LCKC Big Green Blog

2009 USA Canoe Kayak National Championships - Day 2

2009-08-21T14:54:00.001-04:00

Day two of the 2009 USA Canoe Kayak Sprint National Championships is complete. Athletes from all over the US met this morning to compete in the 500 meter events, which were held on the site of the 1996 Centennial Olympic paddling & rowing events.

Today's action saw cooler weather, more fast times, and VERY close finishes.

Day three features 200 meter heats and races, and distance events. The racing program starts back up at 8am EST.

The event was broadcast live via The LCKC Channel with a couple of interruptions due to technical difficulties with our Internet feed. This is an emerging technology and we've had almost 40,000 different users watch the event over the last 2 days. If we had that many people visit our venue this week, imagine the traffic jam! We have our techie fingers crossed that tomorrow's events will be covered without interruption.

Video from today's races have been posted to the On Demand Library at The LCKC Channel, and are also being rebroadcasted on our video loop for those who may have missed it.

All of today's official results at Powerhouse Timing.

Once again, LCKC wishes to extend our thanks to all the teams, coaches, officials, and volunteers that contributed to making this year's Nationals possible. Good luck tomorrow!

2009 USA Canoe Kayak National Championships - Day 1

2009-08-20T20:58:00.001-04:00

Day one of the 2009 USA Canoe Kayak Sprint National Championships is complete. Athletes from all over the US met this morning to compete in the 1000 meter events, which were held on the site of the 1996 Centennial Olympic paddling & rowing events.

Today's action saw some suprising wins, fast times, and special moments. (when's the last time you saw a 7-year old complete a 1000m race?) LCKC is proud to have the opportunity to host this year's event, and if today's events are any indication of what's to come, we're all in for a great Nationals. Day two features 500 meter heats and races. The racing program starts back up at 8am EST.

The event was broadcast live via The LCKC Channel with a couple of interruptions due to technical difficulties with our Internet feed. We apologise for the disruption and we are taking steps to insure that future problems are less likely to occur.

Video from the morning and afternoon sessions have been posted to the On Demand Library at The LCKC Channel. Today's races are also being rebroadcasted on our video loop for those who may have missed it.

All of today's official results at Powerhouse Timing.

LCKC wishes to extend our thanks to all the teams, coaches, officials, and volunteers that contributed to making this year's Nationals possible. Good luck everyone!

US Team reports from 2009 Jr. Worlds in Moscow: Day 2 - 1000m Semis

2009-08-01T09:14:00.002-04:00

Here's more from Cheryl in Moscow - via Mac Hickox:

DAY 2 — SATURDAY, AUGUST1 — MORNING REPORT

1000M SEMI FINALS

6:50 — Coach Barlow, Ben Hefner, Ian Ross and I leave the hotel for our 15 minute walk to the boat house

7:20 — Ben goes to the water for his pre race paddle

WEATHER — clear blue sky & “dead calm”

MOOD — the atmosphere is changing – some athletes are still competing while others are out – the semi finals have been announced and some are “harder” than others BUT all are very demanding – some countries will be battling for placement into the ‘A’ Finals while others will fight to get into the ‘B’ Final.

In the end it will be about your time – there will be very few surprises – times that have been posted throughout the year, see some improvement BUT 10, 15 and 20 second improvements in the last six weeks will not occur.

8:35 — Ben clears Boat Debarkation & heads up the course to SF #1 with top 3 to ‘A’ Final / 4 - 7 to ‘B’ Final / with next best time from either semi final also going to ‘B’ Final — Rest Out – his goal is the ‘B’ Final – it will be very competitive – he will have a battle to make the ‘B’ Final BUT it is doable

Rest of the team arrives with Coach Anderson. Chris Miller and Zach Robertson have secured the video camera and long range camera and are off to the grandstand – their assistance is appreciated

MK2 — have gone to the water for a pre race paddle

Wk2 — have gone to the water for a pre race paddle

9:00 — SF #1 – Lane # 9 Ben Hefner USA – finishes 9^th in a time of 4:36.198 / 1^st place is 4:13.913 from Kazakhstan – this athlete raced at the Beijing Olympics in C1

Japan was 7^th in 4:26.550 and 8^th place was 4:28.528 – Ben is eliminated.

Reaching the dock he was emotionally upset – he did not have his best performance and in this arena, that is all you can ask of yourself – a personal best must be brought when it counts – this morning it counted.

10:00 — MK2 – final prep period is on – Luke and Cedric are now loosening up near the boat – a few final reminders of the progression – it is strictly by position – Top 3 to ‘A’ Final / 4 – 6 to ‘B’ Final.

They race well and execute their plan to perfection – they are exhausted as they paddle to Boat Control – they are elated as they should be they have just done a personal best and finished 6^th – they are in the ‘B’ Final with a time of 3:29.630 / Japan was 5^thwith a 3:28.811 – in the SF #1 – 4^th was Iran in 3:28.070 and 5^th Ukraine was 3:29.527. SF # 3 – Great Britain was 5^th with a 3:28.031, while Slovakia was 6^th in 3:30.742

It is exciting for the whole team to see a crew perform so well. It will be a great B final at 3:36 this afternoon.

10:40 — WK2 – Chelsea Smith and Katy Hill are now headed to the Boat Debarkation – they are quiet but determined – they are reminded of the progression and the need to bring all they have. “Get ‘er done” is the last thing they hear – Chelsea smiles broadly.

Their performance although raced according to their plan places them in 9^th in their SF with a time of 4:06.256 – they are out of the 1000m competition – 8^th was Iran in a time of 4:04.381 and 7^th was from Japan with 4:03.436 and 6^th Belarus – 4:00.393. In the SF # 1 – Poland was 1^st in 3:52.369 / 1^st in SF #2 was Germany in 3:50.367

This morning dramatically showed all countries how competitive the ICF Junior World Championships have become. Our time standards are very relevant for USA to continue to attain – Luke Potts and Cedric Bond will carry the stars and stripes into our only final this afternoon. As Cedric Bond stood tall on opening night as our flag bearer – he and his partner Luke Potts will do us proud this afternoon

Mac Hickox
National Development Director
USA Canoe Kayak

US Team reports from 2009 Jr. Worlds in Moscow: Day 1 - 500m Heats

2009-07-31T22:14:00.000-04:00

Here's more from Cheryl in Moscow - via Mac Hickox:

DAY 1 — Friday July 31 — AFTERNOON REPORT

500M HEATS

3:00 — Coach Barlow and C2 of Ben Hefner and Ian Ross arrive and immediately head ovr to Boat Control to be sure boat is still making weight – ALL IS GOOD.

3:30 — MK2 Luke Potts and Cedric Bond arrive and head to the water 15 minutes later

4:00 Coach Anderson arrives with the rest of our team – many have slept BUT all have eaten since the races this morning

NOTE: the food at our hotel has been very good, but all teams feel that the portions have been limited – the delegations appeal for extra quantities – Org Com says this will imp[rove tonight

5:00 — MK2 heads back to the water for their 500m heat

NOTE: the wind has dropped off a bit BUT remains a steady tailwind

WK2 has returned from their pre race paddle

WK4 will also go to the water for a pre race paddle – long before their scheduled 7:30 start

NOTE: most teams in the sport are dong this – a pre race paddle to check out wind, boat and to relax the nerves of all involved – this is followed by the normal on water warm up just prior to the start time.

5:30 — MC2 – 5^th of 7 in a 2:04.03 – Lane # 8 – wash from lane #7 from the Czech Republic, who finished second was a difficulty that forced major adjustments to an otherwise solid first 250m – winning time of 1:43.71 – “good performance for a young C2” both have another year in Junior – Coach form Sweden remarked that it was good to see USA competitive in the canoe events.

Both Ian and Ben were very happy with their performance and look forward to Sunday’s semi finals.

6:00 — MK2 – must finish in the top 6 or have one of the 3 fastest times outside the top 24 – first 6 in each of the 4 heats advance plus the next 3 fastest times – ready for this – their time of 1:39.214 was second fastest – 3^rd fastest was 1:39.514 and eliminated was 1:39.844. MK2 advances to the semi final

6:30 WK2 — finish 6^th with a time of 1:56.52 – this placement will advance the WK2 of Chelsea Smith and Katy Hill to the 500m semi final – the girls K2 is ranked 17^th out of 20 – are targeting the B final — sub 1:50 will be needed for the A final

MK4 heads to the water – for heat #2 and lane 9

NOTE: events are seeded based on your nation’s performance in the previous Junior World Championships

Our team of Jared McArthur / Nick Hanoian / Chris Miller and Zach Robertson finish 9^th and are eliminated – time of 1:34.062 – winning time of 1:24.413 – our MK4 is ranked 27^th of 27 – this is a very disappointing result for all involved – the 4 boys gave everything they had and just admit that the field is exceptionally fast.

