Racing in the heat was the theme of the weekend, but we have to say Philly may have handled it a bit better than Plovdiv: issuing water guns along with the medals so that athletes could cool off and have some extra fun.

The heat even took row2k offline for a bit this week: when the AC goes on the fritz where your website's servers live, the row2k staff winds up getting a little holiday. Hope you didn't miss us, and maybe we should send some water guns down there, too, keep things frosty.

Now that we are back, here is what kept us entertained at U23s and back here closer to home in Philly:

Lots & Lots of Podium Jumping

The Italians may still be the champs, but we had a lot of podium jumpers this week--flip through and judge for yourself who did it best:

We also caught a lot of boats ready to jump after they were announced in English, who then had to hold a near squat while the Bulgarian announcer repeated everything:

...not the position you want to be in after a full-out 2k, that's for sure.

And Getting Onto the Podium was Tricky

Yep, it was a bit of a jump just to get on the podium at one point:

Turns out the dock was a bit short for all the medal-winning shells to fit at once, thanks in part to the compressed racing and medal ceremony schedule that World Rowing employed in the heat.

That led to a few walk-the-gunwhales moments when the Women's Eights overlapped with events before them, and then you could see the Men's Singles coming into to dock right behind the women getting those eights' medals.

Gotta Be Careful Celebrating

So that this:

Doesn't turn into this:

Luckily, this German Light Double saved it, and stayed dry, but they came close to having to swim in to get their golds.

The Early Kangaroo...

Gets the good seat:

And he's also available for podium celebrations, fyi.

The Old 3 Seat-Coxswain Hug

Maybe not such a hit with whoever is sitting in bow, though, whew.

Medals Run in the Family

As we mentioned in the notes from U23s, we saw a lot of folks racing, and medalling, in Plovdiv who turn out to have pretty good rowing genes. That would definitely include Bulgaria's Emil Neykov, son of five-time Olympian and Beijing 2008 W1x champ Rumyana Neykova:

Neykov, who was seven years old when Neykova won her Olympic gold, picked up his second U23 bronze in the single last weekend, to the delight of both the home crowd there in Bulgaria, and got a photo on the podium with his mom that you can see on Instagram here.

The German W8 Loves Their Coach

German 6 seat Olivia Clotten told row2k on Sunday that the coach of their eight had been "very important for us"--and it was clear that the crew was grateful after they collected their silver medals on Sunday.

Single Skillz

The handle dip in the single is a tricky maneuver, whew:

This sculler, Belarussian Mikhail Ivanchikau, was racing in Plovdiv under World Rowing's Neutral Athletes (AIN) program, which did get us thinking: what anthem gets played if an AIN athlete wins? We didn't find out in Poznan, and there will not be any at U19s in in Paris next week, but maybe we will find out at Worlds in September.

Good Pics Don't Come Easy

Gotta work for the best shots--and these folks are two of the best, Detlev Seyb and Julia Kowacic:

You can see Detlev's version of the photo on Instagram here.

Meanwhile, Back Where It's Always Sunny

It was Philly Youth Regatta time, which meant shenanigans galore, with props and water guns.

There was a lot of blasting of coxswains in particular, as you saw in the cover photo above, but the doubles got way into it too:

and we also saw the Nereid rowers turn on one of their own and even some little siblings joined in as the day went on.

The refs had fun with all the props, too:

Speaking of Props...

Timing of this shot makes it look like bow seat was sporting a shark hat:

(and in that far lane, Tango sure is a good boat name for a pair/double, ha)

And...Action (Poses)

We also saw a lot of action movie poses:

Taking the Bennie Outta Philly

Maritime's points win was the first time in 11 years the Bennie trophy did not go to a Phila crew.

As you can see in "Bennie"'s close-up here, it is a pretty cool, and very Philly, trophy.

Pro Parent At Work

Truly impressive parent photo technique here:

Laying Down Some Land Rowing

Though maybe not this much layback out in the boat, fellas.

Coaching Verite

Every Summer Regatta Needs a Flip

Bring on the Octuples...

And the Splashy Dashes

Two of the more fun events that we get a lot more of in the summer for sure.

Up Next

We get the last of the Senior National Team trials this week, to round out the rest of the boats headed to Worlds in Belgrade this September.

You can read about who is racing the Trials here, get caught up with our round-up of all the various National Team crew announcements, and you know where you can catch the results from Saturday's finals-- row2k.com/results/, natch.