The Last Bloody Blog!

Bloody being a british reference, obviously. Here it is! My last entry on the US Junior National Team scullers blog, and my last post as a USJNT sculler. Lot's to say, it's been a while and with the jetlag coming back home, and the 3 day drive back to Arizona it's been pretty easy to put this off-- but no more! I figure, it's 5 am in London, so somewhere I'd just be waking up! So here it goes.

We left off right before finals, almost all the US junior sculling crews set to make history by finishing higher than any of the other US crew have done in these respective categories. The day started off with the women's quad. In the pre-race preparations I did not get much of a chance to talk to them. I headed to the grandstands with some of the boys to watch the grand final-- my nerves were probably a fraction of what theirs were. For me, lots of foot giggling and nervous pacing. The race announcers only added to this with the thematic war drum audio and booming commentary-- luckily the girls in the boat didn't hear it as we watched them line up for the start of their race. Field stacked all the way across, the Germans pulled ahead right out of the gates (surprise) and the other five boats maintained contact, fighting the entire way down to get their respective bowballs in a medaling position. It was anyone's call for silver and bronze, and as places two through five crossed the finish line. We all just had to sit and wait for results to be posted.

I was talking to the coach of one of my friends, he said one of his favorite motivational phrases is put simply: just pull harder, your legs wont explode. Talking to Lizzy after the race she said that if she had actually pulled harder-- he would've been able to use that one anymore. Their final finishing position was fourth. Half of a second away from the bronze medal position. This was also the fastest women's junior quad race since 1991, with Germany finishing first with a time of 6:31, and the United States four three places behind with a 6:35-- by far the fastest a US Junior Women's Quad has ever gone. Way to go USA! Making some history!!

Following this, I launched for the women's single-- my final race of the summer, AND junior career. I ended up finishing 3rd, making my ranking overall 15th. Even though my finishing position wasn't as high as I would have hoped, cliches aside it still represented a lot of progress from where I started out two months ago. So no complaints! The next day more history was again made by our junior girls double. Hannah and Maria executed a near-perfect race, putting them third in the B Final, again the best ranking a girls double have ever posted. Our boys scullers also didn't disappoint-- finishing fourth in a very tight race in the B Final, making them 10th overall. The thing about this kind of racing is that you can see across the board from the A-C finals, the racing is all good-- fast and competitive all the way down. Making these results all the more impressive!

That concluded races for the US Junior National Team Scullers. We were all free to celebrate, see our parents for the first time in a while, and say our goodbyes to G-Man and Richard who were both heading off to different euro-destinations. The rest of the goodbyes followed throughout the next 24 hours as we stayed up late, woke up early, packed our bags, boarded a plane, didn't sleep for eight more hours, landed in New Jersey, started missing camp already, made it home (Youngling home), started missing it more, had a nutritious donut and bagel dinner , entered into a coma for about fifteen hours, woke up promptly at 5 AM for a Dunkin Donuts frozen hot chocolate (highly recommended) and pancakes (also highly recommended). Then sadly real life had to start again-- like always! and my dad and I started the trek cross country back to the lovely Arizona.

I said this at the end of last years blog, but I like it so I'm going to say it again...goodbyes are always tough after almost two months (50 days exactly according to Mackenzi). Two months of living together, eating together, training together, traveling together, being a family together...it creates a nice bubble, where your biggest concern is eat and then nap or nap and then eat. The best part is since the rowing world is so small it's only a matter of time until your friends show up again.

We have a few returners next year-- not as many as before, but Ben Delaney, Jon Rosow, and Mackenzi Sherman will be back in the mix. The rest of us, on to the next phase! Growing up and going to college.

So I guess that's all I have for now, like always a huge thank-you to all the family, friends, and coaches that have provided invaluable support on our journey to take US sculling to the next level. So for the last time, it's been a huge pleasure--

LET'S GO USA!!

Moving On UP!

I grabbed early breakfast this morning, and I have about thirty minutes to do this before I catch the bus to the course.

A lot has happened since I left everyone at the opening ceremonies Tuesday night (hard to believe that was Tuesday). Racing was fully underway for all members of the USJNT, and even in the ever-changing wind, and sometimes pouring rain-- all of the scullers have been making huge strides for themselves and history for US Junior National sculling!