NOTE: I wish to thank the crew for all of their efforts over the past 6 weeks – they gave everything they had all of the time – it was a pleasure for every coach who worked with them.

7:30 — WK4 – finishes 5^th of 6 in a time of 1:44.264 and is ranked 14^th of 19 and a solid shot of being in the B final and ranking in the top 12 in the World

It has been a very good first day – all crews have advanced to the semi finals except the MK4. A team meeting has just concluded and the four men are handling their setback as I would expect of this group. They are now in a very supportive role of their team mates who are advancing and will assist with video and stroke rate recording for the remaining races.

Mac Hickox

National Development Director

USA Canoe Kayak

Team Leader Moscow Junior World Championships Team

US Team reports from 2009 Jr. Worlds in Moscow: Day 1 - 1000m Heats

2009-07-31T22:10:00.002-04:00

Cheryl Smith is in Moscow with the team, and she sent this report she received from Mac Hickox - Team Coach.

DAY 1 — Friday July 31 — MORNING REPORT

1000M HEATS

7:00 — Coach Barlow, Ben Hefner and I walk to the course – weather is perfect – clear blue sky – no wind

7:30 — Ben heads to the water for a warm up

8:00 — Ben back from his easy paddle / water secured from the Org Com for our team / Coach Anderson at breakfast with rest of the team

Vaija / Nelo and Plastex booths are open for service – we have picked up our MK4 that needed some small hull repairs discovered during Boat Control on Wednesday

One country is frantically going through Boat Control – unbelievable, one hour prior to the start of the regatta..

Coach Barlow and I take Ben’s boat over to Boat Control to recheck the boat weight – 16.2 kg

8:35 — Ben heads to water – each athlete must clear “Boat Debarkation” – our process has a Coach and Team Leader go through carrying the boat while the athlete carries their paddle – the ICF official checks their boat for the Boat Control sticker / athlete Body Number and Athlete Photo ID

Coach Barlow goes up the course on his bike to support Ben – athletes paddle up a warm up channel then must dock and crossover a grass median to another dock on the race course.– athletes are not allowed to paddle up the race course for their race

8:45 – Two USA Canoe Kayak ICF accredited officials — Connie Hagler and Connie Naughton go to their positions

9:00 Races begin.

9:07 – Heat #2 – Lane 9 – 1000m C1 – Ben Hefner – Result = 7^th 4:27:52 – ranked 18^th of 25 – his goal is now to qualify for the B final - top 9 to ‘A’ Final; 11 – 18 to ‘B’ Final

Poland recorded the fastest time with a 3:59 – the Polish entry won the Pre Test Regatta September, 2008.

Ben said it was cool in the start area when each country is called to the line – “Lane 9 USA” he was very proud to be part of the Junior World Championships as are all of our athletes.

Earlier in the week we took the team over to where the Org Com has all of the competing nation flags – there are 55 countries competing in this the 13^th ICF Junior World Championships – it was pointed out to our athletes that it is because of them that the US flag is on that pole – if we are not here competing, our flag is not present – then we said on a count of 3 the loudest Team USA you have ever heard – Putin could hear it in his parliament office in downtown Moscow..

10:15 — WK4 heads back to the hotel, a short 15 minute walk up the side of the course, after a light am paddle, as there is no 1000m for women, they will compete this afternoon in the 500m heats.

MK2 returns from their pre race paddle while the WK2 warms up and stretches with bands.

11:00 — MK2 heads to the water while WK2 continue their pre race routine

MK2 — finishes 4th 3:26.70 and advances to the semi final — ranked 13^th of 33. Luke and Cedric both felt they need to back of a little in the first 500 to be able to attack more in the final 500m

11:30 — WK2 finishes 5^th 4:02.25 and advances to the semi final — ranked 19^th of 25. Katy and Chelsea also felt that they have to back off a little in the first 500m in order to attack the final 500m

11:50 — MK4 heads to the water – 2 of the athletes are asked to remove wrist watches – these are not prohibited by the rules – the Chief Official indicated this at the Team Leaders meeting the day before – another example of an official being too officious – it was refreshing to hear the Chief Official say that we must educate the Juniors versus punish them through disqualification.

MK4 – finishes their race and feel that was the best they have felt – finishing 8^th in a time of 3:14.90 — ranked 27thof 28 – they are eliminated – their time in a strong tailwind today has not improved since Lake Placid.

Mac Hickox
National Development Director
USA Canoe Kayak

Atlanta-bound team safely home

2009-07-08T18:19:00.001-04:00

Hi!

The French airport was very entertaining for our group. Some of the more energetic boys and girls found that with no one in the airport, it was fun to play escalator games and run with the carts to burn up that excess energy from our bus ride. Some of the kids were still pretty tired, so Holly, Blake and Heather decided to take a nap. Marcy had a great idea to enclose an area with the carts and bags and we patiently waited for the airport to "wake up" so we could begin our journey to our next destinations.

Once we were able to get in to our gates at the airport in France, the Atlanta-bound group found our flight to Amsterdam was delayed. It was not the news homesick people wanted to hear, but, the pilot must have seen the desperation in our eyes. He gets many kudos from our group for making a 1 1/2 hour plane ride into a 45 minute plane ride. We landed in Amsterdam ON schedule, but the four of us (Sheaffer, Blake, Anna and myself) literally had to jog to make our connecting flight which was to leave in about 35-40 minutes and was located totally across the airport (from gate 1 to 47). All of those monastery runs must have paid off, because we made it without any problems. Our flight back was uneventful. The fun part was when Blake had taken a nap and Sheaffer tried to convince him that while he slept the plane had problems and was on its way back to Amsterdam. Blake ended up not totally buying it, and we landed with our nine hour flight feeling more like fifteen hours. The fun wasn't over, because once we slid quickly through customs and were retrieving our luggage, mine wasn't there. It took quite a while to get through the line to take care of all of the paperwork, but many thanks goes to Sheaffer for staying with me (thanks to Anna and Blake who also had to endure the long wait) and making sure all of the paperwork was done properly and with the correct numbers so my bags could be found. We finally went through security for the final time and were able to get on the shuttle and out to our loved ones who were patiently waiting for our return. On a happy note, my luggage was found and returned safe and intact. Thank you KLM for finding it!!

Susan Shilling

Back in the USA!

2009-06-29T16:18:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone!

Approximately 2pm est the team flew into JFK International in New York. They had to take a shuttle bus to LaGuardia, and had a 7 hour stayover until the flight later this evening to get to the Lake Placid area.

Heather called, and said "...the trip on the plane was long but nice.". She also reports that the rumors about the acquisition of cheeseburgers were untrue. She said she planned on "... eating one of everything on the $1 menu!"

The Decize International Regatta results are linked here.

I hope to get a call from Marcy when they get settled, and perhaps they can fill in the details of the last couple of days, as well as continue the blog from Lake Placid.

If anyone hears any word about our Atlanta-bound travelers, please let me know at chucklana@mac.com and I'll post it here!

10:20pm update:

Kelley Foote (Blake's mom) reports the Atlanta-bound part of the Romania team have returned safely! Also, Ms. Susan may have lost her luggage (yikes!) and yes, Blake is VERY happy to be back home, and he did indeed eat a cheeseburger in Germany.

It's great to have y'all back home.

10:30pm update - The Lake Placid group has arrived in Albany, and is waiting for Claudiu at the airport to take them the rest of the way to the Training Center. The plane they took was apparently, well, one of the SMALL ones and she reports it felt like the ground crew had to come over & push it away from the gate when they left New York.

She also mentioned some of the team took the opportunity to snooze a bit more.

On their way home

2009-06-28T14:36:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone!

I'ts about 2:30 est and we still have no word from the team in France.

The Decize International Regatta's site shows no new entries, and there were to be events today up until 3pm est. Hopefully, the event team updates its web site & provides final results today.

Again, as soon as we hear anything regarding the team, we will post it here.

