Post-event party

I've had some inquiries about the nature of the festivities that are scheduled after the racing is over. There are three events that will occur:

1) Gear Swap Melee: This will begin before the racing is over. The kids will all be in a mass trading their kit and making new friends. It is an important social tradition at World Championships. Your kids love you and want to see you, but they want the cool German unisuit more :) Best to let them dig in for a bit.

2) Official Post Regatta party: This will run for an hour and a half immediately after the last medal ceremony at the course. My understanding is that light refreshments will be served. This is not considered by the kids to be a "real party"- it is pretty tame and most of the time they're seeing parents etc. They'll take the buses back to the dorms afterwards.

3) Socializing at the Dorms: FISA has recommended some rules for the teams for Saturday and Sunday nights. There will be a curfew (kids back in their dorms) of 10pm on Saturday and 11pm on Sunday. There will be no alcohol allowed on the campus. The coaches collectively have added the rule that only US athletes will be allowed inside our dorm. We'll be checking to make sure all the kids are in by curfew.

So the kids will be allowed to hang out outside the dorm, meet the other kids and generally make a lot of noise and blow off whatever energy they might have left. Realistically, it is very difficult for the coaches to prevent those who really want to from disappearing into the woods for twenty minutes.* They will be told, however, in no uncertain terms what our rules are and what we think are smart activities vs. activities they will regret. They will also be told that breaking the rules may negatively impact their future on any US National Team.

Parents are more than welcome to come and take their kids out to dinner. I wouldn't want to be in the middle of that argument though :)

*This is an informal, personal comment, not and official USRA position -in case you don't have a sense of humor.