Announcing the Premier womens crew for PDBA qualifier‏

Wasabi premier women's coach Carol Hoekstra announced the Premier women's crew for the PDBA qualifier today. Below is a re-post of Carol's message to the club.

Club, please join me in welcoming the following women who are being offered a seat on Wasabi's open/premier womens crew. These women represent members of 4 standing Wasabi crews and trialed amidst nearly 80 women for a seat on one of the women's crews for this event! (Announcements for the masters and grandmasters crews should be following soon from Connie).

Members of the crew, please watch for practice plans to be announced soon.

PDBA

Alyda Rodriguez

Amy Reese

Becky Hall

Christine Pezzulo

Franchesca Harper

Holly Ansari

Janet DeAustria

Jen PeArt

Jesse Draskovich

Jessica Lowman

Jodi Burroughs

Julie Borsetti

Karen Mayhew

Kat Gilbert

Kellen Todd-Quinn

Kristen Peterson

Lexi Olson

Lisa Hillhouse

Lisa Lum

Lisa Stewart

Nancy Butler

Piper Gallucci

Stephanie Sherwood

Tracey Miller Steering: Joyce Chua Calling: Suzi Cloutier/Carol Hoekstra

Nice work, ladies!

A Month in Taiwan, Last Week ...

Kim Ketcham, our team manager, sent out her notes from the trip and I just had to share them. I think it was Jim Hinsvark who had one of the best quotes at the end of the first week ... he said, "It's been a long month this week." It really did feel like a month. We packed so much in during the 7-10 days that we were there and so many things happened so us -- natural (earthquake, typhoon, solar eclipse) and unnatural (well, we won't go into those).





Here's Kim's notes...

Every one of the team added to the fabric of this trip. What crazy memories!! What an unforgettable time in Taiwan!! Never to be duplicated. Every time I do a trip like this, I feel as if my horizons have been broadened – that I understand the world better. There are so many common bonds with people from other countries; it’s great to see everyone laugh at the same things & cheer together. Dragon boat and other sports are good for the world!

I hope you are proud of your accomplishments on the water. Most of the team is either of Senior or Grand Master age (how many need reading glasses???). I believe the reason we did as well as we did is because you are in great shape and you are experienced dragon boat racers. Mike did a great job of coaching you into one team, and you gave it 110%. We had very little time to put this team together and together we were amazing. We had the heart and desire to do our very best. Your best is all you can ever give. Congrats on representing the US honorably. Hope your jet lag isn’t as bad as mine. Cheers,Kim

A Month in Taiwan Last Week (Kim’s view)

Friday, July 10

• Evening departure from PDX to SFO (Rachel & Kim on a laugher)
• Picked up a Thai lady along the way (she loved us)
• Met Jim Hinsvark’s friend and his son at SFO
• Jim’s friend bought sushi and beer, our Thai lady friend shared awesome homemade food
• Late night flight to TPE

Saturday, July 11

• Saturday didn’t happen, flying over the Pacific
• Laurie, who left earlier, arrives in Taipei

Sunday, July 12

• VIP arrival in Taipei at 5:30am, met at the airport and escorted to the City Hotel
• Woke up Laurie; went shopping at the street market (wonderful fresh fruit and baked goods)
• Laurie, Holly, Kat, Rhonda, and Kim had a crazy (hard, couldn’t breathe through it) massage
• Jim and Rachel went to the jade and flower markets
• Excellent beef noodle soup
• Simon arrived and looked after us
• Dr. Chen calls and tells Simon to not let us eat street food ... TOO LATE!
• Taipei Night Market
• Late night arrivals of California and Philly contingency
• Beers and laughter in the lobby
• Midnight-- celebrate Mike Jr's 19th birthday!!!
  

Monday, July 13

• Dr Chen arrived
• Tailor in the lobby, Opening Ceremony outfits
• Practice on the Chinese Taipei team’s boat
• Trip to the bank with Dr Chen
• Video review in the computer lab at the school
• Bus compliments of Dr Chen
• Lunch & refreshments compliments of the Chinese Taipei team
• Visited Taipei 101 building
• Mongolian BBQ compliments of Dr Chen
• Nighttime EARTHQUAKE!!!

