Tekli Dragon

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Just yesterday, San Francisco announced that it will be enacting a 3-week stay-at-home order on Sunday night, prohibiting people of different households from gathering. 

Today, Eri and I took out J Chi and S Chi to show them the ropes of becoming a mentor at Islais Creek. I tried to document out all the steps. 

- Unlock enclosure - Unlock container - Open container (takes skills) - Unlock boat lasso locks - Rig boats correctly and gently - Carry boat to bark area - Secure rack, close up container, close up enclosure - Go paddle

Of course, during each step, the mentor will need to verbally guide and remind the mentee to take things slowly and be careful. The outrigger canoes are super fragile. 

Eri and I paddled on the Tempest OC2. Sally and Justin paddled on the Gemini OC2. I definitely like the comfort of the Gemini much more than the sit-on-top Tempest. We paddled against the flood to a little past the Ferry building and docked at Pier 1.5. This was pretty cool! We hopped off, walked to the Ferry Building, bought some cupcakes and cheesecakes before going back on the boats. 

Then we went with the flood tide back to Islais Creek. We worked on some technique and got a quick video of our technique too. 

Monday, November 30, 2020

I went to Melfit and worked with Ngai, Hocutt, K Wong, K Lu, Z Louie, B Zhou, Chiu, Subramanian, B Wu, and Murphy. There was a little gap in time so I tried a 500m benchmark (@ 80 drag factor) on my right side with Chiu. I knew I was not trained so I just went for it. Pushed out the gate at around 1:48... and just kept it. I tried to hold on for as long as I could.... ended up with a big PR. 1:54.2!! My last one was February 2020 at 1:54.7.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Fall Break so no school this week. Chose today to go for a 500m OC1 Time Trial at Lake Merced. 10am start so it was warmer and the wind was at its lowest (5mph). We decided to use Yip’s Ares. We put a GoPro on the ama iako and put a Dragon Warrior speedcoach on to record data. 

I set up the workout on the speedcoach to be 500m work, 1 min rest, 500m work. Later on, I made the first warmup work set to be 600m to give enough space for the time trial piece coming back towards the dock. Overall, it worked out well. The big lake on the Lake Merced side was conducive to all the boats being out and getting the time trial done. 

Here’s the full-length video of my time trial. I TT’d on my right side. Completed 500m at 2:29.4. I think I can pick up my rate a bit higher as I wasn’t dying by the end. Needed to go out with more of a killer mentality. A good baseline. Hoping for improvement in the coming months!

Great job Yip, E Li, Weaver, J Chi, S Chi, and White!

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Results: [LINK] Heat 55 - Visiting Championship - 4th - 2:15.506 Heat 75 - Semi - 4th - 2:10.636 Heat 97 - Comp B Final - 4th - 2:02.442 Heat 99 - Guts & Glory - 16th - 11:24.570 Day two started off with the first heat of the day at 8am. It was brutal getting the team ready for that Visiting Race. We were able to shake off the cobwebs a bit and get focused. Out on the race course though, there were a few lapses that cost us the race. We knew we were up against stiff competition and it got to us. Next few races, we did better. 

We were excited to have earned our way into Competitive B Finals. This far surpassed my expectations for the team at the time, given that we had paddlers throughout the ranks of our entire team. It validated for me the importance of giving focus to every single one of my paddlers. Today, we focused on the paddlers at Vancouver and each race, they improved. The biggest adjustment that the team made that paid dividends was to relax and stick with the game plan. At the visiting race, we got anxious and lost the catches. In the final race, the crew trusted one another and the game plan, and they were able to race their best. I’m proud of the team for having each other’s backs and trusting the game plan. 

Congratulations to Northwind for being the top California team at the Vancouver race. Also congratulations to Cal for being in the Comp B division. Let’s keep pushing each other to become even stronger. Congratulations to Thunderbreakers for being the Competitive B Champions. This was also the first time in DW history that we earned our way into the Guts and Glory!  A bunch of us were able to trade jerseys. Thank you Vancouver for the great time!

Saturday, June 24, 2017 Saturday results [link] Heat 14 - Seeding - 2nd - 2:12.515 Heat 41 - Quarter - 1st - 2:05.541

Day one started off with a shuttle ride and a really long walk to racers’ village. It was nice to finally see many familiar faces, from LARD to BAD to GCD and many more. It made this away race feel more local. Weather was amazing, but it got way too hot later into the day. We made sure to take our team picture before our first race, so that it wouldn’t be a rush to try to get everyone together after the races. We ended up with something like this with Star City in the background. 

