World Championships 2015

World Championships - the best in the World. We really saw that this week. This regatta was the first qualifier for the Olympics next year. Everyone was on their A-Game. Some of the fiercest racing of the past 4 years happened right here this weekend. I'm happy to say that I improved in my racing, but so did the rest of the world. For that, I know I still have a lot of training still to go. This life is an endless fight, but I am thankful for my little improvements.

We've finally come to the end of the 2015 race season. I'll take a couple weeks off before I head back to Georgia, USA to start up the next year of training. I'm stoked I'll be touring around Italy for a little bit with my mom this next week, and enjoy some good rest time! 2016 Season, here I come.

World Champs - Milan, Italy

We're hanging in Milan Italy this week for World Championships. The competitions is fierce! I'm stoked to race the women's 500m K1 for team USA. Good to see old friends. Milan is Beautiful. This is where the accumulation of the past year of work all comes together.

Erg Technique Session

A little clip from a recent technique session I did on the erg. Even in the summer, erg work is super valuable for technique training. Things I'm working on these days: exaggerated rotation, connection with the top hand, keeping my hands higher through the stroke.

Training in Pitesti, Romania

With one month to go until World Champs in Milan, we have moved to the town of Pitesti, Romania. The training center here is perfect for our 4 weeks (our last cycle) of pre-race training. The center is built on a 2km lake dammed off on both sides with a permanent 1000m course. As we approach Milan, there's nothing better than training on buoyed lanes complete with start gates. Practice like you play! There is often no wind on this course, and the boat traffic is minimal. It has been great going out for the first paddle of the day on glassy water: stirring up the first ripples of the day. My training group and I are still training with the Romanian National team. Even from a language away, we've all become pretty close. Jokes and laughs can cross any language barrier; it's amazing how much paddlers have in common even from opposite sides of the world!

Constanta Vacation

After a hard month long cycle of training, our team went on a small vacation: a 3 day weekend at the Black Sea! A quick 3h drive brought us to Constanta, one of Romania's top tourist vacation spots. We had beautiful weather. We stayed with the athletes at Constanta's paddling club. It's awesome to meet young athletes around the world training for the same sport which we dedicated large parts of our childhood. It's kind of like a coming full circle moment. This was a great weekend get-away.

4th of July at the USA embassy!

For the 4th of July we were super thankful to be invited to the US Embassy for their celebration! The event was incredible. There were tons of dignitaries present; countless venders offering complimentary American foods, drinks, and even gum; and even a couple airplanes spewing red/white/blue smoke across the sky as they played God Bless America. It was pretty great to see so many Americans together celebrating our holiday from a country far away. We were super spoiled, I'll admit. We even had the opportunity to shake hands with Klaus Iohannas, the Romanian Presendent. It was pretty cool that he took the time to visit the embassy for our celebration. This was by far the most lavish 4th of July party I have ever visited. If you ever find yourself in a foreign country in early July, definitely contact the US embassy for tickets to the 4th of July party.

Interval Training

Here's a clip from todays interval session. The water was a bit rough from wind chop and motorboat traffic, but that makes us stronger - a good session for balance training. Otherwise, it was another beautiful day on Lake Snagov. Today's training: 4x (60seconds, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10), equal rest between pieces, 5 min rest between sets.