Tuesday, July 14

• Practice on the Chinese Taipei team’s boat
• Drinks compliments of the Chinese Taipei team
• Lunch at Taipei 101
• Bus trip the length of Taiwan, club humor in the back of the bus, conversation & sleep at the front, fun and Starbucks at the rest stops
• Bus compliments of Dr Chen
• Accreditation at Kaohsiung City Hall
• Check into the Garden Plaza Hotel in Kaohsiung
• Night Market

Wednesday, July 15

• Met Jeff, our attaché
• Tour Lotus Pond race venue (beautiful!!)
• Karaoke on the bus (Sweet Caroline, da-da-da)
• Unbelievable tour of the Buddhist Temple:

o Audience with the Venerable Master Monk
o Calligraphy, the whole team silent, wind chimes
o Largest free-standing Buddha in Asia
o Omi-toe-fo

• Dinner at TGIFs in the Dream Mall, compliments of Simon's brother:
  o Crazy waitress named "Cat" silenced "Fish-head" bill
  o ICF officials joined our party
• Bus compliments of Simon

Thursday, July 16

• "85 Degrees" coffee and baked goods
• Skirmish with the Canadians over the practice bus (Marc & Jimmy, wall of men)
• Met our security detail
• Practice at Lotus Pond on the race course
• BBC Charley on the boat
• Team leader meeting
• Typhoon rain, running with Dr Chen and Arny
• Opening Ceremonies (meeting other athletes in the field, waiting under the stadium, entering the stadium, singing Volare and We Are The Champions, laying on the ground watching fireworks)
• Way, way too hot and humid for Kim in wool!!!

Friday, July 17

• "85 degrees" coffee and baked goods
• Race day number one – 200’s and the 2000
• On-the-water battle with Germany
• Team leader meeting after the 2000m
• Team quarantined (Go to your room with no supper and think about what you’ve done!):
  - Wall punch, team unrest
  - Beer and pizza in rooms

Saturday, July 18

• Race day number two – 500’s and the 1000
• CNBC correspondent (The Business of Sport)
• Ambulance and hospital visit (excellent care)
• “Rocco’s going to kill me!!” – Jimmy Small
• “Nee-How homie” – Mike Jr.
• Fancy thank you dinner for Jeffrey (attaché), Richard, Yvonne, and Roger (security detail)

Sunday, July 19

• Early morning lobby action:
  o Team members up all night with the Russians
  o “Enjoy your supper” - Jeff
  o Farewell to the Philly group
• Move to the Hotel New Image
• Flying Disc competition in the main stadium (Heinekens and Starbucks); invented the US cheer
• Chiropractors under the stadium or bus & lunch with the US Flying Disc team
• Team USA Evening:
  o Press Conference (yikes!), TV interviews
  o Dancing, gifting mock tees to officials/dignitaries
  o Meeting other US athletes (Rocky – racquetball, Chris – bowling, Kenna – sumo, etc)
• TGIFs with Simon, security detail, and American Sumo team
  o Rock/Paper/Scissors drink game at Simon’s insistence and hosting
• Racing taxi cabs!!!!!! (really racing)
• Night Market – really, really hard foot massages

Monday, July 20

• Some West Coast departures
• Running around in cabs with American Sumo guys, Jeff, and security detail
• Flying Disc in main stadium, refined our cheers (Ike!!)
• US Aerial Team (ecstatic to see our flag when they landed)
• Bowling (didn’t get to see Chris but the Koreans were good)
• World’s hottest soup on the hottest day (first non-Asian to eat at the stand)
• Visit 11th Floor Temple, lighting incense, dripping sweat
• More West Coast departures
• Korfball (Chinese Taipei vs. Netherlands)
• Hong Kong dinner (thanks, Tommy!) or German House with sumo guys

Tuesday, July 21

• Jeff, Richard, Yvonne, and Roger still with us
• Racquetball (Canadian thanked us for our support)
• Chiropractor (cute Irish guy)
• NRT train to "85 degrees" (chicken blood & rice popsicle) then on to Ju Jitsu
• Walk through tunnel to Ju Jitsu
• Dim Sum (best ever!)
• Flying Disc Gold Medal match:
  o Led the stadium in the US cheer and Jiao, Jiao, Jiao, USA!!! ("Go, go, go USA")
  o GOLD!!! Photos with the team, captain wore my flag
  o Medal ceremony, parents so thankful to us, flag very sweaty
• Mid-Games Athletes party
  o Cold Heineken six packs - music, dancing, singing
  o Lighthouse bar (owned by an American), tequila shots – Richard’s first ever
  o Jeff, Richard, Yvonne, and Roger still with us (we’ve completely corrupted them)
  o Laurie and the poker-playing table of old men
  o Crazy cab ride (Tom exuberant in Chinese)
  o Night market (dumplings)