Debuting our new jerseys, hope you all like it. Excited to finally get the races started. Our first race was heat 14 and the competition was steep. We also almost missed our marshaling due to some miscommunication. A learning lesson for us because it made going out to the start line super hectic. DW’s making good progress and we’re humbled to be in the presence of so many top-tiered teams. We finished 2nd in our heat with a time of 2:12. 

We had a bunch of time to rest before our next race, heat 41 at 3:11pm. At noon, we had a big huge California team picture. Organizing the shot was a headache, but I’m glad everyone cooperated so well. In less than 10 minutes, we organized about 8 California teams to get together to take a picture. Aero got to take a special collab photo with just DW. 

Friday, June 23, 2017

At this latitude, the sun rose at 5am! I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of two guests in our room, Diane and Kelly! They got us really cool DW-esque shirts with a Hokulele logo on them. At around 8am, we went out for some coffee and then walked 1.5 miles to Granville Island to check out the marketplace. The sun was nice and the views were beautiful. The marketplace had so much to look and eat. We ended up getting delicious chicken pot pie for lunch. At the marketplace, we also met Scott, the co-founder of Champion System. 

After lunch, I had to go into coaching mode. TBH, pretty nervous. First time leading an adult team in an abroad race. I don’t know how Shou and Brendan do it, but I hope I don’t disappoint. We had a brief team meeting where we shared goals, discussed HTB, and what it means to be champions. With this foundation, I was really excited to attend the practice and for the racing to start! DWxVancouver was ready to go! In 15 minutes time, everyone was ready to walk to the race site at the lobby. We walked together to Creekside and got ready for practice. The best part here was running into Diane! We caught up briefly before DW got to go on water. 

It was cool seeing all these Bay Area and familiar faces at the practice site. BAD, OPD, Northwind, Ripple, and many more. It really felt like a Bay Area takeover. DW practiced a few start pieces, ran a light 500m, and then finished with some finishes. We spent about 45 minutes out there and it was so great. I can honestly say that our team was ready to go. The focus and the discipline was inspiring. I’m a bit sad that I won’t be on the boat during the races tomorrow, but it makes me all the more excited for the boat to be successful with me on shore watching. Here’s a clip of a start from today. 

We walked back to the hotel, cleaned up, and then had another quick team meeting to set the logistics for race day. Team’s meeting at 7am at the lobby. We’ll be getting a shuttle to take the racers to the race site. Then the whole team rolled out to the Richmond Nightmarket. This nightmarket was one of the highlights of my trips back in 2014. I remembered having a blast just sharing all kinds of junk food with teammates. This year was no different. Hanging out with Chris, Brendan, Kelly, Diane, Nick, and so many other on the team while trying out skewers, mango tapioca, pork hock, and so much more. The vibe was just chill and fun. There were so many people and it felt very Asian. Eri and I left at around 9:30pm. 

Thursday, June 22, 2017

It’s been three years since I’ve raced in Vancouver last. Many things have changed, but it still brought back many memories. The paper customs forms are all electronic now, with machines that check your information and take your picture. 

Much like the 2014 trip out here, our first stop was Dim Sum at Fisherman’s Terrace. The shrimp dumplings were the most amazing. The biggest let-down was the 炸兩 because the Chinese donut wasn’t very crispy. We spent some time walking around Aberdeen Mall before hoping on the train to get to our hotel. What’s amazing is that the trains here are driver-less. They’re all completely automated! I didn’t know this but even back in 2014, they were driver-less. Vancouver was so beautiful today. So sunny and 1000x better than the last time I was here when it was pouring rain all weekend. I guess the locals are used to all the rain, and this sunny weather is a surprise even for them. 

Once we settled down in the hotel, Chris, Eri, and I made our way to Creekside Paddling Centre. What an amazing treat. Thank you to our host, Shamus, for showing us around and making it possible to take out OC1s to paddle around. Angie was also there working, so I felt very welcomed and grateful to have friends abroad. Creekside was nothing short of amazing. If Islais Creek Dragon Boat Training Centre could become a quarter of what Creekside is, my life would be complete. Creekside had 10+ dragonboats, 5+ OC6s, 20+ OC1s, and some more flatwater boats. There were pods with solar panels on top with a garage door to keep everything safe, but also accessible. The docks extended right onto the water so that launching was easy. The challenges that I observed here were the busy water traffic and the construction that’s happening all around. The water ferries zoomed back and forth and there were yachts and power boats everywhere. I guess ultimately, it could be a good thing because if anything were to happen, there would be lots of eyes. 

