We arrived at race site as many other teams were filing off of their buses and setting up camp for the day. All of Canada and Australia are parked inside a very large indoor area with huge bay doors open to the water, some bay doors open to the back to allow for air flow and some tents pitched out back for overflow of teams. Other countries are camped out in similar areas. It is cool in this “paddlers village” and we are out of the sun with ample space to stash our belongings.
Once we were organized in our space we got to the business of preparing for our first race. Before every individual race we warm up with cardio and stretching before heading off to marshaling. It’s important to get our heart rates up, our blood pumping and our muscles loose.
Our first race was race # 4. We were in lane 3.
Lining up in the marshaling tent was our first real chance to size up our competition and at the same time to greet and hug old friends we’ve not seen in 2 and 4 years since we first met them in Italy (2014) and Australia (2016).
Down to the docks we were lead by Shirley and Laura…we loaded quickly and headed out to the start line. This venue is unique in that we don’t paddle along side the race course in the opposite direction to get to the start line, there is a channel of water that runs along side the race course separated by a narrow strip of land and a passageway between to enter the race course area. In this channel we can practice a couple of starts and other technical while we paddle ourselves to the start line.
We approached the starting boot in lane 3 along side the other BCS boats who are gunning for us. As usual Shirley & Laura got the nose of our dragon in the boot with ease and then Linda & Tracy (strokes) and the paddlers in seat 10 kept us in place by applying pressure in the water.
The starts come quickly once everyone is lined up! The starter announces that all boats are in line…”Are You Ready”…”Attention” – Shirley & Laura call us to action with a loud “Ready Ready” and we wait for the starting signal.
On the “GO!” all boats nail the start and power down the race course…it was so quick, there was no time to think, only react! We powered through our finish and only looked over at the competition once we crossed the finish line to find Vermont and New Zealand right on our tale!! No open water between our boats. They stayed on us all the way…but did not catch us! Phew!!
Our Race #1 times:
* Rowbust – 56.968
* Vermont – 58.727
* New Zealand – 59.572
There was not much more than an hour between our first and second race.
Race #2 we were in lane 1. Lining up beside us to our left was Vermont and New Zealand beside them. We approached the line again…butterflies harnessed and ready to blow off that start line…. “GO!” and again, all boats nail the start and it’s another dash down the race course with no room to breathe. Again, they were right there! Holy crap…what was race #3 going to bring. Would we be able to pull it out?!?
Our Race #2 times:
* Rowbust – 58.118
* Vermont – 59.127
* New Zealand – 59.254
Again, not much time between races...just barely enough time to get a paddle repaired! Halfway down the race course in our second race Newton felt the handle of her paddle twist! Oh shoot! That's not good... Once we were off the boat and debriefed our race with Coaches, Newton and Captain Linda Kuska went in search of Linda's husband "Mr. Fix Everything Bob Kuska" for a quick paddle repair. Bob took it one giant step further and ran the paddle over to a paddle repair tent in the vendors area. Within 20 minutes the paddle was repaired and more solid than it was when it was manufactured! AND - the repair guy wouldn't take any money for it!! What service!! It wasn't even the same brand of paddle that he was also selling!
With a repaired paddle Newton wasted no time in getting over to the marshaling area to wait with the team for the final race of the day.
Race #3, back in lane 1…we’re lined up, we’re ready….”GO!” as we expected, all starts are nailed and it’s a dog fight to the finish!! But we did it…we held them all off to secure the GOLD in the 200m!
Our Race # 3 times:
* Rowbust – 58.128
* Vermont – 59.532
* New Zealand – 1:00.000
This was an awesome day!! We laid down some excellent races and emerged victorious!
Vermont & New Zealand gave us some serious competition! That’s exactly what we came here for, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best! And so far we are the best…at 200m! But we’ve got lots of racing left to do this week so there is no getting lazy about it now!
Thursday, July 19, 2018 is our 500m race day. After today we know that we’ve got a fight on our hands!
Stay tuned! More exciting racing coming up!
To see video footage of our final 200m race and our walk to the podium go to our Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/rowbust/
Suzanne Newington
Rowbust member since 2011. Proud owner of a newly repaired paddle!