Women in the Canadian Lighweight Quad

First off, I hope everybody is watching the Olympics!  You can’t help but feel motivatedJ.  As I’m a rower, I have to say that a MUST see race is the Women’s Eight (8+).  Canada and the US are known as the top two crews at these Games, and so I have no doubt that Thursday morning’s final will be an incredibly tight and amazing race to watch!  Every inch counts!

As for us here in London, ONTARIO, training is going super well.  I’m really lucky to be training with a group of amazing girls.  I’ll tell you a bit about them – I’ll go from the front of the boat (stroke) to the back (bow):

Erin Snelgrove

She is our energizer bunny.  If she isn't rowing, she is most likely speeding by on her running shows from point A to B, then B to C, back to A, then to C, and so on.  As our stroke seat, she keeps the rhythm of the crew solid and strong.  She has some experience as well on the international stage, having competed last year at the Junior World Championships, and recently at the Under 23 World Championships

Lindsay Sferrazza

Lindsay is our in-house Chef and Recipe Master!  I have learned that eating healthy doesn't need to taste so bland;)  My husband will be forever grateful, haha.  She has been rowing since High School and collected countless club, Henley and CU medals!  With her drive, it is no surprise that she successfully made the switch over to the lightweight rowing and will now be on the World Stage.

Me

The pic below says it all - I'm a little crazy:)  We got our uniforms today so I got a little excited.  I may be wearing all of the clothing still...and it's starting to get a little hot to say the least:S

Liz Fenje

She is our powerhouse!  She can absolutely demolish me in the weight room (but it is awesome to get pushed by her).  As our bow seat, Liz calls the race.  It's one of the hardest positions as she has to call the race all while racing at 150% herself!  No big deal.  We all trust her though.  Her resume stands strong with 3 years on the Under 23 National Team, an IRA win this year with her Stanford crew, and more.

Needless to say, I am humbled and honoured to row and compete with these girls.  We have 5 more training days left until we leave for Bulgaria, and so we will all continue to stay focused and make each stroke count.

ps.  Congrats to Argos and all athletes who competed this past week-end in Welland at RowOntarios.  New champions were crowned.  It'll be exciting to see that strong races will be had at Henley this year.  Good Luck everyone.

Until next time (in Bulgaria!!!!!),

LSM:)

Final selections made!

Since May, the other lightweights and I have been under review by the National Development Coach every day for every workout.  We did unofficial and official seat racing, time trials in the 1x, 2x and 4x, and specific workouts where the coach would be able to see how we perform: looking at our consistency, crew dynamic and weight management.  Because I performed quite well in the first double matrix of seat racing, and my weight has shown to be consistent, I was not included in the final seat racing that took place today.  That said, I still did a solid training session by doing two hard 2km pieces in the single (1x) alongside the other athletes who were either supporting or competing for the final spot in the boat.  They did an amazing job and gave it everything that they could - each are true champions!

At the end of the day, only four athletes were named to the boat and I can finally confirm that I am officially one of those four athletes in the Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls that will be wearing red and white at the Senior World Championships this August in Bulgaria!!!:)

Back in April after the National Development Trials I was over the moon about simply getting invited to try-out and move to London Ontario for this opportunity – a 28 year old, married, full-time corporate world woman (I was definitely scared about entering a new environment).  But the end result of being named to the boat is something I am truly thankful for and will not take for granted – there is still a lot of exciting work to be done before the big event! 

Everyone who came here to London to try-out has so much to be proud of and nobody can take that away from any of usJ.  Many of the athletes have had an incredible impact on me, and although some of them are no longer at the Centre (for now, but watch out they’ll come back!), they continue to motivate me through their determination and ongoing pursuits of their dreams!  Thank you!

It will be an exciting couple of weeks to say the least.  Especially this year since the World Championships will take place right after the Olympic rowing races – during our training we’ll be able to watch Olympians go for Gold in England!  Is there a better way to get pumped up and motivated?  I don’t think so!

Aside from the training and racing, it’ll also be exciting to see (IN PERSON) the athletes I have read about and admired for so long.  One of them is Ursula Grobler from the USA.  Although she is not Canadian, I have a lot of respect for her as an athlete as she currently holds the world record on the rowing machine for 2km (Lightweight Women).  She will be racing in the 1x at the World Championships, and so will many past Olympians and previous World Champions.  Many up and comers will be there as well since the Junior World Championships will also be held in Bulgaria at the same time.  I am so proud of one of the Junior athletes I have been fortunate to train alongside back in my Don Rowing days: Kieran Tierney - Congrats!

Thank you to everyone who has continued to support me on this journey.  It has definitely been a learning experience and I know that the learning doesn’t stop here!

I’m hopeful that my next blog will be to show you the Canadian gear - don't be surprised if I wear them to work for the months to follow World'sJ.

Have a great week-end!

