Our team of foreigners had practiced the week before (see previous post) but because not everyone had made it to practice, I was a bit apprehensive about how we would fair in the actual race. But we had a great name, "Team Ship Happens," so what could go wrong?
The day started rough when we missed the bus to Ulsan and had to wait until 9 to leave on the next bus. Since it takes an hour, we got to Ulsan at 10, the same time as the race! After a quick taxi ride and a dash down to the river, we made it only because these things never start on time. We even had time for a brief practice on land before hopping in the boats.
Practice on shore.
Our team in the whale boat paddling down to the starting line.
We had three different races. In the first race, we had fairly strong coordination with paddling and ended up taking first place. A surprise to all of us and the actual belief that "hey, maybe we could actually win this!"
In the second race, we had a bit of a bad start and ended up taking second in that heat. Thankfully, our times were combined to place us in the final race. We had the second fasted time of the ten teams participating.
The final race was quite nerve-racking. The team next to us, Team Narwhal, had matching t-shirts and a chant which was as intimidating as their yogi bodies. However, our team gave it our best despite tired arms and lack of threatening team chant. Perhaps it was sheer determination or stubbornness that we ended up in second. I know it definitely wasn't because of our level of superb physical fitness ;).
Post 1st race victory.
Learning we finished in second place. It had been a close call.
Presented with our silver medals and a trophy by the Mayor of Ulsan (the man in a suit with a sun hat--adorable).
All the medal-winning teams. Team Narwhal is in the middle. Nice shirts, right?
