zach Vlahos, Brett Newlin, Jake Cornelius, Steve Kaspyrzyk, Giuseppe Lanzone, Will Miller, Ross James, Grant James, and David Banks, you are All-American all-stars.

Tomorrow, at 12:30, we'll line up against five other crews we've raced before: Australia, The Netherlands, Canada, Romania, and Great Britain. It's the Olympic final. But it's still 2,000m from start to finish, four 500m quarters to make the most of. I'm so excited to build off Team USA's momentum from today and leave everything I can possibly give out there on the water tomorrow.

It's been a long journey here, but now that we are about to race, I am thankful for every up and down along the way that has prepared me to give my best here in London. I know how much work (and good luck, too) went into being here, being the most physically, mentally, and technically prepared I've been in my career. I remember watching the Opening Ceremonies four years ago from a TV at my friend's house in Berkeley, excited to see what promised to be the most incredible Olympics yet, but so incredibly devastated at falling short of making it there.

The last four years have been a fight to be the best rower I can be, to push myself past what others and what I thought my limits were, to, if nothing else, make sure that I had used each day as best I could to never feel that feeling again. And I would never have been able to do those things without your support. The teammates who pushed me, trained with me, talked rowing with me, and who have become my best friends. The people who encouraged me, who believed in me, who helped me believe that the things I dreamed about weren't impossible. The people who housed me and fed me and who talked me through that tough practice or the ups and downs of selection or erg testing, even if you didn't know exactly what I was talking about.

So...thank you. Thank you so much for helping me get to the start line here in London, knowing that I am here in this boat with eight amazing women, that together we are ready to take on whomever we find ourselves lined up against. I am so proud to be representing my country, and I know that when we take that first stroke, we are each going to feel the hundreds of legs of everyone who has helped us get there pushing right with ours.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity. I am so excited to see what we can do with it tomorrow.

GO USA!!!

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!