All the Worlds Stuff

A week has already passed since the race, and we've been slow to update this!  Here are links to all the media from Worlds in the LW4x:


Results of the race
Photos of the race
Video of the race
Post-race interview #1 (Row2k)
Post-race interview #2 (USRowing)


We're all currently taking some time away, visiting friends and family, and gearing up for 2011.  As we wrap up this blog (at least for the time being) we have to send out a huge thank you again for those who have supported and encouraged us along the way, including friends, family, the Bellingham/Samish community, USRowing, Row2k, and countless others.  We could not have done it without you. 


A, U, K & V

USA LW4x Wins Silver!!

At 2:18 pm local time today, the Bellingham Bandits/Team USA placed second in the women's light quad!  We had a good race, and there's much more to come later, but now we're off to see our families and eat some dinner.  Full coverage, including video interviews and photos, can be found either on row2k or World Rowing in a couple of hours.  

Thanks so much for all the support, near and far.  We love it!! 

Worlds, Day 4 & 5

Well, the semis sure have been nailbiting races, as they often are.  Over the years, a lot of people have told me that the semis are the toughest races of Worlds, and yesterday and today certainly lived up to that.  Yesterday, Abby and Ursula raced the semifinal of the lightweight double and missed qualifying for the A final in the last 500 meters to the New Zealand crew.  As a team, we are disappointed with the result but are taking it in stride and getting pumped up for the quad.  Today while we were eating lunch, we watched the semis for the lightweight men's quad, among other events, and they were just as brutal as the races yesterday were.  Many crews missed out on the final by mere tenths.  

For those of you watching abroad, there is now live video feed for the races.  There is a huge camera boat that follows alongside the races, as well as other ones that follow behind the boats, so the quality has been great.  

Times for the finals are as follows, converted into US time zones:

LW2x Final B: Thursday at 3:41 pm Pacific, 6:41 pm Eastern

LW4x Final A: Friday at 6:18 pm Pacific, 9:18 pm Eastern

Worlds Racing, Day 3

This morning all four bandits were in action in the first quad race.  It was not a qualifying race, just one to assign lanes for Saturday.  That said, we'll let you read the results as you will (select "LW4x" under "select class" on that website).  There was a full cast of photographers at the starting line, including Joel Rogers and Erik Dresser (from row2k.com) who visited us in Bellingham earlier this year.  Those photos are now posted online.  It was great to get back in the quad and we always have fun when we're in that boat.  We are getting pumped up for Saturday.  

After our quad row, we went to lunch in the Athlete Restaurant where we were asked to fill out a questionnaire from FISA about the event.  Interesting to see the question about what environmental issues we feel are important (clean drinking, plants/trees, recycling, animals, etc).  Beyond that, we were asked to circle happy face, "indifferent" face, or sad face to such specific things like pontoons, wake from motor boats, and umpiring.  How strange.  I guess I feel happy when I think about the umpiring??  I think they might get more than they were asking for when they see Vic's response to "buoys: happy face, indifferent face, or sad face?" (see "Love NZ" post about minefield).  

Regardless, the country of New Zealand is the most excited host nation of all the international events any of us have been to so far.  Since racing started yesterday, the NZ (they say it "N-Zed") radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers have been incredibly focused on the World Champs.  The morning sports report we hear on the bus highlights the previous day of racing for the Kiwis as well as what's scheduled for the current day.  Then when we get to the traffic report, they are talking about how it's going to be slow near Karapiro.  But wait!  Here comes the weather report, where they are talking about how the conditions might affect the Kiwi boats.  Mahe Drysdale, the five-time consecutive World Champ in the men's single, is not disappointing for the Kiwis thus far; he won his heat yesterday and we will not stop hearing about it.  He also has a large group of uniformed schoolchildren that take field trips to the course to watch him race.  We arrive back at the hotel with the option of watching nightly racing recaps at 8:30 on Sky Sport, a national TV channel.   We are shocked at how different it is in the U.S. where most people have no idea what rowing even is.  

