Thank you!

Thank you to the people who accounted for nearly 55,000 different hits to this blog over the last few years. The new website will have far more content and information and will give a better sense of what it's like to be a Trinity rower. Please visit our new website at either of the following urls - www.trinityrowing.org OR www.wesleyng.com

Fast boats,
Wesley

Blog Under Construction - Full REVAMP COMING

The blog is going to change significantly as we revamp to a full website with video, photo galleries, and a much fuller sense of the team. Included we'll have a blog where the rowers will get a chance to write about their experiences as part of the squad.

Please stay tuned.

Henley Day 8

Hard to believe that we've only been rowing together a week - have packed in the sessions and am pretty proud of getting the boat to where it is now. But it's pretty obvious that physically we're undersized and likely undertrained to make a big impact.
Listed to Yale come through FIT on regatta radio  and went to the enclosure for a very short amount of time then back to St. Andrews for sleep and chill out time.

Warmed up similarly to yesterday and was very prepared for a tough race. We were ahead at the island and the Barrier by 2 seats and then a weed patch, wake, and bobble hit us and we lost our rhythm...felt short again and maybe too high but that's likely because Combined Services was pouring the pressure on. They pulled to about a full length up and we made a good push where I still felt like we had the chance to take it (4-5 seat move)...I'm not sure we ever made a decisive strike but they ended up winning by a length.

We were pretty disappointed afterwards but very thankful for the opportunity - not sure what to think really other than that we probably earned our result...The equation of practice, age, fitness, and weight probably didn't help us and perhaps it was hubris to think that we could make it to Friday again with 7 days of rowing together. Questions we'll have to answer later on I suppose.

More to come later.

Henley Day 7

Wednesday June 29 - The beginning of the regatta is always pretty special as the course, grounds, and enclosures look immaculate - the wear and tear of so many rowers and spectators hasn't accumulated and the excitement is palpable. Even though there are very few close races on Wednesday the nerves for everyone are pretty apparent as steering, breakage, and boat stopping crabs can take an excellent crew out on the very first day. Enjoyed the Stewards Enclosure from the stands and after lunch headed back to St. Andrews Road...had a quick nap, foam rolled for a good twenty minutes, stretched out, and arrived at 4:00 PM for the 6:30 PM race (maybe too much time). Warmed up on the C2 Dynamic as I had been doing on all of the other days and the machine is growing on me...Good feedback from the body but I wish there was better monitor feedback for what is happening during the stroke.

Had a pretty good warm up though we were interrupted by some massive barges (not surprising) and eventually lined up against Thames 'C' on the Berks station while Four Score and Four RC was on the Bucks station. We had a solid start that worked well but had a hard time finding a base that worked...again we were a little short. We ended up winning by 1 and 3/4 lengths but it hadn't felt truly easy and we weren't able to cruise. Nevertheless a win at Henley is pretty sweet and we enjoyed it with some Thai food afterwards.

Very clear from times and margins that tomorrow was going to be very tough...Combined Services RC (a combination of British Navy, Royal Air Force, and Army men with prior rowing experience at UL and Leander) at 6:00 PM - right after the tea break.

Henley Day 6

Tuesday June 28th - the day before racing. Two practices again...one at 10:30 and another at 6:30 PM. The boat felt a little better and we were able to avoid a lot of the traffic on the course - did some inside arm, start work, and 18-22 spm steady state. Made progress but in retrospect we probably could have demanded more ratio from one another...would it have made a lot of difference? Who knows but much better to try and not leave it as an unknown variable. Our 2nd lap felt better and our final trip in the evening was better still. Despite not a lot of time in the boat we were able to take some short bursts that felt legitimately long and quick. Scheduled to race at 6:30 PM tomorrow evening - one of the last races of the day!

Henley Day 5

Monday June 27th - rowed at 12:30 PM to give ourselves a less busy time on the course and to get a little more recovery. Went at it pretty hard and did 2 x the Henley Distance (2112 meters) at full rating with no start. Rowed pretty conservative times (slow!) into a pretty strong headwind but did get used to rowing base rating a little more. The ratings were high and also felt high but the second piece felt a little longer as we were able to let the boat do more of the work for us. Tough!

Came back in the evening for 1 session and the wind was still blowing hard. We were able to do some shifts, 5, 7 & 7s and some saw better improvements on the speed coach. Ended the evening playing hearts as the sun went down...Pretty sweet day all the way around.

First opponent on Wednesday was "Thames 'C' who qualified the previous Friday.

Henley Day 4

Woke up and the general feeling amongst the crew was that we were a little beat up from the volume of rowing in the previous three days. Also tried to come up with some ideas about how the boat could feel pretty solid, reasonably balanced, and we were rowing a competitive rating but still be SO slow in the first 40" but then be okay at base. Conditioning and strength was something we obviously couldn't change but our line up and the physics of the shell were something we could alter. Rowed at 10 AM and did only 2 trips...worked on some flying starts, did some other speed work and thankfully Colin was able to watch us and give us a few tips about staying long in the water and not punching at it. Eric Den Besten Yale '97 hosted us at his wonderful London apartment at Cranleigh Gardens - saw his 5 week old son with his lovely wife Ruth and had a good chat with them about what they were likely to experience at Henley and some of the group challenges they would have to overcome. Have been really fortunate to be at Henley in 2000, 01, 05, 08, 09, and now 2011. Ended the evening with dinner at the Anglesea Arms. Great wild boar sausages...