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Great Conditions, but.
August 17th, 2008 in General.
Just imagine the following scenario: 15-20 knots, direction steady between 75-85 degrees, 4-5 foot waves, dying ebb switching to flood tide (keeping the fleet off the starting line), start time an hour earlier than normal (posted at 1200), and three races scheduled. What could be more welcoming to a race committee? Unfortunately, with the addition of heavy rains and a few more knots of breeze, the entire day of racing was almost written off.
The Laser fleet arrived on course area C expecting to get a third of the regatta finished up in heavy winds and big seas with a huge amount of time spent on the upwind legs. Instead, we were subjected to an hour of general recalls and mid-sequence postponements until finally the adverse current finally switched on to cause enough sag that we could get a start off. The rain was torrential and coming down hard enough that visibility was severely limited during the actual race.
When the race finished and we lined up for a second start, the race committee boat unexpectedly blew the postponement with 25 seconds to go (not uncommon this week, in an apparent attempt to avoid general recalls and the use of the Black Flag rule). Minutes later it became obvious that the committee boat was adrift and had either pulled up anchor or had lost its ground tackle and was drifting downwind with the wind and current at about 2 knots. AP over H was signaled and the fleet could do nothing but follow orders and rip downwind for the harbor entrance.
Once we pulled our boats out of the water and took shelter out of the rain, we heard the boards and 49ers were also en route to the dock. The boards were the first to be postponed for the rest of the day (AP over A in signal flags), and then the Finns were signaled to begin their medal race on course A out in front of the pier. Seeing that the Finns and hearing rumors that the 49ers would soon follow the Lasers and Radials expected to be heading out at any moment… Then the AP flag went down and the fleet anxiously pulled their lifejackets back on and started putting sails up until we saw that they were indeed hoisting the AP over A flags for us as well. The riotous whistles, banging hands on boats and buildings, audible boos and hissing from the fleet of sailors being told that they couldn’t go racing was really intense. The disappointment from a group of athletes who only wanted to go out and race was obvious and frustrating.
The saving grace was that I got to hustle across the boatpark and onto the seawall just in time to stand by Zach Railey’s folks and a bunch of Team USA and watch Zach sure up his silver medal at his first Olympics. To be able to help the big guy up the ramp at the end of such a fantastic event is an honor as his friend and competitor for so many years. It should not be attempted to be put into words how proud I am of my friend because it cannot be, and it’ll inflate his ego more than it needs to be! What a regatta, what an effort! Congratulations Zach!
Us Laser guys are scheduled for three more races tomorrow (it will be the fourth consecutive day where we’ve been scheduled for three, so we’ll see if we can break form and get more than one race off). Hopefully I can break out of my mid-regatta funk here and get back into medal race form for Tuesday. After winning the pin in two of the general recalls, I was trying a slightly more conservative mid-line approach when I got picked off in the only black-flag general recall that we’ve had this regatta (instead of the usual mid-sequence AP surrender). That’s just one of those parts of the game that make boatracing all the more challenging. It was a bit unfortunate to have to sit in the driving rain, heavy seas and 15-25 knots flogging my sail for an hour and half only to be abandoned back to shore, but that’s life. And somehow I get the feeling that it probably beats a day at the office most of the time. At least that’s what I tell myself.
More to come from the Olympics in Qingdao.
Waiting for Wind, Breezy Forecast for Sunday
August 16th, 2008 in General.
We’ve had two trying days here in Qingdao. Light air and heavy flood current made racing yesterday marginal at best. We went out, returned to shore for an hour and half postponement and then went back out before racing Friday. Yesterday we went afloat in a breezy offshore northerly. After setting a course and starting a sequence, the breeze started its rotation towards the onshore seabreeze. While every course except the medal race courses got their full schedule of races in for the day, the Lasers and Radials committee could only get one race off before the flood tide started to rip across the racecourse. The current was essentially strong enough to lay any mark directly to windward because the current created so much apparent. We waited for about two hours as the committee started and abandoned subsequent radial starts and sat through long postponements. Finally, just as the late seabreeze seemed to be outmatching the fading flood tide, the committee signaled AP over A and the abandonment of the day’s racing. We’d spent another wonderful six hours on the water for one race.
