First day of the Olympic Trials: Measurements & Prep.

The countdown is over, the Olympic Trials are here. Amazing! Just getting here has been an incredible journey. One of the reasons I fell in love with windsurfing is that the challenges are endless, specially when you attached an Olympic Campaign to the quest. Now, there are 13 RSX competitors (six women, seven men), who all share the Olympic dream and a passion for windsurfing, preparing and waiting for race day. The emotions are high.....one of the many challenges is staying focused and limiting distractions.

As we all know, stress causes people to do funny things and I have to admit there is a lot of nuttiness going around. Yesterday I took part: My pit crew (Dad and Mom), other competitors offering their opinions, and I spent all day working on the gear detail by detail instead of sailing. RSX racing should come with a WARNING LABEL stating: Need to be very detail originated, engineer, handy man/woman in order repair and tweak gear. If not do not pass go. Oops! If there was such a label I never read it.

As I learned; sick with a Dominican Republic stomach bug, broken down, "chumming for sharks" while floating towards Alcatraz in the San Fransisco Bay; details matter. Considering I had almost everything go wrong in San Fran, I have learned the lesson of being prepared for plan B, C, D, etc.. Now, I am ready to just sail and have tons of fun.

Thank you for all your support. The emails and cheers have been great. You're awesome.

Denise Parris, USA 235