The Cayard Chronicles - Olympic Trials: The Day After
March 29, 2004

One really special moment I forget to mention last night was when we arrived at the dock and the Olympic Sailing Center. There were the top 60 Optimist Sailors(15 years old and under) in the USA standing there applauding Phil and I. It was touching and very much appreciated.

I celebrated the best I could last night, but all the rally I could muster was 2 beers and one glass of red wine with my dinner. We were supposed to meet up with the other sailors around 11 pm but we were asleep by then.

This morning I woke at 0700, took JC to the airport helped Phil with the final packing of the boat and went to the gym for an hour. I am now packed and getting ready for 24 hours of airplanes and airports.

In the gym…where I do some of my best thinking…I digested the trials and looked forward to the next four months and how I am going to prepare for the Olympics. At 44, I will never get another opportunity to go to the games. I need to train very hard and focus exclusively on this. The competition in the Star class is tough. 20 years ago the USA dominated the class. This is not so anymore. Younger, fitter sailors are coming out of the Finn class and they are custom built for the rules of today. So I need to make a great plan…. just like we had for the trails only better.

The bottom line after 24 hours of digestion is: Winning the Trials was a big deal. But it was not the Real Deal. That is in August.

Paul Cayard