Today was the 200m distance races which require a lot of speed due to their shortness.
The mixed races were in the morning and after a somewhat subpar performance in our heat we won the repechage convincingly. That put us into the semi where we got a great start and looked to be headed to the final. Unfortunately the big drum at the front of the boat came loose and started hitting into the paddlers in bench 1. They held things together unbelievably and our drummer did a magical job holding the drum back. But in such a short race something like that can make the difference and probably did for us as we just missed out on the final relegating us to the Minor Final. It was a tough pill to swallow, but that’s racing.
The Open crew raced in the afternoon and had 3 really exciting races. We managed to go straight from heat to semi and then stepped it up in the semi to claim the final spot in the Grand Final. The final was another great race where we finished 5th. Given how tight the Open field is top to bottom it was a real accomplishment to get that far and then hold our own in the final. We’re pleased with the effort and looking forward to the 500m on Sunday where we’ll do whatever we can to be in the final race of the event.
The Phillipines were the real stars of today’s action winning both Mixed and Open with an absolutely incredible display of paddling. Hopefully some video shows up online because it’s worth a look.
After 7 hard races today, I’m exhausted so that’s it for today. Tomorrow is Mixed 500 – our specialty!