7:30 update:

Blake Foote called home on Ricky's phone (the only Euro-phone the team has), and he reports the team has left for the airport. Apparently our LCKC athletes did well at the regatta. We will find out more once the team gets back to the US. But one thing we did find out stands out amongst all - they all got their cheeseburgers in France! WooHoo!

10:11pm update:

Marcy called from Paris! The team is at the airport, and will be flying back to the States tonight. They'll be back at about 2pm est. The team had a great time in France, and she said that the regatta went "... really really well."

Decize International Regatta - Day 1

2009-06-27T18:22:00.008-04:00

Hi everyone!

We've not yet heard anything from the team in Decize. However, the French national canoe/kayak organization has lots of info about the event (and Google gives a hand with translations):

"...Over 1400 boats participating this weekend to the famous international racing Decize. The opportunity for paddlers to try one last time before the French championships. Over 410 races are coming at a furious pace all weekend! ... Once again everything is done to make this race a success ..."

Paddlers on the course in warmup area

We've downloaded the day 1 race order (and perhaps results - we can't tell since there are no times listed). As we get access to more data we will publish it here and on the LCKC website.

Day 1 Results (I think...)

By the way - one of the French tourism sites have a note about Decize:

"Decize is a charming little town that sits on a rocky island in the middle of the river Loire. It is surrounded by some fantastic countryside that is home to the famous Charolais cattle that produce France's finest beef."

B E E F ?!?!? Oh my goodness. Considering how cow-hungry the team is - they MIGHT want to warn the farmers! Lock up your cattle! Here comes LCKC!!!

No word from Decize

2009-06-26T10:36:00.003-04:00

Bonjour!

Decize on the Loire River

The team should be in Decize, France today. I'm not sure if the team is actually staying in Decize, since it is a very small town on the Loire River. If we get any word from our folks there, I will update the blog.

6pm update:

Coach Claudiu reports that he spoke with Coach Zebet yesterday. At that time, they were two hours outside of Desize.

The trip was going well, and they would be practicing in town today. Claudio also reports that the trip to Lake Placid went well, and our team there is currently practicing hard and doing great.

The long hard road - trip update

2009-06-24T17:15:00.006-04:00

Hi folks!

The team left Orsova yesterday afternoon at 4pm our time (approx.) on the way to France. Marcy reports the ride took over 24 hours (with 3 stops), through Romania, Austria, and Hungary. The bus has stopped in Karlsruhe, Germany (near the French border) to stay at the Radisson Hotel.

LCKC team hotel

The team is looking forward to a good nights rest, and some hot food. They will enter France tomorrow. Marcy said she'll try to get a blog entry on the trip together for posting soon. The Internet access at the hotel has been swamped with users, so they've not had a lot of access to it since they arrived there at 3:30pm our time.

Last day in Orsova

2009-06-23T08:28:00.005-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to make sure that everyone remembers that we are leaving for France this evening about 9 pm. The kids are about to bounce off the walls, so I doubt that there will be much Skyping going on tonight. I’ll be holding most of the kids back with one hand as they crowd on the bus and trying to drag Heather on the bus with the other hand. Heather has decided that she must be part Romanian and she doesn’t want to leave. Coach Zebet and Coach Bebe have thoroughly spoiled our kids, especially our girls.

Driving on the E60 (in parts) to avoid the Alps: Passing through Hungary, Austria and Germany to get to France

As far as I know, we will drive thru tonight, but we will stop in Germany on Weds. night. We will be stopping at a hotel (please, God, let it be air conditioned with a real shower and internet!) and, if possible, we will Skype and email then.

All the kids are currently off of restriction WOOOHOOOO and are free to run their errands until 5:00 pm tonight. Moms, please prepare yourselves for their conversion to European culture. LOL

Take care and keep us in your prayers as we travel,
Marcy

Lazy days - Sunday, June 21, 2009 Recap

2009-06-22T07:44:00.006-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was a lazy day. Everyone seemed to get a late start, and breakfast was rather quiet. We found out that Coach Zebet had arranged for us to go on the 2 pm river cruise, so we all came in early for lunch. The roast chicken and rice were as good as always.

The cruise was very nice. We sat below deck this time, where the coaches met on our last cruise. We could go out the front or sit below at almost water level. This time the boat didn’t turn around at the monastery, but went several miles beyond before turning around.

Mraconia Church - on the Danube

After the cruise, everyone pretty much went to take a nap until dinner time. Though they’d die rather than admit it, all of the athletes have gotten accustomed to napping from 2 to 4. We met at 6:30 and went as a team to Demera, our favorite pizza joint. We have been there so many times, the waitress pretty much knew our order, though Sheaffer and I mixed her up a bit by ordering pasta, rather than any of our normal dishes. The first time we had her, she made a mistake with Blake’s order, but she has never gotten it wrong again; she seems to take pride in getting everything just right.

Sheaffer waited with me while I stopped and bought a drink. I drew his attention to the haze covering the mountains and how it seemed to be moving. He grinned and said, very politely, “Mrs. Lana, that’s rain.” And then the heavens opened up. LOL It was a beautiful rain, one we would have loved to have had in GA last year. It cleared the air of pollen, cooled things off, and, hallelujah!!! shut the dogs up. It was the best night’s sleep I’d had since I got here.

It's a rainy night in... Orsova...

Just before bed, Sheaffer came running into the meeting room to tell us that we are leaving Tues. night, not Weds., as we had thought. This makes more sense as we will probably travel thru the night on Tues., then stop in Germany for Weds. night. We have enjoyed our visit here, but we are looking forward to seeing someplace new before we go back home. Heather and Holly were the only ones who weren’t ready to go; they have made a bunch of friends here, and they hate to leave them. Hopefully, these friends will be among those coming to stay a LCKC in October.

Take care,

Marcy

Kill it! - Saturday, June 20, 2009 Recap

2009-06-21T14:28:00.002-04:00

Hi Everybody,

The kids had time trials this morning and, while none of the times were great, most were a decided improvement over the times from the earlier trials and the regatta. I think that when our athletes get home to their own boats, they are going to be very pleased.

We did a team dinner last night at a new restaurant and it was very good, but hot and slow. Most of the kids ate pizzas, but some of us tried the spaghetti carbonara. It was definitely different than any other version of that dish that I have tried. Not bad, just different.

After dinner, we came back to the club and I had an amazing revelation. Last year, for the Peachtree City Dragonboat Festival, Chuck set my laptop up to act as a wireless router. Both of us had completely forgotten about it until tonight. I was whining, again, about not being able to load any new books on my iTouch, and looking online for some way to get around the need for wireless. One of the book sites mentioned turning your laptop into a wireless device and DING!DING!DING! the light went on. So, now my machine is broadcasting like a wireless router and Susan, Sheaffer and the other LCKC folks with a laptop are able to access the internet via a wireless connection. Of course, this presumes that the internet is working to begin with, something not to be taken for granted.

Artist's rendition of killer Romanian spider from last night

I have to tell y’all about my new hero, Susan. Last night she valiantly defended me from a spider the size of Godzilla. We had been in bed about 10 minutes and I was just dropping off to sleep, when something brushed my arm a couple of times. I thought it was just a couple of mosquitoes….until multiple legs ran across my hand. I came out of that bed so fast I left the covers floating above the mattress. I shined the light from my iTouch on the wall above the bed, and there, on the wall, was Spiderzilla. No joke, the unblessed thing was about 4 inches across. Susan jumped out of bed, took one look at Spiderzilla, and grabbed her shoe. She smashed that booger until he resembled the pate they serve in picnics here. So here’s to Susan, mighty spider killer, and my hero.

Take care,

Marcy

Two all beef patties, special sauce... - Friday, June 19, 2009 Recap

2009-06-21T12:09:00.005-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Well, today is almost over and that is the best thing I can say about it. PHEW!!! 8 teenagers + 19 days halfway across the world from home = 1 tired team momma. (and possibly one greying 19 year old team captain.)

The RO athletes told our kids about a nearby town that had a Nike/Adidas/Puma outlet and a KFC, and our kids have been dying to go ever since. Today, Coach Zebet arranged for his driver to take Susan, Sheaffer and I to this town. Our driver arrived about, oh, 3 hours earlier than we thought he would, so we were a bit disorganized getting away. The town was only about 20 km away and it only took us a few minutes to get there, but it was very different than Orsova. Think the difference between Rabbittown and Gainesville. The town was beautiful to look at, and we really enjoyed the drive. Apparently, there is a big difference between the RO and American definitions of outlet.

