And The Human Of The Month Award Goes To...

"There's always room for a story that can transport people to another place."J.K. Rowling

I always try to make sure I can describe to you guys my experiences and tell you the best story possible. While sometimes that can seem challenging, other moments are simply perfect for storytelling.

A few weeks ago, Emily, her family, and myself went on vacation to Hawaii. The two of us flew to Honolulu and then Lihue on Kauai. Never in my life have I spent such a fulfilling week. Imagine an island where two hours of driving can take you from one end to the other via one single road. With a wet and green North Shore to a dry and red Canyon, Kauai to me is single-handedly one of the best places on Earth.

Kauai ☁️ These views are out of this world

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jun 26, 2016 at 9:35am PDT

One of the most amazing places on the planet 🌏

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jul 2, 2016 at 2:58pm PDT

What an amazing week it was, day after, day, being able to head to the beach and swim with sea turtles and tropical fish, hike ankle-rolling hours in the heat and mud to experience one of the most intense waterfalls onto my skin, and simply watch the contrasting turquoise water hit the black volcanic rocks that outline this perfect little piece of land in the middle of the largest ocean on this planet.

Working hard for special times like this! Today I'm pulling weeds in the hot sun paying off the Hawaii trip we just went on and there hasn't been one moment where I told myself it isn't worth it.

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jul 11, 2016 at 2:32pm PDT

Wanderlust fulfilled

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jul 6, 2016 at 3:10pm PDT

Thanks to the Queen for the stellar views from her bath 🛀

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jun 28, 2016 at 2:37pm PDT

I wake up every morning thankful for the life I’ve been living, especially those days where I’m starting a new day in a complete different part of the world. I was brought up on the idea that I should always treat others the way I’d want to be treated and when it comes to it, I believe I’ve been somewhat successful at it, but not perfect. On the 4^th day, we drove down to Lihue from Princeville to surf Kalapaki beach with one of Emily’s friends. If you don’t know that beach, it’s a chill, but reefy surf spot near the airport. Being the careless human that I can be, I paddled out to the lineup with my best Gopro and a simple head strap. Now please understand that I take really good care of my equipment, but in this situation, I was so stoked on life being able to surf in Kauai that I got a little imprudent. Third wave in, while pulling back to return to the lineup, whitewash hit my head and just like that, my camera was gone… What do you do in those circumstances? Do you spend the rest of your enjoyable day looking through an unknown reef covered in sea urchins for what are technically assembled pieces of plastic? Or do you just enjoy life as it is? As a non-materialistic person, I chose to enjoy the rest of my session; and it was definitely worth it. Of course I spent about an hour after looking around with goggles for the little action camera, but instead I only could find large beautiful fish. As we were sitting there, Nik, Emily’s friend, was asking me how I wasn’t upset and why it seemed like I didn’t care, so I told him this:

“I’ve been super lucky since I got my first camera that I haven’t had any problems or losses, and that it was just a camera, nothing more. Just a tool.”

So that day ended with myself and I talking about how I would return a found camera if I were put in that situation and wouldn’t it be awesome if someone did the same for me. But I also realized that the ocean is a big place and some things just cannot be found. With hope, I still posted on the “lost &found” Kauai craigslist.

Let’s take this a week later. I’m lying in bed watching Netflix with Emily and happened to look at my emails while all of a sudden I see that I received a new anonymous comment on my last blog post. So I read it and it said the following: 

My heart sunk in the best way possible. I had given up on ever seeing that little camera again, and now I was given a new opportunity to do so. I immediately called Joe and just told him my story. He was the nicest guy and told me how he had found it with a tone that let me know it was my camera. I asked him if it was truly mine by saying it was attached to a head strap, and he answered “Yup that’s it! Wait, I was supposed to ask you to describe it at the beginning of the conversation ha-ha-ha!” We continued to talk and converse about Hawaii for a few minutes until we parted ways.