After some paddling, we got to pick Shamus’ brain about how he coached Eternal Dragons, one of the top youth teams in Vancouver. With over 80 junior paddlers, the staff of 5.5 coaches really pushed the envelope for developing their paddlers. Chris even got the chance to hop on the chase boat to watch them in action. SOOOO JEALOUS!!! The amount of maturity and sense of giving back by the Canadian U24s to the sport of dragonboat was so inspiring. Keep it up!!! At Creekside, I also got to see Marissa! Except this time, she didn’t have blonde hair. I also got to meet Peter, Johnny, and Kenzie who are all part of DZP and I follow on IG. It was pretty funny because the question I’m asking is, wait... what’s your IG handle? Oh yeah, I remember. What’s your name? HAHAH. 

We left Creekside and stopped by to get bar snacks at Steel Toad Brewing. Then we went to Phnom Penh for butter beef, wings, and beef over rice. Of course, we were way too full and so walked all the way back to the hotel... about a 1.5 mile walk. A very nice first day in Vancouver.  

Sunday, August 23, 2015 

500m

Open #1 – 1:57.144 Open #2 – 1:58.431 Open #3 – 2nd – 2:00.270

Throughout the night, my legs were near cramping when I stretched them out. My delts also felt it. This morning, I woke up pretty exhausted. Last day of racing, endind with the 500s womens and open divisions.

I warmed up really hard today with a long run, lots of small exercises and stretching, and lots of skipping rope. A part of me didn’t want to try so hard since we were likely to get second place out of two again. I got angry at myself that this thought even crossed my mind, but I could see it and feel this attitude from my teammates. No. I can’t hold a defeated mindset, so I warmed up more to push myself into the zone. I admire athletes who can hype up their teammates and create the sense of urgency and confidence that I had to do for myself today. I hope that when I coach in the future that I would be able to do that for my athletes.

After the first race, my teammate Justin was really angry. This was our biggest chance to get that 1st place! Canada U24 broke a paddle during a practice start and didn’t have a spare. The U18s was short one paddler. However, we didn’t capitalize on it. Length was short despite a powerful start. Then we started spinning. We finished the race with a 1:57.144.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

200m

Mixed #1 (5r) – 46.43 Mixed #2 (5r) – 46.83 Mixed #3 (5r) 2nd – 46.697

200m 

Open #1 – 46.812 Open #2 – 46.988 Open #3 – 2nd – 46.634

Sun’s out today. Not many clouds in the sky and temperature is in the high 70s. First race was at 9:20am. Today’s the last set of mixed races!

At the race site, we warmed up with a long jog. I interspersed it with 10 second sprints and high knees to get the fast-twitch muscles pumping. Coach Randy had the same plan to shock our heart rates with five 60m dashes. These were pretty tough to do with flip flops, but I thank Alex and Richard for pushing the sprints with me. Later, we also did a clap and jumping jack exercise as a crew to get our timing and rate together.

Going out to the first race was worrying, as usual. It’s always Canada that we’re gunning for. Our first race was exhilarating. The race was literally over as soon as it started. I worked on putting my body over the blade and pounding it. Right out of the start, we shot out ahead of Australia and Sweden to our sides. I couldn’t see Canada. There was a slight drop in rate after the start, which shouldn’t have been there. Then, it was the finish call and there wasn’t much more to give. We couldn’t hang with Canada. They finished convincingly ahead of us. We debriefed on the shore. We were too docile. Too soft! It’s the same stuff that we’ve heard all week.

Second race, we needed to perform, but it didn’t happen. I focused on keeping my head up the whole time. I watched the USA emblem on the back of the jersey of the second row. I was able to pull really good water and put my body into it. Again, the rate came down too much on the settle. We had Canada next to us and they moved on us. When the finish was called, we didn’t have much more. Sweden and Australia were right alongside us at the end. Fortunately, we scraped by with a second place. We debriefed and it was the same stuff. This time though, Coach Randy shared that he was proud of us and where we were. He has done so much for USA U24. I admire him for his vision, leadership, and bluntness.

