Save the Best for Last

Hello Everyone in Canada !!!!!

You can imagine that I was very busy yesterday and was not able to update the blog as there was no time for anything but celebrations.

Let's start at the beginning. Please forgive me if there are grammer/spelling mistakes, I was up til 2:30am and it is now 7:30am, Aug 3. Just wanted to get this out there for those that don't already know.

Yesterday began much later than previous days. Our first race was at 2pm, breakfast was at 9am and the bus picked us up at 11:45am. You could tell we all wanted Gold, it was written all over our faces, but we tried to keep things light and not let our nerves get the best of us. Everyone knows 500m is our best race...we train for it more and we are a team that can catch anyone during the middle of the race if we find ourselves behind.

Side note: We are being beat out of the hole here on practically every race...just not enough muscle in our boat as compared to the other top contenders. If you line us up with Mayfair or Chiros..they are all bigger than us. However, we are a light crew with an excellent power to weight ratio and we KILL during every other part of the race. It makes for great watching though....we had our supporters on the edges of their seats...coming out of the hole in 4th place and making up ground.

When we arrived at the race site it was already pumping. We had a bit of time to settle in, but warm-up came pretty quick. We were all so focused and we were eager to race. Let's show the world what the west coast of Canada is made of. Save the Best Performance for Last.

That is exactly what we did. Our first race was good, but not that "magic" you sometimes find where everything comes together. We came first in our heat, but we had a few things to work on.

Surprisingly, we had a good time. Don't quote me, but I think it was 2:00 even.

Side Note 2: We are racing on freshwater, it makes the boats a bit heavier and therefore times are a bit slower than expected. But we all know times don't matter...it is the head to head racing in the final that counts.

We were ranked 2nd into our Semi. We did not have to race Mayfair or Sudbury in the Semi.

We couldn't let our fans down, so our semi was raced as usual...behind in the first quater to half of the race and then we kicked it into high gear to take 1st place in the semi.

THE GRAND FINAL: All of our training, some of us have been working toward this goal for 2 years, has come down to this final !!!! The last race of the season; the last CCWC race of 2008 for the premier mixed category. The gorging dragons may never race this exact crew ever again.

Our goal was to race our race without fear, but with intensity like we've never done before and with control. Pound on the start like there is nothing to paddle after and keep going until your lungs are bursting and your muscles are aching...paddle through the pain and into a place where called MAGIC. Pain is but an emotion, as Rick Baxter told us, it will be forgotten. Victory and the perfect race can be remembered forever.

Our fans/supporters almost out number the team. You could hear their cheers no matter where you were on the water.

I know I felt ready and confident heading out to the start line. I had this calm about me that can't be explained as I should have been quite nervous. We called a power 10 on our way up and it felt amazing....you just knew this was going to be a great race.

Henry, our stern, backed us in last as to avoid too much drawing.

ARE YOU READY?

ATTENTION !!!

GO !!

............it was magical. It hurt. It made people's lungs burst. It makes me so proud to be a GD.

Excellent Start for us.
Great transition into race pace.
Nothing but intense power the whole way down.
It felt like we had a motor strapped to the back of the boat, never losing momentum.

The finish was amazing.

We earned a Silver Medal !!!!!

Way to go GD's.

Congratulations to Mayfair and Sudbury. What a great final !!!

Some Pictures: Arriving at Tent 12:45am, After our First Race - AUS beside us in the blue, Medal Presentation, The Fans/Supporters,