The fact that a random man, on vacation with his family, found a lost GoPro in the rocks and took it home to find who’s it was, then took a screenshot of my face, found my name on the camera’s wifi, looked up my social media, read my Twitter, Instagram, blog to make sure it was mine, and to leave a comment on my page to let me know he had found it is beyond incredible. It’s incredible because of the work he put in to find me, but it is particularly inspiring in a time where so much negativity is among us. Joe did not hesitate to help out a complete stranger and a small act of compassion such as this one goes a very long way.

So Joe, on behalf of my family and I, we present you the Human of the Month Award.

You’re a legend!

Much love.

First day of Summer and my California Life

Today is the first day of Summer Solstice, which means awesome trips, the much-needed sun, and slowing down the pace of life. It is also the first day of my American life, this time on the West Coast. Let me place into context that this is the third time I’ve moved back to the U.S. from France.

During the last two years, I’ve been living in France with my mom and going to school. Even though it wasn’t the easiest of situations given my girlfriend still lived in Florida, I cherished this time back to the place I came from. I think that having traded Paris for Melbourne (Florida) was a very good choice, but also cost me. Those 7 years spent in Florida made me more into an American, which isn’t a bad thing, but takes away from my native side. So when it came time to start my master’s in France, I was truly behind, having a hard time expressing myself verbally and not using the right syntax. Through each month being there, I’ve been able to bring my French level back to an equilibrium with my American level.

It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to my French life though. Going to school, literally having fun at work, training with some of my best friends, and getting to pop in and out one of the best cities in the World. I loved cycling everywhere I went, living on an island, being part of the French Institute of Sport, because every one of those things are special to France. While I’m moving away from that life, I’m sort of bringing it with me to California to start something new. Luckily, we are right next to the most European city in the U.S.: San Francisco!

It does seem like I haven’t stopped moving from one place to another, but isn’t that what everybody tells us to do in our 20’s? Yes I’m sort of settling down, for now, but the main reason for coming to California is to finally live with Emily. We’ve put up with a mighty distance relationship including a 6-hour time difference and not much time together. It wasn’t easy, but it’s over now. Another reason for coming out West is to search for gold. I’m just kidding, this isn’t 1850! The Bay Area is full of start-ups and other opportunities for sport science, which makes me super excited.

I can't stop thinking about how lucky am I to have such an insanely great group of people that surrounded me every day. Without them, this experience would have been dull. I got to make new friends as well as reconnect with my old ones. The opportunities with them have been stellar from spending 20hrs in London to a weekend in Vilnius as well as traveling France for rowing. 

On the rowing side, the past two seasons were completely different from one another, but allowed me to learn about how performance isn’t only about training and includes adapted approaches based on your situation. I’ve rowed and raced about every type of boat possible with some really good rowers. I think I’ve evolved into a better all around athlete and need to focus more on my power application. At least that is what has been a negative factor in my training. I am not sure about what this year has planned for me, but once I figure out which club I’ll join, it won’t go unnoticed.

One door closes and another one opens, that’s the only way I can describe this transition. I’m excited for the future and wish you all a great summer. I’ll be hitting up Hawaii for now. Enjoy.

Much love.

Manage Well & You Can Do It All

Remember how easy it was to be active in high school? What about when we were student-athletes in college and working out was just part of our daily routine? Is that still the case?

Once you graduate, you get a job, and your time doesn’t belong to you anymore, which is the main reason why people forget to focus on their body and health. Do you really think “I’ll get through this first year of work and then I’ll start” is the right way to go about it?

No! It’s not…

Your health and well-being is important on top of being completely correlated to your professional workflow and efficiency. Let's talk about what we can do to bring up our fitness, happiness, and overall health.

Schedule yourself

Let's be real, you did it in high school and college, why would adulting be any different? Yeah you have a job and you might be a little more tired than when you were 18, but remember how you would rally in the middle of the week to go out and party even though you knew you had practice at 6am and class at 8am?

First tip: decide what are your priorities.
Do you want to be active every day? Do you want to run a marathon? Do you want to make heads turn this summer? The reason doesn't matter as long as it's important to you.