Our driver/host, Pedro, and his daughter, Roxana, graciously took us to a number of stores that carried the above brands, but we couldn’t find RO soccer jerseys or any spandex for Tanner. We did manage to find a tiny bakery that had the most divine pastries and pretzels. Sheaffer and Susan went for the pretzels, but I had a fabulous, fresh-baked chocolate croissant. My mouth just waters thinking about it.

Sweet dreams are made of this...

It was a good thing we had a snack, because we missed lunch at the club. The three of us went for lunch when we returned at our favorite pizza joint. They know us so well there, they just asked if were having cheeseburgers, fried chicken, or pizza. Today it was the chicken cheeseburgers. I love sitting there on the patio, sipping either a cold drink (yes! They have ice there now) or an espresso. Susan and I agree that we are beginning to feel like rich exiles. After all, a full meal with coffee or drink is only about $5, less than one Starbucks’s venti breve cappuccino.

Ba da ba ba baaa - I'm missin' it.

The kids are tired of being away from home and everything familiar. They have enjoyed their visit, have made good gains in their practice, but they are ready to see something familiar. McDonald’s is the most requested site, followed by their pets and Moms. Tempers are a bit sharper than earlier in the trip, and tears seem to come easier. Still, I think everyone is looking forward to France and a bit of new scenery.

Take Care,

Marcy

Thursday, June 18, 2009 Recap

2009-06-18T19:36:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was a very nice day, probably my most favorite since we got here. The weather was pretty - a little hot, a little windy, but nice overall. The kids paddled in the morning and did weights before lunch, then had their afternoon nap. After the nap, they were free to explore the town and do some shopping.

Blake did have an upset stomach last night, but it wasn’t as bad as we had feared. He felt better by this morning and was grinning at his mistake. Heather was ok for part of the day, but didn’t feel so great in the evening. She decided to skip dinner and just sip some tea.

Susan and I had a lovely afternoon. After lunch, we went to our favorite place and I had a coffee and Susan had a soda. She says she can’t drink coffee that is so thick you can stand a spoon in it; I think that describes the perfect cup of espresso. LOL Oh well, different strokes and all that. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the other café where they make a cappuccino she likes. We spent a couple of hours at the café, sipping our drinks and talking. The kids knew where we were and they waved at us as they came by. Some stopped in and had a soda, but you don’t think they sat with us old folks do you?!

We did a bit of shopping before we returned to the club. We ran into Ricky and Stanton at Penny’s and they showed us the right orange juice to buy for the team. I have been trying to make sure we keep OJ on hand for when the kids come off the water a bit shaky and needing a fast sugar hit. Earlier in the week, I misread the label and purchased a brand of juice that didn’t meet their expectations, so the boys wanted to make sure we bought the right stuff.

It was so much fun the local dogs wanted to join in...

After dinner was my favorite part of the day. I mentioned to Sheaffer that I wished we had some cards and, lo and behold, he had some. He brought them into the meeting room and he, Susan, and I were going to play. Tanner, Heather and Blake wandered in and sat down to play, so Susan and I sat at the other end of the table and dj-ed the music. I have an eclectic collection of music on my laptop, and I played a varied selection. The kids knew a lot of the music and made requests for other songs they knew I had. For about 2 hours, the four of them laughed and cut-up as they played Hearts. By curfew time, we had the whole crew up here, laughing and enjoying the music. It was such a nice way to end the day.

Take care,

Marcy

Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion... - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Recap

2009-06-18T08:45:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was so windy, I was absolutely amazed that they went on the water this morning. Out they went, though. We had a lot of high winds during the night and a bit of rain. The wind upset the dogs and they spent most of the night barking wildly. Can you guess how much sleep Susan and I got? The kids slept like the dead, though, and awoke amazed at how hard the wind was blowing.

Heather went to bed queasy, and woke up still feeling ill. She went out and did the warm-up, but Coach Zebet didn’t want her in a boat, feeling so ill. Her nausea didn’t get better until it first got worse, but by supper she was fine. Susan was also a bit under the weather and spent most of the day resting in the room.

Plop, plop, fizz fizz... Whoops! Wrong ad!

Blake discovered that a lot of the trees on the side of the street are cherry trees, and they are loaded with fruit. He picked a bunch of the tiny green fruits, ate some, and brought the rest upstairs to share. I asked him if he had washed them, and, being a boy, he hadn’t. His teammates and I advised him not to eat any more because we were fairly sure that these particular cherries are RED when they are ripe. He agreed not to eat any more tonight, so we’ll see how his stomach does overnight.

At supper last night, the kids agreed to split the extra cutlet 4 ways. Stanton told us that he should be the one to do the dividing because he was, and I quote, “an expert chicken cutterer.”He must have been as good as his word, because no one fussed about the size of their portion.

I spoke with Coach Zebet today about the trip to France. He is planning on leaving next Wednesday and spending the night somewhere in Germany. We will pass thru Austria, Hungary, and Germany on our way to Decize, France. On Saturday there will be some heats, but most of the day will be for the 5K race. On Sunday, the heats will be in the morning and the finals will be in the afternoon. The races should be done somewhere around 6, then he will take us to Paris. Hopefully, we will be able to drive around the city and see something of the monuments.

Take care,

Marcy

Sweet Dreams - Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Recap

2009-06-17T08:24:00.002-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was a bit of a crazy day, as far as training goes. The boys’ coach was not at practice for the second morning in a row. We have been concerned that his wife, who was our interpreter on the cruise and who is expecting their first child, may be ill. All of us hope that that is not the case.

Susan voluntarily ran to the monastery today. She is trying to stay in shape while she is here, so she made her second trip up the mountain. I wished her well and made sure we had cold water ready when she got back. She said the view was beautiful, but the run up the hill was rough. Since having to run to the monastery is our preferred method of discipline for our athletes, I know the kids were dying to ask what she did that was so bad SHE got sent to the monastery, but they didn’t ask. LOL As tired as they are with training, I don’t think they can imagine someone making that run for fun.

After lunch, while the kids napped, Susan and I walked to one of the restaurants and had an espresso and watched the river flow. Well, I had an espresso; Susan had a water. She says she can’t drink a coffee thick enough to stand a spoon in. I don’t know what the problem is as I think the coffee is divine, but, then, I am a coffee fiend. Yesterday she and I found a neat little dessert/ice cream place, but we have vowed not to go back again as we are unable to resist. The desserts at this place, unlike all the other desserts we’ve tried here, were sweet. Dangerous, indeed.

Ok ma'am: please step away from the pastry...

The second practice this morning was the 5^th practice, so the kids had the afternoon off. After their naps, most went off to explore the city and shop for souvenirs. A couple ran errands for us; strangely, we had no problems finding volunteers to go buy toilet paper, orange juice, and ketchup, as those are things no one wants to run out of again.

A storm is trying to move in and the wind has really picked up. I think it was raining a little while ago, but it seems to have stopped for the moment. The dogs have been restless and barking, but the girls don’t seem to have any trouble sleeping thru all the noise. I hope the boys are sleeping as well as the girls are. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s images of our delicate angels, but more than one of the girls, well, snores. LOL

Take care,

Marcy

Back to work - Monday, June 15, 2009 Recap

2009-06-16T19:12:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Well, today it was back to hard training for everyone. The boys’ training included a mid-day run up to the monastery, and the girls’ practice included some time in team boats. I am not sure which was harder.

The boys came by the room to get water and to let us know that their practice would be longer today. They wanted to make sure that their lunch was not subject to the ‘10 minute rule’. Of course, that rule does not apply when someone is late because of training, so I guess they were just making sure we knew they were training. The run was timed and it was brutal. The sun was very bright and hot, and the boys were doing their best to get respectable times. Sheaffer and Tanner were the first finished, and they were absolutely wiped out. Neither could eat for some time after they got back. Considering that yesterday’s lunch included their favorite - breaded chicken cutlets - that really says how exhausting the run was.

