It's a post-olympic year, in a global recession no less, so the regatta seems a little smaller than it might be a little later in the cycle. The Light Men's single has the most entries, with 24; in the years preceeding the Olympics in Beijing, it wasn't unusual to see entry counts in the low to mid-30s.

While it's somewhat surprising to see relatively low entry counts in some of the Olympic events, most events will have a healthy amount of speed at the top, and in any event, it's nice to see heats in events that seemed near extinction for a few years, namely the Light Men's 8+ and the Men's Coxed Pair. One event that's off the menu this year is the Men's Coxed Four.

Conditions here today are overcast, cool, and a light tailwind...great for heavyweights, maybe a little tough if you're trying to make weight. The heats of the Light Men's Eight kick off the racing day tomorrow, and we've seen a few crews go by here wearing a few extra layers.

Finally, the (necessarily anonymous) quote of the day: "Lightweight Women's rowing is like our beach volleyball."

Let the racing begin!