Previous postcards from the Sarasota series
• Ingrid Erickson -- Tuesday, May 24
• Audrey Rekedal -- Wednesday, May 25
• Natalie Korolenko -- Thursday, May 26
• Practice Day Photo Gallery (May 26)
• Heats & Reps Photo Gallery (May 27)
Hello from Sarasota!!
Today was our first day of racing. We got to sleep in this morning and started off with breakfast at the hotel around 8:00 a.m. We made sure to put on lots of sunscreen and headed for the course around 9:00 a.m.
Since the varsity 8 was racing first, we made sure to hydrate, eat some Gatorade chews, and get in some good warm up. We launched for our race around 10:20 which is about and hour before our race. The four launched just shortly after.
The Falcons have a post-race chill in their inflatable pool
In order to get into the start, we row under a bridge that separates the warm up area from the race course, when doing so they announced "Seattle Pacific, Lane 4". Words that gave me so much adrenaline. We got situated at the start and before we knew it the sirens went off and we were pushing off from starting block and taking the first few strokes of the race. It was a tough race, and the conditions were wavy but we had a good race, and fought hard. The varsity four and the varsity eight both made it to reps which were later in the day.
Getting off the water we cooled off in an inflatable pool while talking through the race with coach. Soon after, we left the racecourse to head back to the hotel for naps, hydration, and cooling off. I took probably one of my best mid-day naps to recharge and used the Normatechs which help to get the lactic acid out of our legs. We left to head back to the racecourse for reps around 3:30.
It is difficult to have a short turn around between races. We go all out in both, so we have to do a lot to prepare physically and mentally to do it all over again. Our coaches have prepared us by scheduling multiple races a day all season, and typically our second race is better than the first.
At the course we had better cloud cover, but it was a lot more humid. We warmed up and launched pretty soon after arriving at the course. For the most part, we were pretty relaxed, and focused on the task at hand. I think that's the most relaxed we have been before a race. On the live stream you could see us laughing and smiling while the other crews remained stoic.
Our second sets of races went really well! In the Varsity 8, we placed 3rd making petite finals and beating our rivals Central Oklahoma. The field itself is a lot closer together than it was last year, it makes racing a lot more fun when it's close by a matter of seconds.
The Varsity 4 crew members pose before warmups for the rep
The varsity 4 absolutely crushed it, placing 2nd in their heat and making grand finals tomorrow for a medal!!
As a team we are so excited about the races we put out today, and we all agree that our second races of the day were probably one of the best of the season. We have a lot more to do with our finals, and we are so excited to show what we are able to do tomorrow!
Tonight we finished up with some really good dinner at a local restaurant, as well as some good recovery for tomorrow!
Cheers!
Hannah Miller
This is the fourth in a series of daily "Postcards from Sarasota." Check back Saturday to see what LeeAnn Arrington has to say about the final day of racing at Nathan Benderson Park.