As to the team boats, y’all may not all be aware that two of our girls, who are great friends off the water, are not friends at all in a team boat. Heather and Holly just don’t get along in team boats and never have. They are, however, making a supreme effort to get along here so that they don’t embarrass Claudiu or themselves. Susan and I can each tell you that it took a lot of effort on each girl’s part not to fall into their old habit of squabbling on the water. The team boat practice was hard, and all the girls were very tired when it was over. They were not so tired, however, that they couldn’t eagerly count down the minutes until Anna was 10 minutes late. Anna foiled them however, by arriving exactly 30 seconds before the 10 minute mark. LOL

Note the distance here. This is A Good Thing.

Given the hard morning workouts, it won’t take much imagination to figure out how the kids spent the rest period. Yep, snoozing soundly. Neither heat nor noise seemed to bother any of them. Susan and I went out for a bit, and arrived back just as the girls were due at practice. When we saw that none were downstairs, we hurried to our room to check on them. There, we found 3 Sleeping Beauties, snoring peacefully. They jumped up and got ready for practice in a flash, and made it downstairs just before the other girls headed to the docks.

After supper last night, the kids took turns Skypeing family back home. Over the past few days, these conversations have become more like team events than private conversations. I try to clear the room so each person can have some privacy, but their fellow team members want to make sure that they are telling the stories “correctly,” so they tend to try to stay in the room. Now that we can Skype in the meeting room, we aren’t using the headphones as much and everyone seems to feel free to comment on the conversation. So far, none of the parents seem to be offended or upset by this, but I hope they will let me know if they want to have a private conversation with their athlete.

Take care,

Marcy

Lazy Sunday - Sunday, June 14, 2009 Recap

2009-06-16T19:02:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Everyone slept late today, so we had breakfast a bit later than normal. Table talk centered on how much fun everyone had on Saturday night, and how they want to play the game again before we leave. The weather is cool and breezy, nice for walking.

After breakfast, some of the kids got to jog to the monastery. After running 4+ km uphill and back, the runs around the parking lot back home should be a breeze.

A monastery on the Danube - from the cruise

The day was pretty quiet, with everyone resting and getting ready for this week’s training schedule. Our kitchen ladies served lunch, then left picnic lunches again for dinner. So, we went out for dinner again. One group found an Italian place, complete with pasta, and the other group went back to the standard pizza place. The girls and I were feeling adventurous, even though we went to the stand-by place, and we found a new dish. We were so excited about the lightly breaded, then fried chicken breast served with fries, you would have thought it was prime rib. Still, no fresh veggies, though.

The Internet and Skype were up tonight, so we were able to contact most of the parents. The kids look forward to talking with the folks back home, though some are more forthcoming than others. The boys seem to be a lot quieter and stingy on the details of the trip, while the girls are perfectly willing to discuss the smallest details. At the dinner table, though, there is no difference in talking.

Sheaffer and I have been going over the details of the France trip. Should the rides to Paris not work out, we, with the help of Terri, have lined up a train ride. I am hoping that we will get to see some parts of Paris before we head to the airport, but I am not certain that we will. Sigh, that’s what happens when you travel with kayakers: you get to see water, water, and more water. LOL Oh well.

We had a team meeting last night and reminded everyone of the rules. We only have 10 days left, and we don’t want any mistakes now. By bedtime, everyone was ready to turn in.

Take care,

Marcy

Hey hey HEYYY! - Saturday, June 13 Recap

2009-06-14T10:30:00.005-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was much cooler than yesterday. There was a strong breeze, which felt wonderful, but was rough on the athletes on the water. Luckily, the girls only had one practice today, and it was before the wind picked up. Sheaffer took the boys back up the mountain to the monastery, but this time he let them go a bit slower and stay long enough to buy souvenirs.

There is no such thing as too much sunscreen. Really.

This morning, breakfast conversation consisted of what everyone wants to have for their first breakfast when they get back home. Blake and Sheaffer’s description of their grandmothers’ biscuits and gravy had everyone drooling. Don’t get me wrong, our breakfasts here are wonderful – cereal, fresh bread, a meat platter, Nutella, etc – but there is just something about home cooking, know what I mean?

All practices were finished by noon, but our kids weren’t sure if the nap in the afternoon rule still applied. Most spent the time napping, but some just read quietly. By 3 o’clock, everyone was up and ready to go. Susan and I walked to one of the cell phone stores to see if they had wireless modems, but the store had closed at 1:00 pm. We continued on to the Spar Market for a coffee and a Coke, then some shopping. On the way back, we stopped and sat in the neatest little park and watched the children play. We were feeling very nostalgic about our babies, but that ended when the crying began. LOL The park was so pretty, with lots of roses everywhere. When I think of Orsova, I will definitely remember the roses.

Orsova - from the Danube cruise

Apparently the ladies who handle the housekeeping and cooking here leave early on Saturday. We came in sometime after lunch, which was wonderful, to find little bags with picnic fare stacked on the table. While the food was good, we decided to take this opportunity to go out to dinner. We went in groups so as not to overwhelm any one restaurant, but, strangely enough, we all ended up in the same place – the pizza/ chickenburger place. YUM! The kids came in during the evening and ate their picnics.

I am going to tell y’all about the game the kids played with the RO athletes tonight, but I understand that the description can not possibly convey just how much fun they had playing this. I know it will sound bizarre, but they played it for HOURS, laughing loudly the whole time. Only the boys played; the girls sat on the side and cheered. Heather filmed a lot of it, but I don’t know if the video turned out.

Ok, first athlete stands with his back against the wall and a pillow held over his stomach and “parts.” Second athlete bends at the waist and puts his head against the pillow. Third player puts his head, well, between the second player’s legs and holds on to the second player’s hips. This continues until the first team has formed a chain several athletes long. The second team’s athletes, one at a time, get a running start and jump as far up the chain as they can, landing on the backs of the other team. The first team loses if they break the chain and the second team loses if any of their athletes touch the ground. Weird, huh? Honestly, they played this for hours. Stanton and Blake were talking about how fun it was and how they hoped it would be played again before we leave. They wondered if Claudiu had ever played this and if he would let them play it at our club. Yeah, I promise to get pictures if they play it again.

(Editors note: Having played this with members of my highschool band, I immediately recognized this as the game called 'Buck Buck' made famous by Bill Cosby. Check this entry on Wikipedia for more info, or click here to hear Cosby's version.)

Because no one has any practices tomorrow, Sheaffer allowed everyone to have until 11:30 before they had to be in their rooms. All of the athletes were literally just outside the Club building and easily in view of Susan and me. I have to admit, there were times we just stood on the balcony and stared at them, wondering at the game and how much fun they were having. The only thing needed to play was a pillow, and Stanton said they didn’t have that at first. Forgive me if I go on and on about it, but it just tickled me to see them all out there, laughing and cheering for each other, no matter if the person was Romanian or American. Just kids, having fun on a Saturday night.

Take care,

Marcy

Flo-Rida, Gone Romanian - Friday, June 12th Recap

2009-06-13T18:14:00.004-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Our Internet is completely dead again except the Skype is working. Chuck says it has something to do with the DNS settings and the fact that Skype uses fixed IP addresses. I don’t care why, as long as we have some way to communicate with the folks back home. Today was a pretty exciting day for the adults as we were interviewed by a journalist for a local paper. He brought a previous edition of the paper with him and, on the 3^rd page, there was a picture of our girls receiving their medals from Susan. Cool, huh?

Heather and the girls in the 3rd place 500m K4 - From Saturday's race

Susan and I made a trip with Coach Zebet’s driver into the mountains. The scenery was beautiful and our translator, Roxana, was able to discuss whatever we wanted. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to get carsick on mountain roads and this time was no exception. Still, I think I got some great photos.

The coastline of Romania at dusk

Tuesday night we announced that if anyone was more than 10 minutes late to a meal, their food was up for grabs. We did this for two reasons. First, some of the kids were ignoring dinnertime in order to play longer on the computer games downstairs. Our hosts insist on having some of their athletes clear the table when we are done, and the latecomers meant that these folks were having to make multiple trips upstairs. This was just plain rude and didn’t need to continue. The 2^nd reason is that some of the kids have been making trips into town and eating there, so they weren’t hungry at dinnertime. If they didn’t let us know, the food just sat on their plates and got cold. This was rude not only to our hosts, who went out of their way to provide for us, but also to their fellow diners who would have very much enjoyed having the extra portion. Please understand, this rule does not apply if an athlete isn’t off the water or is involved in some sort of practice at dinnertime.

