Hey SDCKT! 
I just got back from another cross country skiing camp this time  in Ånnaboda, Sweden. My kayak team and the kayak team that's  about an hour away from my city was there for the weekend. We skied around the  track, did some long distance, technique, and had some races! On Saturday we  skied about 6 miles on the lake and it was sunny and -4 degrees Fahrenheit,  definitely my record of cold weather so far. I had ice and snow all 
over my face  and had a blast. On Friday we went to an indoor water park because it was so  cold outside we all felt like our toes were going to turn into ice cubes within  seconds. I heard you guys are getting sunburned in February. I forgot what that  feels like. I am a little less experienced with cross country skiing than all  the others but managed to keep up with the group with the exception of a couple  falls and few bruises on my knees.
Paddle harder for me while I'm skiing waiting for the ice  to melt away from the lake so I can get on the water
too!
I hope everyone is well!

-Gabriella

Hey SDCKT!

It's been a while...
A couple of weeks  ago I was at a cross country ski camp in Bruksvallarna(Sweden) with my team and  a few other kayak teams here in Sweden! It was the first time I have  been cross country skiing and now I love it!
We were there for a week and had two hard practices everyday. The morning practice usually consisted of long distance, we skied up Sweden's longest  uphill  ski trial and it felt amazing to reach the top, and the view was simply breathtaking! Then at night we did a whole lot of technique drills, and races!
Unfortunately we didn't get in any cross country skiing practices before the camp because of the unusual "warm" winter for Sweden with an average of about 37 degrees fahrenheit. It sure feels like winter to me!
On Christmas day a few of us on the team were on the water paddling! They couldn't remember the last time they could go out for a paddle on Christmas. All we needed to do was put on a bunch of layers, santa hats, break 
the ice next to the dock and then we were ready to paddle away! And our Christmas day paddle even made the paper. (See in the attachment). 
Other than that our winter training has consisted of swimming, weight lifting, running, and medicine ball exercises as shown in the picture attached. (I'm far right in black) 
I hope you all had a great holiday season and now I wish you a very Happy New Year!!
It's been a great year!
-Gabriella Garcia

Click on the links below to see which High school is leading after two races, who's on track to win an EPIC or VALHALLA Surfski and who's at the top of the table for the 2012 US Surfski Champs Scholarship!!!
Click here for the SOCAL Paddling League Points (SPL)
Click here for the SOCAL EPIC/VALHALLA Surfski Series
Click here for the SOCAL Ocean Racing USSSC Scholarship Points

Lightning Series results and points standings after 2 Races ....listed below
Click Here for Results and Times
Click Here for Overall Points Standings

For results of the EPIC/VALHALLA Standings after the La Jolla race click here

For results of the US Surf Ski Champs Junior Scholarship standings after the La Jolla Race click here

For results of the High School Standings in the SOCAL Winter Race Series after the La Jolla Race click here

On Friday November 11th, 2011 as we remembered all of our veterens who proudly served their country the first of the SDCKT Lightning Series races took place under a beautiful sunset on a glassy Mission Bay. (Thanks to Antoinette -Philip and Guisepppe's Mom for the picture!!)
Last years winners Josie Ballard and Noa Hopper were back in fine form racing well with new and improved technique. However, watch out for new comers Evan Truesdale and Mira Corrao who posted some impresssive times for their first races in the series. All of the Lightning racers no matter where they came raced hard and with confidence. It will be exciting to see how their times get faster as they push themselves in practice and races over the next 6 months!
Click here for times and results.
Click here for Overall Series points standings.

Hey SDCKT!
 I've had 3 races pretty  recently! One  of them was a city sprint right in  our tiny little canal in the middle of downtown which was fun and a lot of  people came to watch! I got to race against boys as well! It was only a 75 meter  quickie it felt like I just started and  stopped, but I took first place which  felt awesome for it being in the city I was born in. The second  race was a big one where people came from all over Sweden and even Denmark! This race took place in a city called Jönköping. We were there for a weekend, stayed in cottages and raced k1 and k4 200, 500, and 2,500 meters and the seniors raced 1,000 meters as well. Since there is only 1 other girl on my
team I raced with the other 16 year old girls from a city called Örebro, which was a blast!
It rained all day the second day and we were all cold so I thought of Georgia's heat. Denmark basically took home all the medals, but it was fun racing against them and then watching their technique.
Lastly, my favorite race was a triathlon we had at my club which consisted of paddling 2000 m, cycling 3000 m, and running 1000 m. Sofia Paldanius came and we worked on technique with her on the water and she
gave us some great tips, and shared how she is preparing for the Olympics!
 Now it is far too cold to still be paddling on the water, so we've been running, working out at the gym, and
swimming.
 Hope all is well!
  -Gabriella Garcia

Hello SDCKT! This weekend I was in Varberg which is on the west coast of Sweden competing against the best paddlers here! "Every second counts" is a very true quote that I've heard around at SDCKT, because I was 1 second away from placing 3rd in both my k1 & k2 200m final.  They are very good here!! I raced k1 200 meters, k2 200m with 18 year olds, and k1 long distance 8,500m. Thankfully it wasn't in 100 degree weather haha! The weather this past weekend was nice for Sweden though, as you can see in the attachment I was able to have a tank and spandex shorts! Otherwise the weather here is too cold for a San Diego girl in the month of September, one of our practices it was raining so hard on us I thought it was hailing. My teammates here laugh when I tell them that we don't paddle in the rain in SD. We practice Mon. Tue. Wed. Thurs. & Sat. but I don't paddle Mondays because I have rehearsal with Västerås' symphony orchestra, I play violin.  But when I'm on the water I try keeping up with all the boys! Hope all is well! -Gabriella  P.s. Enjoy the perfect SD weather for me

Despite a typical raging Mission Bay wind to contend with the summer Friday Night Time Trials series got off to a great start with all SDCKT athletes that took part performing well and posting some impressive early season times. Keep up the good work, train hard, train smart and we will see those times drop significantly as we get closer to Nationals!