11^th. It doesn’t seem like a particularly important number when it’s just sitting there, all alone, lacking any sort of context. Just two ones, thrown together, hanging out, minding their own business. Of course, once you start to fill in the blanks, the weight of 11^th makes itself known. At the 2010 World Championships in Karapiro, my partner and I finished 11^th, a result that was meaningful only in that if we were able to repeat that performance, we would be able to claim an Olympic spot for the US in the lightweight men’s double. I’ve spent the past year training with that in mind. There were other markers along the way, improvements in erg times and in the weight room, speed in the single and the double, winning NSR2 and racing well at World Cups.

But at the end of the day, 11^th was the goal of the year, and this year we missed the mark.

As I starting writing this, it seemed to be turning into an argument about why we’re still really good, how we did everything we could to get into the A/B semifinal, how, like seriously guys, come on, we’re really pretty good! But that’s not where I meant to go, so (previous sentence excluded), I’ll move on to my point – failing really sucks.

Like it or not, I’m not racing in the Little League of rowing. The World Championships are the highest level of competition in rowing, and within the Olympic-class lightweight events, the margins are vanishingly small. We’re all the same weight, most of us are using the same equipment, and so any differences in speed are due to fine examples of rowing, raw fitness, and more often than not, brass balls. Coming into the 2011 Worlds, I felt that we had made meaningful changes to at least two of those three categories, with the understanding that all the events here are getting more competitive with Olympic spots up for grabs. We were rowing cleaner, pulling harder than last year, and certainly seemed to be going faster.

Unfortunately the realization that it’s not enough usually comes at a pretty crappy time, and for me it was a couple strokes shy of the finish line in the quarterfinal, four seconds down on the Portuguese. The end result is what matters here, not how hard you tried, and so with the deepest respect to my competitors, and with the full appreciation of just how hard I tried, I can say with authority that it really, really sucked.

Fortunately, the dream ain’t dead. There are two more spots up for grabs in the lightweight double this coming summer in Lucerne at the ominously named Last Chance Qualifier. While it’s hard to peg exactly what you did right and what you did wrong, there are some clear areas of improvement, and while it would have been nice to spend this next year training knowing that the US had a slot, this could be the kick in the ass that I needed to push through to the next level of speed.

Congrats to all the US crews, and, grudgingly, crews from other countries, who secured slots in the Olympics.

- Brian de Regt, USA 2011 LM2x

As in every pre-Olympic year, this year’s Team carries with it the additional responsibility of qualifying events for the upcoming Olympic Games. With Finals beginning tomorrow, some crews have already faced elimination from this year’s qualification pool and will have to try again next year in Lucerne to grab the few remaining spots for London. My crew and I had the honor of being the first USA crew to qualify a boat for London with our performance in yesterday’s Rep. As the top seven quads at this year’s World Championships punch tickets for 2012, our advancement to the A Final guarantees at least a 6th place finish for us, and more importantly that a women’s quad from the United States will line up to race for medals in London. We may not be the four athletes sitting in those seats, but the point is that four United States athletes will have the opportunity.

Qualification changes things. It adds a dimension to racing and advancement at the World Championships that just isn’t present the the other two years of the quadrennium. While my personal philosophy is not to let anything–qualification included–change who you are as a racer or a teammate when it comes time to put it on the line, this is a hard one to ignore. In our meeting the night before our Rep, it was one of the last things we talked about as a group. We kept it brief, but I wanted to make sure that the four of us acknowledged that we had the opportunity to qualify the boat the following day; that it was an important part of what we were here to do; and that we weren’t going to let it affect our race plan. We were still going to race hard, make the Final, and then go from there.

That having been said, as we closed ther last 350 meters in our Rep and we were a seat up on GB and down one to China, I was thinking only one thing: QUALIFY. It was what got me through the last strokes of our piece.