Some of us need a chance to redeem ourselves after putting up a couple of tough scores in the painfully puffy and shifty light air. At the start of yesterday’s race, realizing that I was going to be over the line, I pressed to down the line to make sure that didn’t happen. In the process I mistakenly fouled a boat to leeward and was forced to take a penaly turn. Luckily the two boats to windward of me were DSQ for the race, but because of the early penalty I had a hard time coming back and only managed to get to the mid thirties.
Today is supposed to be a windy day, and again, for the sixth day in a row we’re going to go out an hour earlier for a scheduled three races. The medal races are stacking up as well due to the funky breeze they’ve had near the seawall on A course. Today should be the day for Finns, Ynglings and 49ers, 470s will race on A tomorrow.
AP Flags Droop Over Qingdao
August 14th, 2008 in General.
Yesterday was a hot and steamy day down at the boat park totally void of any wind. The postponement flags (AP) went up at 11 o’clock and only came down briefly at around 4 in the afternoon, so that they could attach flag A underneath to signal that the day was officially abandoned and races were rescheduled for the next day.
Three races are scheduled for today along with an improved forecast. It may actually reach the legendary 12 knot mark at some point this evening. We’ve all got our fingers crossed regardless. Any wind is better than no wind, and yesterday no wind was what we got.
Most teams spent their day in the air conditioning, either in their team’s containers in the boatyard or in the rooms of the village with a watchful eye on the ocean and signal flags at the harbor entrance. The hours tick by and small talk, sleep and anxiety are the only things really happening. The Spanish team next to our container set up an impromptu badmitton court out of some chair and pieces of line. The Kiwis on the other side tried to fashion frisbee devices. It is a difficult thing to keep your guard up, and be ready to hit the water at a moments notice and at the same time be relaxed and without stress on shore. Luckily, we’ve got a pretty easygoing group of sailors and coaches and keep the tone light and optimistic, always ready to make our first move towards winning our next race.
Banner Day for USA Sailing
August 13th, 2008 in General.
What a day for our team today! With Zach and Anna still in podium positions, the rest of the US team picked up the slack yesterday taking first place finishes in all three 49er races, the Yngling race, one of the men’s 470 races, and on the Laser racecourse.
We had to wait for our thrill on C course as light air dominated the morning. Even though the other courses started on-time at 1 o’clock, the outer courses (C and D) waited for nearly two hours before we were able to get enough stable breeze to run races. The radial fleet went first and headed around the outer loop. We went off under black flag half an hour and a general recall later in 4-5 knots of fading breeze. With the wind coming in a continuously streaky and lighter form it was incredibly important to find those seams of pressure and stay in them up the first beat. I managed to start about three boats down from the boat end and get my nose out to the right hand side. I crossed back to the middle about a third of the way up the beat, and was able to leebow the leaders from the left and come back across the middle in the last third of the leg to lead around the top. I led Andy Geritzer (AUT) around the next gate and was able to extend thanks to a loose cover as we went up the next beat, reach and run. The final reach was extremely light, but we finished at our target of 60 minutes thanks to the shortened course length.
What a thrill to say the least to win a race at the Olympic Games, but to do so on a day where the US Team had such a legendary day makes it all the more rewarding. Hopefully we can carry that momentum through the next couple of days.
Just 45 Laser Dudes Going Around Trapezoids…
August 12th, 2008 in General.
That’s what happened today on Course A situated just off the massive spectator pier under the Qingdao skyline. Nearly fifty countries competing in the Laser for three medals after eleven races. Sounds like just another boatrace. Yet, this one is distinct beyond all others. Years of planning and training for the Heaps upon heaps of funding and construction for the venue. All for some Olympic level boatracing.
We had two races today in light and puffy conditions between 4 and 6 knots. A mild groundswell ran under the fleet as we went around the track and otherwise the seastate was fairly manageable beyond coaches, jury and spectator boat wake.
Both my races saw good starts with good lanes near the middle of the line. We had a number of general recalls thanks to an ebb tide running upwind against the easterly breeze, thus both starts went off under black flag (automatic DSQ if you’re over any time one minute before the start). Unfortunately conservative starts and lack of willingness to hang it out into a side led to some mediocre midfleet roundings. Both windward marks I was in the 20 range. After each start I chose when I tacked and each time should have been more patient. Two slight comebacks for a 14, 18 put me in 13th place overall thanks to fairly inconsistent sailing across the board.