Beyond the fun radio announcements on the buses, our rides to and from the course present a daily adventure.  With a different driver almost every day, we also get a different route, leaving us thoroughly confused about where we are and whether we've gone that way before.  Unlike in the US, the buses here are all manual transmission, and the shifting often gets dicey.  We were heading up a huge hill yesterday afternoon on the way home from the course when the driver couldn't get the bus into the next gear.  We slowed down so much while he was messing with it that the we were convinced we would start rolling backwards.  The driver got it going again just in the nick of time. 

As of today, all of the parents and friends of the Bandits are here and accounted for.  The impression so far from the spectator side of things is that, despite the huge grandstand area, the Lake Karapiro course is not quite ideal for viewing.  The course comes down at an angle towards the grandstands so it's not as close to the shore as viewers would like.  The only part of the race they can really see is the last 250, so the general consensus (and Carlos agrees) is that it's best to watch racing either on the jumbotron from the grandstands or on multitude of flat screen TVs for those of us that have access to the athlete area.  So for the fans at home who may get access to live online feed, know that we are probably watching the same!

Speaking of live feed, my impression is that they have begun live online audio feed.  I'm unclear if they'll add video, but world rowing has all the information.  If all the scheduled days stay the same (the only change would be in the finals if they rearrange due to a storm that is expected on Friday), then these will be the final three race times for the Bandits, converted to US time:

LW2x semi-final (top 3 to A final) - Tuesday at 4:11 pm Pacific, 7:11 pm Eastern (Wed. here)

LW2x A final - Thursday, time TBA (Fri. here)

LW4x A final - Friday, time TBA (Sat. here)

There is always a noticeable change in feel between training and racing at a World Championships, and this year is no different.  The buses are quieter on the ride to the course than they were last week as people resign to their iPods and own personal thoughts as we head into racing.  At the course, coaches are running around (sometimes frantically) double and triple checking the rigging of the racing shells and athletes are asking and re-asking their team managers if they have information about semifinal draws.  We have our game faces on and are ready for anything that is thrown at us, the Bandits are also trying to keep it light when we're away from the course.  If you think about it too much (this is only the culmination of an entire year of work, you're only racing the rest of the world in New Zealand, no biggie), it can get overwhelming.  It's hard to believe that the 2009 Worlds began just over 14 months ago.

Here are just a few other random notes on New Zealand before I sign off:

I know I said that they don't celebrate Halloween here but I stand corrected.  Yesterday while on a run I saw writing in a driveway in chalk that said, "Happy Halloween! We don't have any lollies, SORRY."  

Over the past few days, we have been watching our last of five jars of TJ's Almond Butter we brought from the States disappear as we try to ration it between the four of us.  If you're thinking, "man, that's a lot of almond butter for four small girls over only nine days," you'd be right.  It's just that good.  The impending A.B. crisis was avoided, however, as we emailed back to our parents before they left the U.S. to grab some before they left.  Phew, that was a close call.  

Speaking of crises, Carlos was in a self-proclaimed "communication crisis" earlier in the week when he couldn't use his computer or Blackberry.  Luckily he is now back in touch with the rest of the world by getting his BB up and working.  

We just got back from a walk to the nearest grocery store and learned that New Zealand produce truly does not disappoint.  Much of it is grown locally and today we got the biggest and best-tasting strawberries I think we've ever had.  Abby is stunned by the gigantic organic kiwis and today she also bought a tomarillo.  That's a tomato grown on a tree, but (after asking a local) does not taste like a tomato.    

Whew, that was a long post.  Congratulations if you've gotten this far in reading it.  The hotel gives us each twenty minutes of free internet per day, which leaves the US athletes to frantically check and reply to emails while racing the clock, which counts down each minute and pops up incessant but friendly reminders like, "only two minutes remaining!!"  As you can imagine, I've written this entire post offline.  

Over the next few days, we'll head into the big races.  Thanks for staying tuned!

Worlds Racing, Day 2

None of the Bandits were in action today, but we'll get back on the racecourse tomorrow for the first race in the quad.  Today's weather was much better than yesterday's.  It was still windy this morning but flattened out a bit as we ate lunch in the Athlete's Restaurant at the course.  Here are a few quick photos for you as I race the clock before it kicks me offline!  Happy halloween in the States - turns out they don't celebrate it here.  Boo!

Getting ready for the long bus ride back to Hamilton

Vic is special

The finish line!  This is on the walkway next to the water.

