The crew is now home, and after we have had some time to unwind, take hot showers, and eat our favorite homemade meals, I think that it is time to write the last post.
We spent our last full day in England watching the last day of racing at the Henley Royal Regatta. The boat tents were almost empty as only two crews remained for each event, but the Stewards Enclosure was full. There were a few good races, but surprisingly, the races were mostly uneven which was unexpected. In particular, it was fun to see the final of the Temple Challenge Cup between the Princeton Lightweights and the Brown Freshmen (Princeton won). Brown's Varsity Eight, however, won the Ladies Challenge Plate later in the day. In the Princess Elizabeth Cup (our event) Eton College won by 5 lengths (yes, 5 lengths) over Abingdon. This was not a surprise because Eton had been dominant throughout the entire regatta. But in the end, it was nice for us to spend the day as a team enjoying our last day together before we went our separate ways.
We spent the evening packing and getting ready for our flight the next day, and the next morning was hectic for those who had not packed the night before. We said our good bye's to the Webb family, who never failed to provide us with entertainment, and we were picked up by a bus to take us to Heathrow Airport. Without much incident, we boarded the plane and headed home after a brief delay due to weather or air traffic. The flight was long, but this time, we knew that we would be able to sleep once we got home, so it was easier to bear. But the highlight of the day was being welcomed to Dulles Airport by a crowd of Gonzaga supporters. Although we were quite tired, it was glad to see some familiar faces after our journey.
After having some time to reflect, it would be safe to say the the trip was a success. We may not have advanced as far as we would have liked, but in the end, we were given the opportunity to compete with the best high schools in the world, and we are honored. It is our hope that this season will lay the foundation for future Gonzaga boats to repeat what we have done and take the program even farther.
Thanks again for your support, for without your help, this trip would never have been possible. And I would like to thank all who read the blog, for it was a lot of fun to write, and it is rewarding to hear that people felt connected to the team despite being a few thousand miles away.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sightseeing
On Friday, the crew woke up at around 8, and met our parents at the racecourse around 9 for a day of sightseeing in London. Since we had spent all but one day in Henley, it seemed best to take a break from rowing and watching races. Many of the parents in attendance had already been to London, and they were helpful in guiding us toward the correct mediums of transportation. Once we got to London an hour and a half later, we were instructed by the parents to meet in a designated location in a couple of hours. We split up into smaller groups and explored the city a little. We were able to see Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and other significant looking buildings. We were also able to find lunch in the city. One of the groups had a particularly bad lunch, but we charged on and met by the boating docks along the Thames where we bought tickets for a boat tour that took us to the Tower of London.
Along the way, the crew was able to see the Globe Theater, the London Bridge (which was unimpressive), the Tower Bridge (which we thought was the London Bridge), and other interesting buildings along the river. We were then dropped off at the Tower of London. Once a place of royalty, medieval fighting, and executions, the Tower of London was an interesting place to walk around with the team. Unfortunately, time crept up on us, and we had to return back to the Underground (aka London's Metro) so we could find our way back to Henley. The crew spent the rest of the evening back at the Manor scavenging for dinner and preparing for Saturday.
On Saturday, the crew had its first day of sleeping in. We slept in until 9am! After a day away from rowing, the crew returned to the racecourse for a day of watching races. For lunch, we attending a party that Gonzaga Alumnus Brian Flattery hosted at his house for the Fourth of July. We were able to reunite with other Gonzaga Alumni in attendance, and other American rowers at Henley. The highlight of the party was throwing tea bags into the Thames and listening to a Churchill impersonator recite the Declaration of Independence.
The crew then headed over to the Steward's Enclosure and other spots along the racecourse to enjoy the scene and watch some good racing. Today was semifinals, so a few of the races were especially close as finals implications were on the line. Brunswick School, who beat us on Thursday actually advanced to the semifinals but lost. It is good to know that it took an excellent team to knock us out of Henley, but we are understandably disappointed that we were so close to advancing far into the Henley Royal Regatta.
For dinner, the crew ate with the parents at a local restaurant and celebrated Independence Day. Tomorrow, we expect some good races on finals day at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Along the way, the crew was able to see the Globe Theater, the London Bridge (which was unimpressive), the Tower Bridge (which we thought was the London Bridge), and other interesting buildings along the river. We were then dropped off at the Tower of London. Once a place of royalty, medieval fighting, and executions, the Tower of London was an interesting place to walk around with the team. Unfortunately, time crept up on us, and we had to return back to the Underground (aka London's Metro) so we could find our way back to Henley. The crew spent the rest of the evening back at the Manor scavenging for dinner and preparing for Saturday.
