On Friday, December 10th, we started making our way to Amsterdam. The ride was fairly smooth and we were very happy to arrive at Claire’s house. Thanks for the free accommodation Claire : ) 

Pien, Rebecca, and I raced in Meisjes 18 and Meisjes 16 and we sadly got the earliest racing slot at 8:45 in the morning. We reached the Sporthallen Zuid at 8:00 am and began our warming up in the warm-up hall. Soon enough the nerves started to kick in as we walked into the FREEZING racing hall. The NKIR lion mascot greeted us as we entered and got ready to race. Despite not having any public (except the coaches) the race was still really enjoyable and everyone got really good results. Pien and Rebecca both had amazing PR times.  Rebecca also got to visit the EHBO!

20 minutes after we got off the erg, Misia and Berber were getting ready to compete. They both completed a fantastic race in Dames Gevorderde. Berber came in 11th out of 72 participants with an average pace of 1:48! Misia then came in 30th with an average pace of 1:50!

Once everyone got off the erg and cooled down, we headed to a celebration meal in Ouderkerk. As we were finishing our meal, Marij started her race in Lichte Dames Senioren B. She managed to finish 5th overall! Her light blue Njord roeipakje looked good, but I think the MWC one looked nicer on her. 

Last but not least, Hein and his Saurus boys were super close to winning. They did the 2k as a four and came in 3rd with a time of 6 minutes and 42.4 seconds. The winner won by 0.1 seconds. 

Overall it was a greatly successful day in Amsterdam that everyone enjoyed. Thanks to John and Roderik for coaching and being there to support.