The other half of the weekend: The 16th annual Desert Sprints Regatta

[rebeccmeister]

The weekend didn't entirely consist of grumping about broken electronics. More of it actually consisted of this*:



While looking at this:


And this:


And this, too:


Oh, and also, this:


It still feels weird to row out here, after all the quality time at the BAP. With all the new construction on the south shore, the lake is fairly bright, even at night.

This year, the regatta organizing committee decided to split things into a two-day event. I think it was a successful move. Saturday, Day 1, featured 2000m juniors racing, and then Sunday featured 1000m masters races. If anything, it would have been nice if there had been some Open races for those of us older rowers seeking to prepare for 2k's. But aside from that, the 2-day format meant that almost all the racing fit in during the morning, when the water was calm and before things got at all hot and sun-baked.

On Sunday, I first raced in the 1x, then in a 4x. As with last year, the 1x felt frustrating because I was in the middle of washes the whole way down. My time was comparable to previous races, but I wasn't fast enough to make up for the age handicaps, so I wound up in 4th place out of 6 boats. The 4x was a different story. Our final practice in the 4x felt really good, and we lived up to that feeling on race day, too, with a comfortable 20-second margin over second place.

Now it's back to training for the San Diego Crew Classic. After that, I need to do some more thinking about my plans and agenda for the year. It's hard to do that when I feel July looming up like a giant wall, what with picking up and moving across the country and everything that's going to entail. Once the dust settles, in maybe a year or two, I'm going to go boat-shopping (again).


*For some reason, they keep asking me to come back and be the regatta announcer, year after year! I don't know if I'll make it back again, though, after I move out to New York. That's a long ways to travel.

Comments

[randomdreams]

You have secret Announcer skills! I would not have guessed. That's cool.

[rebeccmeister]

I know, right? One of the things I find most funny about it is that I didn't feel especially great on the microphone when lecturing for Animal Physiology. Too much self-consciousness about occasional vocal fry, plus the annoying lecture hall setup. Plus at the regatta, part of the trick is not talking too much.