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Sunday, 10.23.11
Sunday morning proves to be challenging because of the mosquitoes. They’re so big that we can see them flying lazingly towards us. It’s damp and humid under the tent; there are also red ant piles everywhere. We have to ignore the itching and focus! Anything could go wrong today and our lead could slip away in a blink.
Kyle
Day 2, at the captains meeting, they changed the 1000m to the end of the day (instead of after the 1st heat like day 1) and warned us that it would be back to back with the 250m finals.
250m
250m has never traditionally been our strength. We’ve always been a distance team, but we can only race our best race and hope that even if we lose this one, we’ll have enough buffer from the day before and hopefully the finally 1000m to win.
Sheena
Slight separation anxiety, but knew the team was in good hands. Best time of the day! No one — not even ourselves — came close to this time for the rest of the day. Team looks great on the water.
Kyle
The pace felt too fast and a little bit off sync but we got a 1:07? How’d that happen? Either way, with HH only posting a 1:10, Sheena and I agreed that we’d “take it easy” or as Sheena put it, “not kill ourselves” for the 2nd heat and really focus on stroke rate and timing.
Kenny
First race of the day and we got off to a rocky start. Exmar was in lane 3 and I got thrown off by their counting so I almost stopped counting altogether! I could feel the back and the front fighting on that first power call but after that the boat really started to feel good. The best balance of power and sync on both sides from the two race runs I steered. We appeared to fade a little at the end but overall, I thought it was a good run and it ended up being our best run of the day!
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250m second
After the slightly shaky first 250 (despite posting a great time), we go into this thinking about sync and focusing rather than speed. Since we’re sitting in a slightly comfortable spot with some tie-breaker buffers, we can breathe on this one.
Kyle
We did everything we said we were gonna do. Race felt good but we only posted a 1:11. Some members seemed worried. I didn’t think there would be that big of a drop off either, but I chalked it up to different weather conditions plus most people only going about 90% (kinda makes sense since 4sec is a 13% slower time assuming a direct correlation between power vs race time [narrator: Well, we're nothing but nerds here]). Plus we were still barely 1 sec behind HH’s time of 1:10 again and I knew that rest would be needed with the 250m finals and 1000m race being back to back.
Sheena
With finals and 1000m coming up at the end of the day and still a fairly comfortable lead… we can maybe afford to take it a bit easier on this one to save energy for back to back finals. I hate the words “take it easy” for a race, so Kyle and I decided “don’t kill yourselves” was a good enough alternative.
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BCS ceremony:
Houston Heat joined the breast cancer survivor teams on the water in remembrance of Papa Gee. For the few of us that had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with him, we were proud to watch Jeff and all the teams out there on the water. Dragon boat, at the heart, is about community coming together and this ceremony means something to everyone who has been touched with cancer.
Sheena
Papa Gee — our win this weekend was as much for you as it was for anyone else. I can honestly say that without Houston Heat, our team would be nowhere near where we are today, and you represent everything this sport should be about, camaraderie and support for both your own team and your competitors. I find myself incredibly lucky to have known you.
Breast Cancer Survivor Cermony
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250m FINALS
Racing against the HH in 250m always proves to be very exciting, especially since heats can come under a minute on a good day. Like any final, this is chaotic at the start and we know we’ll have to really push it to beat them at their best distance.
Jim
I have never felt the speed with had on the boat for the last 24 strokes. Trying to get water resistance with each stroke and there just was not as much as normal. We were really flying…
Kenny
I sat this one out and my view was from the finish line throughout the entire race. We came out a bit flat but it looked close throughout, especially with lane 1 charging down the second half. As we have come to expect, our power really comes at the end and I was hoping there was enough course left for us to push ahead. There wasn’t a lack of drama for the finish as it reminded me of Michael Phelps’ last second half stroke to win gold in the 2008 Olympics. At the finish, I had a gut feeling that we had squeaked out the victory but honestly nobody knew. I managed to take a peek over the judge’s shoulders and all the pictures showed Austin Coolers ahead but I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying (narrator: way to not tell us this, Kenny! Also, I wish they would post these HD photo finishes). One judge eventually mouthed the words “you got this” and I thought two things: 1) We won the overall championship! 2) We have to sweep it all and win the 1000 m.
Kyle
I really wanted to just give HH the defeating blow and possibly even go for the sweep. I knew it would be a tight race. It was even tighter than i expected from all the teams that were in the race. When we finished, I really thought we lost by a hair and I started thinking about the 1000m coming right up and hoped that nothing would go wrong. It was even a bit more stressful that they were gonna race the slower boats in front of us to give a more “exciting” race.
Sheena
4 boat heat, so we’ll be closer to all boats. Houston Heat Orange right beside us again with Exmar on the other side and Houston Heat Yellow to the right. All boats are powerful during this heat and essentially all cross the finish line at the same time. I looked up after the let it run call and nobody knew who won it.
