News-Record.com

Caroline actually wrote this over the weekend, but due to the frantic pace of things wasn't able to send it to the News & Record until late Monday night. The race that she refers to has already occurred. Lind and her teammates won their heat race early on Monday, advancing to the finals, on Aug. 16-17

Last night the water and food fairy came to our hotel rooms. The water in China that comes out of a tap is not of the same quality as that in the USA so all the water we drink has to be bottled water. We are also encouraged to brush our teeth with bottled water, just in case. So every few days our team managers/coordinators leave flats of bottled water at our door. Last night they also left a box of cliff bars and a couple boxes of nutrigrain bars for each room! That was pretty exciting!

I appreciate that we are at a hotel away from the Olympic village because it keeps the experience feeling like a world championship instead of the Olympics which I think is good for alleviating any added pressures. I think that if we were living at the Olympic village it would be easy to get caught up in all the activities that they have there. On the other hand I think the dining hall is open 24/7 at the village and that there is a never-ending supply of bars. That is the one aspect that would be nice - to not have to plan so much for meals and snacks. We were encouraged to bring over food from the US for snacks and things. If we were at the village I think that wouldn’t have been as necessary. But the food here is great. I have no complaints and the energy bar fairy visits around every now and then so being here is just as terrific! We will all get to experience the village in the week after racing, and truly be able to enjoy it then!

It was hot this morning at the course. Well I am not sure if "hot" is the right word for it, but humid. It’s really the humidity more than anything else that affects me. The air is so smoggy and thick that the sun doesn’t seem as bright beating down on us, but it is still super moist outside. I was drenched today and I am everyday after practice.

Things were pretty normal at the course today. I saw a friend of mine from Princeton, Sam Loch, who is 2 seat of the Australian men’s eight. We were the same year at Princeton and the same major, so we got to be pretty good friends. Princeton has a pretty good contingent at the Olympics. On Team USA alone there are four Princetonians. In addition to Sam on the Aussie team, my teammate from Princeton, Andy Morin, is in the Canadian women’s eight!

Our first race is Sunday at 5pm Chinese Standard Time (5am EST). It will be broadcast live at http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/index.html!