Dear Westdale Rowers,

CONGRATULATIONS on a FANTASTIC day of racing. Mike and I are very proud of all of you. Regardless of whether you made a final, there was a lot of good rowing today and a lot of goals that were reached in terms of technique and comfort level in the boats.

First and most importantly: 
All parents and athletes should check themselves thoroughly for ticks. One of our athletes had ticks on their body after the regatta, and they can carry Lyme disease.
WHERE TO CHECK (everywhere, but especially these spots):
-neck
-hair
-back of knees & ears
-armpits
-toes/feet
-groin (that region in general)
WARNING – BEFORE YOU REMOVE:
The tick’s heads buries under the skin, so do not pull a tick off your body directly – you need to secure the tick between your skin & it’s body (do NOT squeeze the tick’s body) and then pull the tick out of your skin. If you have regular tweezers, you need to pull slowly and directly upwards. You should only twist to remove IF you have a specially designed tool to remove ticks that requires twisting to facilitate the process, as seen here.
WARNING ABOUT SOAP/ETC.: Although covering the tick with soap/shampoo/chemicals will cause the tick to suffocate and remove itself from your body of its own accord without any pulling, it CAN cause the tick to vomit into your blood, and if the tick carries Lyme disease then this can result in the disease being passed on. This is the same reason why you should not press/pull a tick from its body (it will likely vomit).
MORE INFO ON TICK REMOVAL HERE.

Second, but also very important… ARRIVAL TIMES:
Coxswains: 6:30am
Women’s Jr. 59kg 4+: 6:30am (for weigh-ins)
Women’s Jr. 8+: 6:30am (these girls will later race in their Jr. Women’s 4x)
Men’s Sr. 4x: Arrive at 7:00am
Men’s Jr. 1x: Arrive at 7:30am
Women’s Jr. 2x: Arrive at 7:30am
Women’s Sr. 8+: Arrive at 8:40am (in time for first race of the day) (11am at the very latest)

Thanks!
Alessandra