End Credits for the ROWSTAR TEAM

Many thanks to all the supports for the RowStar Project. We worked hard towards a dream. I firmly believe you should always strive for your dreams. Even if you don't get there, you won't come down with a hand full of dust either.

Ursula continues to row, and Abby continues to train for biathlons and adventure racings.

Thank you for a great run. A gold medal in the double at Bled was a special victory. The months of training in Bellingham was another part of the process. A journey we will never forget. Thanks to Carlos Dinares for all the guidance and support.

Vote for America Rows to help them win a $12,000 grant

Vote for America Rows, the diversity and inclusion program within USRowing, to help them win a $12,000 grant from the United States Olympic Committee.

All you need to do is vote on Facebook by clicking on the link below. First, "Like" the USOlympic Team site and then vote in the USA Grants tab for America Rows. It's simple.

http://usoc.kickapps.net/_USRowing39s-America-Rows-Program-USRowing/video/1625274/193981.html

Right now, USRowing is in second place. We need your votes to ensure we win the grant.
Voting goes through midnight Sunday, September 18 and you can vote once a day.

The full message link here: >>

Lucerne Entry

Following the first two World Rowing Cup in Germany, the best rowers in the world move on to World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, from 8 to 10 July. Fifty nations have sent a huge contingent of 901 athletes to compete on the Rotsee known as the mecca of rowing in Switzerland. This impressive turnout is partly due to Lucerne being the last time many of these countries will get to race each other before the all-important Olympic Qualification Regatta that is part of the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, at the end of August.

We are in the LW2x. This means in the Lightweight Women Double Scull.
The entries include Australia and New Zealand. Canada and Great Britain. Germany and Greece, Netherlands and Italy.... and many more!

USA2
BROUGHTON Abelyn
GROBLER Ursula

The World Cup event finals will be video-streamed live on Sunday 10 July and can be accessed through the video section of the website.

We will keep you posted with the results!

Racing at the 2011 Holland Beker!

If you ever happen to be in Amsterdam around mid-June and feel like experiencing a really great regatta, definitely come check out the Holland Beker!  We just finished a weekend of racing in the W2x, both on Saturday and Sunday, and overall the racing ended up successful!  We got faster throughout the weekend, and learned a lot, which was the goal of this weekend--to get race experience that will set us up well for the upcoming World Cup in Lucerne!

Because of the recent E.coli outbreak in Germany, several international crews opted to skip out on World Cup #2 in Hamburg (which took place two weekends ago), and come to the Holland Beker instead!  So, lucky for us, we got to race against some of the fastest LW2x crews in the world:  Great Britain (World Cup #1 winners), Canada (last year's world champs), and the Dutch crew.  

After several races where we just couldn't get our bow out in front in the first 500m, Sunday's final put an end to that pattern as we led the race through the halfway point.  Great Britain fought back, and overtook us in the second 1000m for the win.  We held on for 2nd, and were pleased with the result, knowing that we have more gears to develop for when we face them again in two weeks!

It was fun to represent Lake Union Crew, and be right up there amidst GB, Canada, and the Netherlands!

Click for Sunday's results

Abby and Ursula at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam

Next stop...Lucerne World Cup!!

Holland Beker Racing!

Racing at the 2011 Holland Beker starts tomorrow!  
We are racing as "LUC" in the W2x.  
Two separate races, one Saturday, and one Sunday.
Heats tomorrow morning, then final in the afternoon.  
Then on Sunday, an early heat, midday semis, then an afternoon final!  
We are excited to race and have many times to zoom down the course--Five 2k's over three days if all goes well!!  :) 


Click Here to find results!


(results links are on the right side of the webpage)

2011 - WOW the year is already halfway through!!

By Abby

So, where have we been??  I'll try to make this long story not-so-long!  :)

Well, as Ursula continued her training after New Zealand, moving from one place to another as she sought a different training environment, I came to the hard realization that I think many elite athletes come to at some point in their career--I needed to set my oars down for a while, pause, and let myself take a much-needed mental and physical rest.  So, from January through March, I was mostly at my home in southeastern Idaho, playing in the Teton Mountains and spending time with my boyfriend and family.  I tried out some new sports, including biathlon, orienteering, ski-orienteering, and adventure racing.  Amidst all the fun was plenty of inner turmoil surrounding my "comeback" to rowing.  I knew deep inside that I wasn't done with my rowing pursuit, but when would I be really ready to jump back into the boat?  At what point would I feel refreshed, re-motivated, and ready to dive back in whole-heartedly after the long 2010 season?  

Not a bad view from my living-room erg!

Around mid-April, I decided to go check out the scene at Oklahoma City for a week, just to see the training facility there and test the waters, so to speak!  It was great to once again be training alongside Ursula, and to be back on the water and enjoying it once again!  I went back to Idaho, gathered up my things, and drove to OKC to train again.  Now, the question was, would I be ready to race at the upcoming National Selection Regatta #2???

Yes….

But the timing was incredibly tight and by the time Ursula and I sat on that starting line again in the LW2x, we had been back together in a boat for a week and a half, and I had only a couple days of pieces under my belt since racing in New Zealand over 6 months prior.  We had a good start to the regatta, but fell short of winning by two seconds!  My cross-trained aerobic base could only get us so far, and we needed more time to make some technical changes and get into a new rhythm.

Fast forward through another series of moves and re-configuration, and we found ourselves back in Seattle, my rowing home base, training at Lake Union Crew with our new coach, John Parker.  After two weeks training in Seattle and sleeping in my own bed (ahhh so nice!), the three of us have headed to Europe to train and do some international racing!  We are currently in Amsterdam, preparing to race in the Holland Beker race next weekend.  It should be a really fun race…some fast crews will be showing up including the Canadian and GB lwts!

Where we're staying...THANKS Frans and Ineka!

Amsterdam!  SO many bikes!

After the Holland Beker, we're off to Lucerne, Switzerland, where we will race as "USA-2" in the 3rd World Cup.  This will be a big event…basically the equivalent of World Champs but compressed into just three days!  We are excited to see where our continuing momentum has taken us since NSR2.

Although by losing at NSR2 we lost our opportunity to be the 2011 USA LW2x, we remain patient and confident that we are still on track for a successful Olympic year.  We are working very hard everyday, and are keeping our spirits up--staying as present as possible as we also keep the big picture in mind!

April of next year will be the next round of National Selection, which will begin the process of determining the crew that gets to represent at the 2012 Olympics.  It's still a long road ahead, but for now, we go onward with the second half of 2011, one stroke at a time !

So, hopefully following the results from our upcoming races will be simpler than following that long update!  Look for links to our results on our blog within the next few day! 

Now that we're settled in Holland and have found our new rhythm, we will be more diligent at keeping our blog and website updated!

Much thanks to all our dedicated supporters…couldn't do this with out you!!!!!!!

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