Huddy Reunion

Today, as with last Wednesday, we in the eight had Mercer Lake to ourselves as the rest of the men's contingent rolled out to Princeton for their weekly battle against various entries from the women's junior team. In spite of our luxuriously late 6 a.m. bus departure, we were nonetheless jealous of our small-boat counterparts, who not only got up even later than us (7:30 is practically midday, after all), but were also able to enjoy a playdate with some other very talented crews. The knowledge that they'd inevitably make a trip to the infamous Hoagie Haven (http://www.hoagiehaven.com/menu-sandwich.html) did not help our situation, either. Regardless, we prepared to get down to work to bring ourselves even closer to gold medal standard. Waiting in the National Team boat bay was something that could bring us to do just that.

This thing I have alluded to is the inspiration for the title of this post: "Huddy Reunion." As of this morning, the other two returning oarsmen and myself were reunited with the boat manufacturer we used throughout our training last year, Hudson. Though this morning formed a bittersweet end to the relationship with our steadfast, aging Resolute friend, the "J-Kow," I cannot honestly say that the "Kow" portion of that nickname was not at least somewhat deserved. Anyway, this beautiful white Hudson was put right to work for us this morning, during a series of race-cadence 750s. After a thorough warm-up, we considered these 750s like different portions of our race: the start, the base, and the finish. We managed to find good speed in the unfamiliar hull, though we did not feel as though we put forth our best strokes in doing so. We will seek to continue building speed, to continue coming together, as we move forward and grow closer to the World Championships.

After the morning of hard work, Coach Campbell treated us to a lavish breakfast at the Americana Diner in East Windsor. All eight rowers shared in the pleasure that is a stiff glass of chocolate milk, and then proceeded to order as many food items as possible within our individual spending limits. We try to exhibit the same qualities of determination, perseverance, and fortitude both on the water and at the table, so whenever a teammate begins to feel overcome by the sheer volume of food, there is always a circle of support urging him to finish that last bite of muffin, or to vanquish that last spoonful of oatmeal. In one such incident today, Mr. Justin Jones visibly slowed his rate of food consumption, but with the help of some reinforcements, was able to complete his breakfast and dominate the last of his pancakes. Congratulations to Justin for his courage in that arena.