ABBY AND URSH WIN HEAT!!

In crazy, blustery, whitecapping conditions (see cover picture on row2k right now), Abby and Ursula raced down the course to a first place finish in the heats of the lightweight double!  Full results can be found at World Rowing.  After their race, FISA suspended the rest of the day's races until this afternoon (4 pm at the earliest).  All of us are glad their race made it down the course and the USA was victorious!  The next race for the Bandits is Tuesday in the quad (Monday in the US).  More to come later!

Photos from Day 7 at the Course

 New Zealand countryside

Launching area

Grandstand area and course from the finish line

Love NZ

Yesterday Vic and I went for an afternoon stroll and found a huge (we're talking one mile around) horse racing track.  Ursh had already found it, run around it a couple of times, and come back to the hotel gushing about how cool it was.  So naturally we had to see for ourselves.  What we weren't expecting when we got there was that you have to hop a few fences to get on the track.  It was well worth it though.  We're going back tonight.

On our way back from the track, we spotted this gigantic tree:

I'm not sure either of us knew what to think of it.  It was like fifteen trees in one.  

Report from today at the course: the quad is good to go, we had a little run-in with the "minefield" on the course, found the awesome NZ recycling bins, and the weather has held off despite a brief rainshower today.  

First, about the quad: We had a good row today and I think (finally!) that all the rigging stuff is done with.  G-Man helped us tweak the steering today so that it's just right.  

About the minefield: For some reason the NZ people have set up rock hard plastic buoys just beyond the start line, where the long distance training begins.  Two lines of them (about 50 meters apart) stretch across the entire lake and the orange ones are so close together that not even a single could fit through without hitting its oars.  One might think that the two red and green buoys would be where crews are expected to pass through.  That's what we thought, until we learned (via Vic smacking her oar against the green one) that not even the little boats can fit through there.  We've named it the "minefield" and every day we dread when we have to go through it.  We've consulted the cox'ns/bow people of other Team USA boats and no one can figure out the best way to cross over these buoys without risking disaster.  Luckily our run-in with the minefield today wasn't boat damaging, but we did hit an orange one with the bowball.  We'll figure out a good way one of these times...

About the recycling bins: How great is this logo?

About the weather: Overall we have had sun and good water, although according to Malcolm (our trusty bus driver who drives well above the speed limit, much to Ursula's delight), the rain and wind are both coming soon.  

Off to dinner!!

Day 5 in New Zealand

Technology is failing me today.  I've been trying to upload a video we took at the course today but the internet will not let me do it.  It also won't let me rotate photos, even after rotating them in iPhoto, so you're going to have to crane your neck to see them.  I'm working on fixing this issue but hey, at least it let me do three whole pictures!

Update from today: We're back from the course after having a successful couple of rows in the doubles and a yummy lunch.  Abby and Ursula are hanging out in the altitude tent that's set up in their rooms, and Vic and I will get in after dinner.  The weather here has been gorgeous so far and from what we've heard, we're lucky because last week it was horrible.  

Thanks to everyone who has sent us good luck emails and supported us through donations.  We're still fundraising for this trip, so if you want to help us out, click here for the link.  

Signing off from Wednesday in NZ...for those of you who haven't seen Wednesday Oct. 27th yet, it's a sunny one!

The sign on our altitude tent.  Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in NZ and its summit also happens to be at the same altitude as the tent.  Who can guess what MF stands for?  It's a good thing Abby brought her arts & crafts because we're clearly getting a lot of use out of them as we sit in the tent.

Abby at the launching area

Favorite = Kiss & Cry Zone

Made it to New Zealand!

Hello from New Zealand!  Team USA made it here safely on Saturday after having left the States on Thursday.  We crossed the International Date Line on our flight here so we missed Friday altogether!  All of us Bandits are adjusting well to the time change and finding our bearings after the long trip.  

From the moment we stepped off the plane, the people here have been really kind and welcoming.  At the Auckland airport we were escorted through special customs lines just for the athletes.  Our bus drivers have given us tours of the area as they drove us from the airport to the hotel and on our daily trips to the race course.  We are so impressed by the landscape.  There are tons of rolling hills, lots of sheep, cows, and horses, and beautiful mountains in the distance.  It's springtime here, and everything is so green!

