Last month I was able to go to Gainesville, Georgia to compete in the ACRA National Championships for crew. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle that is the city of Los Angeles, but the best part of the trip was training and competing at the 1996 Olympic venue (pictured).
1996 Olympic Venue
I had never been to Georgia before, and I was told that the humidity would be nothing like the perfect weather that I was used to in Los Angeles; however, I was pleasantly surprised with the weather and I was stunned by the beautiful country land located right outside downtown Atlanta. My only regret is not being able to stay long enough to catch a Braves game before we left!
Overall, the USC varsity boat placed the highest that it has in the last decade, coming in with a best time of 6:04 and securing the 14th spot in the nation. For comparative purposes, the University of Michigan’s top time was 5:49 and secured first place (most races at this level are decided by fractions of seconds).
After competing in a particularly hard heat curing the first race, we had to race in the repechage round to secure a bid into the semi finals and later the petites. All in all, we had four races in two days. It was definitely one of the most physically challenging things I have done, because each race burns upwards of 225 calories in around six minutes (between 2000-2400 calories per hour of energy output). Now that the season is officially over… it’s time to start practicing for next year! Champions are crowned in the spring, but champions are made during the summer and winter.
Atlanta Skyline