Wednesday, July 22

• Laurie & Tom early morning departure
• Total solar eclipse
• Free Rx from pharmacist to Rachel
• Cab to high speed train station
• Farewell to Jeff, Richard, Yvonne, and Roger – I bet they miss us!!
• High speed train to Taipei
• Farewell on train to Ike and Cat
• Very cramped and uncomfortable flight to LAX then on to PDX
• A cool 90 degrees in Portland

Thursday, July 23

• All day nap

Friday, July 24

• Back to work and reality (missing the rock-star status of an athlete’s ID badge)
  

Observances:

• The people in Taiwan are very FRIENDLY, all of them!
• “City dogs” know how to cross the street with traffic lights
• ICF dragon boat race officials are excellent (calm and calming)
• Taiwan is clean and eco-friendly
• World Games was bigger than imagined
• I don’t do well in heat and humidity
• Dr. Chen and Simon are amazing (and as always, lots of fun!)
• Buddhist monks shine
• Big dogs and families ride on scooters
• We should have more street markets and night markets
• Sometimes you don’t win but you always do your best
• Public transportation is excellent in Taiwan
• We can out-party sumo wrestlers
• Dragon boaters and Ultimate Frisbee players get along well
• 1-2-3, 4-5-6, U-S-A (4 times!!)

Pictures by Tommy Leonardi

Back from the Abyss

WORLD GAMES

Ok, so I did fall off the face of the earth ... I blame the Russians and Roommates! I've gotten a lot of slack for keeping everyone hanging so ... "what happened"!

So, Saturday 18-July 2009 .... tempers cooled down and we all kissed, made up and finished racing. In fact, after the races, several of us were out drinking with members of the German and Russian teams, including the German coach. It's all just the "heat of the battle" tempers that flaired and both steerspeople (US and German) made some questionable choices. In the end, the US, Hungarian and one other team were DQ'd from the race ... seems like there was other stuff going on besides what we were doing in that 2000 meter race. Anyway, it was a 2000 that will be marked in our minds and my blade forever (yes, it has battle scars)!

Saturday's 500 meter races and 1000 meter races went pretty much like the rest with the US usually finishing about 5th. Russia took all the gold medals. They were a rock-solid group of 20-25 year olds that are a true National team. While drinking with them and members of the German team all through the night, we had an opportunity to get to know them better. And, no we weren't drinking Vodka ... seems like tequila is a true international border breaker!

Then it was time to shower and move hotels. With our competitions finished, it was time to move out of the official athlete's hotel and into a new hotel. With the new hotel came a new roommate and so the computer went with the old roommate making it less accessible to blog. Sorry ... didn't know we had such a following.

For the next couple of days, we tried to attend as many of the other sporting events as possible, support the other USA teams, especially the Ultimate Flying Disk team who we befriended early on, and experience Kaohsiung as best we could. We saw a bit of aerial (formation skydiving), racquetball, korfball (yeah, we didn't know what it was either but the Dutch are exceptionally good at it!), jujitsu, bowling, and Wushu karate (I probably spelled that wrong).

We used our athelete credentials to get on the field for the medal ceremony when the Ultimate Flying Disk team collected their GOLD! It was awesome although it really unnerved our security detail that we were all out there. :) (The US, Israel and one other country all had security assigned to us due to some threats made.)

Overall the World Games were the ultimate experience of a lifetime!!! The Taiwanese people were so friendly and welcoming, I can't even begin to explain it. I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity and great people to share it with.

Pictures (from the top):

• Opening ceremonies - Olympic flag leading in


• Germany paddler and Laurie hamming it up on Saturday (see we really did make up)


• USA's Jeannette and Tom taking in a little Russian Gold!


