Recap - Saturday, June 6th

Today was a great day!!!!

We participated in our first international regatta.  No, it wasn’t Sheaffer’s and Anna’s first, but it was their first where they were not just athletes, but also in charge of helping the younger athletes get on the water.  Italy didn’t come to the regatta, after all, but France, Moldova, and Uzbekestan, as well as other clubs from Romania were here.

The regatta started out a bit rough.  Sheaffer and I had not thought to discuss with Coach Zabet who we would go to to get our athletes’ boats.  There were so many people on the docks, and so many languages being spoken, it got very confusing.  Our boys, who were the first racers, didn’t know which boats they were supposed to use.  They had practiced in a variety of boats, but no one athlete had been assigned any particular boat.  I went on the docks to take pics and I just didn’t realize at first what was going on.  Sheaffer was running the bullpen on shore because access to the docks was being restricted, so he couldn’t see what was happening.  Tanner came and found me and asked what they were supposed to about boats. YIKES!!!!

In short order, we found two men and one older RO athlete who helped us for the rest of the day.  They were the ones we went to when we didn’t have what we need and they found it for us. Still, in the first confusion, Ricky and Blake missed their K2 and Ricky and Stanton missed their K1s.  They said it was very confusing trying to figure out what race they were in when no one spoke English at the start line. All three athletes were very disappointed to have missed a race, but they were not ugly about it to us.

After the second missed race, we finally got our rhythm going and things pretty much moved smoothly from then on.  I don’t have the actual finished in front of me, but I know that Holly and Rebecca got a 4^th place finish in a 500m K1 heat and the girls plus RO athlete Alexandra got a 3^rd place finish in the 1000m K4 final.  I know Tanner and Stanton both did really well in K1 and K2 events. I just don’t remember their exact places.  By the time y’all read this, I will have found out and posted it in tomorrow’s blog, so don’t groan.

Stanton and Tanner getting ready to race

I have to comment on how this regatta was run. Now, I have heard so much about the might of the European athlete, right?  So, I was expecting this regatta to be run like a merciless machine, with each event starting precisely on time whether everyone was at the start line or not.  I envisioned  a fancy timing machine that took down times to the millisecond.  Instead, I found a regatta that could easily have been put on at LCKC.  When it became obvious that the USA team was having some problems getting athletes to the start line, Coach Zebet held the races until we had things straight. When Heather couldn’t fit her extended footboard into the boat she was going to use, folks stopped what they were doing and considered what would be the best boat for her, then they went and got it.  Timing was done by handheld stop watches by folks sitting on the sun deck on top of the boat house.  Flipped athletes were rescued by a small boat that took TWO pulls to start.  That made me feel almost like I was back home. (OK, I’ll stop teasing about the boat motors at LCKC.) 

After the regatta, Coach Zabet took the various teams’ officials and all of us on cruise down the Danube.  While on the cruise, he introduced Sheaffer to the other coaches as the captain of his “special guests.”  He made Sheaffer very welcome among the coaches.  He also gave Sheaffer some gifts for our athletes – very cool t-shirts and pins.  Our kids were thrilled and, to be honest, so were Susan and I with our snazzy shirts.  I’m not sure I’m going to share this one with Chuck. ;)

The cruise was wonderful.  There was more food than we could possible eat and lots of different drinks to try.  Our kids were taken down below and stuffed just as full as the wonderful ladies who cooked and served the food could make them.  There was something for everyone and I can report that ALL ate well.  Ricky has developed a tasted for the small fried fish that they serve here and his fellow athletes were kind enough to let him have all he wanted.  The chicken legs and various dips and side dishes were eaten by everyone, though.  The desserts were beautiful cakes and pastries and they were sweet!!! American sweet, even.  They didn’t last long, though.

I was, of course, taking lots of pictures, and I was lucky enough to have the sights pointed out to me by various members of the party.  It was obvious that these folks are very proud of their country and they wanted to make sure I had pictures of all the sights to share with y’all back home.  A young lady named Sylvia, who spoke excellent English, came to tell me the details of what I was seeing.  She pointed out the gate on the Serbian side of the Danube that was carved by the Serbians as a reminder to the Romanians of the time that Serbia conquered Romania.  On the Romanian side of the river was a carving of the face of the king who pushed back the Serbians.  We also saw a monastery at the point where the boat turned around.  It was very cool cruising down the river, knowing that we were straddling the border between two countries.

The Statue of Dacian king Decebalus is a 40-meter high statue that is the tallest rock sculpture in Europe.

I have to say that I was very proud of the way that our athletes conducted themselves.  They were very interested in what our hosts had to say, and they asked very intelligent questions about the geography and history of the countries they were seeing.  Heather showed off her language skills by saying “thank you” for us frequently in Romanian.  As Claudiu promised, his countrymen were thrilled that she was attempting to learn their language and they responded by giving language lessons to all of our athletes. Our hosts seemed very pleased with our athletes.

Once we returned to shore, the party continued in the gymnasium that is in front of the school.  The RO athletes were having a dance and they came running to get our kids to join them.  Given that racing doesn’t start until 9ish tomorrow, Captain Sheaffer graciously allowed the US athletes a few minutes to party with their new friends.  I, however, was told I could not take my camera into the gym for pictures.  What a bunch of party poopers!

Finally, we all got to our rooms to settle down.  Before we could go to bed, though, we had to refill the various water bottles that we have collected.  Susan and I have been refilling the bottles with water put thru my Brita pitcher because our kids seem to prefer the taste.  Club Orsova has graciously provided us with lots of different kinds of bottled water, but the kids seem to enjoy the Brita most, so we’ve been trying to keep the bottles filled.  I wasn’t much help tonight as I started writing this blog entry, so Susan ended up doing it.  A big thank you to her!!!!

I think everyone is getting a bit homesick.  I know I am!!  When I stepped out on that dock and realized that Brenda, Beth, Perrie, James, Pete, Phil, and all the other LCKC parents who work so hard to put on the wonderful events that we have at LCKC weren’t going to be there to work their magic, I got homesick FAST!!  Folks, please let me tell you that all of us here have a new true appreciation for what you do.  Thank you all.

Something funny:  the kids have shown a real interest in this blog.  Apparently, they have been reading it online. Now, they comment that I need to be sure and put this in the blog when something happens.  Tonight, Holly and Rebecca asked to read the entries that I have been writing to post when we have internet again.  They seemed pleased with what I’ve written. Who knew?

Take care,

Marcy