Our third race was strong. We held onto the rate even in the middle of the piece. We pushed through with the rate and got through the finish. My entire right side was so tight afterwards. It was surreal to see the hard work over these years coalesce into this one moment. The message that we still weren’t good enough is a tough pill to swallow. There is still a lot of work to do to bring up paddling in the States.

We raced our first open race soon after. We were sandwiched between the Canada U24 and U18 teams. We got out to the start. The gate went down and I drove my body down. I kept my head up and had full visual on the boats around us. I watched us stay with the crews nearby without making any real gains. At the difference, Liisa told us that it was just the start that made the difference. The top speeds were similarly. We needed to shoot out the start more powerfully.

The second and third races were both pretty intense. Time-wise, both races were still 46 seconds and change. Another second place medal in the books. We’re close to Canada, but not quite there. It saddened me that our open crew couldn’t pull stronger times than our mixed crew, because it connotes that the extra men we’re putting on are not adding more to the crew. Anyway, more to improve on for years to come. I got to meet Canada’s U24 paddler, K. Morishita. Later, I got to hang out with Taiwan’s U24 paddlers. Many of them paddles for a team called Mr. CaNoe. 

Friday, August 21, 2015

500m Mixed #1 – 2:01.104 Mixed #2 – 1:58.580 Mixed #3 – 2nd – 1:58.138

Despite rolling out (supernova) my sore spots yesterday, I woke up still feeling pretty sore. I’m sure I would’ve been much worse if I had not rolled out. Stretching out and rolling out feel tedious and boring to me, probably because I’m young and I feel invincible. Right outside the hotel, the winds were strong. Temperature was around the mid-60s, but no forecast of rain. The race site started off similarly, but the wind died down soon. By the time the first race came around, the water was still and there was a slight overcast. 500m mixed! Here we go!

First race… temperature was pretty chilly. We warmed up together, but going out, there was a sense of uncertainty and fear. It showed on our first race. The start wasn’t full power while Canada marched on ahead. The Australian and Swedish boats stayed with us and actually overtook us. We definitely shouldn’t have been third, but that was how we performed. Spirits were low. I knew we were going to get chewed out. Ugh. Coach Randy told us that we needed a bigger engine push, especially for the start. There was chatter inside the boat that the rate was too fast, but Coach Randy debunked that really quickly. To be competitive, we needed to use the body and drop the hammer throughout the rate and piece. We went into the second one with the understanding that we are not third. We needed to not fear it and just do it!

I was calmer and warmer for the second race. Going out at the start, Canada practiced a start just as we were about to, but they got warned for it. We got into the start line and the wind was picking up slightly. At the go, I just pounded it hard and fast. My mentality was, I’m going to kill it on the start and just hang on for the rest of it. I distinctly remember pounding it hard for the start. Then the second half call came. I was so pumped. We were already halfway there! What a big difference it was from the 1000m, the finish call came and I could only see Canada from the peripherals. We ended up getting a solid second place and pulling a sub-2.

For our last mixed 500m race, we needed to hold onto our lead. We were three seconds away from Canada at the start of round three. Going out at the start, it was the same game plan with more power and body. The third race was awesome. I started off strong, gunning the start. I kept my body big, but the second half call didn’t come as quickly to me. Fatigue was setting in and doubt crept into my mind. I fought it off and got bigger with my body. Finish! Man… my lungs felt like they were going to blow up at the end of that race. 

Got to take a picture with the competitors from Australia. And we went on a ship that took us really close to Niagara Falls. More racing to follow tomorrow. 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

1000m Mixed #1 – 4:21.401 Mixed #2 – 4:14.426 Mixed #3 – 2nd – 4:10.172

Open #1 – 4:04.870 Open #2 – 4:09.069 Open #3 – 2nd – 4:11.833

There were six 1000m races today!

