Training camps have a tendency to numb the mind. Especially when they are filled with twenty five, twenty-something’s who have put their “real” life on hold in order to chase a dream or fulfill some destiny or look good for women or just because they have nothing better to do. If you’re not careful you will end up playing video games all day, sleeping every chance you get, just spacing out in front of the TV, or lying on your bed just staring at the ceiling.

I have not been very successful fending off bouts of laziness. When you’re training three times a day it’s easy to justify. This camp, however, I’ve e been fortunate enough to have a new hammock, which I was able to rig up on the balcony of my room at the training center in Chula Vista. Having the hammock outside in the sun encouraged me to at least go out and attempt to listen to some new music or read a book before I fell asleep. I’m re-reading my Salinger library.

Eventually, though, the boredom and repetitions of wake up, coffee, row, eat, row, eat, sleep, row, eat, try to relax, sleep, repeat, gets the best of you. The mind starts to go numb and blank. Conversations deteriorate. Humor becomes uncomplicated. To be frank, the loose social organization, which had very little structure to begin with, rapidly turns into an Idiocracy.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t gems of conversation or moments of entertaining thought. Last week I not only listened to, but also actually engaged in a discussion about what would win in a fight between a shark and a bear. After some debate and agreement reached that the only medium that would allow a fair fight would be outer space, it was decided that the bear would win because it has arms. I am not making this up. Later that week, during one practice I started to wonder about the buoy line on our lake, which was trashed. Large sections were missing. Rouge buoys were scattered around the lake. It took sharp turns followed by slow bends. It was very hard to follow. I was convinced for about twenty minutes of the practice that sea gulls had been destroying the buoy line in an attempt to reclaim their territory. I still think it’s possible but I have no proof.

You might be asking yourself, in fact you should be asking, “Why don’t you go somewhere and do something?” Well, good question. Two main reasons: transportation is a hot commodity and money is tight. Combined with not having much time off and being tired from practice and you get a group of people not highly motivated to be active. Usually we make it to the beach to get some surfing in or out somewhere to watch some football games. A group did make it to a monster truck rally.

The most exciting and eventful evening I had was on a Sunday. We found a country western bar that converts their dance floor on Sundays into a Dodge ball court. I never though a little competitive, underground adult dodge ball to pass the time could be so fun. It was almost exactly like the movie Dodgeball, but with a touch of Bloodsport. It was dark and dusty. There were people hanging from the rafters spilling beer and cheering their favorite teams. Bookies were taking bets. The game play was aggressive. Everyone was talking trash. The bar brought in dodgeball ringers from Vegas. Each team had unique and complicated personalities. I never thought I would see so many headbands and wristbands in a bar on a Sunday night. We played seven best of three matches and lost six. The only team we beat was an all girl team and the only reason we won was because it was the first game and we were fresh. People were doing back flips and cartwheels to avoid getting hit; headshots were allowed and encouraged. I almost broke some poor guys arm after Dan Walsh literally threw me at mid-court to get a ball.

By the end of the night we were a beaten, but revitalized group of humbled elite athletes driving in a fully loaded, but borrowed Range Rover, tails tucked back to the training center. I was sore the next day, but it was worth it. A fresh, inspired mind can never be underestimated.

Anniversary

If there is an off-season in rowing, it is the few weeks we have “off” (for most people it is spent stressing out about not working out enough) after the World Championships. After that it’s a slow wind up to the fall racing season. I love the fall. The races have a much more relaxed feel to them, there are more people racing, and the longer you row the more they seem to be more like a reunion than a race. This has been a very eventful season so far and I feel like I’ve been living out of a suitcase since August. After Munich I stopped in New Jersey for a day to gather and organize my stuff and then I was off to Seattle to spend some time relaxing at home and training on my own. I spent about a month there before it was back to the grind. I went directly to Oklahoma City to meet up with my teammates for a week long training camp and then a weekend of eventful racing.

It’s an exciting time for rowing in Oklahoma City. They are building several new boathouses and every university, college, and high schools in the area are starting new rowing programs. The city is giving its full support and local businesses are giving tons of money. And, this is all happening on a river that didn’t even exist a few years ago!

We were invited to be a part of the Oklahoma Sentential Regatta Festival. They call it a festival because it’s more than just a fall rowing race. It’s the most eventful rowing ‘regatta’ I’ve ever been to, almost too eventful. Half the time I didn’t know what race I was watching, but I was having fun watching it. At one point I walked down to the river from the boathouse and there were boats going every direction. Some were racing, others were practicing and others were trying to return to the dock after a race. There was one official in a launch with a megaphone yelling all kinds of orders and nobody was listening to him. Combine this with 25-30mph winds blowing across the course and you get a very entertaining afternoon. In the 20 minutes I spent watching I saw two boats hit the bridge, one single sculler flip and several near collisions. Normally I would be concerned and complain to someone about how the regatta was run, but every one there was so excited about rowing I had to cut them some slack, they are new at this and with this level of enthusiasm I’m sure they’ll figure out the details soon.