It is certainly nice to have those first race jitters out of my system. There are few experiences like sailing your first Olympic race I have to say, and I had some butterflies that I thought I’d put behind me in my youth sailing days. I don’t know if nervous is the word, but certainly anxious about whether you’re doing the right things around the racecourse. I think it will be important to remember that I can’t be perfect across the racecourse and need to just branch out slightly from the over-conservatism with which I started the event. Definitely didn’t have any shockers and to be in the top third is exactly where we need to be to whittle our way down into the top ten and have a shot late it the event.
Forrest Gump Moments
August 10th, 2008 in General.
It’s been a hectic but amazing couple of days here in China. Friday morning we woke early for a seven o’clock bus to the airport. Sailors filled almost four touring buses and piled into a chartered 767 and took off for the massive Beijing Capitol Airport. We arrived at about 11 and were ushered off the plane onto more buses bound for the monstrous Olympic Village, 45 minutes to the west.
The village is currently home for the of the 10,000 athletes competing in Beijing. A short stint in security and we were into one the wonders of modern athletics. The place consists of about fifty 10-story apartment clusters interspersed with grassy parks, wooden walkways over running fountains and ponds. The rooms are quite bare compared with the plush pre-Intercontinental Hotel digs that we have in Qingdao, but with air conditioning any accommodation is paradise in Beijing. The air for the 24 hours we were there was stagnant, thick with humidity and nearly 90 degrees. It was a battle to keep from sweating through your shirt when you first stepped out of the buildings.
After checking into our apartments in block A-11 we hit the dining hall for what turned out to be quite an experience. The place is at least twice as big as the massive dining hall we had in Rio for the Pan Am Games and the real kicker is the variety in the food. Where the village in Qindao’s got a couple of short buffets and fresh breads, the dining hall in Beijing’s got different kitchens for Asian, Mediterranean, Western, Salad, Fruit, Sandwich, breads, desserts, and a full-size McDonald’s on top of that. Every vending machine inside any Olympic zone has free coke, diet coke, sprite, powerade, water… you name it. There is so much food, I think most people are having a hard time keeping weight off that they’d tried to lose going into the Games.
After checking out the dining halls, Austin Sperry (Star crew), Donnie Brennan (our boatwright), Charlie Ogletree (T-cat crew), and Graham Biehl (470 crew) and I cruised the rest of the village checking out the massive foosball hall, the public swimming pool and some of the international zone before we got showered and dressed up for the Opening Ceremonies. We had to be at the USA dorms by 5 o’clock for another set of buses to take the entire US team that would attend the Opening Ceremonies to a staging area at the Fencing stadium. The fun stuff started as soon as we got to mix it up with the other US athletes. Austin was in his element taking photos with any and every star athlete you can imagine. It was really a thrill for everybody involved. We were situated by team around the fencing platform and the sailors were next to some fencers and the soccer team. Freddie Adu is a pretty short guy, especially when Tyson Gay (100 meter sprinter) is standing beside him for a photo swap. The star-studded basketball team entered after we did, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Coach K and assistant Coach Boehime.
After about twenty minutes, the room quieted down and the Delegation Leader came over the microphone to introduce the 41st and the 43rd Presidents of the United States George H.W. Bush as well as George W. Bush. The President spoke off the cuff wishing all of us good luck and telling us how proud he was to be here to join us for the Opening Ceremonies. That night he would be the first sitting US President to ever attend an Olympic Games outside of the United States, showing the commitment of his administration to Olympism in America. I think regardless of your political views you have to respect Mr Bush’s support of this year’s team. He took a picture with each team taking a moment to shake everybody’s hand and chat with each group. He recognized the fact that Sarah Merganthaler and I had already met him only weeks ago at the White House. I had a Forest Gump moment, “And then I met the President… again.” Mr Bush asked us whether the algae was gone from the sailing areas, and upon hearing our answer that it had indeed been cleaned up thanks to thousands of volunteers he replied “I’ve got a couple of bass-lakes in mind that they could help me out with!”
As the rest of the teams were wrapping up their pictures, we were allowed to mingle around the venue. I was able to shake former President George H.W. Bush’s hand and take a photo with the current First Lady. We chatted with George W’s brother Marvin for a short while because he had been seated with Sarah during the State dinner a few weeks ago. I chatted with the Advance Officer from the White House team whom I had been seated next to as well as the Chief of Staff to the US Ambassador in Beijing, who was nice enough to introduce me to the Ambassador and his wife. The entire hour around the Presidential meeting was quite an amazing start to this Olympic experience.
