It’s been a busy few weeks on planet Skud…
On returning from Rochester we spent less than a week on British soil before flying to Beijing on a recce with the rest of the GBR paralympic squad.
The purpose of the trip was to check out facilities, access, transport, jet lag/recovery etc. in advance of next year’s games. We spent two days in Beijing before flying on to Qingdao (China’s ‘Sailing City’). Beijing was incredibly busy (we arrived on a national holiday, with crowds flocking to Tian’anmen Square for kite flying and photos ops next to the floral display depicting the Parthenon - for Athens - and the Great Wall, of course, for Beijing). The roads were gridlocked - sit facing backwards and pray - and the notorious smog gave everything a peculiar ghostly air but we had a fantastic time nevertheless, hauling wheelchairs around the Forbidden City and down the long corridor of the Summer Temple.
I also managed to cajole the rest of the team into visiting Yonghegong, the Tibetan temple in Beijing, famous for its ‘yellow hat’ Buddha and a giant, 18 metre high standing Buddha, carved from a single piece of sandlewood.
This trip was a great thrill for me - I’m fascinated by Buddhism and was delighted to read this weekend of Jonny Wilkinson’s interest - and was equally delighted to see my fellow team members sitting quietly in the peaceful courtyards soaking up the atmosphere and watching the locals pray and give offerings. And we touched the lucky turtle - you can’t miss out on the such chances when you’re going for Gold!
In Qingdao we were received with overwhelming hospitality and graciousness, although I do have problems with the delicate Chinese hostesses trying to take my heavy bags from me. I might only have one leg but I’m in training! The Seaview Garden hotel couldn’t do enough for us and again I found this slightly unnerving, most of my travelling has been in beat up old buses or under canvas and the few hotels I have stayed in were the sort where you use your sleeping bag rather then risk their bedding… It’s a different world - China that is. Qingdao - a city most people will never have heard of - has a Hong Kong skyline and the glitzy malls that go with it. The locals say that even they can’t keep up with the pace of change, with new buildings sprouting up daily. The Olympic venue is already completed (an entire dockyard was moved down the coast) and excitement is building.
You can catch glimpses of ‘old’ China though; men playing Mah Jong on a street corner, scrap waste piled precariously on an ancient bicycle, in the markets where the bored shop girls play with their hair and hiss at your feeble attempts at bargaining. Everyone is friendly, no one is threatening, you don’t get hassled or even stared at particularly (and we were a fairly distinctive group with Steve striding around in shorts on his prosthetic legs) and I have never felt so safe in a foreign city. They have lovely dogs too! (although this was in Qingdao - rumour has it that dogs over 14 inches high are banned in Beijing…)
I then managed a whole week at home before getting up at 5 am (on my birthday!) to drive to Weymouth for Squad camp. Good weather for October so we got out on the water and tested our prototype tilting seats. We now have to get the system perfected in time for container loading on 3rd December as we’re off to Miami for the Olympic Classes Regatta in January. I did manage to catch up with friends and family last night for a bit of a birthday bash which was great and much needed. Thanks for coming everyone - I’m having an amazing experience but I do miss my pals.
And talking to my friend Kirsty, who is a film maker, this morning, I realised that the actual racing side of this is a bit of a mystery to many people, so I’ve decided to start making a video diary and will post up clips. An ABC guide to paralympic sailing, or something similar. Lets hope we don’t have any more broken masts or spectacular broaches (that’s when you get knocked on your side).
