Nike got me...

So I was unloading my gear package in my hotel room in Beijing today - I'm kind of jetlagged and tired, and probably a little stressed, and I was kind of grumbling as I was throwing my new clothes around, throwing out a lot of "What the hell am I supposed to do with a beret with the Olympic logo on it?" We are kind of isolated out at the rowing venue, especially behind all this security, and it's easy to get stir crazy. Then I caught an inscription on the inside of my Nike windbreaker that made me stop and sit down and think about the opportunity I have.

"You've been training for this all your life. Now, as an Olympian, you represent the highest level of competition in the realm of athletics. Your commitment and your achievement honor the United States of America and ennoble the human spirit. In the dignity, integrity, and entirety of your effort, lies victory for us all."

Whoa. Gut check. Guess I better get focused.

Here's another video the USOC put out recently that gets me every time too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKRJXY6PeCo

In China

So I made it to Beijing, via Austria. Got here yesterday, but my body still has no idea what day, time or continent it is supposed to be on. We flew in from Austria after winning our tune-up race at the World Championships - we didn't race any of the people we will be racing here at the Olympics (time to step up and race the varsity athletes). But it was an eventful trip. Due to the Lufthansa strike, we had to take a train from the small town in Austria we were staying in to Munich (5 hours or so with all of our luggage) and then fly overnight to China. We arrived and found some express customs lines for Olympic athletes, and had the press snapping photos of us as we walked thru the terminal (fortunately we were wearing our snazzy USA jackets). Now we are out at the rowing course in a huge brand new hotel with serious intense security. We have to show our credentials to the Chinese military police and put our bags through screening x-ray belts as we walk through metal detectors just to get into the lobby of our hotel. We go through the same routine at the rowing course - security is very tight there too, with the roads completely closed off for about a half-mile radius around the course.

Anyway, gotta run, will write more detail soon and try to post more soon.

Here is a write-up on our race in Austria.

http://www.usrowing.org/News_Media/PressReleases/detail.aspx?nws_lKey=564

In Austria

So I'm in a little town in Austria called Linz for a World Championship regatta race prior to heading to Beijing. It's been a whirlwhind for the past week and I'm just starting to get settled over here. We left Princeton last Thursday packed up ready for Beijing, and flew to San Jose where the entire Olympic team is going through processing, meaning getting insane amounts of clothing and being reminded not to embarrass the United States in China. Because of our racing schedule in Austria, we were the very first group of athletes (meaning my lightweight four, not the entire rowing delegation) to go through the processing center at San Jose State. We watched a few power point presentations, and then were handed a shopping cart in order to get 'uniformed'. We were like kids at Christmas as we watched our shopping carts get filled up with more gear than I could possibly have imagined. The opening ceremonies uniform, which I won't be able to wear at the games since we can't attend, is a blazer, dress shirt and slacks by Polo. We had tailors from Polo on hand to fit us and do the alterations on the spot (Polo wanted to make sure the athletes look right on TV).

Anyway, a few hours later we were on a plane to Austria in order to get here in time to adjust to the time change ahead of our racing. We are racing an eight here at the World Championships with our entire training group that has been together the entire year, which is a huge plus for us because the group is so competitive that it keeps our level of performance high and sharp heading into the Games. We raced the heat a little bit tired because we came in from the States three days prior, but we are expecting to be feeling more 'with it' by the final. Regardless, we won the heat with a solid race and are looking forward to the racing on Sunday. Here is a quick write-up and photo - http://www.row2k.com/worlds/features.cfm?ID=1784. By the bye, this is the event that I rowed in my very first World Championships ten years ago, and missed the gold by a tenth of a second to end up with a silver medal. I still haven't won a World Championship, and it would be nice to come full circle in this event and win it to close my career at the Worlds with a victory here before heading to the Olympics.

I've got very limited internet access right now, but I will try to post when I can and get some photos up when possible...

NBC Coverage

Here is a doc I just received on rowing coverage... looks like all the races will be live online at nbcolympics.com (there's your plug, Wasiljew), some will be live on USA. They will pick and choose the races they want to show, and it looks like the men's and women's eights get the prime time slot on Sunday since they were medalists in '04. I'm sure they will add crews that medal that day to the prime time slot (knock on wood, hopefully including the light men's four).

NBC Olympic Rowing Coverage (Tentative and Subject to Change as of 7/8/2008)

All rowing races will be streamed live and be available on-demand on www.NBCOlympics.com.

Saturday, August 9 (Heats)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Time Slot

Sunday, August 10 (Heats)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Time Slot

Monday, August 11 (Repechages)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Time Slot
USA and USA HD: -- Live, 2 a.m. – Noon Time Slot

Tuesday, August 12 (Repechages)
NBC and NBC HD: – 8 p.m. – Midnight. Time Slot
USA and USA HD: -- Live, 2 a.m. – Noon Time Slot

Wednesday, August 13 (Semifinals)
USA and USA HD: -- Live, 2 a.m. – Noon Time Slot

Thursday, August 14 (Semifinals)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Time Slot

Saturday, August 16 (Gold Medal Finals)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Time Slot

Sunday, August 17 (Gold Medal Finals)
NBC and NBC HD: – 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Time Slot
NBC and NBC HD: – 7 p.m. – Midnight Time Slot for the Men’s and Women’s Eights