Rigging the boats and getting all of the measurements perfect is proving to be endless (it always is!) but I think we're getting close.  Training on Lake Karapiro has been great so far.  The venue is awesome: huge grandstands, plenty of room for the boats, and beautiful surroundings.  Unlike most of the lakes that we've visited for international competitions, which are usually the length of a 2k course plus however much water it takes to stop the boat after the race, this one is really long.  We have been able to take advantage of the full 5k length of it for training, which is so much nicer than doing tons of laps on the 2k course.  

Strange little tidbit: When Victoria and I were waiting for the rest of the US team to come out of customs, we met a guy who is living in NZ now but spent six years in Bellingham, WA.  It's a small world!  

The internet here is expensive and they limit how much information you can send/receive but we'll do our best to keep you updated on our progress!

Lunch at the course

Gettin' Outta Town!

With a perfect evening of glassy water here at Samish, we are all packing, cleaning, and furiously running around the house trying to track down lost heart rate monitor straps, eating apple after apple (we had about 20 to eat up as of yesterday), and putting our bags on the scale with crossed fingers that they aren't over 50 lbs (they of course always are).

The entries are in as of this morning and it looks to be a group of talented athletes from around the world that should produce some great racing.  Click here for the quad's entry list and here for the double's entry list.  For those of you who are new to rowing and as we head into the big races, a few clarifications: "LW4x" denotes the lightweight women's quad and "LW2x" is the lightweight women's double.  Racing starts for the double on Sunday October 31 at 10:17 am.  Translated into U.S. time, that's 2:17 pm on October 30th on the west coast, 5:17 pm on the east coast.  Confusing!!

Once we get to NZ, we'll be updating this blog with links to results and video streams of the racing, so keep checkin' back!

As a final note, many of our friends/teammates/college teams are racing at the Head of the Charles in Boston this weekend.  GOOD LUCK to all those racing.  We're hoping it's better weather than last year's sleet and snow!

Tis the Season...

FOR PUMPKINS!  We were sad that we are going to miss Halloween this year so we decided to celebrate early by carving pumpkins.  It was so much fun!  Ursula had just as much fun snapping photos!

Pumpkin GUTS

The finished products

A bonus one!

Row2k Photo Gallery

Yesterday, Erik Dresser from Row2k came to practice to take photos of the double and quad.  Row2k is doing a photo gallery for each boat headed to the World Championships.  He took 400 photos of the quad alone.

By clicking HERE, you can see the full gallery of the 80 best ones he picked out.


-

Viking Visit!

This afternoon we got a visit from the Western Washington University Women's rowing team!  It was a lot of fun.  We showed them around the house, got to know them, shared stories, and fielded questions about nutrition, training, New Zealand, and racing.   Like us, the Vikings get to row on Lake Samish, but they have been practicing way earlier than we have.  They're launching at 5:15 am...we're adjusting to NZ time so we're asleep until about 7:30.  Since it's still dark outside when they practice, their coach shines a spotlight on them to see.  Crazy!!  Here are some photos we snapped of the event:

Checking out the altitude tents

Thanks to the girls for coming to visit and for John Fuchs for helping set up the event.  As always, you can email us with questions/comments at: bellinghamquad@gmail.com.

After the visit, we cooked up a delicious dinner that we ate family style (my favorite!) at the big table.  Since the WWU girls were interested in some of our recipes, here's the first of the recipes we'll be sending your way.  On the menu was an Abby & Kristin "slaw" creation and some fish.

Fish: Rockfish with olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and lemon slices on top.  Cooked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then broiled for about 5 more minutes, until flaky.
Slaw: We made a huge slaw so we'd have leftovers tomorrow.  We chopped up a whole head of savoy cabbage, a head of purple cabbage, about four leaves of kale, and half of a red onion.   Then we shredded a big ol' beet and some carrots on top.  After adding sunflower seeds and the juice from a lemon, we drizzled some of Ab's homemade salad dressing on top (apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, honey, flax oil, salt, and pepper).  Enjoy!

What's left of the slaw

Over 1/4 of the Way!

