First Day of School

I made it to Philadelphia. That is the best place to start. Moved in on Wednesday. I know live on the 8th floor of a building that overlooks the Art Museum. The apartment is nice and the bed looks like it is going to be very comfy. I moved everything in and got situated. I also moved my boat into its new home at 12 Boathouse Row. It seemed happy there.

First Practice happened on Thursday. I find my self in the land of giants. I am one of probably 3 guys who is 6'2'' and under. I also found myself on Sculling duty. There seems to be right now 21 guys in the program. So there is a guy that rotates out in the practice to the single. It was a interesting practice. I set out on my warm up. Once I get down to the opposite end of the course, I started doing technique drills. I quickly find that while I can row a single, I have not payed enough attention to my technique. Trying placement drills (where you basically move your oar in and out of the water) and concentrate on remaining loose while maintaining balance. About mid way through I move to the catch and pause to balance, and promptly flip the boat. I got baptized. So I am now not only under my boat but also get to swim in the Schuylkill River. I then finish out practice rowing on the square, which is also pretty dificult. I rowed approximately 9miles in all.

I am still the "new guy" it seems. It is still young in the program, and there is not much talking amongst the guys except those that already now each other. I met one guy after practice. His name is Tom and we chatted about rowing the single. I head home and make dinner and grab a shower to wash the river off.

I am going to head to bed early cause I have practice at 6AM. This is going to be an interesting and fast week. Photos are soon to follow.