Sorø Assault meets some DRAMA

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Well we just got back from a 10 hour drive back from Sorø, Denmark. I saw the sun set…well kind of as it does not truly get dark here….more like dusky all night…and then I saw it rise…..lets just say my enthusiasm was not as strong on the rising as it was on the falling. I was very tired indeed. Esther and I were delirious as we had left at 6pm and arrived back at 4am…driving the whole way through…….the following is a summary of the entire trip from Norway….Sweden….to Denmark.


Esther and I left very early on the Friday morning to drive the trailer of boats to the regatta. This was my first time driving a trailer and it was seriously full of boats. Besides some minor skill lacking in downshifting from fifth to fourth….I think I did alright. We crossed Sweden and then crossed the longest bridge in Scandinavia on our way to Denmark.

We arrived in Sorø at around 5 at night…rigged and rowed. There was a prevailing cross wind for the first 1000m, as I am a fair weather rower that is sheltered on the yarra river..this was a little challenging. Esther seems to think we have a fair chance in our racing…..given this was my first 2k without any training I was not as sure. We are racing the Sr heavyweight double….so strike one against us we are two small lightweights…..Come race day we got up to the start and scouted out the competition……well…..I had a feeling things were not going to go as Esther may have originally planned. Young…nimble….toned bodies rowed around us…dazzling us with their power starts. Now I should say that I was not psyked out…just my age became acutely obvious as these girls were all under 23 years of age to be sure. Lets see how this thing pans out……and try and complete it without having a cardiac arrest!

Well we were with them for about 500 meters….and then we weren’t. But we were neck and neck with the other Christiania clubs double (which consisted of their u23 lightweight that is going to worlds and this big Swedish chick) they narrowly got us…..but we managed a 7:40 time which is not bad for two old chicks and we were not the slowest……then the real fun began…

We had a race in just under the 30 minutes in the masters women’s double, so we did not have time to get off the water…just enough time to get back up to the start.. In between I quickly ate some Norwegian jelly candy called Seigmenn. Almost immediately upon consuming it I began to cough…I thought it was just a little sugar dust irritating my throat. The cough began to progress as my throat started to itch and tingle and I actually started to get somewhat panicky. I told Esther this and she just told me to breath….which I did….as I coughed and produced more mucous. something was not right…..but I would be damned if it was going to stop me from racing.

So into the start blocks we go again…..I relaxed myself a little…trying not to focus on the growing itch and swallow problem I was having…..we had a 20 second handicap….as our competitors were of the E category….which means they get to start 20secs ahead…..while we wait on the counter to let us go. Now Esther and I both believe that this woman was the slowest counter in all of history…..for each count…(of which she was not using a seconds watch) she gave at least 12 a second extra. So we reckon at least 25 seconds had gone by before we got the cue to go. Now…for those not savvy with rowing….1000m and 20 - 25 seconds to catch someone is a SERIOUS handicap. (for the record…in Henley we all go off go). We did have another crew start at the same time as us…but we pretty much said goodbye to them after our first stroke. By the time we got to the line we were on them but just ran out of water. They were within sniffing distance but the distance proved too great to make up. When we got off the water people were asking us what the handicap was because it was so far apart off the start it looked like it was two separate races running. We had a good race and clocked a time of 3:40 which is not bad.

Then the fun began….Esther promptly took the boat in and got me to first aid….as I said I had all the signs of an allergic reaction. So after a quick discussion the first aid man…who was lovely….said he would have to call an ambulance and get me to hospital as they do not have any anti histamine. No I said….how totally horrifying….Esther insisted something had to be done. I was saying that it had plateaued and was not getting better …but was not getting any worse either. No one was buying it. So then came the sirens…..god, if I was not already burned you would have seen how red my face was. Not one….Not Two…BUT THREE ambulances came to my side. The initial paramedic was a rather handsome man that assessed my vitals…then in came the friggen patient trolley bed…I said there is no friggen way I am getting on that……a doctor came and then they decided to give me an IV steroid injection. Well it must have been some beginner paramedic that came on to the scene next (not my handsome original Dane)as finding my vein proved to be quite a challenge for him. (keep in mind he did have an audience of about ten people watching him perform this simple task)…he painfully tried to put it in…he was so crap that that the doctor had to come over. Once enough damage had been caused to my now very unhappy vessel…in pumped the anti histamine and out with the ego……totally and completely mortified at all the attention my little reaction was receiving. (look, I do realise how serious and life threatening these things can be…..but….well it was embarrassing).

Now I guess you can class me with Ullrich…the cyclist…..as he was caught for using a banned substance in the tour de france….why the parallel with a finely tuned somewhat doped up athlete….I was not allowed to compete the next day because I had an injection of corticosteroids. Yes…..little old me could not race….as there was stirring that there was going to be some random drug testing and because of what happened I would most likely get chosen. (even though it was medical) If I was chosen, I would not be able to compete for a year….definitely not worth it considering I have Henley as the goal….next week. So we were strongly warned not to race. Can you believe it? It seems so extreme….it is not like Esther and I were killing the competition to make them suspect foul play. Madness. Ah well….did a 1000m race piece at lunch anyway…and then proceeded to increase my tan. In retrospect it was probably a good idea not to race….as I was still in a chemical haze…….

Lesson number two of my trip…..accept the help of others.

Oh and I should mention….on the way home at some ungodly hour….Esther and I saw the outline of a MOOSE on the side of the road. I finally saw a live animal. It was in Sweden that I saw it….but as we unloaded boats when we got back there was another one behind some trees. So I guess the Norwegians actually did leave a few animals to run free (given I had seen so many stuffed and mounted with pride in many a spot we had visited in our journey). I tried to fumble to get a snap of it….but of course the camera was no where to be seen when I needed it!

So Esther and I leave for London on the 5th to begin our ASSAULT on Henley……Fingers and toes crossed that we manage to peak and outperform what I am sure is going to be some tough competition……….See you in London.

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Photos

Somewhere in Sweden driving the trailer
driving across scandinavia....Long and winding road...da da da dahhhhh..(sing the beattles).

The Longest bridge in scandinavia
The big bridge that takes you to Denmark from Sweden

Banks on the Bank
Banks rowing club makes their international debut.....kinda....sorta...not really due to IV injection day before....note the beer beside my water bottle.

The mother Christiania roklub...so beautiful
How totally awesome is the architecture of this rowing club....it was donated by some very WEALTHY club member....okay banks...any rich sugar daddies out there.....

posed jackass
The example of pure pose and grace...NOT.....the elephant strikes a pose in front of the rowing clube

Comments

[vanessa]

lol
Oh Rayne...not really funny..actually very serious but I am at work completely laughing out loud as I read about your adventures. Glad to hear you are okay. I have my fingers crossed for you and I am sending good thoughts your way for Henley. p.s I still think we are 23...