Pics

At the Nothe Cheering for the Women Match Racers

Aussie Party at the Cove

Staying Hydrated

Sass

A Little Humor

Sailing Silliness

Heartbreak...

You can't imagine the sadness watching an athlete's 4 years of sweat, blood and tears coming to an end and not in the fashion anyone anticipated. Our women match racers (Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandermoer, Deb Cappozi) won worlds last year and have been ranked #1 in the world. They were the favorites coming into the Olympics. And they lost today to their Finnish training partners. WOW! So very sad for them. It was a shock to everyone as this was the one event we were confident we were guaranteed a medal. Now they are racing for 5th place. My heart goes out to these girls, their coaches, family and friends as it affects everyone. Such a bummer. It was the best of 5 matches with 2 matches yesterday and the remaining matches today. They were down 0-2 yesterday which obviously adds some pressure to have to win the next 3 matches. There will be no medals for US Sailing. The first time in history we have not medaled. WOW.

Pics

Cheering at the Nothe- GO USA!

At the Nothe

Looking towards the Nothe

Delinquency

I apologize. Wow... only a few days left and I haven't really posted since the racing started. Today is the medal race for the 49ers. Unfortunately our guys did not make the medal race. Only top 10 race. They guys were 15th with many up and down days. The Finn medal race was a few days ago and unfortunately Zach Railey, silver medalist from Beijing, did not make the medal race. The worst regatta of the last 4 years. Pretty heart breaking to watch. Ben Ainslie, Brit, won his 3rd gold medal in this class and his 6 medal in sailing. It came down to the medal race and was between he and a Danish sailor. The RS:Xs (windsurfers) had their medal races yesterday... no medals there which was expected as that's not our strength or focus.The Star class (the big boys) raced their meal race a few days ago as well. Our American pair was in that race but mathematically no chance to medal. Our guys had finished 3rd at Worlds last year so had high expectations coming in so that was definitely a bummer. Paige Railey, Laser Radial sailor, raced in the medal race but again with no mathematical chance of medalling. So some definite disappointments here. Yesterday was the 5th day of racing for the 470 men who had a great day finishing 4th and 7th but not enough to secure them a top 10 overall for the medal race tomorrow. The 470 women have their 5th race today which will confirm a spot in the medal race. Knock on wood, that should happen. That race would be Friday. Which leaves our Women Match Racers... our greatest opportunity for a medal as they are the favorites. Yesterday started the quarter finals and they faced off against the Finnish Team that is actually their training partners. Our Americans are down 0-2 with 3 races to go. It's best out of 5 so they win all 3 races today otherwise they are out which would be heartbreaking. We shall see.

In the meanwhile... we continue to have fun...

A British Fan

Myself and Sailing High Performance Director/ Head Coach, Kenneth Andreasen



Lasers & Laser Radials after a day of racing



First Day of Racing

Today was the first day of sailing competitions. It's fairly late here so I will keep it short. The Finn, Star and Women's Match Racing all had their starts today. The Finn is the heavyweight single dingy. Our athlete, Zach Railey, won a silver medal in Beijing and is hoping to podium again. His main competition is 3 time Gold medalist GB Sailor Ben Ainslie. The Star is a keel boat for the big boys (2 men). Everyone tells me this tends to be the most competitive class because sailors from the other classes move into this class as they age but bring their experience and knowledge. The women's match racing is one on one racing (match racing) as opposed to fleet racing (all the boats racing at once). Our women's team of Anna Tunnicliffe, Molly Vandermoer and Deb Capozzi are one of the favorites for gold. Anna won a gold in Beijing in the Radial. Day one was o.k. Not stellar but fortunately in sailing there are 2 races per day over 5 days with a 6th day for a medal race. It scores like a cross country race so 1 pt for a first place, 2 pts for second place and so one and so forth. The match racing is more of an elimination and not scored. The 49er is the only class that sails 3 races per day and then a medal race day because these boats are high performance and FAST. I sometimes have to cover my eyes when I watch because they look like they will crash into one another. Pretty amazing and fun to watch. The 49ers start tomorrow. 

