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A few weeks have passed since the closing ceremonies and the dust is beginning to settle on my Games experience. I am, however, reliving many of my experiences, still (only) wearing my Olympic clothing – some of which I have yet to pull the tags off and constantly reflecting on the various experiences from the London 2012 Games. As you may have read from my last post, I had some very strong races at the Olympics. However, I was inconsistent across the board and had a handful of disappointing scores that ultimately kept me out of the top 1...

This will be the 1st of two final blog posts about the Games.  This particular post will highlight the racing at the Games and in a week or so, when the dust has settled, I will send out a final post about the Games experience as a whole. I just got home last night and am still reflecting.  Heading into the first race day, I was relaxed and confident in preparation. I was proudly wearing my American flag spandex pants on top of my wetsuit and eagerly awaiting the first start gun. When I was on the water, I had a realization that this ...

Not much has changed on the water since my last update. For the most part, it has been business as usual gearing up for the Games and tapering.   I am becoming increasingly more confident on my equipment and I am eager to start racing tomorrow.  The big event the past week was clearly the Opening Ceremony in London. Traveling to the Opening Ceremony was almost as exciting as the event itself.  Firstly, we were stuck in horrible traffic heading into London, which was fairly unpleasant.  However, once we were close to ce...

The good thing about being the first team to arrive at the Olympic Games, is the general excitement.  We got off the plane, flew through customs (Olympic line), got our bags and were swarmed by media as we walked out of the airport – you may have seen a glimpse of us on NBC’s Nightly News a few days ago. The first few days after our celebrity arrival were a bit hectic.  The team was tired, jet lagged and a bit out of it; however, we pushed through and enjoyed every moment.  Following our arrival at Heathrow we bussed...

Following the Sail for Gold Regatta in June I went home for 10 days of needed rest followed by my final training trip back to Weymouth on June 21st for 3 weeks.  My coach, Peter Wells, could not make it over, so I scheduled some training days with a Dutch coach, Casper Bouman – 2006 World Champion, 2008 Olympian.  We outlined a few key aspects to address.  The primary aspect we addressed was sailing outside of the harbor, as I demonstrated difficulties racing on the outer courses at the Sail for Gold regatta.  Additio...

The annual Sail For Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England was a great event.  We had typical English weather, the race management was precise, and the competition was extremely high.  Last year, the event was particularly important, as it was part of my Olympic Games selection. This year, the event was equally meaningful as it was the last regatta before the 2012 Olympic Games.  Clearly, I wanted to have a strong performance at this event.  The regatta started off with challenging light air conditions.  I had some difficult...

Following the French Olympic Week Regatta, I came home for a short 5 days of rest.   The reason for the short stop over in Chicago was to break up what would be a very long European trip.  Additionally, I wanted to see how my body would respond to a quick turnaround in the States, as I am planning on going home for another 5-day rest in the middle of July. I arrived in Weymouth, England on May 5th for 17 days of training.  The weather and conditions were standard: Very cold, rainy, foggy and at times windy.  I teamed u...

This past week I arrived home from a short, but very effective training camp in Palermo, Italy – followed by the French World Cup event in Hyeres, France.  The primary purpose of the training camp was train in a warm, “non-event” venue for 10 days, focusing primarily on fitness and short course racing.  Training in a “non-event” venue is very important from time to time, as it allows me to refocus my training.  “Non-event” venues are free of the distractions and stresses of the 20 &ndash...

Just this past week I came home from the 2012 World Championships in Cadiz, Spain.  Cadiz, situated in the Andalucían region of southwestern Spain, boasts a vibrant culture and offers fantastic sailing in the Bay of Cadiz.  The sailing venue, however, was across the bay from Cadiz in El Puerto de Santa Maria.  Albeit, Puerto de Santa Maria did not quite have the same amount of lively energy as Cadiz – it was still a unique spot and very rich in history.  As many of you may know, El Puerto de Santa Maria is wher...

February’s training schedule was slightly different than my typical training blocks, it included heavy gym training.  I finished up the winter season in Miami on February 8th and took a few days off.   Following the short break I shipped off to the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan for the US Olympic Sailing Team fundraiser.  Immediately following the NYC trip, I flew out to Colorado Springs for 2 weeks of dry land training at the US Olympic Team Training Center. The fundraiser was a huge success.  More than 250 p...