Hello Friends.

I am back in Ottawa after a fantastic European Tour. Everything happens so fast when we are racing. The days fly by and it always seems like one big whirlwind that whips us around Europe then plunks us back at home. So here I am back in Kansas..."Auntie Em? Is that you?"


Kyle and I raced very well in Europe, we were 10th at both world cups and learned a lot from some tough races. Both Regattas we had weak heats, but both times we came back with very strong races in the Semifinals. It is always a very challenging experience to bounce back from a bad race, and we did it twice, two weekends in a row. It is a really good learning experience and both times I was proud of how we communicated with each other about what we felt we needed to focus on and were able to execute good races. C2 500 is a wild race, and in an Olympic year we came up against two crews from pretty much every major canoe country. It was disappointing to come up just a bit short of making the A final at both races, but Kyle and I were able to come away with a lot of positives. The biggest positive is how fun it was to race like that again with the best guys in the world. When we lined up next to the two reigning Olympic champ crews, I got that amazing feeling of, "OK....this is it. you need to give it EVERYTHING." It is always satisfying to lay it all out there, and we did. Its gross I know, but in both races Kyle and I had the very unique bonding experience of throwing up together in the cool down because we has gone so hard.

With the missed final in Szeged our Olympic shot came to an end. It was an amazing experience
working with Kyle in Florida, getting better week by week. Building our confidence and speed the whole time. From the start we both reminded our selves that all we wanted was to give ourselves a shot, and we did that. We raced really hard and very well, but our best races were not enough to get the entry this year. Kyle came to Florida in the fall a man on a mission. He wanted to do C-2. He was confident in my ability, even though I had not raced in two years, and even though I was still very weak after all the time off. His confidence in me really helped me get through the tough weeks when my shoulder was still an issue. It was a really great ride, and we have a lot to look forward to.

Like I said, our best races weren't good enough to get the national entry, and that is because Gabriel and Andrew are just so good. It was a sad moment for us and the Buday's when our shot at the games came to an end, but we all know that these guys are really flying. In Szeged Gab and Andrew were the only ones racing C-2 200m, everyone else was on the shore cheering them on. Andrew said after that he could hear us chanting on the start line, which is no easy feat with the deafening cheers of a Hungarian crowd to over come. Gab and Andrew threw down an amazing race and got a Bronze.

When they were on the podium getting there medal the Buday's, Kyle and I were going bananas for them in the stands. After Gab and Andrew came right up into the stands and were so happy and pumped that we were cheering for them. It was a special moment for them and I think they really understood how proud of them we were despite our personal disappointment. Sitting there for those couple minutes just laughing with the three c-2's in the stands I don't think the canoe team could have felt more like a team. Not competitors trying to take each other out, but teammates trying to do the best we can all the time.

The week after Duisburg I was lucky enough to get an invite to Andreas Dittmer's Sprint Cup tour. We raced 2o0m last week in two towns in Germany, Magdenburg and Waren. It is so fun to do some fun races after the intensity of the World Cups and it is always so cool to get to hang out with Andreas who is such a hero of our sport. I felt pretty wierd getting in a c-1 and sprinting after being in C-2 so much the last couple months, but by the last race I felt pretty good. The best thing about going on these fun tours is getting to hang out with paddlers from other countries and just have a good time. Which we did.

So much fun that the marathon trip back on Saturday was a bit of a killer, but I am back in OTTAWA and it is sweet.

This morning Kyle and I had a good warm up in C-1's and we watched the team preform well in the heats. Both Hungary and Germany are, like Canada, using this World Cup as a selection race, so their are two entries from both of the power houses in every event. This makes for a lot of competitive crews and adds to the level of intensity of the racing.

There was an extended break between the morning and afternoon, so Kyle and I headed back to the hotel for a little break. After the requisite snooze we headed back to the course all ready to rock. The C-2 field here is quite strong and our heat this afternoon had both reigning Olympic champs in the C-2 distances in it. We had a great start and felt pretty solid the whole race. It was our first race in a while, and my first race at the level in two years, and thats what it felt like. We missed a bit of the zip we needed to keep with the lead pack and faded a bit in the second 250.
We finished up 5 and will race a semi on Saturday morning for a spot in the final. We both came of the water fairly satisfied with the positive parts of the race and, more importantly, we are on the same page on what we need to do a lot better next race. We have all day off tomorrow, so we will be able to get out and try to get a better feeling for the race pace we want to have. We will be ready to attack the semi on Saturday morning.

Tomorrow afternoon is the 1000m finals, we will be sure to get some good pictures and possibly even some video to keep the C4C fans happy.

It was ten years ago this summer that Steve Giles blazed down the course here in Szeged and captured the World title in C-1 1000m. For the Canadian canoer's of my generation that race is pretty much melded into our brains. As a 15 year old I would watch the CBC footage of the race over and over. Steve is in the lead as he hits the last 150, the wall of flags and advertisements on the far shore are whipping by and you know he is close. But Doktor is surging and his finishes can be deadly, can Steve hold him off? It makes me excited to think about now. Yet every time I watched, he did hold him off and cross the line first. I watched it so many times that I knew Stevie's exact celebration. So I was ready when in some boat transfer from one trailer to another the exact boat that Steve won in ended up at Rideau. I promptly took it out and reenacted the whole finish and celebration. (Complete with paddle slaps and slow sink/tip) Today as I did my last warm up session before the racing starts tomorrow, I couldn't help but keep thinking about watching the video of Steve's race ten years ago in my mom's basement. It will be my first time every lining up on this famous course tomorrow and it will be easy for me to smile as I look down the lane before we start, all I have to do is remember that great race ten years ago and the 15 year old kid who still can't get it out of his head.

Feeling better and loving meat wraps.

Back in the boat house at the race course, it was another cooker of a morning for the Canadian team this morning. The Canada tent is up, Kenna is putting Mazda stickers on K-4's, GB keeps saying LOGISTICS....must be regatta week. After the usual couple days adjustment to the time change and travel I am starting to feel closer to 100% again. The modern marvel of antibiotics has worked its magic again and my sinus issue is clearing up as well. Great news for me, and for Kyle who doesn't have to listen to me sniffle and cough all night anymore. We have got our racing C-2. It is green. We will be raising awareness about global environmental issues, while we sprint down a 500m course. We messed with the set up a bit and the boat is now feeling like our one at home. Our session this morning was good, and I think we are starting to feel the pace again that we had in Georgia. We pushed through some solid pieces and kept the stroke rate up for some full 500m. It feels good to get the legs pumping and the heart rate up again. Yesterday afternoon was off so we headed DT for some patio sitting. Before we found our people watching perch we went on a gyro search. Under Atilla's guidance we over came the disappointment of a closed Kebab shop and a long walk on the sunny (sweaty) side of the street we finally found a perfect little Gyro stand in a park. Mark, Gab, Ati and I promptly scarfed down 2 each, complete with perfect Paprika Sauce. There is probably no better snack than a Donner Kebab on a afternoon off in Europe. The team spirits are great, everyone has taken the great vibes form the extremely successful Montreal qualifier and just kept it going. It is really fun to be here with the team in the exciting time, you get the feeling that every one has that feeling that anything is possible for us as a team this summer. Lunch time. Ian