Made it to Lucerne
After a wet and rainy training week in Italy we arrived in Switzerland and prep for heats on Sunday
We arrived in Lucerne yesterday morning, rigged up the boat at the famed Rotsee, and were able to get out for a quick row. I have today to practice, and then the heats are on Sunday at 9:20 am CEST. They may or may not broadcast audio and/or video on the World Rowing website for heats, but will definitely be showing repechages on Monday and finals on Tuesday. It's very surreal to be here in Lucerne just two days out from the start of the racing. I've had my sights set on this race for the past 7 months, so I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that it's here already.
The goal is to win and go to Paris, but I also have other goals that are less centered on results. I find it helpful to have these other "goalposts" so that I'm always improving and hopefully hitting some goals even if I don't hit a desired result. For this series, these separate goals are centered around how I execute my speed through the different parts of the race, as well as maintaining technique and rate in the third 500. This will be the first time lining up against these guys since last September, so above all, I'm excited to be able to do what I love most about this sport: race.
Week leading up to Lucerne:
The week started off with a long travel day from Austin to Milan and then on to Gavirate. My day was such that I arrived in Gavirate at 9 am, so I had to stay awake for the entire day. I didn't really sleep at all on my flight over, so it was a challenge, and by bedtime, I had the '24 hours with no sleep' jitters. That first night, I slept for 10 hours. I stayed in an Airbnb right in the center of Gavirate. I was fortunate to be awarded an Airbnb grant, which provides funds to help offset training costs like these. The flat was quite large and had a great kitchen, although it was also located above a pizza shop, so I didn't end up using it much! I was able to explore Gavirate and Varese a bit more throughout the week, which was a nice change. Unfortunately, it rained pretty much non-stop from Monday to Thursday, which resulted in the docks being flooded and rather grim rowing conditions.
Final preparations:
Rain aside, it was good to be able to get the boat set up and adjust to the time change before this weekend. US Rowing has a partnership with the boat manufacturer Filippi, and although the boat they provide is technically the same as the one I have been training in in the States, it rarely ends up being exactly the same and requires tweaking to get everything where I want it to be. Thankfully, my coach Sasha and I are quite adept at this!
This morning, we drove to Erba, Italy, to meet the rest of the US team, who had had their own pre-Lucerne camp, and boarded a bus north. The 4-hour bus ride was directly through the Alps and was breathtakingly beautiful. Thankfully, the rain gave way to blue sky and sun, so we were able to see the snow-capped mountains. The only hiccup was that the Gotthard tunnel (which is a 17-kilometer-long tunnel) was closed for about an hour just as we got to it because a car broke down inside (it is only two lanes). The upside of this is that we could step out and enjoy the mountain air. This also provided a much-needed opportunity to go to the bathroom.
We arrived in Lucerne around noon and were deposited at our hotel, which was a bit of a fiasco, due to the fact that there wasn't anywhere for the bus to pull over, so 50 rowers were getting bags from both sides of the coach bus as lots of angry Swiss drivers honked. Nonetheless, we made it to the hotel, which is right in the middle of the old town. It's about two blocks away from the river that runs through the center of Lucerne and the KappelBrücke (the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe). I was able to walk around a bit and across the bridge, while waiting to check in, but didn't bring my phone to take pictures. The bridge was initially constructed in the 1300s to protect the city from attack by way of the lake. It's amazing how clear the water is here too. In my limited experience, rivers that run through cities are usually quite dirty, but you can see straight to the bottom in this river.
After checking in and bringing the bags to the room, I jumped on the local bus and rode the 15 minutes to the Rotsee, the lake where the course is. It's a pleasant treat to be in a city with super-efficient public transport. It reminds me of my time in Berlin! After a short walk down through a seemingly small back street, I emerged into a beautiful venue with the course laid out next to all the tents and boats. On either side of the course are hills – one side is wooded, and the other is farmland with cows grazing in the field. There's also a set of tracks that run along that side with a train frequently rumbling through. It really is so pretty.
After a quick shakeout row, with everything feeling as it should, I headed back to the hotel for dinner and a PT appointment and got in bed early to rest up. I'm just about to head to the course for our first practice of the day! I'll send another update on Sunday after racing!
