The Road to 2012

We had our National Team trials last weekend, so both Sam and I flew out to sunny California to enjoy some good weather and to take place in some exciting racing. Our big events were the K1 500 and K1 1000, where we were both shooting to place top 7 to maximize our chances of making the World Championship team. Overall, the racing went extremely well, with both of us achieving our goals. In the 500 I placed 4th and Sam 6th (both with PRs), while in the 1000 I battled a broken footstrap to come in 9th and Sam 7th, which ranks us as #6 and #7 overall. The K2 1000 also went quite well… we battled blustery conditions and a vicious sidewind to come in a close 3rd behind the Dolan brothers (www.dolanbros.com) and Tim Hornsby/Morgan House. Morgan actually won all of his events, so a big congrats to him! Pictured below is the K4 combination of (front to back) Sam Ritchie / Dion Maxwell / Taran Stucchio / me. It was our first time in the boat (and my first time in 4 seat– I couldn’t even see above Taran’s head!), but we still came in within 2 seconds of the winning crew which was great. Full results on the USACK website.

After the trials we also got a chance to clean our boats off with some Marine Restorer, compliments of Debby Page. We know have shiny, new-looking boats which will hopefully glide across the water even faster now that they have a shiny new finish. (It’s amazing how dirty our kayaks get in their neglected state behind the Princeton boathouse). 

We’re now back in New Jersey, where it’s been raining for 48 hours straight. (Gotta love the dirty Jerz!). We have a few more exams left, and a presentation of our senior thesis entitled: “Variable Drag Element on a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine for Improved Performance” (I know what you’re thinking, but hey, I wasn’t the one who came up with the title). If all goes well, graduation is June 2nd after which we will officially be in the ‘real world.’

So now its back to training basics as we prepare for the next trials in July, which will determine exactly which boats will race at the World Championships (Aug 12-16 in Dartmouth, Canada). Stay tuned for more updates!