Time in Tarifa
The month of May was spent in the south of Spain in an amazing little town called Tarifa. Tarifa is know for its strong winds, warm weather, and for being a wind sports paradise. It most certainly lived up to the hype.
The goals of this training block were to go as fast as possible on the foil, and to generally improve our feeling on the foil. We accomplished these two goals by doing endless top speed runs on IQFoil and slalom foil (windsurf foil designed only for speed) , but also by doing some cross training in tow foiling or wing foiling.
The idea behind hitting top speeds on equipment faster than IQ is that when we make the transition back, the IQ feels slow in comparison. If your adrenaline and heart rate are high, it can lead to rash decision making, so we were trying to make the IQ seem “boring” to enhance our decision making and general feelings. It absolutely worked. On the slalom foil, Pedro was able to hit 36.0 knts, and I was close behind with 35.96. Going from this, to the IQ made the IQ feel like a dinosaur, which is exactly what we wanted. It gives us the confidence to push even harder on IQ, and also allows us to be more relaxed leading to better decision making.
After this training camp, I headed home to spend some time with family and begin my preparations for the Olympic Test Event in July. This event is considered the “pre-Olympics” as it is the exact same format, location, and race committee as the actual Olympics in 2024. It is also my first chance at qualifying myself for the Olympics. If I can podium the test event (top 3) then I will secure my spot as the 2024 Olympic Representative so long as we qualify the country at a later date.
I am extremely excited for the opportunity to represent the U.S at this important event, and even more excited by the prospect of qualifying for the games.
Ill be publishing a blog following the Test Event, so be sure to stay tuned for that!
All the best
Noah
USA-6