Small things can make a big difference!

The past week gives me reason to write today.  As I previously told you, I’ve been moving around a bit to get in some solid training while the Under-23 team is in Lithuania (They are racing incredibly well by the way!  Check out their races on worldrowing.com and cheer on these amazingly hard working athletes).

So where did rowing take me this week?...Miami? No…Vancouver? No…Welland?  YES!  I bet if you asked most people, they wouldn’t be the first to jump in a bus to go to Welland, but after this week, I would come back in a heartbeat! Of course that’s if my work, friends and husband came with meJ.

Aside from the hundreds to thousands of motorcycles I saw today (they meet every Friday 13^th in a local town), the hardcore gardening I did for my mom (I have an entire new appreciation for it!!), and the several local farmer’s markets I went to, I got to spend this week at my parent’s “farm” (more like a country house in the middle of farm country) with my dad - my mom joined us today after work.  It was amazing as I haven’t spent this much time with my dad in years!  I felt like I was a little girl again – we ran all errands together, had delicious meals and also made a trip to Bulk Barn where I was able to take advantage of his Senior’s DiscountJ.  Below is a picture of a dessert I made for us from a recipe my teammate gave me:

Black bean brownie with black bean cocoa pudding on top, greek yogurt, strawberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup. You can’t feel guilty when you eat BEANS now can you?!

Spending time with my dad this week helped me remember that it’s important to slow down and appreciate the little things in life too.  In Toronto I am always in a rush…rush to rowing, rush to the office, rush back to rowing, rush home to see my husband, rush to put my food together for the next day, rush to bed…I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about!  It’s nice when things slow down a bit, and yes, sometimes it means driving slower too. 

I think this appreciation carried into my rowing this week.  Both my partner and I slowed things down in our 2x (in terms of our stroke rate, not speed don’t worry) and we really focused on moving the boat in the most efficient way possible.  We looked at ourselves and analyzed our movements to make sure that we were making the most of each stroke, together as one.  Small movements have a way of disrupting the set of a boat, and with our focus we have eliminated a lot of these movementsJ.

It is also nice that we had a nice stretch of about 10km to row on without any cross winds or turn arounds.  Below is a video of the National Development Centre where we have been training out of all week.

At the NDC we were fortunate to train with some friendly and speedy rowers.  They also know how to have fun - after some practices on hot days (pretty much EVERY DAY!), they jump into the water to cool off.  Unfortunately if we did that in Lake Fanshawe in London we might grow a third eye:S…not kidding! 

So my advice for anyone reading this before the week-end, is that you remember to appreciate the little things around you – it could be a person, something material, or a moment.

Enjoy!



The value of sportsmanship

It’s been a while, so I am sorry for not writing sooner.  Truthfully, I’ve tried to hold off until July 21^st – the date when the four athletes will be officially named to the quad for the World Championships in Bulgaria.  But after today, I have something I want to sayJ.  After this though, I will continue to try and hold off until July 21^st, ha!

Since some of our under 23 athletes are overseas preparing to race (and kick butt) at the 2012 Under-23 World Championships, I have been continuing to train here in Toronto, London and soon Welland with other athletes so that I can maintain and improve on my fitness. Lucky for me, today there was a local regatta here in London that I was able to compete in.  It’s always good to get racing experience and challenge yourself, even though I felt like crapola again after my 2x race this morning (the heat, heavy training week and lack of electrolytes got the best of me, but fortunately my partner Lindsay and I still won, mind over body I guess).

Competing today put the biggest smile on my face!  Why?  It’s really great to be able to see familiar faces, friends, and coaches.  The rowing community is fantastic, and somehow you find yourself becoming friends with people you race against.  Regardless of the outcome, everyone knows the other is pushing as hard as they can to be their best on that day.  So I think it is incredibly important to have good sportsmanship and be respectful and supportive of yourself, crew, and opponents (yes, opponents). 

I’ve seen this best reflected in a video I saw of the 2008 Ironman World Championships in Kona.  Chrissie Wellington (one of my role models) holds the world record in the Ironman distance, and is just an absolutely humble, modest and inspiring woman, plus she's super fast!

History: I actually went to watch the race in 2003 when my brother competed, and I saw with my own eyes how amazingly supportive of one another the athletes can be. 

Here is the video I am referring to:

This video really hits home for many reasons:

-          With respect to sportsmanship, it has been defined as many things, and one definition says “respect one’s opponent, and treat others the way you’d like to be treated”.  Rebekah Keat does just that when she see’s Chrissie on the side with a blown tire.  In rowing it’s a bit harder to reach over and help others, but attitude alone can make the same kind of impact. 

-          Always be prepared for any scenario when you are competing

-          Never make an excuse if you are held back, dig deeper and fight harder to prove to yourself that you CAN

Here are some pics from today:

Congrats to everyone who raced and gave each stroke their all!