On Saturday, the crew had its first day of sleeping in. We slept in until 9am! After a day away from rowing, the crew returned to the racecourse for a day of watching races. For lunch, we attending a party that Gonzaga Alumnus Brian Flattery hosted at his house for the Fourth of July. We were able to reunite with other Gonzaga Alumni in attendance, and other American rowers at Henley. The highlight of the party was throwing tea bags into the Thames and listening to a Churchill impersonator recite the Declaration of Independence.
The crew then headed over to the Steward's Enclosure and other spots along the racecourse to enjoy the scene and watch some good racing. Today was semifinals, so a few of the races were especially close as finals implications were on the line. Brunswick School, who beat us on Thursday actually advanced to the semifinals but lost. It is good to know that it took an excellent team to knock us out of Henley, but we are understandably disappointed that we were so close to advancing far into the Henley Royal Regatta.
For dinner, the crew ate with the parents at a local restaurant and celebrated Independence Day. Tomorrow, we expect some good races on finals day at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Races
I have not been able to find the time to update the blog because we have been busy with sleeping and racing, but a lot has happened the past two days, and here's how the first days of July have unfolded.
We began July 1st, the first day of racing, with an early morning practice to get some physical activity in. Our race against Winchester was scheduled for 5:40, so we had a lot of time to fill, and we wanted to make sure we weren't just sitting around letting our muscles get tight. The morning row went well, and we returned for our usual breakfast at around 9. From 9 until 3, we all spent the day doing various things to keep us cool and rested. It has been unseasonably hot (90 degrees Fahrenheit) in England this past week, so a few of us went for a light swim in the pool. Others watched movies, and napped, and we all had sandwiches for lunch around 1. At 3, we left for the racecourse prepared to represent Gonzaga for the first time on the international stage.
The town of Henley was like nothing we had ever seen before. In the streets, almost everyone was in formal clothing, and they were all either going to or coming from the regatta. At the regatta, crowds filled the grounds. In the parking lot, there were hundreds of tailgaters, but instead, these tailgaters had picnic tables and were drinking wine and eating salmon. Inside the boat tent, people were everywhere warming up and cooling down. To keep cool, we all stepped under the Henley showers multiple times in our racing uni suits. By 4:30, we were hydrated and as cool as we were going to get. We warmed up as we always have with a brief run and some stretching, and we launched from the dock at 5 leaving behind a large group of Gonzaga supporters.
As we rowed up to the starting line, motorboats and rowboats lined the racecourse, and Johan had to maneuver us around all the boats in addition to taking our practice tens and starts. Along the banks of the Thames were people from the start line to the finish line. We approached the starting area at 5:35, and waited for our race at 5:40. The Henley Royal Regatta is very well run, and every race goes off on time as scheduled. As we waited at the starting line, we were all very nervous, as I'm sure Coach Mandel and Coach Snyder can attest to as they were fortunate enough to be able to follow our race in the umpires launch, which is a wooden boat that is about 25 feet long. Fortunately, as soon as the umpire's flag dropped, we were ready to race and we began to take Winchester seat by seat. By the time we settled into our base rating, we had about 6 or 7 seats on Winchester, and throughout the whole race we continued to move on them seat by seat. By the barrier, our stroke rating was around 32 strokes per minute as opposed to our usual 35/36 SPM, and we held that rating until the end. Our time was 6 minutes 50 seconds, and we beat Winchester by 2 1/2 lengths in Gonzaga Crew's first international victory.
Excited, the crew hit the showers, spoke with family and friends, and returned to the manor for another relaxing evening. We also found out that we were going to race Brunswick School the following day at 3:10.
In the morning, we went for another practice row down the racecourse before races started to work on a few things. Unfortunately, Richard (6 seat) had been feeling sick and slept in to recover for the afternoon race. Once again, the morning was spent at the manor until 1. Richard recovered in the meantime, and the crew prepared for some stiff competition against Brunswick. We knew that Brunswick had gained significant speed since our last meeting at Stotesbury where we came out victorious. They proved themselves to be a very aggressive crew at the Reading Regatta, and we left for the race course preparing for a great race.
Today was also very hot, and the crew followed a similar routine of taking cold showers and drinking a lot of water before the race. The boat tent was less hectic today since half of the field had been eliminated in the previous day's racing, but the crowds came out in larger masses today. Similar to our first race, we had a warm up row to the starting line, and approached the starting platform 5 minutes prior to our race feeling jittery.
