Leander and Laundry

Hey there! Becca and Rachael here, reporting on Tuesday's events.  We started the morning off rigging the boats after our very successful weekend in Reading, and then Paul led a warm up that left our muscles shaking and very warm. This was then followed by a morning row on the bustling Henley course.  There were many improvements made to the course over the weekend and it is really coming together! 

Many of us took a field trip to the well-known Leander Club in between practices. It is one of the oldest and most successful rowing clubs in the world, with incredible achievements from their members at the world and Olympic level. Their trademark pink hippo accented the beautiful building.  Leander is located right by the bridge into town and walking by the clubhouse is practically inevitable every day. When walking across the bridge one might see a single or two docking or launching from their dock, or if you are lucky you will see a full eight of gorgeous men preferably in their 20s. During our visit we spent most of our time in the gift shop contemplating which shirts and socks to buy. However walking along the halls the history is proudly portrayed in countless photographs and awards lining every wall. (We were only able to stalk, I mean spot, one rower through our journey. But he was a little over 2m tall and rather dashing.) After our trip to Leander we continued on our way, happily, a couple dollars shorter, but content with our many purchases.

The Leander clubhouse lobby...yes, that is a hippopotamus coffee table... 

Becca in front of just one example of the rich history of the club

Rachael with pictures from Henley Royal Regatta and the 2012 Olympics.

More Olympians produced by Leander...

The library in the clubhouse filled with books on rowing and the River Thames.

British Airways’ fifty pound weight limit for checked bags made it very difficult to pack enough clothes for two weeks straight so it was the inevitable laundry day!  The closest “launderette” as they are called on this side of the pond, is a mile uphill past the center of town.  Lucky for us, the coaches have been driving a rental  “seven passenger van” which is more comparable with a Toyota Prius than a Honda Oddessey, so we packed all of our smelly, dirty clothes into the car and made the trip up the hill. It was a rough start to get the washers going but we managed to fit all of the team’s laundry into 3 washers! However, as the owner so cleverly pointed out, they were “American made” and therefore less efficient.  As the neon spandex and sports bras swirled in the suds of the machines, we enjoyed our lunches outside in the gorgeous weather. We entertained ourselves with a card game that gave us lots of laughs but required no physical activity. Once our laundry was clean and folded we got back to our card game and waited for Coach to return, like a forgotten soccer kid waits for their mom after practice. Squeezing into the car once more we rode back to the house to drop off our clean clothes before practice. The entire experience was completed, when after our post practice meeting coach called for a hands-in specifically for the laundry-bunch. On the count of three the seven of us cheered “Laundry” and we got hands on our boat.

It is difficult to tell but there are, in fact 6 of us in there with a team's worth of laundry and the boat hardware suitcase!

Thanks for reading!

Becca and Rachael