Second tip: plan out your day.
If you know you have to work late, do your workout in the morning. Plus you’ll start your day on a far better note! It has been a fight for me this year to do this because my class schedule changed all the time and didn't always match my teammates’. One day I’m rowing at 6am, another I’m running during my lunch break, or just erging by myself at 8:30pm. This is where your priorities kick in, if you really want it, you’ll do it even if it’s at an unreasonable time. Why do you think they made 24/7 gyms!?

Third tip: set yourself for success.
Ok, so we are getting up super early or going to bed super late, what’s my next step? Sleep and eat accordingly. That’s all you need to do to complete the circle. When I need to get up early, I go to bed earlier. ALWAYS try to get those 8 hours! And if I know I won’t have time to cook or eat during my lunch break, pre-make it so you have it ready once you’re done. Damn, it's so simple, right?!

Commit. It’s a lifestyle.

Once you’ve started, it just becomes a lifestyle until someone or something starts being an obstacle. That’s when you have to commit!

First tip: No obstacles.
This is exactly like trying to quit smoking, don’t let people around you dictate your life. I’m not saying you should push people away, not at all! Actually, surround yourself with people who live this same lifestyle. Occasionally, a girlfriend/boyfriend/friend will try to convince you to do something else instead of working out. They need to understand how important this way of life is to you and what your goals are, but you need to communicate it to them right away. They will most likely accept how you work and might even join. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun, but don't cut out your workout.

Second tip: surround yourself. 
I'll be the first one to tell you it’s miserable to train by yourself. You have to do it sometimes, in the rain, in the cold, against the wind, in the dark, late at night, but if you can be part of a community or just have a training partner, do it! It’s a great way to keep your motivation up as well as having some inner squad competition.

Third tip: Find an alternative.
I guess most of us follow a training program. If you don’t, this is a good lesson to hear. For some, sticking to a precise plan is important, but it happens to find yourself in a situation where you can’t do what was planned like a lack of equipment. It is alright to switch workouts around, still respecting some rules like no heavy lifting back-to-back. I found myself a few times this year not having enough time for these long lifts we do for rowing at lunchtime, which was super frustrating and enabled me to skip it altogether. If you can fill in that gap with something similar, do it! You’ll gain something instead of just sitting around all day.

Yeah we all do a lot of stuff during the day, but every time you click “Next Episode” on Netflix or keep refreshing your Facebook feed, you are surely wasting time you could be using to treat your body like a temple. We all have to adapt to not having sports in our schedule anymore and work at including it in our daily life.

Just remember that when you are complaining about not having enough time, men and women are going to the Olympics to represent you and your country all while having kids and a job.

Much love.  

Getting Out of Town - Training Camp

Small boat season is over with and now it’s time to hop in the 8+. Back at JU, I wasn’t often worried about my spot in the top boat, but here things are a little different. Ever since I switched to starboard, I have been a lot more focused on my stroke than before, which is good and bad at the same time. I don’t trust my automatic reaction to irregularities as much as on port.

Out of 10 men, the coaches had to pick the top 8 rowers for this boat. Some spots were already assigned due to qualifying performances at small boat nationals. For the remaining four spots in boat, we had to race 4 x 750m all out sprints in different crew combinations. That weekend went well for me as I won 3 out of 4 races with the smallest losing time gap.

With the end of classes nearing and inter-team racing, I felt a lot more relieved. Since then, we’ve done a lot of rowing and a ton of heavy lifting due to the fact that we are now racing a 500m sprint. It feels so good lifting and working on my max weight. We’ve been extremely lucky to be given a new-ish Filippi 8+ and be put in the best equipment. In the past month, there has been some work in the 8+, but also in the 4- since some work late or were out of town on vacation. I was able to leave for a little over a week to head back to Jacksonville and watch Emily and my friends graduate as well as work on my papers for finals week.

Once I landed back at Charles de Gaulle airport, I had just under 24h to get situated at school, work, and practice before leaving that next morning for training camp. It gets old rowing in the same place all the time especially when the weather doesn’t agree with you. So we packed for a long weekend, thanks to a national holiday, for Brive la Gaillarde near the South West of France. 