Last night we had an athlete ignore the dinner hour. He was playing a game he enjoys on the computer and just chose not to come up to eat. He was not happy when he came thru the door, 20 minutes after dinnertime, and was reminded of the rule. There was plenty of bread, vegetables, and sliced meats, but his hot dinner entrée had been divided among his fellow athletes EXACTLY 10 minutes after the assigned dinnertime. He took his ribbing with grace and many promises of retribution, but, clearly, the point had been made. Today, this athlete was first in line for breakfast and lunch.

The RO boys have no practices until Monday, and they are very much enjoying their holiday. It is NEVER quiet here; there is always some sort of music playing. Today, though, must be a record day for the number of music sources playing really different types of music at the same time. Every possible window is open to catch whatever breeze there may be, so I am getting a full dose of RO teenager. On one hand, I have something about a girl with Apple bottom jeans and boot with the fur, and on the other I have something that resembles a temple chant combined with a driving bass beat. I think my fillings are rattling. Am I showing my age?

(Editor's Note - Shorty Got Low is not on Marcy's iPod playlist. Or is any Euro-Techno Trance. I believe the wildest thing she has this trip is Air Supply. :-D )

Take care,

Marcy

Feeling Hot Hot HOT! - Thursday, June 11th Recap

2009-06-13T18:01:00.005-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!! And feeling more like home everyday.

The weather here is very similar to GA – muggy and hot. We are watching the athletes very carefully to make sure that they are staying hydrated and coated in sunscreen. We don’t have a readily available source for Gatorade or Powerade, though Anna and Sheaffer finally found one bottle of Powerade at a small store. Heather got to meet the Orsova team doctor today when she became dizzy and nauseated while doing weights. She had only eaten cereal for breakfast, had gotten very hot and a bit sunburned while paddling, and had completely overheated in the weight room. The doctor gave her some sugar water to drink and told her to take a cool shower and rest. She did as instructed and was feeling much better after her nap.

LCKC athletes waiting on the cruise to start

Coach Zebet had arranged for a driver to take Susan and I on a tour of a nearby town. I wasn’t able to go as I wasn’t comfortable leaving when Heather wasn’t feeling well, so Holly went in my place. The town they went to had everything named after various gods and goddesses, and featured a very large statue of Hercules. They also got to visit a fountain that had wonderfully pure, cold water to drink, and pools that were mineral springs heated by thermal vents.

Susan took a lot of photos of the statues and architecture, but also took a great photo of a cow. The kids have discussed various ways that we might catch and eat said cow, as beef is not a meat that is eaten a lot in this area of Romania. I think we all finally agreed that all we needed was a fork, knife, salt and a Bic lighter, and we could eat the whole thing, hooves and horns included. LOL Parents, please plan on taking your athlete to Longhorn or Outback on the way home from the airport. (Editors note: I considered calling this Blog entry "Beef - It's What's GONNA be for dinner!" but I chickened (sic) out of it.)

The Stern Taskmaster takes time out from whipping the team into shape to pose for a moment.

The RO boys have no practices until Monday, but Sheaffer is having the LCKC boys continue with their practice. He wants to be sure that they don’t suffer any loss of speed due to the slow first week. None of us had realized just how hard it would be to get over the jet lag and altitude adjustment. The girls have the afternoon off, but will resume practice with Coach Bebe tomorrow morning. Even with free time, athletes are required to rest from 2 to 4. The kids grumble some, but I don’t think they really mind.

I don’t know if y’all have heard about how mean I’ve become, but apparently I am right up there with Attila the Hun. I have limited the kids time on the club computers to 30 minutes a day, not including the time they spend skypeing their parents (which can’t be done on the club’s machines, anyway). The club only has 5 working computers and there are over 50 athletes waiting to use them. When one of our kids shows an interest in the computers, the RO athletes get up and give them the machine. I hate to admit it, but our kids have been taking advantage of this, which is why I mandated the time limit.

Take care,

Marcy

Recap - Wednesday, June 10th

2009-06-11T08:42:00.001-04:00

Hi Everybody,

I am sorry that we haven’t been able to contact you, but Orsova has had some Internet outages and one of them has messed up the downstairs computers. Coach Zebet has someone coming tomorrow to fix the problem. The kids (and grown-ups) are starting to show signs of withdrawal, so hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

Today was the first official nap day. The kids had their first practice early at 7:30, then a supplemental paddle at 10:30. By the time they cooled off and ate lunch, no one was complaining about taking a nap. It was really hot again today and there is no air conditioning, so it took a little while for everyone to get comfortable and settled in. The girls went sound to sleep and slept the full two hours, waking up only when Susan and I called them.

At breakfast this morning, we were out of cereal. Heather, our designated interpreter and gofer, went to the kitchen to ask for more. She came back to report that they were out. She and I thought we would just run to the little store at the end of campus and buy some. We went to the store and got the cereal and were in line to pay when the head kitchen lady came in and insisted that we not pay. We tried to assure her that we didn’t mind and it wasn’t a problem, but she would have none of it. Believe me, language was no barrier there – she MEANT we weren’t going to pay. At lunch, we saw that the shelves where food items for us are stored was FILLED with cereal. Folks, we are going to have to reach HIGH when we have the opportunity to offer these folks our hospitality, because they sure have bent over backwards to take care of us.

Favorite team activity (is it just me, or do they look older than when they left?)

Rebecca has found a new way to finance her future trips. She bet Heather 5 lei that she could chug 2/3s of a bottle of peach soda, then proceeded to do so. While she enjoyed using her hard earned money to buy an ice cream later, I don’t think she will want anything peach flavored for a while. LOL

Y’all will be glad to know that Susan and I purchased more detergent today, and tomorrow Sheaffer plans to see that the boys take their laundry down to be washed. The boys are not particularly enthused about this, but I don’t think Sheaffer intends to give them much choice. As I said in an earlier post, more than one of the boys has a cloud of, well, stink, that follows him around. I know that they are showering at least semi-regularly if for no other reason than to cool down, so I am pretty sure that the worst of the odor is from their clothing.

Coach Zebet mentioned tonight that someone is coming to interview us tomorrow. Sheaffer was interviewed on TV during the regatta, but this will be a first for Susan and me.

Take care,

Marcy

RECAP - Tuesday, June 9th

2009-06-11T08:35:00.003-04:00

Hi Everybody,

Today was hooooot!!! GA hot even. The kids had a full day of workouts and they are tired. Susan and I kept the Brita pitcher going full blast all day, trying to keep them hydrated. We’ve been freezing water bottles half full of filtered water and pouring water over the ice at dinner time, giving us ice water to go with dinner.

Things were a bit subdued today, as the coaches were preoccupied with club duties during the morning. We weren’t sure what was going on, but by afternoon, everyone was happy again. Several of our athletes took the opportunity to explore the city during the afternoon break, which was not what Coach Zebet wanted them to do; he wanted them to use the afternoon time to rest and prepare for the final practice of the day. This is the same thing that Coach Claudiu has been telling them since Mid-Winter camp, but some just weren’t listening. Starting tomorrow, all athletes are required to rest for two hours after lunch and no athletes are allowed to go into town until the end of final practice.

Today was, finally, laundry day!!!! It had to be, as Susan and I were down to nothing. LOL We took our round buckets of laundry down and placed them by the laundry door and presto! a few hours later the girls brought them up, all clean and ready to hang out. I wonder if this laundry genie would like to come live at my house? Hanging out the clothes was a true work of art. We had Susan’s, Holly’s, and my clothes all done on the same day, so we had to find room to dry all of them on the same day. Heather remarked that our balcony finally looked like everyone else’s, with clothes hung on every available surface.

Call the AJC! We finally have proof: Sheaffer is eating peas!!!

Susan and I took our daughters out to lunch today, something we had not done before. We went to the same restaurant we went to for Holly’s birthday celebration, but this time we were in search of the elusive cheeseburger. The other athletes had been there several times and they just raved about this wonderful chicken cheeseburger that they had had. Apparently, there is very little beef available and most of it is made into sausage, so cheeseburgers are made of chicken. The chicken was very, very thin and placed on a wide, crusty bun and topped with French fries, mayonnaise, and ketchup. It might sound weird, but it was scrumptious.

Take care,

Marcy

They must be busy!

2009-06-10T11:37:00.010-04:00

We've received no emails or calls from our folks in Romania over the last two days. If we hear anything, we'll pass it along here.

8pm update:

I've just spoken with Claudiu: everyone is ok. They're busy with club-related activities, and won't have a chance to get on the web for a bit. Training is going well, and Sheaffer has the team working hard.

