One Day to Race Day

We have now had a few days to get used to being in Poland and I must say we are enjoying it! At least I know I am. It is so amazing to see the rowing course full of people and the racks full of boats. The different colours around are amazing and we are all trying to decide which team gear we would like to try and get hold of. We have been told that at the end of the week it is like a feeding frenzy with a couple of hundred people milling around and swapping gear. One of the men’s four rowers told us not to be intimidated just jump in and swap! So we are looking forward to that.

We have had some good sessions on the water and it has been great to be able to suss out the competition. We were basically on our own (with the Italians and Canadians) for a few days but everyone is here now and looking forward to racing.

We have received a really good draw for the heats with most of the heavy weights in the second heat. We are in the first heat against USA, Poland, Russia, Korea and Italy, so I feel very confident going into this heat. First place in the heat goes directly to the A final and doesn’t have to race again. The second heat has Great Britain (world record holders), Germany (a powerhouse in rowing) and Canada along with a few others so that will be a tough heat as my friend Tony (from Canada) has stated on Facebook!

I know that the nerves for me are starting to kick in as well as my roommate Alex’s! But we just need to get this first race over, it seems like it has been a long time coming and I am looking forward to it. We have one short paddle today concentrating on starts and then a good night’s sleep.
We have been able to have a look around the local area and get to the shopping centre across the street. It is an amazing place, housed in an old brewery; you definitely need some money to shop there! All top brand names Versace, Zara etc. and well out of my price range.

Amazing Shopping mall!

We also attended the opening ceremonies last night. Not sure I will ever do that again! They were having an all day dance party with one of the top DJ’s in the world Armin van Buuren and after serving alcohol to all the local Polish people all day they decided it would be good to stop it for an hour to have the official welcome by the Mayor of Poznan and the President of FISA.

They then unrolled every countries flag and when the German and Russian flags were unfurled the crowd booed very, very loudly! There were also a couple of mishaps with the FISA flag being raised backwards, the Brazilian flag getting stuck and not unrolling and the Swedish flag getting burn holes in it from the fireworks and a small hot air balloon catching fire and falling into the crowd!

But the music when we arrived was pumping and Henry, Matt, Alex and Lisa were all dancing away! I tried, but I am afraid that my dancing days to this kind of music are well and truly gone! So I just kind of bounced to the beat! Talk about high energy and loud music, it didn’t help that we were right at the front in front of the speakers!

Pete and I trying to fit in with the crowd!

The fireworks at the end were definitely spectacular and even the crowd turned and looked at them, but then Armin came back on the stage and the crowd was off again in a trance like state. Needless to say it was my time to exit, so Henry, Pete and I headed back to the buses and back to the hotel. But I could still hear the thumping in my head even as I put it on the pillow. I think my last thoughts were “Man this is what my parents must have thought of the music we listened to!” Last night I definitely felt old!!!

Just a quick footnote before I post this...today we had our last training session before tomorrow's heat. We were able to do a practice start with lights and buzzer and had the Russian team beside us. Now we are not the fastest out of the blocks and I don't want to be cocky...but within 20 strokes we had 3/4 of a boat length on the Russians. It wasn't our best start ever, so if we do this or better tomorrow, we should have a good race!