This was also a big event for the city; part of their centennial celebrations. They invited crews from Canada, Australia, Mexico, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Moldova, and Georgia, provided travel and accommodations, and transportation while in town. We were actually treated like real professional athletes, and aside from the racing we had to do they filled our days with all kinds of activities in the community. We had dinners as local families houses, we were VIP guests everywhere we went, we were taken to one of the largest cattle auctions in the world, I went on the morning news, we were part of the Oklahoma Centennial Parade, and we went to visit local elementary schools. This was my favorite. I went with two other Americans, two rowers from the Mexican team and two from the Australian team.

I’ve been booed once before in my rowing career. It was in the gymnastics arena/staging area for the opening ceremonies at the Sydney games. Each country was sitting is their own section waiting until it was time to walk into the stadium, which would be at the end of the ceremonies. We were in there for hours. Just waiting. Eventually, countries started doing cheers, singing songs, and doing their national dances. New Zealand did the Haka, a traditional Maori dance. Small countries from Africa all had their own unique song and dance; Tiny island nations had big, soulful songs. France even joined in. Everything was classy and represented some aspect of each participating country. And then, when it seemed to be over, like fingers down a chalkboard, someone in our group started chanting USA! USA! USA! I don’t know what it is about Americans, but we can’t seem to be more creative (and I include myself in this) when it comes to sporting event acclamations. And almost as soon as the cheer caught on in the group, the entire stadium started booing. As we got louder so did the rest of the world. They booed us to silence and we probably deserved it.

This time it was fifth graders at an elementary school in Oklahoma City. They called an assembly for the fifth grade and we gathered in the cafeteria. The school band played and the kids cheered when we walked in. On stage it was a different story. They introduced the Australians. The kids laughed at their accents. They introduced the Mexicans. The kids went crazy. Standing ovation. The school is over 60% Hispanic. They introduced us. Half the room cheered and half booed and jeered. It was all in jest and more of a second cheer for Mexican team, than a shot against us. I hope. It was great fun and the whole assembly went very well. We got a couple kids up on stage and had them race on a rowing machine and at the end they asked tons of questions. They all came on a field trip to see the racing on Friday and it was great to see them again. They remember some of us (not me), but I still gave them high fives.

When it finally came time to race they packed the days full. There were collegiate events, corporate events, which were great. The sponsors were able to enter crews and were then given six practices to teach their employees to how to row and then set them loose on the water. Our event was called the USA World Rowing Challenge There were men and women’s quads, doubles, and singles, men’s and women’s eights and pairs. Each one raced a full 2000-meter sprint, a 500-meter dash, and a 4500-meter headrace. I raced in the eight. The best part of the whole week was he 500-meter dash was at night under the lights and was one of the coolest things I’ve done in rowing. Our race was at 10:50pm. It was impossible to warm up. Aside from the 500 meter course the rest of the river was pitch black. We lost the 2000m race to the Canadians, but were able to win the 4,500m and 500m races. It was a great event and I hope that the terrible winds that made racing tough don’t discourage crews from coming back next year.

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I didn’t expect to let this much time pass between posts, but to be honest I haven’t felt like writing. Our heat didn’t go as planned and it was a bit of a wake-up call. After that we were all very focused on racing and making any necessary changes. I forgot about writing. I didn’t even keep up with my journal.

I’ll start with the racing. I’m not sure if we screwed up the heat, or if it was the fact that it was our first race, but we were simply caught off guard. It was probably a bit of both. We’ve been training in a vacuum, only able to race boats like the eight, or the quad, or the coxed four, which gives us relative times and results that are open to variable interpretation. We were never really able to say with much certainty what our exact speed is compared to our competition. So in the heat we went out expecting to have to give a certain performance and it would be enough. There were several points during the race where we could have made some changes, or at least regroup, and made an attack. The most frustrating was during the last 500 meters. We were in second place and within a length of the lead; Germany was about half a length down. We should’ve pressed on New Zealand, but instead we fell apart, Germany walked through us and we finished third. Now we were off to the reps and hands were on the panic buttons.