At about 7 o’clock we headed to the Gymnastics stadium down the road, a building about the size of the Verizon Center in Washington, DC to join the other 180 teams that were rallying for the march into the Birds Nest Stadium. Each section of the stadium was filled with different colored patches of blue or red or yellow or white depending on the countries’ different uniforms. Ours were Polo brand blue jackets with white pants, a tie, and white caps. My comment made the morning’s <a href=”http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/fashion/2008-08-08-olympic-uniforms_N.htm
“>USA Today Newspaper</a>. We were called into the stadium one by one after the ceremonies were under way. Its actually quite funny because all the US Sailing Team members who stayed in Qingdao to rest up for racing the next day actually saw more of the performance than we did. We heard the fireworks inside the stadium but didn’t see anything until we walked through the tunnel and into the infield of the stadium. I had been sitting next to the three 800 meter runners from Oregon who won in such dynamic fashion at their Olympic trials last month, but once we got walking through the maze of local Chinese volunteers into that stadium the group mixed up very quickly. The sailors tried to keep to the right hand side of the group so we could see the crowd once inside the stadium, and we happened to be right near Kobe Bryant some other high profile players. The entire crowd was chanting for Kobe as we went into the tunnel. I walked through with a heavyweight boxer who looked a bit like LeBron James, and the volunteers kept wanting to take pictures with him and were a bit shocked when it wasn’t LeBron. We joked at one point about how he should just start saying he was LeBron and stood in for him the rest of the night.
Walking out of the tunnel with the roar of 90,000 people and 80 heads of state looking on was the thrill of a lifetime. Dean Brenner (our team leader), Graham, Nancy Rios (women’s RSX) and I walked close to the outside of the track for our lap around the stadium. President and Mrs Bush stood and waved to the group, pointing and acknowledging our tip of the hat as we passed by. The four hundred or more American athletes who marched were probably outdone by numerous pockets of American fans holding flags and waving voraciously as we passed and waved back.
We stood on the infield for another couple of hours as the ceremonies progressed. The lighting of the torch was more overwhelming than I expected. I was in awe with the power of that symbol. The round-the-world trip of the flame and the lighting of that beacon of peace and athletic competition is certainly the most incredible thing I have witnessed. Not to mention that the flame was enormous, but they hoisted the guy who lit it 300 feet in the air and then had him run through the air around the entire stadium before lighting it. It’ll be pretty hard for London to outdo that one.
After a long night we headed back to the dorms for a quick change and then off to the dining hall again. The place was jammed full of people, basketball stars, wrestlers, archers, and sailors… at two in the morning. Apparently the time after the Opening ceremonies is the most action the facility gets at one time. You wouldn’t believe the number of people chowing down on McDonald’s late night.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport around 8am. Hopped on a chartered 737-800, flew back to Qingdao and walked off the plane on the tarmac and straight onto buses headed for the sailing village. That night had no small show of fireworks and performers on the pier at Qingdao for the Launching Ceremony of the Sailing Venue. I was elected flag bearer so was honored to march through with the stars and stripes in front of about a thousand sailors, locals, and VIPs.
The days were hectic, but hopefully I’ve gotten the excitement across in words. It really isn’t all the that easy to describe. Without a doubt the greatest experience for any athlete is to march out of that tunnel and watch that Olympic flame be lit. Being able to share with friends and strangers all of whom have achieved so much in their respective sports makes it all the more rewarding. There were a number of times where those of us who knew each other caught an eye, smiled and embraced. It was not long ago that Graham and I were little kids in the San Diego Yacht Club junior program ogling the photos of SDYC Olympians’ photos in the trophy cases at the Opening Ceremonies or with their medals and the burgee. Now we’ve got a photo like that of our own. All we have to do now is win the medals.
Village Idiots
August 6th, 2008 in General.
The dog-days of this campaign are certainly finished, and without a doubt we are in the home stretch into the Olympic regatta. Now, more than ever I am forcing myself to take days off from sailing and tapering my training routines. I’ve reached my fighting weight of 168 pounds for the first time since I was about sixteen years old. Luckily, that’s the weight at which I won my first Youth Champs in Seattle in 2000. After having completed measurement, my boat is almost set for the event and lacks only my name which will be added under the stars and stripes on my sail that distinguish me from the rest of the fleet.