The women's double sculls, of the 'simply wonderful' Hannah Solis-Cohen, and Maria Maydan finished second in their heat on Thursday, immediately qualifying them for the a/b semi, which is already the best that a junior women's double has done, historically. And to follow that, the junior women's quad came back from a less than perfect heat, to place second to the Germans in yesterday's semi-final, advancing them to the medal hunt in today's GRAND FINAL. Each time this boat races better and better things keep happening! So if the trend continues, I think it's safe to say that this crew in on it's way to making junior sculling history as well. Everyone watching and following at home should be ecstatic abut the performance of our US junior scullers thus far, and with the a/b double semi and the quad's grand final rapidly approaching I'm going to ignore the cliche and say that it's crunch time for everyone here! As rowers it's easy to understand-- but to other people it might seem weird that some of us have spent the last year training for something that will not only be over in the next two days, but will last less than 7 minutes. But it's what we do! And racing at the World Championships you get to race athletes who are more like yourself than most people at home-- definitely one of the best parts.

My repechage yesterday (french for second chance) went well-- unfortunately well was not as fast as I needed it to be. I was drawn with scullers from the Czech Republic, Belgium, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela. After executing my race plan I could not make up the two second gap between the Belgian single and myself, putting me into a very tight third place and just missing the a/b semi final. If it had been a bad race I would be more disappointed, but looking long term, I definitely using this as a starting point for what I hope to accomplish in the future! Until then...c/d semi this morning, and C final this afternoon! (times were changed due to weather tomorrow).

Our sculling boys have also made history this week as the first junior men's quad ever to make an a/b semi, or an a/b final after an EXTREMELY tight race yesterday, just barely edging out Poland. Today they will battle it out in the semi-final for one of those top six positions.

Today's a big day for all crews... and it's been great racing here even in the less than great conditions. Last I was at the course it was overcast with light rain, a strong tailwind 0-500m and a strong cross for the remainder of the course. Hopefully that will calm down for the rest of the day's events. Look out today for our women's 2x semi-final, women's 4x grand final, men's 4x semi-final, and women's single c final!

LET'S GO USA!!

Also check our Facebook page for more pictures and updates! http://www.facebook.com/pages/USJNTScullers/184782091585486

"Spares"

CONGRATS TO OUR FLAT-MATE ELIZA SPILSBURY!

As the spare pair for the JNT Sweep side, she and her partner opened with the first race of the week (spares race)-- and from what we heard, won by a considerable margin. Good start for the USA!

AMERICA AMERICA! U-S-A!

It's been almost six days since we arrived in London to race at the Junior World Championships. Six days of time-adjusting, trying to nap in order to time-adjust, trying not to nap in order to time-adjust, healthy eating, boat weighing, boat rigging, boat rowing, drill rowing, hard rowing, flashy rowing, windy rowing, smooth rowing, water drinking, crappy exchange-rating, bus waiting, bus riding, people-meeting, picture taking, flag waving, anthem singing... I could go on.

Even though it's been six days, the Championships were not officially open until last night-- It's custom that before any World Championship event Junior all the way up to Olympic, the host country will throw a ceremony to welcome all the visiting countries to the venue. Yesterday, the entire US team joined all the other countries in the center of the RoyalHolloway to watch the progression of the flags, listen to the FISA director, successfully out-cheer everyone, and watch a "surprise" performance by the "Tenors and Divas Incognito". Aside fromthe strip teasing and

step-kicks from who we thought were a respectable school official, a bag check attendee, and Gary the owner of boys New Milford house-- it was a fun, and very British way to open the event.

We then got up early for our last pre-race row. I'll start off by saying that training at the course is a much different experience than rowing anywhere else. There's a lot of small battles that go on up and down the practice lanes- you are always being watched by someone, either biking along the shore, or in the boat next to you. Today I launched around the same time as the JW2x and 1x from Greece, and did all I could, not only to space out my oar puddles and look good, but to avoid staring at their coach screaming corrections in very harsh Greek between cigarette puffs. And from what I've seen, coaches should pass some kind of test before being allowed to ride the spiffy white BMW-made course bikes. Just as a general precaution to rowers, spectators, and mostly themselves.

We rode back to the Holloway with a very pro-Rihanna bus-driver, learned that with the Germans, where there's one, there's probably fifty more, took a VERY nice nap, then went to eat lunch (good as always)-- that catches you up to right now, as we're all just sitting in the flat waiting to find out lane draws, and for the 3 o'clock bus to the course. This is the first day of heats for the quad-- so remember to check online!! Their race goes off a little after 1pm EST. As always the other scullers will be there for moral support!

I'll try and update daily to keep everyone up on what's going on! HEATS DAY ONE!! And as the poster the sweep coaches posted next to the bus schedule says, NO REGRETS!!

Thanks to everyone as always for the support-- Let's go USA!!

2011 USJNT Scullers

First there were three...

Then this happened.

Our friends from Denmark

Woke Up in London the Other Day

Here we go!