After the race, our coach Matt Imes came up to me in the cool-down area and asked if I wanted to stroke the boat. He felt that the line-up (Me, Giuseppe, Matt, and Beau), was more natural and would race better. I think more than anything the chemistry of the boat was different in the new line-up. Combined with our new attitudes from being slapped around in the heats, it seemed like a new boat. The next day practice was much sharper and we seemed to be rowing with more purpose. Our race in the heat was too passive. The rep was another chance to be more aggressive.

In the reps we expected our main competition to be Ireland. They ran with the Brits all the way down the course, pushing them a little at the end. We were in the lane next to them and our goal was to get out fast, push the first 1000m and establish control of the race. It was a headwind, which was a change in conditions from the past week, and I think that benefited us. Americans are typically headwind crews. We were able to do as planned. Our start was much more decisive and committed, and got a length on the field in the first 500m. We were able to get into a rhythm, something we needed to boost our confidence. We pushed away from the field along with Ireland, which put us into the Semifinals.

At first glance, we thought we got the better draw of the two semifinals. It was Great Britain, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Belarus, and the United States. We thought we could beat several of the other crews and be one of the three teams to advance to the finals. We knew the Irish ran with the Brits and so could we. The Czechs won their heat so we expected them to be fast, but they were still an unknown. The French have been fast starters all season, but tended to fade and I felt Italy were yet to show their true speed. The other semi had New Zealand, the Netherlands and Slovenia — all know entities with legitimate shots at winning, as well as Germany and Australia.

I’m not sure we ever took a second glance until it was too late. We liked our chances and formulated a race plan. Our plan was to attack at the start, get out with Great Britain and push the crews that have been starting fast but tending to fade, or at least we thought. Our warm-up was going well. I was feeling good and the boat was running out. There was sharpness to our rowing. Going to the starting line I knew we were going to have a good race, the question was, would it be good enough?

Racing began today with the heats of the A group. I’m in the 4- and there are 24 boats in our event which means four heats of six. Our race is at 1:48pm. It’s the last race of the day. I woke up at 8:26am. I don’t really have a race day ritual. Today I got up and sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes then went into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, drank a glass of water and splashed some on my face. I went back into the room and turned on some music (today it’s the Black Keys) and charged my iPod shuffle. I stretched for about ten minutes on the floor and then off to breakfast. Since our race is later I have a bigger breakfast than normal: eggs, sausage, toast, granola and yogurt, juice and coffee. I sat with my boat for a while, joking around trying to stay loose. Back in the room I took a shower and then tried to relax, but it’s hard to sit still. Besides I want to keep moving to stay loose. The Track and Field World Championships were on Eurosport. They are showing the women’s heptathlon.

In our heat we have New Zealand, Greece, Serbia, Argentina, and Germany. New Zealand won the last World Cup so they are the ones to beat. They are very fast. Everyone else is fast and has been racing all spring. This is our first race, which makes it a little more difficult. We are untested and anxious to get a race under our belt. Rowing is different from other team sports that I’ve played, in that you can’t really do anything to affect your opponent. There is no defense; so all strategy is internal and offensive. The only thing you can do is worry about the things you can change. We seen all the other crews race online, but you can only learn general things from that. We can only go to the line and race as hard as we can, then evaluate and adjust as necessary.

I’ll take the 11:35 bus to the course, warm up on the erg and then stretch. I’ll probably walk around a bit and watch some races. I still get nervous and anxious - I would be worried if I didn’t. So, I‘m glad we finally get to race and see where we stand against the rest of the field. We don’t really get to race enough. I’m sure we’ll learn something and have to make adjustments. I’m sure it won’t be perfect, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

The World Rowing Championship Finals start Aug. 30 LIVE on WCSN.com at 3:40 AM EST.

We arrived in Munich on Sunday. The flight was okay; except for the 4-hour layover in Heathrow, which is a disaster area for some reason right now. Plus, there were protests about airport expansion going on and they were disrupting traffic on the tarmac. We had to wait in several lines and buses were slow and hot. Fortunately, I think most of us were able to find places to sleep in the Duty Free area. I did get to eat a full English breakfast, which is always good when traveling, or after a long night out.

We’re staying just north of the City Center and the hotel is nice. The beds are a bit small, but that is to be expected in Europe. The pillows here are enormous. There is only one and it is as wide as the bed and when properly fluffed is over a foot thick. The cleaning service is like a swat team. They show up three, sometimes four strong and within minutes of knocking, the room is spotless and they have disappeared down the hall. The food is great. I actually have to watch how much I eat. This is always a problem at worlds. The volume of work goes down and at the same time the amount of available, prepared food goes through the roof. It’s very hard not to eat too much. You have to be careful or else the system gets a little sluggish.