Taking days off is the hardest thing for me to do. Realizing that rest is such a critical part of training for any athletic endeavor, I am always keen to get just a little more sailing done. I suppose it isn’t the fact that I need to practice any more specific drills for the Games, but would prefer to be on the water as opposed to anywhere else.
Luckily China is a bustling place. Just outside the security fence, are towering skyscrapers and millions of people, nearly nine million in Qingdao alone hustling through the streets and going about normal Chinese lives. The culture shock is quite real, unlike any other place I have been. The language is fluid at times and choppy at others and all the while completely incomprehensible to somebody without any training. Even in Europe you can at least get around thanks to the commonality of English’s Latin roots. Let’s just say that if you get lost in a cab here, it could be hours before you’re able to direct the driver to a known landmark with little more than finger pointing.
A group of us went off campus again for dinner last night to a Korean bbq restaurant on the east side of the city. Tonight the US Sailing team will have a dinner at an Italian joint near the center of the city. There are plenty of places to get out and about, eat, and enjoy yourself, but managing your risk of food-born illness outside the village walls against the bland and repetitive chow at the dining hall here at the village is a daily battle. The food in the venue isn’t all that bad, but you get the gist of what to expect after about two days on the menu. Let’s just say that the chefs are doing a great job considering that they have to cook for 400 people and make everything safe and satisfactory for halal, kosher, asian, european and even our American taste buds. My roommate, and our boatwright Donnie has been craving some Louisiana-style hot sauce since about day-3, so we’re having Jacqueline smuggle some over in a village care package.
Village life is otherwise very comfortable and pleasant. Thanks to the air conditioning and the fact that this place will be a five star hotel when we are finished with the Olympic regatta, there is no shortage of comfort in terms of the rooms. We’ve been trying to hook up video and play DVDs on the locally produced big flat screens in each room. Checking emails and updating the website can be done with wireless internet on a couple of the floors. But, mostly there is time for a lot of reading and resting. We’ve had a couple of rousing games of “Corner the Market” (Stu and Graham’s Coach Nigel’s invented board game).
And it’s an otherwise uneventful training and tune-up camp here. There are exciting rumors that are floating around the boatpark all the time, and there is always a twinge of anticipation for what is about to happen: After four years of hard work, and in so many cases more, there will be a handful of medals handed out in the coming weeks.
Wish Good Luck to Team USA Sailors!
August 3rd, 2008 in General.
If you want to try and rival SDYC for their awesome show of support of it’s Olympians:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wish Good Luck to Team USA Sailors!Qingdao, China (August 1, 2008) – Now you can send your best wishes to anyone on the United States Olympic Sailing Team through GoodLuckTeamUSA@ussailing.org. Whether you’d like to mail one sailor or the whole team, just send an email to this address. This new forum is a chance to express your support directly to our sailors in Qingdao, so spread the word and wish the sailors good luck!To send messages to the whole team or anyone within the team, please mail GoodLuckTeamUSA@ussailing.org.
Team Roster:
49er – Tim Wadlow (Beverly, Mass.) and Chris Rast (San Diego, Calif.)
Men’s 470 – Stu McNay (Lincoln, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)
Women’s 470 – Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, Mass.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (New York, N.Y.)
Finn – Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
Laser – Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.)
Laser Radial – Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.)
Men’s RS:X – Ben Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Women’s RS:X – Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.)
Star – John Dane III (Gulfport, Miss.) and Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.)
Tornado- John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Tx.)
Yngling – Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.) Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.)
Measurement?
August 3rd, 2008 in General.
What is there to measure in a class of boats where the organizing authority of the event provides all the equipment to the sailors? As laughable as it is, the Laser class does have to go through a measurement, even at events where equipment is provided, mainly to check the rigging systems, to confirm that nothing has been tampered with, and to sign a contract that you don’t intend cheat. My measurement slot was this afternoon at 4:30pm, and it consisted of a number of really fun activities. After pulling in the boat under the circus tent holding all the measurement activities, two chinese volunteers scrambled up and promptly stuck my bow letters onto my bow and delivered my new sail complete with inked stars and stripes and new USA lettering. Our names will be placed on the foot of the mainsail once the correct fabric arrives for the stickers apparently.