We got to work on just rowing the 8+, put a lot of miles in, and focus on working together all while adjusting our own little issues. I am sitting 7 seat right behind the stroke, who couldn’t come and was replaced by our top rower Romain DELACHAUME. Last year, he finished 6^th at the World Championships in the 2+.

We did a little bit of racing, but this upcoming weekend is our first race (Thomas will be missing from the lineup) to see where we stand amongst our region. We have about a month before Nationals. I have one week of finals starting today, training goes on, and no jetlag. I'm a happy guy!

Until then, here is a little video of our coxswain killing it at 5 seat for our first session while filling in for Thomas.

Quand le barreur tient la baraque 😉 - when the coxswain does more than his job!#teamencou #8encou #aviron #rowing #remo #rudern #monbarreurcestgladiator

A video posted by Msc Sport Conseil (@msc_sport) on May 6, 2016 at 1:58pm PDT

Much love.

No One is Invincible, Wear a Helmet.

So a few weeks ago after not qualifying for small boat nationals, I was pretty bummed out. Yeah it wasn't on my list of major goals for the year, but it was still something we worked hard for. That next week, while the ones who had were taking a break to recover, Lukas and I decided not to. I wanted to challenge myself, push myself, and he was the perfect teammate to do that with. We rarely do anything out of the ordinary training wise so I thought creating a little triathlon challenge would be fun. 12km row, 20km bike, and 8km run. For the people who do traditional triathlons, don't laugh, we aren't used to it... Check out the video here!

After I posted that video, my cousin Skip, who has been training a lot on his mountain bike, called me out BIG TIME on not wearing a helmet. I sort of felt dumb, realized I should, and bought one. Now let me put this into context: I have been riding my bike since day one of being in France. I take the exact same route to go to school and back almost every day. I'm comfortable riding alongside cars, but I'm always aware of my surroundings. I've also never had an accident...don't ask me to knock on wood, it's too late!

Two days after getting my new helmet, I was riding to class, a little late but what's new, right before 8 a.m. As I was passing my old elementary school, my side of the street was clear, no cars ahead. I did see a delivery truck stop in the road on the opposite side with its warning lights on. Aware, I kept pedaling and looked out for any cars coming around. Then the driver stepped out close to his truck, took a few steps toward the back, waved thank you/sorry to the cars he was blocking and darted across the street at the last moment without looking right, which happened to be right in front me. I didn't even have enough time to touch my breaks, I tried to react by swerving a little, but I just hit him full speed. After that moment, which felt like I just got rocked by an NFL player, I remember just laying there in the middle the street on my back. I had flipped over my bike at an angle that made me land on my hip, knee, and elbow. I remember thinking "Well damn, I'm not going to be able to seat race this weekend..." But I got up, people who had watched it happen rushed to see if I was ok and the delivery guy limped over to the side walk. I told the people I was ok, which in their mind apparently meant they could leave, even though they were witnesses, since it was rush hour. Luckily, others were calling the firemen. Once I made sure that the other guy wasn't dying, I then collected myself, and thought, "Damn! I'm happy I had that helmet." I'm not going to lie, I love riding around town with no helmet, but when you are cruising around 30km/hr (18.6mi/hr) and something happens, you want to be wearing a helmet.

Yes, cars and other motor vehicles are dangerous on the road. Unless you ride yourself or you are conscious of others, there are some real idiots out there who will cut you off, break on you, or even come up and run you off the road. But to me, pedestrians are the worse. They cross the street without looking and on cycling lanes unaware of how dangerous their movements are. For example, we were riding a few weekends ago on an outdoor public cycling track and while we were waiting for our group, people were playing in the middle of the track, letting their children run around and kick the ball. I don't know if you have ever seen a Sunday peloton pass by, but it's no joke. So please wear a helmet and above all, be aware of yourself and the people around you, it could spare a life.

Much love.

Our Last Day

Who am I? Who do I want to be? How do I get there?

I vividly remember sitting in a chair with a bunch of green around me listening to Armen Keteyian ask us those three questions.

At that very moment, with so many around me, I felt completely alone. I felt naked, even with a suit and robe on. My mind was running in a perpetual state of anxiety.

