This is going to be cool.

We are so psyched to hear back from both Mikko Salo and Tanya Wagner that they will be participating in the 2010 C.R.A.S.H.-B. event (www.crash-b.org).

It will be such an experience for the rowing community to meet some of CrossFit’s finest and learn from them. Concept2 and members of the rowing community are standing by to offer their help on how to best train for the CRASH-B competition. Even better is that Mikko, Tanya and the participating CrossFit community will also be standing by to cheer on their best and offer their expertise on how to best use CrossFit to train for rowing. It’s a win, win. Everyone benefits by bringing these two communities together. [break]

So what happens now? At the moment, life has taken over for all parties. Tanya is busy opening her new affiliation with her husband Josh and being a teacher (I never had a teacher that cool as a kid). Mikko is busy being a firefighter and rescue diver, and Concept2 is gearing up for the busiest time of the year for indoor rowing: Winter. Concept2 has made arrangements for indoor rowers to be delivered to both Tanya and Mikko, and Tanya and Mikko have both been in contact to arrange their one-on-one trainings.

Tanya’s journey will start in Boston where she will participate in the CrossFit Rowing Foundations course. CrossFit Boston will host the first day of CrossFit Certification, concentrating on indoor rowing technique and training.  Community Rowing Boathouse will offer their facility on day two, in order to provide CrossFit participants an opportunity to row on the water in shells.

Mikko will be working with Concept2’s dealer in Finland, Veikko Sinisalo. Veikko rowed in the 1987 and 1988 World Championships for Finland, in the lightweight coxless four. He has been coaching for many years, and at the Beijing Olympics, he coached the Finland Lightweight women’s double to Silver medal. He is currently coaching the Czech national rowing team.

“It is not a question of how well each process works, the question is how well they all work together.”

After both Tanya and Mikko have completed their one-on-one trainings, Concept2 will use this blog to keep people updated through pictures, video, and the addition of workouts. These blog entries will be provided by Concept2 instructors, coaches and elite members of the Rowing community.  Ideas may also filter in from CRASH-B participants, past and Present. This blog will be set up so that those interested, can communicate with one another and with Tanya and Mikko. It is my vision, that as the Rowing world posts its ideas of how to best prepare for an event like the 2000 Meter piece, the CrossFit community will react, by incorporating their thoughts on how to train for an event like this.

So I blast out one more thank you to the CrossFit Community for sharing such treasures with the world of rowing, and I invite anyone who wants to, to follow Mikko and Tanya’s Countdown to CRASH-B’s.