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Hey to you all.
Todays the day... time to make it count!
Its been a long week, Im feeling pretty exhausted but im up for the final race. Realistically I hope for a top 6, but inside I am thinking of nothing other than a medal. I guess as with anything in life as soon as you achieve a goal the posts shift and you are on to the next mission. I would have been devastated to not make the final, it was more a relief than anything. I havnt had a chance to sit back and realise what it means just to have got this far, all I feel is the jobs only half done. Theres plenty of time coming up for thinking about it all when I get home!
Yesterday flashed by, before we knew it it was time to warm up and the 4 of us took a moment to realise the significance of what we have achieved. Everything felt great as we went through our well practised routine. Everything is so familiar out there, as natural to us as walking. theres such a good rhythm in our boat, always has been since that first time we got together 3 years ago at Nagle Dam. Back in the boat house we didnt have too much to say, guess we were all a bit nervous, but i enjoy the time with the K4, its not so lonely as the k1. So much easier going out there with the team than on your own. it was hard to realise it was our last time in the boat together after all this time. think it still hasnt sunk in. But once in the starting blocks we had 100 % focus. the start was good. we had a great race. we improved from our 12 placed ranking from last year to 7th, so close behind the Japanese who we'd beaten in the heats. We actually paddled technically a lot better than in the heats, working with our legs and using our rotation to drive the boat home. The travelling speed was good and at the end we posted a new PB 1:36.724 the first time we'v gone under 1:37. I think we can be stoked with what we achieved this year. I think we are the proof that the sport takes years and if you want to make it at an olympic level you need to dedicate the 4 years it takes to get there. We had so much against us, so few back home and within our own federation believed we would make it. Only the 4 of us new just how good the boat felt when we got it right. We were labelled as the boat to miss out on the finals, well we proved that wrong! Over and over nandor asked me to step out the boat to let Bridget paddle in my place. he said it would detract too much from the K1. But i believed in the girls, we'd come so far together. Making it straight to the finals on Monday and racing to such a competitve 7th is one of the proudest moments of my life. It means as much as anything iv done in my K1.
Ok but on to today. Everyone is asking if im really nervous, well not yet! I think what youve all missed out on is the last 2 years of my racing overseas. we are so isolated from world sport at home. theres no coverage of what we do while competing overseas. but this is my life. Iv raced in huge competitions with all the stakes of qualification hanging over it. Today is a bit different as its the last race of a long 4 years. But its all so familiar. Theres a level of nervousness thats so good, it gets you up ready for the start, but more than that and youl never achieve good results. Its a race, the harder youv trained the better youl do. Its about controlling each stroke, breaking it right down to each moment of the race. At the end you are stoked if it felt great and disappointed if it wasnt there. The last 2 k1 races were ok, but i havnt been feeling the water as well as i have in the past. todays the last chance to get it back, i feel like im ready. If I cross the line knowing I had nothing more to give then wherever Iv come will be good enough. Iv just got to take hold of the moment and make it happen.
Well easy to talk. Id better get out of here and go put my feet up for an hour. then its off to lunch and the course. Ill see Jacques for a bit while i wait for the time to disappear, then its warm up time and race time.
Shot for all the mails and all the support. Glad you can all get to see what it is that iv been going on about for the last few years! From tommorrow I can start living it up and taking chances again! Going to be hard to rewire the brain, to realise hey if I go swimming in the sea ALL day its ok cause i dont have to be up for training monday! and hey first dangerous mission is to go sledding down the great wall on monday!!! going to be so scared!!! Kate, you can ask me about all those river trips and sea rafting trips and jolling times now!!! YES im there!
Kay dont know if youl hear from me till i get back home wednesday, but whatever happens today just celebrate with me, i know tomorrow when i wake up ill be stoked to know I made 2 olympic finals!
Bye then, Jen
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Hey to you all...
Whew its been a crazy time, I havnt had 2 minutes free to come to mail you all. But i have a quick break now and im keen to let you know how its going.