As the flag went down, our crew was losing off of the start. According to Johan, Brunswick had about 4 seats on us almost immediately. Soon after, the Brunswick boat began to encroach on our side of the racecourse and the umpire told both crews to separate. After some brief adjustments, both coxswains had their respective boats pointed straight down the course in a heated battle. Brunswick stroked at 40 strokes per minute, and we stroked at 36/37 strokes per minute. We expected Brunswick to go for the lead from the start, so we patiently powered our boat through at our own pace. By Fawley point (roughly half way), Brunswick had a length over our boat, but since they were racing at such a high rating, they began to tire, and our boat continued to surge slowly but surely at a 36. With 500 meters to go, Brunswick's lead was only 1/2 of a boat length and Gonzaga was feeling a surge in momentum. Unfortunately, Brunswick could feel the finish line approaching fast, and they put in a sprint with about 400 meters to go. At this point, we gave it our all trying to claw out anything we could as we sprinted toward the finish line 1 and 1/4 lengths behind Brunswick. Brunswick finished with a time of 6:42, and as we can estimate our time to be roughly 6:45, which is 5 seconds faster than our time yesterday.
Disappointed and emotional, we docked and put our boat away as we pondered over the race. We made an effort to keep our heads high, and we are still grateful for having such a wonderful season.
The crew derigged the boat, showered, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the Steward's Enclosure, which is an enclosed area for watching the races; however, most of the people there are not paying attention to the races, as it is more of a place for socializing. Our moods began to brighten up as the day went on, and we even got a tour of the historic Leadner Boat Club because Brian Flattery, a Gonzaga Alumnus, is a member there and scheduled for us to have a visit. Afterwards we returned for dinner and made plans for tomorrow.
Thanks so much to all for your support. We are proud to have taken Gonzaga Crew to the Henley Royal Regatta, and we hope that future boats can build upon our success. It has truly been an amazing run, and none of us could have ever expected that we would make it this far. It has been an honor.
Also, I will continue to update this blog on a daily basis despite that fact that we are done rowing, so you can still follow the crew on its journey.
We began July 1st, the first day of racing, with an early morning practice to get some physical activity in. Our race against Winchester was scheduled for 5:40, so we had a lot of time to fill, and we wanted to make sure we weren't just sitting around letting our muscles get tight. The morning row went well, and we returned for our usual breakfast at around 9. From 9 until 3, we all spent the day doing various things to keep us cool and rested. It has been unseasonably hot (90 degrees Fahrenheit) in England this past week, so a few of us went for a light swim in the pool. Others watched movies, and napped, and we all had sandwiches for lunch around 1. At 3, we left for the racecourse prepared to represent Gonzaga for the first time on the international stage.
The town of Henley was like nothing we had ever seen before. In the streets, almost everyone was in formal clothing, and they were all either going to or coming from the regatta. At the regatta, crowds filled the grounds. In the parking lot, there were hundreds of tailgaters, but instead, these tailgaters had picnic tables and were drinking wine and eating salmon. Inside the boat tent, people were everywhere warming up and cooling down. To keep cool, we all stepped under the Henley showers multiple times in our racing uni suits. By 4:30, we were hydrated and as cool as we were going to get. We warmed up as we always have with a brief run and some stretching, and we launched from the dock at 5 leaving behind a large group of Gonzaga supporters.
As we rowed up to the starting line, motorboats and rowboats lined the racecourse, and Johan had to maneuver us around all the boats in addition to taking our practice tens and starts. Along the banks of the Thames were people from the start line to the finish line. We approached the starting area at 5:35, and waited for our race at 5:40. The Henley Royal Regatta is very well run, and every race goes off on time as scheduled. As we waited at the starting line, we were all very nervous, as I'm sure Coach Mandel and Coach Snyder can attest to as they were fortunate enough to be able to follow our race in the umpires launch, which is a wooden boat that is about 25 feet long. Fortunately, as soon as the umpire's flag dropped, we were ready to race and we began to take Winchester seat by seat. By the time we settled into our base rating, we had about 6 or 7 seats on Winchester, and throughout the whole race we continued to move on them seat by seat. By the barrier, our stroke rating was around 32 strokes per minute as opposed to our usual 35/36 SPM, and we held that rating until the end. Our time was 6 minutes 50 seconds, and we beat Winchester by 2 1/2 lengths in Gonzaga Crew's first international victory.
