First Row in Chula Vista

Alex and I have arrived in Chula Vista for the Non-qualified Olympic Trials to race the Lightweight Men's Double Sculls.  Our first race is the Heat, one of three, Tuesday morning between 10:40 and 11 am PST. The Draw isn't up yet, but I will post it when it is.  Depending on how far we make it in the progression - there may be some streaming live video of the races this week.  We had our first row over the course today. Yup, looks like a race course all right.  Buoyed lanes, flat water, some high temperatures and sunny slightly windy skies.  It was a good row - nothing to report.  I've included some video from one of our last training sessions in Seattle before we came down to California a week ago, a few minutes of easy steady state paddling and one 20-stroke piece at race pace and pressure.  We're wearing so much clothing we look a lot thicker than we actually are.  Everyone we've met on this Californian Journey is curious about the weight thing.  To be "Lightweight" in international rowing means you weigh in 2 to 1 hours before the start of your race, and the average crew weight must be 70 kg (for men), with no one athlete over 72.5 kg. This was a "nice day" for Seattle this time of year.  Boy is it nice to soak up some sunshine for a change! A special thank-you to everyone who has made this possible so far, and to everyone this year and this week who has wished us luck and speed.  We appreciate it more than we can express in a blog post.  For the curious - enjoy the video!