By the way: the event that our athletes participated in on Saturday was the "Gates of Iron" Trophy Regatta. From the Kaiac-Canoe Orsova site (translation by Google:)

"...There were 13 clubs from 3 continents: LCKC Gainesville (USA), Uzbekistan (Asia), Moldova, ASL St.Laurent Blangy (France-EU), Timişoara CSS, CSS n.4 Buc., CSS TN. Magurele, Dăbuleni CSS, CSM Pitesti, Caracal CSS, CSS n.6 Buc., CSS and LTTL Orşova Arad, over 250 participants..."

Results from the two-day event are posted here: http://www.lckc.org/results.html

Just another Manic Monday...

2009-06-08T09:12:00.002-04:00

Hi Y’all,
We have internet again!!! WOOOHOOO!!!!

I am sorry about the abrupt disconnection, but we had absolutely no notice that the computer would be disabled and the internet shut off until after everyone who came for the races had left. Ricky graciously allowed me to make a fast call to Chuck to let him know and he was going to post a message on the blog, so I hope none of you got anxious.

I wrote daily blog entries and I’ve mailed them to Chuck, so he will post them soon, I think.

(Editor's note: They are up and in chronological order). I tried to write each one the day it covered so that I would cover as many details as possible while they were fresh in my mind.

Our athletes did really well in the races. Unfortunately, neither Sheaffer nor I anticipated the confusion on the dock on Saturday morning. Picture this: there were more than 4 languages being spoken (most of them very loudly) while Coach Zebet spoke in RO over the loudspeaker and everyone juggled to get dock space to load and unload athletes to boats. It was chaos!!! Coach Zebet saw what was happening and came down to help, though, and thing got better after that. Unfortunately, not until after Ricky, Blake, and Stanton had missed some races, though. I am really sorry about that, especially since they really tried to be where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be. I don’t know if the girls were just better at just taking the boats they needed or what, but they always seemed to have someone to help them get what they needed.

Everyone is eating better and we have found an acceptable milk for them. That has helped a lot with breakfast, as they can eat cereal then.

Sheaffer is having them train today, even though the RO athletes have the day off. Our kids are worried that they didn’t train hard enough last week and they want to make sure they are improving. Not everyone wanted t practice today when it was first mentioned, but they all came around.

Please feel free to email me and I’ll try to answer as fast as I can. Hopefully this afternoon we will be able to Skype with y’all.

Take care,
Marcy

Recap - Sunday, June 7th

2009-06-08T09:10:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Today is Holly Shilling’s 15^th birthday – Happy Birthday, Holly!!!!! And to Hannah, too!!!!

This morning we had the finals for the 500m races. Our girls took 3^rd again, giving them matching medals in the 1000m and 500m K4 races. Sheaffer took 2^nd place in both the 1000m and 500m K4 races. Stanton and Tanner each won a medal for the K4 500m race, but they were not in the same boat. Stanton’s boat took 1^st and Tanner’s boat took 2^nd. Blake and Ricky’s K4 in the 500m race placed 4^th; Holly and Rebecca finished 4^th in both K2 races – no medals, but still very good.

Tanner watching a sprint, getting ready to race.

After the races were done, the medal ceremony was held in the gym in front of the school. Sheaffer was asked to sit with the coaches, and he looked very natural sitting there among them. The various coaches gave the medals out and Coach Zebet invited Susan and I to also present medals, and we were very honored to do so. Claudiu will be so proud of the podium photos – our kids made sure that they had their track suits on. It was very warm in the gym, but each time one of them was called to the podium, they had their pants legs rolled back down and their jackets on. Given how nice Club Orsova looked in their suits, I am really glad our guys made the effort.

After the medal ceremony, the rest of the day was free time. The kids visited and explored the area while Susan and I recovered from the two race days. Later, Susan and Sheaffer took all the kids but Heather to the Spar Mart to pick up some essentials. Heather and I visited our favorite espresso place for a few minutes of Mom and Daughter time. Later, we all went for pizza in honor of Holly’s birthday. The pizza place sat right on the river, and we were serenaded by the most peculiar frog chorus any of us had ever heard.

The Romanian girls, Heather and Rebecca had planned a surprise for Holly’s birthday. Holly wants to tell everyone about it herself, but she told me I could say that it involved an icing fight and was the BEST birthday she ever had.

Tomorrow is a religious holiday here, so the Club Orsova athletes have the day off. Sheaffer and I decided that it would probably be best if our athletes took the opportunity to put in some extra training time. The jet lag last week really slowed them down, and they are anxious to regain any lost time. Too, y’all know what they say about idle hands being the devil’s playground? With the day Sheaffer has planned, the devil doesn’t stand a chance.

Hopefully, we will have internet sometime tomorrow. If not, y’all can expect some expensive collect calls as everyone is getting antsy about being out of touch with their family ( and Facebook pages) for so long.

Take care,

Marcy

Recap - Saturday, June 6th

2009-06-08T09:04:00.004-04:00

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

Recap - Friday, June 5th

2009-06-08T08:44:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Today was a really good day, I think. Practices went well and the food was pretty good. LOL I don’t know if y’all can understand how important food has become to the kids. There is food aplenty, but most of our kids are pretty picky eaters and the food is not what they’re used to. Sheaffer spoke with Claudiu and Zabet about why our kids were not eating a lot of the food, so now we are having roast or baked chicken more frequently. YUM!!! Bet y’all never saw kids so grateful to see an old baked chicken thigh. I took some pics at lunch so moms and dads can see that their kids really are eating. Sheaffer’s folks, please note the photo where he is willingly and happily eating green peas. He said you wouldn’t believe it without proof. (Editors note - photo coming soon - we're checking it for authenticity!)

This morning Susan and I went to take some pics of the practice and to have a morning espresso at the little café just down from the boathouse. Unfortunately, the cafe wasn’t open yet. The boathouse was flying the flags of the countries that are participating in tomorrow’s regatta. The US flag was flying in the middle, next to the Romanian flag. It was such a pretty sight; I think I got some pretty good photos that I’ll share as soon as I can. The various team buses were pulling in today and I have to tell y’all, I am impressed and envious!! We are not talking cheap charters here; these are some gorgeous buses, though none have matched up to the beautifully painted bus owned by Club Orsova.

The internet went down before lunch, which is why y’all will be reading this late. Most of the kids took a nap after lunch, but Heather and Holly took Hev’s computer to one of the Romanians’ room and watched a movie with the girls. Both of our girls fell asleep during the movie, waking up just before the ending. Three practices a day are making for some tired kids. Sheaffer has the boys doing AB workouts almost every day and they are definitely feeling the effects. Today, I think Blake moved the easiest of the four boys, so he was enjoying being the one telling jokes and making the other boys hold their Abs in pain.

Rebecca and Anna found out today that there is someone here who does the laundry. The lady does have a washer, but she brings the clothes back wet for you to hang out to dry. I will admit to being relieved by this; I was not looking forward to hand washing all my clothes.

Heather, Holly, and Rebecca went in a K4 this afternoon with Heather’s K2 partner, Alexandra. They looked pretty good by the end of practice. The boys were in K1s this afternoon and they had a pretty easy practice, since tomorrow is a race day. The kids are excited about the race, but we don’t have many of the details yet. After the race, we are going on a cruise with the Club around the bay.

Susan and I finally got our coffee this afternoon, during the afternoon practice. We sat outside the small café and had a perfect view of the practice area and the surrounding mountains. Afterwards, we strolled down the walkway to a new supermarket called the Spar Mart. We had a lot of fun looking at the various labels, all of which were in Romanian, of course. I was looking for some milk for Sheaffer. The milk at the club is served warm and, well, kind of chunky. I don’t know if it is buttermilk or yogurt or what, but it has a very different flavor. Sheaffer doesn’t care for it and hadn’t been able to find any milk that he did care for, so I thought I would give it a shot. I found a milk I thought would work; it had a high milkfat percentage, which I thought might mean it was whole milk. WRONG!!! It was half and half!!!! Still, it gave Sheaffer hope, so he set off to the market after dinner to see if one of the other milks in that line was just normal milk. He and Ricky did seem to enjoy the cream though. Susan and I felt very European, walking home from the market with our bags in hand. LOL

Heather and Holly ate dinner with the Romanian athletes, then spent the evening visiting with their Romanian friends, practicing each other’s language and admiring each other’s clothes. Anna and Rebecca went with the guys to the Spar Mart to see if they could find some ice cream and normal milk.