Pics

Opening Ceremonies Send Off

Organizing The Wave

Go Team USA

Off They Go

Pig Roast

Good Looking Crew

Watching the Openings at O'Three

Openings

Pics

Press Conference

Opening Ceremonies

Wow... what a celebration. I received quite a few texts asking if I was there... I was not. I was down in Weymouth holding down the fort. US Sailing staff and myself sent the 16 athletes and 2 staff members off on a bus at 14:00 heading for London. There were actually 5 buses in all to take all sailors up. Thy made it up to London at 19:30 after hitting massive traffic around Heathrow (still 25 miles outside the city). which brought them to a crawl. There are "Ring Lanes" designated for Olympic specific travel which didn't seem to help. Eventually 16 police officers on motorcycles made contact with the bus caravan and was able to escort them quickly and safely to the village. The team made it just in time to eat, shower and change into their Ralph Lauren gear before needing to congregate with Team USA  before heading to the stadium.

For those of us left behind, we had some peace and quiet with the athletes gone. A little down time for 20 hours. The guy who owns the Dive Shop next to Camp Billingham invited us to his Olympic Opening Ceremonies Pig Roast & Viewing. What an absolute kick ass time. We told the staff who received the Ralph Lauren gear they had to wear it. It was a USOC mandate:) (Only one staff member may walk with each team. They want to limit numbers so while credentialed staff receives the clothing, they are not able to walk.) I think this will likely be the most memorable Opening Ceremonies ever. To think 4 years ago I was watching from the JeJu Marathon Training Center in JeJu, South Korea by myself getting things ready for our training camp for the triathletes.

Lunch in the Village Dining Hall

Dana Paxton, US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Communications Director as well as my roomie

The Village Dining Hall

Well... 24 hours to Opening Ceremonies. I've already been here almost 2 weeks but it has flown by. The weather here has been absolutely wonderful. Maybe too wonderful as the breeze the past few days has been extremely light which is not what the sailors have trained and prepared for. Either way they feel they will be ready for whatever conditions are thrown at them. Last few days have been fairly quiet with the sailors making final adjustments to their equipment.

Last night we had a bonfire on the beach. I couldn't imagine ever being able to do that in the states but I guess it happens. The bonfire efforts were led by our California contingent and they did a great job. Athletes, coaches and staff all came together to enjoy a beer and conversation by the fire.

This morning we were picked up at 5:30 am for a scenic drive up to a place called Abbotsbury. Such beautiful rolling, green countryside close to the waters edge. Our tour guide, Marcus is the guy who owns the Dive Shop next to Camp Billingham. If you are ever in Weymouth, go to O'Three. Marcus is the man- such a kind fellow. The drive was fantastic.

The athletes had their official press conference this am. My roommate during this trip is the US Sailing Olympic Team's communications officer/ press attache, Dana Paxton. Dana is HILARIOUS. She cracks me up and we are having a blast. What a witty chick. Anyways, Dana facilitated the press conference and the athletes did great. My job responsibilities the past 12 months included the facilitation of the Team USA Ambassadors Program. Every Olympic athlete had to complete this program that included their responsibilities as an Olympian, setting Games expectations, media training as well as some dos and donts during the Games. Anyways, the media training obviously paid off with these athletes as they nailed it. Great answers- very eloquent. I felt like a proud mom.

They put me to work folding a 49er spinnaker

Deb Capozzi (match racing) & Bob Willis (windsurfing) engaged in recovery

Wendy, USOC sports psychologist, at the team dinner

Fashion

A sneak preview to the Opening Ceremonies attire: Team USA Fashion

More Pics

5am Morning Hike with 49er coach Dave Hughes, Communications Director Dana Paxton & Friends and Family Coordinator Kelly Jordan

At the Cove for a pint with Meteorologist Doug Charko, Kelly Jordan and Boatwright Donny Brennan

Foozball Madness

Morning Hike

A little Weymouth and Portland history...

As I previously mentioned, this is my second trip to Weymouth. I was hear about 5 weeks ago for the Sail For Gold Regatta which most countries used as a tune up event leading into the Games. The weather during that time SUCKED. It was typical English weather- chilly and rainy. One of the days the videographer, Dan Eagan, took me out on his boat to view from the water. It was honestly the nastiest day possible but a great opportunity to learn about the sport from another perspective so not to be passed up. Dan was awesome. A professional skier who learned from and worked with Warren Miller early on. Dan films primarily sailing and skiing and is a cool dude from New Hampshire (or maybe Vermont). Anyways... grey, wet, windy afternoon... staff lent me their sailing gear to include boots, bibs and jacket. Thank goodness as I was soaked from the get go. It was the second to last day of racing and we were zipping around to each of the courses catching a glimpse of all the classes. We were working out way further and further out into the open water therefore the swells were a little bigger. I'll cut to the chase... I yakked. I was starting to feel not so good early on but my pride got the best of me and I wanted to earn my sailing anchor (equivalent of airplane wings???). Probably 1.5 hours after being out there I couldn't fight it any longer... lost my breakfast... my eggs and salsa... not a good feeling. Dan kept asking, wanna go in, wanna go in... heck no!!! After about the 5th time of him asking which was usually followed with me puking yet again, I finally surrendered and we headed in. Good times.