Anyway, one of the best things about coming to Europe, especially Germany or Switzerland, is the gummy candy. They have aisle after aisle with overwhelming options. Within hours of moving into the rooms and getting settled, someone has already found the local grocery store and returned with a bag full of candy. All the rooms here have bags, boxes, cartons and wrappers, full of licorice, gummies, candy bars, cookies, and wafers. Everyone has his or her own preference. Mine is licorice. They stuff you get over here is so much stronger than in the states and it’s not as sweet. Another good one is the Bueno bar by Kinder.

After going to culinary school, I have a much deeper appreciation of food culture. I think it’s the best way to enjoy a foreign place. Walk around any city looking for markets, specialty food shops, street vendors, and restaurants and you’re bound to meet interesting, lovely people who are very willing to talk to you about where they live. Munich is a perfect example and could be my new favorite place. Yesterday we had the afternoon off and so we headed downtown. We went to Marianplatz, which is the main square in the old city. As we came out of the subway, it was like any other European city: old buildings, and lots of tourists, souvenir shops and tons of pigeons. But, as we walked just around the corner we found exactly what I was looking for. There was a smaller, less open square, with produce stands, cheese shops, charcuterie shops, pickle stands, mushroom carts, a shop dedicated to wild game, and a few shops selling handmade crafts. It had a very local feel (I’ll forget to mention the Starbucks on the far side. I did go in, however, and it was filled with locals, and that made me feel better).

The heart of the whole square was the large beer garden in the center. Filled with all kinds of people - but mostly elderly Germans - sitting at communal tables and drinking liter mugs of beer pulled from a wooden barrel and eating bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. We went directly there. The line was kind of long so I decided to wander around for a bit and check out the food. By the time I got back my teammates had their beers and found a table and were talking an older German couple and their friend. I got in line for my beer. I decided that because we are getting ready for a race in five days, I should go for the half liter, a decision that would test my manhood. I grab the mug and move a step forward. I’m standing between two locals, the guy in front of me is about 5’5” and he’s buying three liters and carrying them with one hand and counting his change with the other. The guy behind me is towering over me and standing very close. He’s holding six half liters. I put my one half liter mug on the counter and dig through my pocket for some Euros. The guy behind the counter gives me a strange look and the guy pouring the beer looks me up and down. I swear he was shaking his head. I pay and by this point I feel so small I have to carry my beer with two hands so I don’t spill it. I felt like a little kid with his sippy cup. I made my way back to our table and I realized that it’s a Wednesday afternoon at a Bavarian beer garden and even if I have to drink this beer with a lid and straw, it will still be one of the best I’ll ever have. So, I went and got a bratwurst with mustard.

Check out the World Rowing Championships, LIVE on WCSN.com. Coverage starts August 30 at 3:40 AM EST.

I’ll be 31 in a few weeks and I’m in the middle of a “comeback.” It’s strange to feel like you’re looking at the end of your career when you’re this young. I’ve been rowing for almost 14 years now and this will be my ninth national team. I guess now is as good a time as any for reflection.My passport expired this year and after three months of anxiously waiting, praying it would get here before we left for the World Championships, it arrived - and on the day I decided to give the state department a call and knock a few heads around (lucky them). Along with it came my old passport. They had stapled my new photo right next to the old one and when I opened it, there was a bit of a shock to see the two photos next to each other. Ten years have gone by. Where did they go? What happened to those sideburns and that really bad goatee? What happened to my hair? Flipping through the pages and looking at all the visa stamps reminds me of where rowing has taken me, and what it has given me so far in this life.

In those ten years, I’ve gone from an absolute novice rower to an Olympic Champion. I’ve been all over the world, won three world championships, choked at one Olympics, only to rebound and win the next one. I learned how to surf. I acquired a taste for Vegemite. I got arrested and then bailed out by a friend, only to find out later (from his dad) that he used his dad’s credit card. I’ve built countless friendships and hopefully have only made a few enemies. I never thought I would say this, but because of rowing, I like New Jersey. Only the strong survive here and now I’m back. With any luck I’ll make it out alive again.

When I made my first team in 1998, the World Championships were in Köln, Germany. It’s the first stamp on my passport. I was fortunate enough to get a ride in one of the fastest boats I’ve ever rowed in, and we won. This year they are in Munich, Germany. After nearly two years away from rowing I’m on my way to Germany again, with a new passport, a fast boat and a few more years of experience. I don’t know what will happen over the next 370 days until Beijing, but looking at a blank passport and facing a new phase in my career, I do know that nothing is written and this passport will fill up like the last: with stories, adventures, tragedies, and hopefully triumphs. I’ll do my best to keep you updated and interested.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Bryan