USJNT Scullers (and about 55 others) have landed in London!! We arrived at the London Heathrow after a smooth 6 hour flight, surrounded by the sea of Nalgene-toteing, polo and khaki clad JNT athletes an coaches. Right away I'm going to say how impressed I've been with the efficiency with which everything here works. It's like a well-oiled pre-Olympic machine. Within 45 minutes of landing the entire team was through customs, loaded luggage and all into the coach buses, and Royal Holloway bound. For those of you just starting to read, the Royal Holloway is the official 2012 Olympic Village for the rowers and kayakers. And, with last year's venue in mind, it's glorious.

There's about 10 staff members to every athlete-- whether it be the army of man-maids that clean our bedrooms, the friendly flourecent-vested traffic controllers, or the extremely generous cafeteria workers, everyone here is super friendly and fun to talk to. That or they're all making fun of us. Either way no complaints!

We also had a sightseeing day in Windsor (where the castle is). But as is typical, we spent the few hours looking for food, looking for bathrooms, and trying to locate the drugstore (we found it. It makes cvs look ridiculous). It looks like this is all the sightseeing we'll get to do on this trip, as our London day was cancelled. It's not a big deal, especially getting close to racing our focus is on the rowing.

Second to the rowing, the FOOD! We have yet to find anything in the cafeteria that hasn't been delicious. Everything is healthy and fresh, complete with labels telling you all the calories, protein, and carb count. There's been a few local things that we weren't used to-- Summer pudding (G-Man had four), Shepard's pie, and treacle tart to name a few... but mostly everything is standard, and high qual. Lots of potatoes, and veggies.

All the sculling girls, plus Eliza the spare are on a ground level flat in one of the buildings that will be used to house athletes next year. Above us, the rest of the US team, and the Greeks. Across the lawn from us is Zimbabwe and Australia (win). And down to the right is the GB team (we've yet to see them). The Germans have also arrived, as we saw about 12 of them in their underwear this morning and its only day 4. With racing only two days away, almost all the teams have arrived, and things are starting to get into motion.

We've had four sessions on the water so far, working technique and distance per stroke doing laps on the course. The Eton Rowing Centre is famous for a screaming tailwind, making a lot of the results from previous events here look very impressive (we were watching some video from 2006 World Championships while waiting to get accredited). Especially rowing a single (equals around an 8 minute 2k, versus around 6 minutes in bigger team boat), I was looking forward to this. We had a little bit of fast conditions the first day we rowed (we were extremely jetlagged so I might be wrong), but since then every session we've done has been into a headwind-- so let's hope that switches back before Wednesday!

As far as the actual schedule of racing, the official draws have not been posted, but as far as I know the quad starts heats on Wednesday, and the double and single start heats on Thursday. So stay tuned! We've just had our last bit of speedwork this morning before racing starts-- everyone executed really well, and it was a good confidence builder going into this week. We'll see what G-man says at our secret sculling meeting tonight (it's in our kitchen, it's not that secret. There's a huge window).

We just adventured around campus a little bit (thanks to Erin's keen directional senses), went to the store, bought the first pre-bottled water I've had in months, a new toothbrush, and Erin bought breakfast beans. Pretty per-usual.

Anyways I'm sorry this has taken me SO long (literally almost 4 days) to write-- it's better for everyone I waited for the jetlag to wear off, it's a lot more coherent that way. Especially to the best crew mom ever Mary Youngling!! Lizzy is still alive! and has a very organized closet!

I've got a prefect hour to take a nap (first one since arriving) so I'm going to wrap this up.. I will post some pictures as soon as I can, and as soon as racing starts I'll be sure to post info and results!

Thanks to everyone back home who's following and supporting! LET'S GO USA!

The Last Supper

So this post is going to be a quick one, as I feel like I've been hit by a small train (pretty usual for anything post 8:30) and am on my way to bed. The thing about the blog is the longer I wait to update, the more updating there is to catch up on. So, in an effort to stay on top of things as my Pre-London To-do List becomes more and more time sensitive-- I'm going to give you a quick run down of all things new and exciting here in the New Milf.

First off, big and exciting- the majority of us had our last supper (note the title) at Rocco's. After 41 days of seemingly bottomless lunch and dinner, it was bittersweet. The steak and chicken kabobs were a good conclusion to a very...very...very long day. 5am wake up call. 6am departure from GMS to Princeton, NJ. 9am arrival in Princeton, NJ. 10am Susan Francia sighting. 11am launch time. 11:35am 2k with sweep team. 1pm LUNCH time. 3:30pm arrival at GMS. 4pm boat wash/gel gloss sesh. 5pm rained out to the trailer. 6pm FINALLY back at the burrow for much needed showering. Busy day for the JNT scullers! When the days stretch out and we get tired, there's many more amusing moments... for example Mackenzi Sherman and I have entered into a very subtle, secret war, which I am winning. Lizzy and I (mostly Lizzy) have created an official Facebook page for our very own Nigel Spruce: personal reporter and correspondent for the JNT scullers documenting our journey pulling hard and going to worlds!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nigel-Spruce-USJNTScullers/184782091585486 (the interview will be posted tomorrow).