My coach in college always used to say: “Race hard, all the way to the line. Stay focused on what you can do in your boat. And when you cross the line, look up and see what place you got. That’s all you can do.” When we crossed the line yesterday, I didn’t know if we had crossed first, second or third. But without seeing the results board, I pounded on the side of the boat and yelled, “Yeah USA!” to my crew. We raced tough against some very fast crews all the way down the course. We pushed the pace and forced other crews to react to us. As a young crew with not a lot of experience, it was a great step for us, and something that not many US Women’s sculling crews have been able to do. With or without the result, we had a great race Looking up and seeing USA in first position on the results board was just the cherry on top.

Now that the dust has settled and our Final for tomorrow is set, the attitude isn’t different, but it is amplified. The most important part of our job here is done, and I can say that with that comes a significant sense of relief. Now we get to line up with the five other fastest crews in the world and do it all over again, without the pressure of qualifying the boat for next year’s Team. Tomorrow we’re racing for medals.

Now the fun starts.

Long Live the Dream,

- Megan Kalmoe, USA 2011 W4x

Any kind of traveling is tough as a lightweight, but air cross-continental travel can be brutal.  Airports are littered with calorie rich goodies.  If you talk to any rower they will tell you that most lightweights have a serious sweet tooth.  I, from experience can tell you it is a mental challenge to not inhale sweets all day.

To avoid this predicament I have learned to travel prepared.  If I do not bring some food along I WILL end up snacking on trail mix, candy or tuna salad sandwiches (tuna salad in airports is mostly mayonnaise).  Trail mix may sound great too, but it is loaded with fat that does not make weighing in 2 hours prior to racing easy.  So I bring fruit, vegetables and premade sandwiches.  This trip was a pretty good one.  I had an apple, a crown of broccoli and baby carrots.  Obviously, I don’t think many people could last an entire trip on those foods alone so I do eat some airplane food.

Airplane food can be very dangerous.  It’s mass produced food, which I’ve had plenty of while in the navy, meaning it’s probably not healthy.  However, there are healthier versions.  I choose to not eat quite a bit of it as well.  Last night’s flight was a choice of bbq chicken and vegetable pasta.  I went with pasta.  The meal came with pasta, salad, bread, crackers, cheese, ranch dressing and a brownie.  I ate most of the pasta, the salad without the dressing (Tim McLaren would be proud), a little bread and of course the brownie.  There are a lot of bad calories in ranch dressing and the cheese that I don’t need.  The brownie is not the healthiest choice, but everyone needs a vice….

The best part about this entire process is the looks you get from fellow travelers. (Click here to read the rest of Jimmy’s blog)

- Jimmy Sopko, 2011 USA LM8+

Please consider supporting the USA LM8+ on their journey to the World Championships. Not all boats are funded and many athletes pay the costs to represent our rowing community from their own savings. Please consider making a donation at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/2011uslm8/2011uslm8. Every little bit helps.- shivs

Our first race in the heat, we had a decent piece for our first full 2k together as a crew, but it left everyone in the boat a little underwhelmed. We knew we had more speed to show than a third place finish in this preliminary race, and we were determined to prove it in the repechage. Fueled by this collective belief and a little desperation to avoid being relegated to the B final for the second year in a row, we asserted ourselves and steadily charged through the race to best both our North American rivals, the Canadians, as well as the home-country favorites New Zealand. It felt good to finally show some of the speed we knew we possessed.

Now we have a chance to show the defending world champions and the rest of the field that the USA men’s eight is returning to form in the Grand Final. We’ll have Germany, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands to deal with. Be sure to watch. It’s going to be a race for the ages.

- Brett Newlin, USA 2010 M8+

But rowers aren’t just mindless machines muscling the boat down the course (despite any stories our coxswain might tell you!). We also require some mental warm up in order to race at our best. In fact, some coaches might argue that given two crews of equal strength and skill, the crew with the greater mental preparation will almost always prevail.

Positive affirmations, reviewing the race plan, pump-up music—all of these factors help get our mind ready to race. But the most effective part of our mental preparation occurs even before we leave the hotel: visualization.

Visualization is a key part of our routine the night before a race.  We envision ourselves at the starting blocks, cool and relaxed. We picture ourselves in the heart of the race, matching our opponents stroke for stroke. And as we see ourselves powering toward the finish line, we recall the roar of the crowd and the burning in our legs.