I haven’t had a chance to talk much about our surroundings. The city seems to be surrounded by the mountains, with the river running through the valley. Most of the buildings were built during the Communist era or just shortly after. While the buildings are not necessarily picturesque, what the people have done with yard areas is. There are roses everywhere. Big, beautiful blooms that smell divine. Susan and I have had to stop a number of times just to sniff the air. The people are very friendly and seem to be very patient with foreigners who don’t speak their language. No one gets upset when it takes us a minute (or three) to figure out the money due, and we have to be careful or they won’t let us pay the full amount. They wave us off when we go digging for the proper change.

The kids have found a number of small markets that they are comfortable going to. They have also found an older supermarket called Penny’s, and a number of ice cream and pizza shops. I could tell they had been to Spar Mart recently because, when I hesitated getting my money together, unsure about how much she had said, the cashier pulled out a calculator and entered the amount I owed. She put the calculator down where I could see it and smiled. Obviously, she had had to do this recently.

I know this probably won’t get posted until Monday, when the computers will be turned back on. Apparently they were turned off for the weekend. I am sorry if this causes anyone stress, but we didn’t have any warning.

Take care,

Marcy

We're Settling In...

2009-06-04T21:56:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Today is a beautiful day! The sun is shining, but the top of the mountains is still a bit misty. The kids hit the water bright and early and had a good paddle. Coach Zebet took me out in the motorboat (it started on the first try!!!! WOW!) and I got some great pictures. Susan went out later with him, and she got some great photos, too.

Coach Bebe, Coach Zabet’s son, instructs the athletes on the water via megaphone.

The kids are in pretty high spirits. We’ve had some interesting meals, and the kids are learning to be flexible in their eating habits. As a group, we have discovered that we are not fond of un-smoked sausages and bean dishes. We have enjoyed the various chicken and potato dishes that we’ve had. In fact, on chicken nights our hosts have been very impressed by our clean plates. LOL Like most Europeans, Romanians don’t heavily sweeten their desserts, so there has been a time or two that we weren’t sure if the dish was a dessert or not.

This walkway goes along around a good part of the river. The churned up area is where construction is going on.

Most of today’s meal conversations have revolved around jokes and wise remarks designed to make Blake laugh. Blake is sore from the ab workout the guys did yesterday and again today, and every time he laughs, he groans and holds his sore abs. His teammates have enjoyed making him suffer by making their wittiest remarks.

Yesterday, Susan and I walked to the supermarket and bought some clothes detergent that is made for sink washing. At least, we think that is what the sink icon means. Since neither of us read Romanian, we’re kind of feeling our way here. Apparently, there is no washer or dryer on the premises, so we’re each going to have to hand-wash our clothes, which shouldn’t be so difficult for the Spandex, but it should be interesting for the heavier clothes. Wet clothes are hung over the railing and on the clothes-wire of each balcony. I think we’ll have to alternate wash days as the two aforementioned spaces are not big enough to hold all of one girl’s clothes, much less 4 girls and 2 ladies.

Rebecca and Holly catch their breath after a hard sprint.

Tanner and Stanton are going to take a turn eating with the Romanian athletes tonight. Heather and Holly asked if they could eat with them the other night, and they enjoyed it so much, all of our athletes are going to do it. Heather said you have to eat fast when you eat with the RO athletes as they eat in two shifts and everyone is anxious to have dinner.

A canoe with training wheels? Coach Zabet said this canoe, which is actually two C2s linked together, is used to help new canoers get their balance.

Our first international regatta is this Saturday, and our athletes are looking forward to it. Afterwards, Coach Zabet has told us that he plans to take us on a cruise up the river. We are really looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful country.

Marcy

1st day of training

2009-06-02T12:45:00.003-04:00

Marcy reports that the team has completed it's first day of training in Orsova.

The boys had weight training as well as paddling time, and as a result they were feeling a bit tired ;-). The girls participated in two of the three daily paddling sessions, and both groups are looking forward to their first 3-a-day sessions scheduled for tomorrow.

It looks like your best time to contact folks in Romania would be around noon eastern time, since there's a 7-hour time difference, and most of the club workouts happen between 7am and 6pm their time. Email Marcy at marcylana@mac.com if you need to coordinate a Skype visit with your athlete.

We Made it!

2009-06-01T14:07:00.002-04:00

Hi ,
After a very interesting Saturday (or was it Sunday) we are HERE!!!!!!
We are having some interesting problems with internet connecting as there is no wireless. We do have connected internet, but we won’t have unlimited use of it. Sheaffer and I will work out a schedule and sent it to y’all so we will be sure to speak with everyone. Look for that email hopefully by 6 tonight (It’s Monday, right?)

Sheaffer asked me to tell y’all that we are here , safe and happy, and we are working with Coach Zabet to get more internet service. Please be patient.

Quick update on what has happened:
The Placid group’s plane was late leaving Atlanta, so we missed our connection in Rome. We arrived in Rome just before 9 am local and left Rome right at 10 pm local. Sheaffer’s group was waiting at the gate for us and we got on the bus and came straight here where we collapsed.

Gotta go!

Marcy

They made it!

2009-05-31T19:56:00.004-04:00

If Claudiu, our coach, ever decides that he no longer wishes to be a world class canoe champion and coach of national championship kayak and canoe teams, he'd make a fine travel agent!

Since 5am this morning, he's been on the phone with our hosts in Romania.

He reports that the 2nd group has arrived from Rome, tired but upbeat, and the recombined team has left Bucharest on the team bus headed to Orsova. The LCKC crew should arrive there by 12:00am est Midnight Monday morning.

Many thanks to everyone involved for their support.

9am Monday Update:

Claudiu reports that the team made it to Orsova! All are safe and, at the moment, asleep. We should be hearing from our world travelers by noon.

We Should Have Turned Left in Albuquerque...

2009-05-31T17:14:00.005-04:00

Latest report on Romanian trip group in Rome:

It looks like the connecting flight from Rome to Bucharest has either been delayed or cancelled. I've been in touch with Terri at At La Carte Travel (our official travel planner), and she was investigating to see what was happening. (Go get 'em Terri!)

5:45pm UPDATE:

Terri contacted Alitalia and found out that the plane did indeed leave Rome at 4pm our time, and the flight is scheduled to arrive in Bucharest around 6pm est.

Yay!

We're on the road to Orsova!

2009-05-31T12:31:00.002-04:00

The LCKC Romanian Road Trip 2009 began Saturday after our athletes participated in the Lanier Racing Series Southern Invitational Regatta. Two groups left Hartsfield/Jackson International in Atlanta about 4:40pm est.

The first group to arrive in Romania that flew to Amsterdam arrived on time early this morning. They went to the Olympic Training Facility, ate, and got a tour of the facility. The other group had a 12- hour delay in their connecting flight, and are scheduled to leave Rome in about 3 hours, and will be arriving in Romania about 7pm est. Sunday evening.

http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=161212831&utm_source=airlineInformationAndStatus&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=co-op

The entire group will be on the bus that picks up our delayed group later today and will then drive 6 hours to the Orsova Club Training Academy.

The club website: www.k-corsova.ro

(it's in Romainian - you can translate it with Google Translator: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fk-corsova.ro%2F&sl=ro&tl=en&history_state0=)

Everyone's ok - Marcy said the group was doing well.

We'll keep updating the blog as the trip unfolds. Good luck team!

On the road again...

2009-05-23T14:24:00.002-04:00

June of 2009 is shaping up to be a busy month for LCKC paddlers.

Some are heading to Lake Placid, NY for the USACK Development Camp.

Some are heading to Romania to train with Kaiac-Canoe Orsova.

Frequent flyer miles - here we come!

Welcome to our new member blog!

2008-02-25T18:55:00.004-05:00

Hi! Thanks for visiting. Yep. LCKC now has a blog. WooHoo™!

What can we use this for? Well.... our younger members already have a clue, so this question is aimed more for our ... ahem.. older audience (IE: coaches?) :-)

This blog can help aid in team and coach communication, help in fundraising efforts, or even add a bit of humor or concern when needs arise.

Welcome to the 21st century.

Want to contribute? Our main page is at: http://laniercanoekayakclub.blogspot.com/.

Enjoy!