• On the stadium field to photograph USA's Ultimate Flying Disk Gold (Laurie, Cat, Rob & Rachel)


• Letting loose with Security on the last evening (Yes, they were off duty!)

Sorry so late on this posting but I'm now...

Back in the US, back in the US,

back in the US of A!!!!

Laurie

Today's report

Friday, 17-July 2009:   OK, yesterday was too packed with events to get a blog in but the Opening Ceremonies were Olympic-style grandeur which, as athlete's, we got to watch the end of it from the infield of the stadium, while sweating in the tunnels below for the really cool show part.  But it was truly amazing to be there.

Today was the first day of racing.   The 200 meter races were the morning event.   We took 3rd in our first heat, 3rd in second heat which was the fastest 3rd which put us in the A final.   We ended up in 5th but ironed out a lot of things that you would normally do if you practiced together more often.   

Then there was the 2000 ... we were DQ'd!  We battled the German boat 3 times and hit the Japanese boat ... pinning the steers-person to the tail of the boat and spinning it across the race course which disabled all teams behind us from passing.  This enabled the slower teams in front of the pack to enjoy their clear water and eventually medal.  We were wondering why the Canadian teams congratulated us coming off the water. 

Afterwards security whisked us away to a nearby hotel and the German team to a separate hotel.  It was suggested that we not attend the all-teams buffet dinner tonight to let things blow over.   Nothing like a little drama!

Racing Begins

Following Gang Green's exceedingly successful excursion to Ulsan South Korea. We are sitting on pins and needles back here at home, waiting to hear the outcome of the Team USA race events at The World Games.
Thanks, Laurie, for the very detailed account of the honors and activities so far. Please let everyone know on Team USA, that all of Wasabi Paddling Club is pulling for them back here at home.

Larry
President
Wasabi Paddling Club

Honors

, 15-Wednesday 15 July-2009:  Today was a day off the water.   The morning was ours and we had a chance to just relax.   Felt good.    By noon, it was time to "hit the road".   

We piled in the bus with our officials, Dr. Chen & Simon, along with our attache', Jeff.  First stop of the day was to see the race course and check out the boats.  The pulse of the city is definitely getting excited about the games.   As our bus drove along and other busses pulled alongside, people saw our USA baseball hats and frantically pulled out their cameras and were taking pictures and waving.  Everywhere we go, people waive and say hi.  It's really incredible to be a part of this.

Lotus Pond is the race site and it is beautiful (see picture...that's the finish line).  The boats are great but can't say what they are ... I understand that they are Vietnamese.   Anyway, I like 'em!!!  After walking the race course we piled back into the bus and were on our way to Fo Guang Shan monastery.  It is a huge complex and Dr. Chen arranged for us to meet and be blessed by the Venerable Master of the monastery.  He was incredible and we heard that he actually delayed a trip to Australia by a day in order to meet us.  I understand that Dr. Chen and he have known each other for quite some time and was especially thrilled to see such a mix of races on our team for he spoke a lot about blending the 'East' and the 'West'. Here's a picture of him presenting Dr. Chen with a gift of a calligraphy scroll.  

We then toured the monastery, where we all had a chance to practice a little calligraphy ourselves (see picture).   It was the quietest this group has ever been and quite a contrast to the karaoke that was happening on the bus on the way to the monastery.  The golden Kwan Yin statues at the top of the place were breathtaking (picture).

After the monastery, we went to a mall where Simon's brother, Jay, treated everyone to dinner at TGI Fridays.  In the middle of dinner, the president of the ICF (International Canoe Federation) showed up to join Dr. Chen along with several other dignitaries.  They then joined us on the bus for the ride back to the hotel.

What an honor!!!  It's an honor to be here, to meet the Venerable Master, and for the heads of the ICF to come to meet us.  WOW!    

Tomorrow we practice on the race course.

Quick answers to questions

Hi gang,  Thanks for the blog comments.   Answers to some questions that have come in.

The Earthquake actually turned out to be a magnitude 6.3 and lasted a long 31.96 seconds.  No major injuries or damage reported.

The typhoon missed us but we could see it off to the east as we travelled south to Kaohsiung.

Opening ceremonies are the evening of the 16th ... and apparently Kaohsiung built a new stadium for all this.   The picture at City Hall looked impressive.

Races are the 17th & 18th.  

Cheers, Laurie