Many thanks to everyone who has helped us get to New Zealand so far.  Including donations that have been mailed in, we are now over a quarter of the way to our goal of $16,000!  If you have not already donated and are interested, here is the link to donate online:  Bellingham Quad's Fundraising Page.

We are a week and a half away from our departure to NZ and training is going well.  We've had a lot of rain in the past week (yuck!) but it looks like it'll clear up tomorrow.  We are getting a head start on adjusting to the time change that we'll experience when we get to NZ and this means that we're waking up later and working out later.  Better than the other way around!!

Please Support Us!!

Dear Loyal Supporter/Blog Follower/Bandit Fan, 


We are so excited to have won Trials last week and qualify to represent the U.S. at the 2010 World Championships.  We approach Worlds knowing that we have a huge responsibility to perform for our country.  The US hasn't won the lightweight quad event in eleven years and we are training full time to make history and take home the gold.  


Now that we have this opportunity to represent the U.S. in New Zealand, we must find a way to get there.  USRowing, our national governing body, does not fund our trip to the World Championships, leaving us with the burden of raising $4,000 per person ($16,000 total) for this trip.  This cost will cover transportation, lodging, food, entry fees, boat rental, and shipping costs.  We are relying on our friends, family, and fans to make this trip possible.  


If you feel inspired and are able to support us, we would really appreciate it.  

Here’s how you can give:

Make a tax-deductible donation by sending a check payable to the National Rowing Foundation with “LW4x” in the memo and mail it to:

National Rowing Foundation

67 Mystic Road

North Stonington, CT 06359

If you prefer to donate online, you can do so at our fundraising site.  All donations are secure and tax deductible. 

Many thanks for your help and we hope you continue to enjoy following us on our blog.  


The Bandits (Abby, Ursula, Kristin, and Victoria)

Who Wants Sm'Apples?

Earlier this week, we decided to get out and enjoy the fall season in Washington.  We found a little U-Pick apple placed called "Sm'Apples" just outside of B-Ham.  After seeing how out of control we can get with U-Pick places (see post titled, "what does 34 pounds of blueberries look like?"), we had to limit ourselves but still brought home plenty of apples.  

"Sm'Apples U-Pick"

Mt. Baker looms in the background

I dropped my camera by accident and now it makes all white colored things glow

 Glowing apple buckets

As for the training side of things, we are back in action on Lake Samish.  The lake has been treating us well; we've had a few days in a row of perfectly glassy water.  When Victoria and I were in the double on the first day back, we both noted how good it was to get back on Samish after what Carlos called "the typhoon" on the east coast during trials (what IS a typhoon even? anyone know?).  We're taking a little time off from the quad and training in doubles this week.  I think it's safe to say that we all enjoy training in our doubles in addition to the quad.  The smaller boats help keep us sharp for when we get back into the quad.

We have also just finished booking flights to New Zealand.  We leave in about two weeks and have just gotten word that our boats have arrived safely in the big container and will be ready for us when we arrive.  Hard to believe that our departure is so soon!  

JL Interview

Last week (just before Trials), we were interviewed by JL Racing, a clothing company that supplied our unis and longsleeves for Trials.  They have been wonderful to us and we loved racing in our awesome new unis.  You can find a the interview by clicking HERE.

Next Stop: NZ

As much fun as we had in NJ (here's Ab breathing at 20,000 ft)...

...we are happy to be back in the Northwest (Mt. Rainier in the background)...

...and are starting preparations for NZ!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone to helped us with our trip to New Jersey!

US Trials Recap #2: Bandits Earn LW4x U.S. National Team Berth

It's official!  The Bellingham Bandits raced this morning to a victory in final #2 of US Trials and secured our spot on the U.S. National Team to race in the lightweight quad in New Zealand.  The wind and rain made it a challenging race and we were happy to get off the water and get warm afterwards!  Since crossing the line at 9 am, we have been running around seemingly nonstop.  We've packed up the boats and oars, gotten drug tested, signed paperwork, returned cars, done laundry, gone to PT appointments, shipped our giant UPS packages, and done everything else that goes along with buttoning things up after a race and getting ready to fly back across the country.

We head back tomorrow and then it's right back to training, planning, and getting ready for our trip to NZ.  Hard to believe competition begins in just 30 days!