By visualizing our race on land, we can remain unperturbed despite any unexpected glitches on race day (the general chaos of the warm-up area can unnerve even an experienced crew!)

So in the last 500 meters, when our legs are burning and our lungs are aching and we see blackness at the edge of our vision, we can ALL remain unfazed. We KNOW that we can power through any doubts or pain, because we already visualized it on land!

- Jamie Redman, USA 2010 W8+

So when the gentle breeze turns into a blustering gale only hours before the Opening Ceremonies, forgive us if we groan in frustration at Mother Nature’s cruel sense of humor.

However, rowers are experts at waiting out weather-related delays. We stretch, we nap, we play cards, we read… everyone has their favorite way to fend off boredom as we wait for the wind to die down. When officials announced that indeed yes, the course will remain closed for the rest of the afternoon (thus eliminating the possibility of another row), Team USA didn’t miss a beat.

In a planning session this summer, US Rowing decided to send ten rowing machines to New Zealand, in the event that the NZ springtime weather proves temperamental. So even if we can’t go out on the water this afternoon, rest assured that Team USA is maintaining fitness… albeit in the hotel parking lot.

Lucky for us, the wind is supposed to die down by the time the Finals roll around on the weekend. But if not, no worries! We have trained in worse (think springtime college racing in the Charles River basin!), and we are ready to race in whatever conditions Mother Nature has in store for us!

- Jamie Redman, USA 2010 W8+

Check out Jamie’s new blog site at www.jamieredman.wordpress.com! – shivs

The race went like this. We had a mediocre start which put us in about third place after the first 150m. Still within the first 40 strokes of the race, the boat hit a larger wave and my oar was knocked out of my hand. Luckily, it didn’t go deep in the water, torqueing around and bending the rigger. But equaling as time consuming, the handle launched over Kalmoe’s head, bringing the blade up to the oarlock. In a frenzy we all yelled a lot, I reached out and worked the oar back in place and we picked it up again.

At that point we were in last place, a little behind Canada and lengths behind Ukraine. I just kept thinking “I cannot believe that just happened” interchanged with “we are so screwed.” The funny thing is that it was almost a liberating feeling because all expectations had just flown out the window. We had wanted first place so that we could skip the repechage, but mostly because we always want first place. Now all we could do was pull as hard as we possibly could to get back in the race before we could even think about winning. From that point we just called out each crew and worked up the course. “Get me Canada in 5 strokes.” “We’ve got China.” “We are walking on Australia, keep coming.” “Three seats behind Ukraine, go now!” Unfortunately, we just couldn’t make up the difference on the front two crews before the meters ran out. We ended up placing third, three seconds out of first. We had the fastest average for the last three quarters of the race of any crew in either heat. The speed is there…especially when we stop thinking and start racing for our lives.

Our finish in the heat meant we moved on to the rep where we needed to place top two. I had never been so happy to go to reps. A chance to get in another race was valuable for our recently formed quad and a chance to see other top crews was a good test of our speed. Germany had the second fastest time of any heat on Monday so they would definitely be gunning for a win, and every crew out there knew this was the last chance to make the Final A.

So once again, our quad met and set out with one goal. Be aggressive off the start. Of course, I had my own private goal of don’t lose the damn oar. We were successful this time. After battling with the Germans and Swiss for the first 500 meters, we established our lead position. We focused on our boat and executed our plans. This gave us a 4.3 second finish over Germany and first place in our rep.

That brings us to tomorrow. One last race. The Final A of the women’s heavyweight quad: New Zealand, Germany, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, and the United States. We’ll be laying everything on the line and doing what the US women’s quad knows best, racing.

- Sarah Trowbridge, USA 2010 W4x

This was a big day for us, as–true to US training tradition–we had yet to do a full 2k in our lineup. What happened wasn’t ideal, but I think that we handled it as well as we could given the situation, and we ended up with a feisty, gutsy race.

