Sunday racing

We were so prepared for the storm of the century today that when we woke up to sunshine it was a nice surprise. Conditions on the course were windy, but even at the end of racing I think they remained fair and rowable. Good sign for next year's Olympics.

The boys' pair started the day. Once again, the guys got off the line a bit behind the leaders and once again they showed great maturity and composure as the established their rhythm and began hunting down the crews in front of them. The were consistent and aggressive to the line and took some great strokes. There was one crew that went faster than the US and there wasn't anything we could do about that. I asked Mike after the race if it was a good row and he said it was. I asked him if he was happy and he paused and then gave an uncharacteristic little smile that spoke volumes. "Eighth in the world... that's pretty good I guess..." And they can never take it away from you Michael.

At the 1500m mark of the girls' double race I almost stopped my bike and turned around. The quad was coming next and the race looked pretty set in stone. Boy, am I glad I stayed with it. Maria and Hannah cranked that last 500m like you wouldn't believe and all of a sudden they were going through crews like a hot knife through butter. It was a thrilling finish and a testament to Guenter's training program and the girls "never-say-die" attitude. It ain't over 'til it's over. This year's combined finishes of the girls scullers marks the best the US has ever done. Awesome job girls!

The boys' quad had a good race too, with the best finishing quarter the guys have produced. They did a great job in the middle of the race staying focused and lifting with the pack. They might not have had the speed required to medal this year, but they produced their best rowing in the final.

It bothers me that there are probably people thinking that the girls' bronze medal in the eight is kind of a consolation prize. I hope the girls don't feel that way. Look, that German eight was unbelievable. They finished the course- on a windy day - in 6:20. That is scary fast. They rowed through a Romanian eight that had nearly a full length advantage by the halfway mark. And the Romanian girls aren't exactly chopped liver. The German girls were in their own class today, as were the Italian guys yesterday. I didn't get a chance to watch our girls train and I don't know if they took their best strokes today. But they sure as heck deserve those medals. The French, the Italians, The Aussies, the BRITS-- none of these teams fielded girls' eights. Why? Because they knew we'd beat them. They know how hard the US girls train and they know how good our coaches are. They had no confidence they could overcome that. Our girls earned the rep they have just like they earned the medals they now wear. It's all the same thing. They did the work. They earned the prize.

Would we have brought the girls' eight if we knew exactly how fast the Germans were today? Well, I think if you look you'll see we brought every single class of boat. You'll never know what it means to be a champion unless you enter the race. And our crews demonstrated that they were willing to test themselves against the best- without guarantees of medals or grand finals. That attitude is a valuable one to cultivate.

Well done to all the US crews. They did us proud. And not for nothing-- every single one of the regatta organizers I spoke to said our team was the nicest, most respectful and happy group of the regatta. Job done.