Unfortunately we did not quite post the exact performance that we were looking for going into the morning-- but usually you learn a lot more from missing your goals than directly accomplishing them. Most of the time, goals do need to be met. Especially since the sport of rowing can be very unforgiving (6-8 minutes to show for years of training). A scrimmage like today can be a serious wake up call. We are leaving on Thursday. We are representing the USA. And we need to be fast. I know we are all coming off of this morning's performance refocused, fired up, and ready to fill in all the gaps we need to make things happen at this year's Junior World Championships!

Three sessions tomorrow will round of the home training for this years Junior National Sculling Team training. Looking back on this marathon of a summer, it's sinking in how much work we have done up to this point, and how crucial these next few days are. The perfect balance of speedwork, technique, steady rowing, recovery, nutrition, travel, focus, and relaxation will make up the last 10 percent of our preparation for competing overseas. I'll do my best to keep this updated as things get going! You know how I love telling you all about the food and the napping-- so keep checking in! Traveling is fun! Racing is fun! People talking in British accents is fun! Spelling the word colour with a u is fun!

Last night in the New Milf! LET'S GO USA!!

Just to get the ball rolling...

Here's where to check for photo updates: http://www.row2k.com/gallery/

Here's the official site: http://www.wrjc2011.com/

Show me your water bottles!!

It seems that I have a lot to recap since I left everyone last Sunday-- being as time is quickly diminishing before the day of departure, it feels like we're packing everything possible into these last two weeks.

Just like last year, G-Man has taken a small hiatus to coach the U23 lightweight quad in Amsterdam this week. Before he left, an intensive technique session reinforced all of our individual points of focus-- with Matt's guidance, the big emphasis right now is on self-improvement as each of us work to iron out our issues (no matter how frustrating this can be).

Because we have limited time to retrain our muscle memory, very long rows seem to be in order. Wednesday, we had the magical 6AM bridge row plus large delicious breakfast combination. Obviously there were some drills thrown in (and by thrown in, I mean 60 min+ of continuous

square blade, half square, square-unsquare-square-unsquare broken up throughout the two hour row). These drills help you to maintain the proper blade height over the water, and keep both the blade entry and release clean. Very important stuff. To make it even more interesting, almost all of the technical rows we've had (minus the bridge) have been done into a brutal (brutal by GMS standards...around 10mph) headwind, making the recovery of the strokes on the square feel a lot less like recovery. None the less, we were troopers, and were rewarded with an extremely quick row in.

There was also a surprise return of the ever-illusive ice cream man!! He answered our call during a particularly sweaty weight session, and needless to say Lizzy and I had a big 3rd grade moment.

Thursday brought some of the first heat-wave-esque temperatures we've had thus far. Through rivers of sweat, we still worked more and more technique on our rows to the S-Turn (about 12k). I think we've been making some small strides-- and we got a chance to see what's sticking when we had a change of pace this morning and did some speedwork. Joined by the boys (rowing doubles after a rigger incident) and some of the GMS elites, plus an exclusive guest coach appearance we did three pieces. Each one designed to give room for improvement from the previous piece-- I rowed with Vicky Burke, and the JW2x, and after the second piece (we briefly considered highjacking the double when the distance went from 500m to 1500) we decided to jump ship and go swimming-- cool down the core temperature! Felt great, however I did not plan for the small lake swooshing around my feet for the last piece. All in all, the pieces went well, and it's more fast strokes for all of us. Also after today, our exclusive guest coach has been officially added to the USJNT Sculling Champ List, with flying colors!

As of now, there is not a whole lot going on at the Burrow-- the oppressive temperatures have a way of making everything move in slow motion (more so than usual, it took me 5 mins to walk up stairs this afternoon). So we're all sitting in the living room trying to stay as cool as possible (the Burrow has 'air conditioning' just like GMS has 'headwind'). Also-- google and boredom: this is where we are staying when we get to England!! How cool is this?!

Given that the current temperature in Eton is 64 degrees-- it's looking pretty good right now!

I'm officially embarrassed by how long this post has taken me (just scrolled up and realized it's, in fact, not a novel)-- but we're just going to roll it off on the heat and growing affliction of New Milforditis (we all officially declared we were too lazy to take another nap. Case and point)

Thanks to Coach V for the session this morning, and as always to anyone following us on our way to Junior Worlds!

Also-- G-Man if you're reading this, we hope you're having (not too much) fun in Amsterdam! And see you on Monday back in the New Milf!

Bye for now! Go USA!

PS. Remember to check the YouTube channel! We'll update it I promise.