Eton Dorney World Cup update
Hi everyone,
John here.
Unfortunately free internet is very scarce over here in the UK. At our hotel, it is 5 pounds for an hour of internet, which is just not worth it, no matter how much I want to stay connected with all of you. So right now, we are at a starbucks by the race course using the free wi-fi! Thank god for Starbucks. Dan doesn’t like coffee, but he loves internet!
So far the trip has gone close to according to plan. Our boats are here and in working order. I think Hugh and I are both satisfied that our boats will not be the limiting factor in our performance this weekend. The biggest thing we are trying to get under control right now is our fatigue from the travel. That will continue to take its toll for the next couple of days but hopefully by the time racing starts we will be able to unleash some good speed. I would expect our bodies to feel better and better as the racing goes on.
Other than that, its been awesome just being around the World Rowing atmosphere. Great crews everywhere you look. Its just fun to be part of it. I like to look around and learn from what the established crews are doing and how they comport themselves. Especially the New Zealanders and the Aussies. They are very organized and confident. The aussies are especially loose in their demeanor and I love it! I just want to go tell some jokes with those guys and take some strokes. They are always having a good time.
The highlight for me so far was watching the NZL m4x come off the water and seeing my idol, Olympic champion Nathan Cohen, step out of the boat and start doing push ups!! I do that after every row and I was going bonkers when I saw him do that! I am going to do even more push ups now!
Nathan Cohen’s partner and Olympic champion in the M2x, Joe Sullivan, is in the M1x against me this week. It would be amazing to race against him. All year I have tried to model myself after those two guys and it would be surreal to line up across from him.
Anyways, thats about all I have time for at the moment. We miss Craftsbury of course, but life is good over here as well. Racing starts on Friday morning, so we have three more rows until we go to full speed. GO GRP, GO USA!