|
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sunday August 9, 2009 - The Horror Bordeaux, France - Kelowna, B.C., Canada After the drive from Brive to Bordeaux I finally got in to the hotel at 01:00. I set me wake up call for 05:00 to meet the boys at the airport by 05:30. The subsequently they went out to party in Brive while I was driving. Needless to say when I met them at the airport in Bordeaux they all looked a little tired. They had to be on the bus from Brive at 02:00. So I do not think many of them got any sleep! The stories of the evenings adventures sounded fun and I highly reccommend to anyone to see if they could get even a bit of it out of them. You will enjoy! Flight from Bordeuax was short and uneventful. Only a 1hr flight. Once at the Paris airport (Charles de Gaulle) I was able to point the boys in the direction of their connecting flight as I was not able to go to that part of the terminal. I made my way to the baggage belts and got my bags and proceeded to make my way to the British Airways check in counter! Charles de Gaulle Airport! Ah... can we say... WHAT A NIGHTMARE! Changing terminals here is a little bit of a pain in the but. I highly reccomend that if you need to change airlines, do not do it at Charles de Gaulle. What they do not tell you is that you can not check you checked baggage until 2-3 hours prior to the flight. So, with a 5 hour lay over I was left wandering the halls of the airport looking for a place to sit down and relax. Felt a bit like high school grad not knowing what they going to do in September! Finaly got checked in and made my way to the BA lounge (which is actually the American lounge). Waited for a while and finaly got on the plane to London Heathrow. You gotta love the way the French board planes. I do not recall hearing any pre board announcements, just a swarm of people queing up to get on the aircraft. 3 More hours in Heathrow before my flight to Vancouver. BA'snew terminal 5 is built a bit like a shopping centre. Just in case you have not gone over your purchase maximiums, this would definatley give you the opportunity to complete that task! If you ever get a chance, I highly reccomend the experiance of this terminal. A lot cleaner and nicer than Charles de Gaulle! Way to go BA! The flight to Vancouver was uneventful. Upon arrival in Vancouver I do not think they could have parked the aircraft any further away from the terminal than this gate. Marathon / distance runners would have loved this one! Thank god someone was smart enough to put in moving walk ways! Way ta go YVR!!! I got through customs and made my way to the baggage area. I actuall got to the baggage belt before my bag. That is a first for me in Vancouver. Then it was off to my connecting flight. thank god for Air Canada to have someone their directing traffic. I would have missed the new connecting leg to the domestic side. I had heard about this long walk down the hallway that never ends to a room with a single person sitting at a podium motioning youover to the elevators. Then up the elevator, through the new check-in and then back through security. They didn't even say anything about the 2 bottles in my carry on! Then it was down the escalator and off to the gate! Had another 2 hours before the next flight so I hit the White Spot for some goood old Canadian food and drink. The Coke and Pepsi in Europe didn't taste the same so it was nice to be back in familiar territory. The French sure got the chocolate right thougt. Caught the Jazz flight to Kelowna at 21:00 and was back in the smokey OK by 22:00! In bed by 23:30. What a trip! Summing it all up, stared in Bordeaux at 05:00 (8:00pm Saturday BC time) and crawled in to my own bed at 11:30pm Sunday. 27 1/2 hours traveling = 1 tried camper! Congrats to the crew who did our country proud! And thanks to all the parents and others who suported them in the endevour. Just one last thing... We did good EH! Saturday August 8, 2009 - WORLD U18 Rowing Chamionships - RESULTS Brive-la-Gaillarde, France The race started with most of us watching the podium. They boys looked very good however the Germans began pulling away from the start. They were in 4th place utill the 1,250 M mark when they got caught up in the swell froma marshall boat. Would not have made a differance though. The German team was very far out front. After the race we had an opportunity to talk to the crew. At the start they were a bit down and then when they had a chance to reflect, they realised that 6th out of 11 in the world was not a bad thing. They said they raced their race and did what they came here to do. No reasson as to why they were slower, just maybe the other teams were that much faster. By the time dinner rolled around. They were all having a great time reflecting on the experiance. Results as follows: It was interesting to note that the teams that placed 1-5 were all in the heat with Germany. Canada was the only country from our heat to make the final. Team members are: Thanks to all who supported them! Saturday August 8, 2009 - WORLD U18 Rowing Chamionships - FINALS Brive-la-Gaillarde, France It's 8:00am at the course and there is a unique calmness in the air. The final touches are being put on tings here. Carpets are being rolled out, security fences are being put in place and locked together to keep the estimated 10,000 spectators where they should be, out of the athlete’s way! The “B” final athletes are currently getting warmed up. Their races begin at 9:00am with the “A” finals beginning at 11:15am here in France. Conditions could not be better. The sky is overcast and the temperature is nice and cool. Not like on Wednesday when the temperatures reached around 27+ degrees C. Lane assignments are as follows: Scheduled start time is 11:15am local time. Check out the World rowing web zite for links to the live feeds. I have also been told, Orange TV here in France is going to provide a live webcast of the event at: Last night, the parents that are here got together for diner. If I could only know how the boys were doing I could compare who was more nervous! I think the parents may have that contest won! One of them commented that they asked their son what they wanted to get for them on this trip referring to a souvenir. The boy replied, “Mom, the only thing I want you can’t buy!” I think that summarizes things very well. Thursday August 7, 2009 - WORLD U18 Rowing Chamionships Brive-la-Gaillarde, France The Canandian team did not race today. They did a easy training session in the morning and then watched to see which other boats made their final for Saturday. Repechage 1: The results were as follows: Place 1:..Australia..........6:32.47 Australia and Italy move on to the "A" final with Canada and Germany. Repechage 2: The results were as follows: Place 1:..France...............6:35.41 France and Great Britian move on to the "A" final with Canada and Germany. Saturdays "A" Final will see the following teams: The race is scheduled to start at 11:15am here in France....2:15 am in BC 3:15am in Alberta Hope that you all can make it ! Live feed can be found at the following link:
http://worldrowing.com/index.php?pageid=116 Wednesday August 6, 2009 - WORLD U18 Rowing Chamionships Brive-la-Gaillarde, France Its that time of year again. World U18 Championships. This year they are being held in Brive la Gaillarde, France. East of the coastal town of Bordeaux, the setting for this competition is a small man made lake just South West of Brive. Getting here was no easy task! 1 flight from Kelowna to Vancouver. A 3 hour lay over. Vancouver to London Heathrow. Sprint trough that airport to catch the connector to Paris. Had a 4 hour lay over before my flight to Brodeaux where I was lucky enough to spend the next 1hr and 20 min driving to my hotel 1/2 way between Bordeaux and the race site. On the way to the race today on various occasions I thought I was going the wrong way. I had to stop a few times to check the map but I did make it here. It was more difficult to find the press tent then the race course itself. The lake is situated between 2 small hills with a turn in and out at each end. The temperature is a warm 34C. Just like home... only no smoke! I was able to capture this photo of the team heading towards the start line for their race.
For this race I was able to position myself on the finish platform overlooking the finish line. I set up 2 cameras to shot he finish. Heat 1 saw the following teams: Heat 1: The results were as follows: Place 1:..Germany..........6:19.54 Heat 2: I have been told, a picture is worth more than 1,000 words. So here is my 1,000!
The results were as follows: Place 1:..Canada..............6:24.77 Well, thats it for now. More tomorrow ! | ||||||||
All images copyright © DRTPHOTOGRAPHY 2009 Website by: Marmello Design Studio |
||||||||