Shoei wee!!!! so you all saw the opening ceremony and the part i saw was increadible. I would not want to be London trying to beat that! We went from the village in a million busses, they lined the road outside for miles! We were taken to the gymnastics hall and all the countries had a specific section to sit in. It was crazy to look down on the gymnastics floor as iv seen it for the last 4 olympics on tv! made it very real. the strength of those people is increadible. Iv seen a few of the tiny little girls walking around here and they are supposed to be 16 but look more like 8. they come up to my elbow! SO we sat in this huge hall and team SA did a few wave initiations and had a lot of spirit! We looked awesome in our white pyjamas/kung fu suits! I think it was very effective from the outside. and the best part was we got to wear bright green crocs with it! They saved our feet, making the evening a lot easier. Some countries as you would have seen were kitted out in heavy suits and ties and tiny shoes for the girls, shame lesotho was there in their blankets! it was at least 30 degrees at that time of night and the sweat just poured down us the entire time. We didnt get to watch anything, there were big screens but they just put up the name of the next country that must leave to line up. They showed about 5 minutes of what was going on twice and the whole hall booed when they stopped it, we were disapponted not to see it. All we could hear was the thunder from the fireworks overhead. Im sure it was spectacular from outside, but no worries its been taped for us by various parents and we'll all get togehter and watch when we get home!
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Congratualtions to Jenny Hodson from Creighton, South Africa, for making it into the Bejing Olympics 2008.
So YES! Im at the olympics!!! its all real now, definitly not battling to know where i am and whats going on. Its just rings, logos and little teddy things with those strange mascots everywhere you look. And a million athletes, its strange to see new countries who dont paddle, such unfamiliar kit and faces.
Also strange to have our regatta course totally dominated by rowers, they are scary from the view of a tiny K1 when they are bearing down on you at 100kms/hour going backwards in an 8! Definitly no aurgument there, we get out the way!
I had a good session this morning even though i felt the effect of paddling at 3am! I felt powerful in the boat, its slowly coming back after all the travelling. so gogod to be on the water and my boat is still as beautiful and mind blowing as ever! Jone, who made it for me from nelo, is so proud of it too, says you can spot it from far! He loves it as much as me! cant wait for you all to see it on tv.
The course is AWESOME! Its everything an olympic course should be and more. The whole area is decorated in a blue colour and along with the steel buildings it looks increadible. The bouys are so straight and everything is perfect.
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[6:59:13 PM] GMG says: What did they use in SA before candles
[6:59:02 PM] Delroy Hodson says: what
[6:59:11 PM] Delroy Hodson says: firewood
[6:59:13 PM] GMG says: electricity
[7:00:22 PM] GMG says: baby bear" who ate all my porridge
[7:00:31 PM] Delroy Hodson says: who
[7:00:33 PM] GMG says: father bear who ate my porridge
[7:00:39 PM] GMG says: mama bear
[7:00:55 PM] GMG says: I havent made the poridge cause the damn electrcity is off
[7:01:49 PM] GMG says: LOL I CRACK MYSELF UP
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The South African Hodson's may have been scattered all over the world, but we could still manage a small reunion in New Zealand.
NZ and Aussie Hodsons. Back Row: Michelle, Laura, Graham, Les and Sue.
Middle Row: Eden, Callie, Rita, Joan and Jill.
Front Row: Raymond, Russ, Lynn and Grant.
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Changes! Welcome to the new look hodson.ws family web site. A conversion through to a sql database system makes the Hodson family tree now totally editable online.It would appear from "A Dictionary of British Surnames" by R.H Reaney, that our surname was spelt in a number of different ways over the years, such as Hodgson, Hodshon, Hodgens, Hodgen, Hodgins and Hodson. The writer mentions a Richard Hodson of 1582. Richard is a Christian name recurring in our own branch.
Read more in the history section..
The dificulty with this site still remains in getting this current generation updated!! Please Help!
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