Mixed division was the first to go. Since there were only a total of four teams in our division (mixed), there are no minor or grand finals. Instead, they take the combined best two times to determine the winner. I did a long-ish run before gathering with the group. The game plan was to not repeat the same mistake twice and go out there aggressively from the start. I was nervous based on yesterday’s performance. Both the Australia and Sweden teams were 10 seconds faster than us on the 2000m. We needed to close the gap, but I wasn’t sure how ready I would be to hang onto the rate and power over 1000 meters. A strong headwind pummeled us at the start gate. Props to K-train for keeping the head in the gate the whole time while other boats were still straightening up. GO! I drove my body down through my stroke and kept my head up. My face instantly caught so much splash water that I felt like I was starring in a shampoo commercial. The wind blew so much water onto all of us, but we trudged on. I remember this race being so long. We were worried, but we needed to prove ourselves. We stayed together, stayed solid, and kept the rate high. Second half, now! I had no idea how close or far we were because of the water. Finish now! Go, go, go! We ended up 2nd. A convincing second. Mad respect for Canada’s U24. They had a boat-length on us… and we had a few rows ahead of Sweden and Australia.

It was tough paddling back to the dock. My outside leg hammy was feeling it hard. Back on the shore, Coach Randy debriefed with us. He was happy with our results and I could instantly feel a sense of pressure lifted, in flowed a sense of confidence that wasn’t there before. However, here we lost Brandon. His face was pale and looked dazed all the way back to the tent. Someone tended to him and we needed to run off for the next heat already. This incident reminded me of how important it is to go hard, but still be ready to call it off sometimes when something isn’t feeling right in the body. There were still many days of racing. For our second round, we still battled a headwind, but it didn’t feel as wild. The first 1000m was brutal for me in terms of not knowing what to expect, running out there with guns a blazing. The second one, we went out strongly and solidly. We got Canada at the start, and we were down to the halfway point. I was surprised that we were still ahead of them by a seat or two. That was when it clicked that that were playing us! We kept our rate high and kept calling power calls to try to lose them, but they stayed on our tail. At the 250m mark, they started moving up… and up… and up on us. We tried to push through to earn that first, but it didn’t happen. We ended second, but more than a boat length ahead of the Australians and the Swedes. Grateful to have solid competition from Canada.

We debriefed and before long, it was time to marshall again. Round three of 1000m mixed. It started raining hard. Everyone was soaked. There was also a constant breeze, so that made it really chilly for us all. It was very miserable. Bryson was noticeably cold, at the point where his lips turned purple. Hopefully, he was still full power because we needed to hold onto our time to keep the second place. This last round was a close round. Canada didn’t play around and just flew out right away. We couldn’t push any closer to them. Not only did we not get closer to Canada, but we also faded to the point where the other two boats were close on our tail. Maybe it was fatigue or the cold, but there wasn’t as much power generated. We passed the finish line and Australia was right next to us. We did it! We earned our second place! This felt so good because we fought for that second place in the Mixed 1000m event.

The next divisions are the open and women’s divisions. We had about an hour before starting, but the rain kept coming down all the way through our open 1k. Shiver, shiver. We went out there and pounded out this round. Canada and the US. We’re the only two teams in this division, so we medal either way. We wanted to fight for first, but it couldn’t happen. Canada U24 took us from the start and didn’t look back. It was defeating for me, but I was also happy for them that they’re pulling such good times. We didn’t really get a debrief as we ran over to get our silver medals at that podium for the mixed division. I guess then, the Gender coaches adjusted our goal to stay ahead of the Canadian juniors? It wasn’t really made explicit to us what we were trying to do, except to just go hard.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

2000m Mixed – 4th – 8:56.020

Open – 2nd – 8:40.424

Today’s the big day. We tried out, trained, and tested to make it onto this team. It’s time to show up! I was nervous starting off the day, uncertain about whether we have worked hard enough. I appreciated the amount of focus that Coach Randy expected of us. The temperature hovered around 27ºC with a consistent wind.

Dragon Boat World Championships begin with the 2k race, the longest distance event for dragon boating. In the mixed, we started the run way too soft. We were playing it way too safe. 2000m is the only race that only gets one run. This means you need to put everything you got into the first (and only) one. For mixed, our strategy fell apart a little bit. We took 4th, and it was a tough loss to swallow. For those of us on the mixed crew... we came off of it with more drive and determination. 

In the open crew, we pushed and pushed. Since there were only two competitors in this division, we received medals by default. Running a faster time than mixed does make me feel like I put in more work, but you can’t compare apples to oranges. Nevertheless, it was a good way to end the first day of races. 

I got the chance to meet Australian Premier Paddler, A. Montgomery. I was also happy to see my friends, W. Lee and co., again! Last time I saw them was at CCWC 2014. 