So back to Weymouth and Portland fun facts... so Weymouth is a resort town on the southwest coast of England. It's a 3 hour train ride from Waterloo Station. Apparently a frequented tourist location during summer holiday. As I have mentioned Portland is on the Island just across a 1 mile causeway from Weymouth. Originally the only thing that connect the two was Chesil Beach aka the Jurassic Coast which is the longest pebble beach in the world at 13 miles. Feel free to call me out if my facts are wrong. Weymouth was the largest naval base until about 1996. It was the location of the largest embankment of Allied forces for Normandy during WWII. Portland boasts the world famous Portland Stone that has been used in structures such as St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and even the White House. There are many quarries over the 2 X 5 mile island that is said to have 40 years of quarrying left. Fun local story about that... we have been told by that it is unlucky to say the word "rabbit". People on the Isle of Portland (where we are staying) do not like rabbits because supposedly back in the day if the quarries were going to collapse all the rabbits would sense it and run out. So do not say rabbit in Portland or you may not be served your pint.

Fancys Farm on the top of Portland Isle.

Weymouth

A sunset on Chesil Beach

A Portland Quarry

A pint at the Cove- the Portland hang out for sailors

Radial sailor Paige Railey & her coach Luther Carpenter

All the Coke product you could ever want and need.

Boats in the competition venue with London branding.

Sailor Paige Railey in an ice bath. Paige sails the Laser Radial. Her brother Zach Railey is a silver medalist from Beijing in the Finn and hopes to medal this games.

Trying to Catch Up...

So I've gone off on this side tangent... I think I pretty much left off when the team headed to London for Team USA processing and a night in the London Village while I was accompanying their baggage down to Weymouth. All arrived safely and soundly and was unpacked into the houses(wow, that was a week ago already). The team departed the London Village at 6am on Tuesday via bus.This was a fun adventure for the team. By 8am they were still on the outskirts of London and it was becoming a flashback from National Lampoon's European Vacation, "Look kids, it's Big Ben" for the 10th time. I was getting phone calls from the Team Leader less than pleased that what should have been a 4 hour commute was becoming a 6+ hour commute. The bus driver did not have GPS and was not familiar with the area hence some wrong turns. The team did arrive and were able to get into the Village and unpack all the gear they received at Team Processing. There was a little running around but all was eventually settled as people were able to get into the spaces they would be keeping the next almost 4 weeks. Wednesday consisted of working on boats while they were still able to be outside the secured area. Thursday was filled with boats being moved into the secured venue and getting on the water. The usual schedule is up for breakfast, over to Camp Billingham (Team USA compound) and then into the competition venue and out on the water. Depending on the team and class as well as what the day calls for they usually spend about 2 hours on the water not including the prep before and after. Most athletes spend an additional hour on either cardio or weight routines which takes place at Camp Billingham. Camp Billingham is the hub of activity for the team as there is an athlete lounge, workout equipment, wireless for staff to work, food and drink, area to work on equipment and a room for the PTs to work out of. If people are not out on the water they are likely here.

Camp Billingham, Team USA compound for sailors in Weymouth

Camp Billingham, lots going on

Camp Billingham

Another good article: NYTimes

Sailing Info

So just a little info... there are 16 sailors here competing in 10 classes: Women's Match Racing (3 females), Finn (1 male), Laser (1 male), Laser Radial (1 female), 49er (2 males), Star (2 males), 470s for both men and women (2 athletes),  and Rs:X (windsurfing for both men and women). Each boat has it's own coach so 10 coaches not to mention support staff to include 3 PT guys, chef, media, team leader, sports psych (USOC employee), boatwright, meteorologist, friends & family coordinator as well as some additional media & sponsor support personnel. What a great group. They have been so fun and open and helpful. They work hard and have a little fun too which is always nice.
A good article about one of the coaches, Luther. When I first met Luther I though he was a curmudgeon. He's currently trying to teach me the lyrics to a rap song. Luther Article

A quiet competition venue.

Security in the competition venue.

Competition venue pre athletes, boats and activity.

Arrival Pics

Haethrow Arrivals last Monday (16 July)

Coca Cola, an Olympic sponsor.