Excited, the crew hit the showers, spoke with family and friends, and returned to the manor for another relaxing evening. We also found out that we were going to race Brunswick School the following day at 3:10.
In the morning, we went for another practice row down the racecourse before races started to work on a few things. Unfortunately, Richard (6 seat) had been feeling sick and slept in to recover for the afternoon race. Once again, the morning was spent at the manor until 1. Richard recovered in the meantime, and the crew prepared for some stiff competition against Brunswick. We knew that Brunswick had gained significant speed since our last meeting at Stotesbury where we came out victorious. They proved themselves to be a very aggressive crew at the Reading Regatta, and we left for the race course preparing for a great race.
Today was also very hot, and the crew followed a similar routine of taking cold showers and drinking a lot of water before the race. The boat tent was less hectic today since half of the field had been eliminated in the previous day's racing, but the crowds came out in larger masses today. Similar to our first race, we had a warm up row to the starting line, and approached the starting platform 5 minutes prior to our race feeling jittery.
As the flag went down, our crew was losing off of the start. According to Johan, Brunswick had about 4 seats on us almost immediately. Soon after, the Brunswick boat began to encroach on our side of the racecourse and the umpire told both crews to separate. After some brief adjustments, both coxswains had their respective boats pointed straight down the course in a heated battle. Brunswick stroked at 40 strokes per minute, and we stroked at 36/37 strokes per minute. We expected Brunswick to go for the lead from the start, so we patiently powered our boat through at our own pace. By Fawley point (roughly half way), Brunswick had a length over our boat, but since they were racing at such a high rating, they began to tire, and our boat continued to surge slowly but surely at a 36. With 500 meters to go, Brunswick's lead was only 1/2 of a boat length and Gonzaga was feeling a surge in momentum. Unfortunately, Brunswick could feel the finish line approaching fast, and they put in a sprint with about 400 meters to go. At this point, we gave it our all trying to claw out anything we could as we sprinted toward the finish line 1 and 1/4 lengths behind Brunswick. Brunswick finished with a time of 6:42, and as we can estimate our time to be roughly 6:45, which is 5 seconds faster than our time yesterday.
Disappointed and emotional, we docked and put our boat away as we pondered over the race. We made an effort to keep our heads high, and we are still grateful for having such a wonderful season.
The crew derigged the boat, showered, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the Steward's Enclosure, which is an enclosed area for watching the races; however, most of the people there are not paying attention to the races, as it is more of a place for socializing. Our moods began to brighten up as the day went on, and we even got a tour of the historic Leadner Boat Club because Brian Flattery, a Gonzaga Alumnus, is a member there and scheduled for us to have a visit. Afterwards we returned for dinner and made plans for tomorrow.
Thanks so much to all for your support. We are proud to have taken Gonzaga Crew to the Henley Royal Regatta, and we hope that future boats can build upon our success. It has truly been an amazing run, and none of us could have ever expected that we would make it this far. It has been an honor.
Also, I will continue to update this blog on a daily basis despite that fact that we are done rowing, so you can still follow the crew on its journey.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Henley Eve
As I write, it is the morning of our first race, and all that remains to be done is race. Yesterday was a good day for the team, and it started with our normal breakfast and morning practice. Since we have begun to taper, we have being rowing only one lap on the Henley course, where we usually go over our race plan at a low rating. By now, we are all familiar with the race course, and we could point out all of the well known landmarks like Barrier and Fawley.
But the big event of the morning was watching Gonzaga's spare pair (Nick Jones and Chris Williams) compete in the spare pair's race. There were 7 pairs entered in the event, and the races were held on the course over roughly 1500 meters. There were 3 quarterfinal races to qualify for 2 semifinal races; however, Gonzaga was the only boat that did not have to qualify, and Nick and Chris went straight to the semifinal because there were an odd number of crews. Westminster College's pair defeated Belmont Hill's pair, so Gonzaga raced Westminster in the semifinal, and won by 4 or 5 boat-lengths! Interestingly enough, the other quarterfinals included the Princeton Lightweights, Bates College, and MIT, so Nick and Chris ended up racing MIT in the final of the spare pairs race. Unfortunately, MIT won by a lot, but now we can say that Gonzaga Crew has raced in the 'finals' at Henley and that Gonzaga has raced MIT, an Eastern Sprints crew program. Congratulations to the pair.
As usual, we ate a quick lunch in the town, and returned home to rest for a few hours before another short practice. We rowed one lap on the course again, showered, and returned home for dinner. Nervous and excited, the crew went to bed early and was ready to take Gonzaga Crew to new heights.
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