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Second day of practices began with ominous clouds and then torrential rain. I don’t usually experience this kind of downpour in the West Coast. In SF, if it pours like this, it keeps pouring throughout the day. Here, you really could wait it out. We stayed in our vans for about 30 minutes and the rain stopped. We went onto the water for practice and the sun even came back out! 

Tomorrow’s our big day. We needed to refuel, so our go-to restaurant was of course Indian Food! Coming back, we had a Gender crew team meeting.

Monday, August 17, 2015

I went to get some Tim Horton’s in the morning. The team loaded up into the vans in the afternoon and we drove about 15 minutes to the race site, Welland International Flatwater Centre. What a beautiful site! It reminds me of the Montreal Olympic site, specifically designed for canoe racing. 

I was fortunate to run into the famous M. Wu for a second time, since the Montreal Challenge. He’s contributed so much to the youth development of draognboat paddlers in Canada. It’s inspiring. 

After two hours of practice, we stopped by a supermarket to grab some food for the rest of the week. I went for the granola bars, bread, crackers, and honey. For breakfast, I got a lot of salami, hummus, and bologna for sandwiches.  

Back at the hotel, I packed away the stuff, checked out the swimming pool, and then got ready for the Opening Ceremony by Niagara Falls. It was nice taking pictures and being in the presence of athletes from all over the world. The holding spot for all the teams was a bit disorganized. Everyone’s running around meeting people from past competitions or just meeting new people from competing teams. Overall, it’s a very surreal atmosphere. I like that it’s very friendly and not filled with arrogance or an overly serious tone. 

The ceremony opened as the sun started to set. There was a drum-off between two special guests. There were performances and then it ended with fireworks. I can only imagine how it feels to be out here from the European countries. I guess that’s how I felt when I was out in Italy last year in 2014. Just overwhelmed and proud of being able to compete. 

On the walk back to the hotel, a few of us got hungry. We went out for a little snack. 

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Early in the morning, Lian and I went out to grab lots of dim sum and snack foods for the long drive up to Welland. Everyone loaded up into vans and we were on our way up north!

After the long drive, we finally made it to Niagara. A bunch of us dropped our bags off and went straight to chow down. 

Saturday, August 15, 2015

A huge thank you to Randy for picking me up at JFK at 1:30am and another big thank you to Lian for letting me crash at your place! It’s so great to be faraway friends and be greeted with such hospitality.

Early in the morning, we grabbed our gear and ran for the bus to Randy’s crib. There, many familiar faces greeted me, and I was excited to get started. We got to the World Fair Marina and I was awestruck because I recognized the gates and the location based off of Justin and Carolina’s snaps. It was so awesome to finally be here, with the rest of the Team USA U24.

The best part about dragon boating really is the networking and the friends that you make. We waited at the promenade area for everyone else to gather. So many familiar faces! Antonio and Bryson were having a push-up contest. The Straw Hat Pirates were laughing their heads off together. And in walked Justin, Carolina, and Richard! I’ve only heard of Richard, but it was cool finally meeting in person. It was mutual respect at first sight.

The SF boys and girls pretty much showed me the ropes. Put your stuff here. Chill over here. We’ll load on here. I felt very comfortable and in the know right away. Thank you everyone for including me with such enthusiasm. I was very happy to be there and to put in work. We went out there with the open crew first. We didn’t really get much instruction, other than to go out there and paddle. Justin led us here and there, but there was good energy in the boat. We were on our way back in when Liisa came over to work with us. The most memorable instruction from her was when she said, “Men. I need you guys to snap it the f**k out.” She was referring to the exits. I thought that it was vague in terms of where the power phase ended and how the recovery would look. Either way, I went along with it.

We had about twenty minutes before the mixed practice. At this practice, we focused on hitting strong starts and 200m pieces. With a strong first five, we lifted the boat and carried it constant with a strong exit push, keeping the ratio of water time and air time 1 to 1. Fortunately, there was sufficient rest time in between so we just kept on pounding it. I’m still sad that I wasn’t here since day 1. I’m happy to call these guys and gals my teammates!

Practice was done by 12:30pm. I took the afternoon to hang out with my Stanford buddy in NY before eating dinner at my Auntie’s restaurant. Have I told you that I don’t like big groups? Anyway, there were multiple big groups going to eat at my Auntie’s restaurant. I also had no idea that Chinatown was SOOOOO far away. Everything worked out at the end. The food was great, I got to see my relatives, and it was fun times. Tomorrow, we drive out to Canada. =D