Final #1 of US Trials, courtesy of Row2k

Final #1 of US Trials, courtesy of Row2k

US Trials Recap #1

This morning the Bandits raced the lightweight single (Ursula) and the lightweight quad (all four of us).  We had a successful morning despite the yucky rain and wind.  Here are links to the results for the LW1x race and results for the LW4x race.  Row2k also wrote a full recap of the racing.

Since trials follows a best two out of three format, we will race again tomorrow morning.  Both the single and the quad will be duel races.  Here are where results of tomorrow's races will be posted for the LW1x, which begins at 8:20 am eastern time and LW4x, which begins at 9:00 am.  Let's hope the weather cooperates!

Arrival in Princeton

The Bellingham Bandits have arrived in Princeton and spent the day getting ready for racing.  Terrible news of Cas Reker's death came this morning.  He was the inventor of the RowPerfect, a machine that has helped all of us improve during our rowing careers and he will be missed. 

Racing for us starts tomorrow with heats for the lightweight women's single.  Ursula drew Heat 2, Lane 1 and will be racing at 10:10 am eastern time.  Results for the racing can be found HERE through Powerhouse Timing.  The lightweight quad begins racing on Thursday morning.  

Thank you to those who have helped support us so far by providing housing, transportation, help with the boats, or simply by wishing us well.  Onto the racing!

Salmon Row!

This morning after practice, Ursula and I walked to the bridge on Lake Samish to watch the start of the Salmon Row.  This race features all types of self-propelled boats: rowing shells, sea kayaks, racing kayaks, standing paddle boards, canoes, and my personal favorite, the six-person wooden boat with wooden oars.  You can kind of see it in the first picture on the left.  These guys were dressed up in black and white striped shirts and looked like they were straight out of viking boats....or prison.

The starting line was hands down the funniest part.  There was one mass start (not the typical start we're used to in fall racing) so you see hundreds of people clamoring to get ahead, crashing into each other, and just having an all-around good time.  

We were in for a surprise when Kevin Bowman, champion of the Sea Kayak division, donated his Salmon Row prize money to our training center at 931 West Lake Samish Drive. Wow - thank you Kevin!

The warm-up to the starting line

The first rowers arrive at the starting line

Welcoming Fall

It's the first day of fall and all of us certainly felt it when we woke up to 45 degree temperatures.  Though this morning was a little bit of a shock, the cold and fog has given way to bright sunshine as the day has gone on.  These photos were taken from the second morning workout:

After our workouts this morning, all the bedroom doors were quickly closed, which is code for "leave me alone, I'm napping" as we rest up for what's to come this afternoon.  We're feeling excited about trials next week and glad that it is finally upon us.  We'll post an update later this week about how to find results on race day.  Thanks again to all the community members who attended the Meet and Greet - we appreciate your support!

Meet & Greet

Today's meet and greet was a big success and we were so happy to meet our neighbors on the lake. Thank you to everyone who came and got to know us.  I think we might have had the youngest rower on a RP3 yet! And I heard her say : "GO USA!"

We are so fortunate to have a community like this one to be part of.

Thank you so much to wonderful sponsors for incredible donations: Hammer Nutrition >  Water bottles, Gels, Bars, Heed, and Recoverite, and USRowing for all the gear they sent us. WOW to say the least! Then thanks to Paleo Brands for supporting us through Robb Wolf. Also a big shout out to Omega Nutrition who have their plant right here in Bellingham! Lastly, thanks to JL Racing! Our new uni's are so sweet!

For those of you who are new to the blog, be sure to check out the older posts on this website as well as the other blogs we have going from this house:
rowstarproject.blogspot.com - Ursula and Abby's blog for the lightweight double
3medalchallenge.blogspot.com - Carlos' beloved blog. A couple days ago, Carlos announced to us (from his spot at his computer) that he was creating another post for his 3 Medal Challenge blog. Ursula responded with, "Of course you are blogging, Carlos.  That's like telling me I'm breathing!" Needless to say, Carlos is a blogging machine, with lots of interesting tidbits to share.  Check it out!


To donate on line please go to < our firstgiving > website. This donations are tax deductible!

Thank you for your support to get this quad to New Zealand!