Airport

I'm in the San Diego airport now, enjoying free wireless and huge windows, awaiting the commuter jet that is taking us to Oklahoma City for Olympic Trials.

I wanted to include the event website: here you can find athlete bios, results, and information about the event.

For those of you who may be curious about what these trials actually decide, I will attempt to explain in as few words as possible.

These are US Olympic Trials, but for most people, the road doesn't end here. The winners of each race at these trials will go on to the Montreal Cup Qualifier in mid-May, which is also Pan-American Championships. The winning boat from each event in Montreal will get to send that boat to the Olympics. So, although these are our domestic trials, they don’t guarantee most people a spot in Beijing. Of course it's a bit more complicated than that; some people have qualified already according to their performance at last year's World Championships. Additionally, for those athletes who are younger and do not qualify for the Olympics, there will be a Pan-Am Team and a U-23 World Cup Team which will go on tour in Europe in June.

The bottom line for me, of course, is to forget all this qualification mumbo-jumbo for the next 5 days and do what I do best: race as fast as I can. No sweat. (Well, okay, maybe a little.)