I've lived in different countries, different cities, and done a million things most people will never get to experience, but I was still not sure who I was. I knew I was a rower and that I was a good student, but I didn't know for sure what represented me. Then the other day, it was my birthday, and I was submerged in love and happiness by my friends and family. That's when I saw as I took a step back that I have touched so many people in a positive way without trying. In no way is this an egocentric thought, but rather a fulfilling one. Knowing that I have been someone they could count on, work with, laugh with, is who I believe I am today.

But back to that gigantic church full of educated people. For that past year, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, the only thing that kept me motivated was rowing and training. That's when I took an insane risk. I decided to not take the GRE, move to France away from my friends and girlfriend, and start a Master degree. I didn't even know if I was accepted until July 8th, which would have really been a slap in the face if I wasn't, knowing I had no back up plan. Through the last two years, I have been clearing out a path that makes me happy. Finally, two years later, I am a lot closer to knowing who I want to be. Professionally at least! But all that can change quickly, which is why I work on multiple projects in different areas to stay fulfilled and keep motivated. The rest is just a long work in process.

So how I do I get there? I asked myself as I get ready to stand up from my seat and get in line for my diploma. Frankly, I have no idea, but I do believe that no matter what your choices are, they aren't set in stone, which gives you the liberty to do whatever you want. I told myself to work hard and seek knowledge from the best who were around me so that I could become better than they'll ever be. If I don't get there one day, I'll just simply go back to the first two question and ask myself "who am I and what I do I want to be?"

Today was the last time I sat down with my classmates, drinking crappy coffee, whining about class and papers, and laughing as the two hour classes stretched on. Thank you for helping me when I needed it and forging a family of friends.

Much love.

The Closest I've Even Been to Russia

I acknowledge knowing a lot of people and having a pretty large network of people around the world, but I do believe I only have a few true friends.

One of them is Bernadas "Bernard" Vingilis. I met the 6ft6in Lithuanian at Jacksonville University initially as a teammate. We then became very close friends and housemates. Being a year ahead of me, he graduated and decided to go back to Lithuania and live there. At this point I had started my Master's degree in France, and after nearly 2 years of physical absence amongst our friendship, even though we communicated regularly, the moment seemed right for him to come visit. 

This visit started a truly weird pattern. He showed up around mid January 2015, a few days after the Charlie Hebdo attack and other terrorist activities. This did not hinder his trip and the opportunity to visit Paris.

Had a stellar weekend hanging out with @bernardasv and getting to show him around Paris. We haven't seen each other in a year and half but it was just like old times. That's the type of friend you keep close. He flies back to Lithuania today, much love my friend.

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Jan 19, 2015 at 3:07am PST

Almost an entire year later, I found an off weekend from my training schedule and decided to go visit him in Vilnius. No more than a few days before my trip, the Paris terrorist attacks happened. Such a weird coincidence, but there is no correlation, just randomness. 

On the brighter side, I had never been further east than Hamburg, Germany so this was definitely an adventure, a 48 hour one. During this trip, I wanted to take in everything the country had to offer and try to understand why certain things are the way they are; especially in a post-soviet country. The whole idea was to make Lithuania look beautiful and exciting even in December through my film.

In Lithuania this weekend. Today we walked around Trakai and visited this awesome castle even in the freezing wind 🏰

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Dec 5, 2015 at 7:25am PST

Three Crosses in Vilnius, Lithuania. Giant crosses on top of the Vilnius skyline. Very neat view and impressive monument.

A photo posted by Scott Del Vecchio (@scottdelvecchio) on Dec 6, 2015 at 1:20pm PST

I was astonished on how low the cost of food and drinks was. A full meal for two plus 2 liters of beer cost 14 euros! That's how much one plate would cost in Paris. I had such an exciting time eating as much as I could, drinking as much I could, and understanding the language as much as I could. For the most part, Lithuanians are just a regular laid back people. I don't know how they deal with sundown being at 3 pm, but besides that, are very nice and open. 

To say the very least, this place has a lot to offer: castles, forests, churches and cathedrals, and lots of beer. 

Thank you for having me Bernard, I had an awesome time.

Here is the film I made

Much love.