Just past the 250m mark, Sarah caught a nasty bit of work with her port oar which actually launched the oar forward into the boat so the blade face was touching the oarlock and the handle was over my shoulder (I wish it would have been on camera!!). I’m not really sure how it was physically possible, and I’ve definitely never seen a crab like that in action before, but the response was right on. Natalie, bless her heart, did not see or hear this happen so she was content to keep rowing while the three of us wrestled with the equipment in the bow. But then when we were set again, there was a moment of clarity and off we went, charging back in to the pack, open water down to Australia and Ukraine. As Sarah said, later on our refocus: “I think we were able to get back in to it because part of us just realized: ‘well, we’re f*cked, we might as well just go for it.’”

And then we laid down a sweet middle thousand chasing after the leaders. It was blisteringly aggressive and punched full of adrenaline, and the race just flew by with all four of us making calls all the way down. I can’t recall another race I’ve had quite like it.

Obviously we have some work to do if we’re going to make it through to the A Final, but I think all four of us know what we need to do to improve on our performance and be ready for tomorrow’s Reps.

The USA W4X is locked and loaded!

Long Live the Dream,

– Megan Kalmoe, USA 2010 W4x

Our start wasn’t as clean and fast as we usually have it in practice. After we settled down to our base rhythm, we kept getting bounced around by the waves and that made it harder to relax and be in control. Coming into the last 500 meters, we were in third place behind New Zealand and Australia. In this type of progression, you want to finish in the best position to have a better repechage. In the last 500 we put a push and beat Australia in the last couple of strokes. We came in second place, but only one boat advanced straight to the A final. We knew we had more to offered and that race was not an example of our speed. There was a day of practice in between the heat and repechage and we used it to tighten things up.

Wednesday was the day of our repechage. We were in lane 3. To our right we had Germany and Canada and to our left Italy and China. All crews treated this race as a final. Only the top 2 would get into the A final. This time we had a head wind and the water was very choppy. Our start was better than in the heat but still not as clean as we would’ve liked. Once we settled into our base, we knew we had to be effective in the way we were going to row because it was going to be a longer race than usual (about 25 seconds longer) due to the head wind. Our base rhythm was solid. We were in control of our boat and made the right moves at the right time to find ourselves in the lead with 500 meters to go. Italy and Germany were coming up to us and trying to close the margin. We managed in a controlled way to hold them off and win the repechage. Italy came in second place. We were pleased with our performance and knew that there was still one more gear to go.

Now it’s Thursday afternoon and we are resting up for tomorrow. As of now we are racing at 3 pm, but the weather is supposed to be bad and not rowable, so we will see what happens. It might be pushed to earlier in the day or to Saturday. Great Britain, New Zealand, Italy, Greece and France are in the finals. These are all great crews. It will be a great challenge for us, and we are looking forward to it!

- Guiseppe Lanzone, USA 2010 M4-

Fortunately, the Athlete Dining Hall has exceeded any and all expectations! We know New Zealand takes great care in protecting its homegrown agriculture and livestock (as evidenced by the pack for produce-sniffing dogs and biosecurity inspections at the airport), and this pride is manifest in the dishes served to us. Pork, lamb, beef, seafood, the full array of steamed and roasted vegetables, pasta, grains, the salad buffet… there is something for everyone. Add a selection of fruits, breads, and desserts, and you can ensure that the majority of the rowers will be satisfied.

The dining hall itself is a great set-up: a large white tent overlooking the finish line, with a gorgeous view of the race course and surrounding countryside. In between practices, rowers can sit at the tables, sip coffee, and take advantage of the free (albeit sluggish) wi-fi. Or, now that the preliminary heats have started, we can watch the racing on one of the five hi-def flatscreens scattered about the hall.

Overall, the athlete facilities at Lake Karapiro are top-notch, and the dining service is just another example of how New Zealand has embraced all the responsibilities of a regatta host. By supplying us with delicious (and nutritious!) lunches, our Kiwi hosts have gone out of their way to ensure that all teams are performing at their best.

- Jamie Redman, USA 2010 W8+

Check out Jamie’s new blog site at www.jamieredman.wordpress.com! – shivs