17

Jiaxing, Friday evening, back at the hotel:
We put on our matching polos and khaki pants and joined all the other teams in the two banquet rooms. I remember on each table were bottles of wine, of rice wine (I think it was), and of beer on each table. And when we ran out, they brought more. We made the rounds and toasted each table, and all the other teams were delighted to drink with us. This was the best nine-course meal we had the whole trip, but that wasn't so much attributable to the food. (There was food, I'm pretty sure.) [Standing: Simon (Dr. Chen's partner in sponsoring us), Beverly, Pete, TK, Henry; seated: Justine, Hans, Debbie]

16

Jiaxing still: Here's the silhouette of us returning after one of our heats. The races on Friday afternoon only had three heats and were over in two hours. Of course, with only 12 total teams, and six lanes, it doesn't take long to get a winner. (If only tournaments in North America went this fast...) Oh yeah--we came in 9th overall. That ain't last!

15

The marshalling area (where the six teams for the heat assembled before heading back to the docks). This is our rag-tag group that hadn't even practiced all together before three days earlier, in our racing jerseys. [The group hamming it up: Juan ('Aunt Jemima' bandana), me (dark glasses), Brian, Debbie, Justine; Hans refrains from admonishing us for losing focus, unlike the guys behind us.]

14

South Lake, Jiaxing, Friday afternoon (the 24th):
The Americans are here! Take cover! Oh wait. We weren't thre to topple the government, just to race. Here's our team getting lined up on the docks before heading over to...