Eurotrip 2014 Begins

Hi guys,

More great training around the world. We left for Europe two weeks ago. Last week I competed in my first World event: World Cup #2 - Racice, Czech Republic. Now that I'm just starting to compete at the world level, the main thing for me to focus on is: EXPERIENCE. Race an many races as possible, learn all I can, watch, take it in, grow, become faster. My coach signed me up for all the K1 distances: 1000m, 500m, 200m. It's a lot for one regatta, and no one at the top does that many races. But I might as well get the most out of my accreditation.

And it was a really awesome weekend. It's impossible not to go into your first world event without a few nerves. But I shook most of those off in my first race: the 500m heats. Then, continued with various other heats, semis, and finals throughout the weekend. Such an experience.

This weekend I'm very excited to race in World Cup #3 - Szeged, Hungary. I feel like I have a world of experience after just last weekend. I'll go into this regatta with a better understanding of what to expect from the races and myself. I'm looking forward to it!

After that, I will continue to train in Europe this summer with a bunch of my teammates. We'll road trip around to various races and training venues, some in altitude, in the hopes of becoming bigger Beasts On The Water.

Alex