Today is a scheduled day off for Laser Team USA. Now I’ve got to get the heck out of the boatpark, and out of the village to find something interesting and distracting to get into. I’m burning through reading material and movies so I’m going to start rationing myself shortly so that I still have good distractions during the regatta. We have had blue skies here in Qingdao and remarkably clear skies. The fog and haze that usually obscures the city skyline less than a mile from the village has cleared to the point where we have been able to see the horizon during parts of the last two days. Yesterday actually had a splendid 5-6 knot seabreeze fill over relatively flatwater (keep in mind that almost two knots of current were recorded on C course during the max ebb that we experience during practice). The haze and humidity should return shortly and rumors are for another tropical disturbance to pass through with some heavy rains again before our event starts. But, we’ll be ready.
11 Days to the Big Show
August 1st, 2008 in General.
Its a surreal existence here at the Olympic Sailing Center Qingdao. In reality, its been a surreal existence throughout the last three years sailing full time on the Olympic-class sailing circuit. The boatracing is intense, fast and at times frustrating. The improvement is constant albeit slow-going. Because the US system to this point puts so little emphasis on performance on the international circuit when it comes to attaining the Olympic berth, al l the regattas to this point have been part of my training. In my head, I have a stockpile of incidents where I walked away scratching my head and saying, I won’t let that happen at the Olympics.
In the last three years only one regatta has really mattered: the Olympic Trials in Newport last October. Between then and now I’ve treated every regatta as a new venue training: getting used to sailing at a lighter weight, trying out different strategies, gameplans, and techniques. The schedule was tailor-made for in order to peak at the Olympic Games, just as my schedule in ‘07 was scheduled to peak at the PanAm Games and the Olympic Trials.
The surreal part of training at the Olympic facility, in the Olympic boats, under the Olympic rings, and soon under the Olympic flame is that the faces and the names are the same. Of course they are. But this time, we’re no longer living together, eating together, and as loose as we’d normally be. Last week all of the Laser sailors went to their respective processing and were outfitted in their country’s colors and logos. The rest of their teams were dressed appropriately as well. When you enter the dining hall the tables are organized by color and country code, not by design, but mostly because it would look weird for all the tables to be color coded and then have American red, white and blue sitting with Turkish red, Aussie yellow and green, French blue, Kiwi black, or Canadian gold mesh (the Canadians have some hilarious gold and red print uniforms). At the village we’re living with our teammates instead of with our training partners. It is an curious dynamic where the coaches and training partners you were generally cordial and friendly with become colder and more distant under the stress of the Olympic environment. I’m comfortable having dealt with similar circumstance many times before. Sailing the Youth Worlds, University Games and PanAms I know what its like to live with my team. Sailing in college I know what its like to have to put my teammates before friends that I may have known for my entire life in the sport. I rather enjoy seeing people change right before my very eyes because I can read their stress level as the changes happen.
The surreal nature of the Olympic venue is that we’re finally at the Big Show. Eleven days from now I’ll sail out to the race course without sail numbers. Only fifty stars, thirteen stripes, and my name under the title USA will luff over my head on the starting line of that race. Every regatta I’ve ever sailed in my life, every day that I went out sailing after school, every fork and spoon tactic talk I had with Dad at the dinner table will culminate with this Olympic regatta this week. I can think of a thousand instances where I thought to myself, I’m doing this because I know some day I will need to use this tactic, or this strategy, or this technique. This is that time.
I realize now that all those things lead into every regatta I sail every week. But, it is impossible to peak properly and win every event every time you go out. Laser sailing in college is one thing, but on any given week on the Olympic circuit, there are fifteen guys who can win. There will be fifteen guys or perhaps more in the Laser fleet here that can win an Olympic medal this week, and I’m excited because I know in my heart that I am one of them. I’m in a no-holds-barred scenario, and I am ready. The schedule is set. I know the days I’m going to sail and the days I’m going to rest. Measurement is Sunday afternoon, and then no commitments until the 1 o’clock on the 12th.
We went to dinner last night off the reservation at an Italian restaurant in Qingdao to celebrate one of our teammate’s birthday. I toasted our buddy explaining to the table that he and I have been racing against each other since the 1999 Laser Radial Youth Worlds we traveled to nine years ago. I sat across the table from a guy who I’ve been sailing against since our families’ famous introduction at the 1998 Bruce Cup, ten years ago this Thanksgiving. Next to me, another teammate and I have been racing with each other at SDYC since before we can remember probably closer to the fifteen years. I’m 24. We’ve known each other a long time by our standards. The surreal existence of this Olympic experience is that we are among friendly faces and yet this is a very new, very large context. Every minute is focused for the task at hand, a week away. But I’ll be damned if I don’t enjoy every minute I have here.