Spring Fling II Regatta report

 

The third regatta of the season saw three heat wins and a 2nd place finish. Starting the day off with a bang was the WV8 crew with a heat win ahead of  Cox and Granby. The finish time was still about 11 seconds off NA's pace in the other heat so we know who we need to be worried about. With continued work and effort I'm sure NA's girls are beatable. Of course, we didn't have Great Bridge, Gloucester or Mathews to contend with so even making the finals at next week's championships is still a goal to be reached. Coach O'Brien's comments from the ref's launch and the video of the girls' eight is below.

     Good start. Overall, very good cadence and teamwork through the stroke. Some of the tendencies that we have worked on in practice cropped back up. Some folks who finish the stroke with the handle in their lap (hence shorter strokes) began to do this under pressure. Quicker slide and less complete stroke than ideal. If all eight could maintain solid connection at the catch, hang on the handle, make their leg drive count and not hurry the slide after release, they could be a force to be reckoned with. Endurance is getting better, but I think they can put more effort in and have much quicker times.


 

Next up were the Mens Novice Four events. We're still juggling to find the fastest combination. The good news is that our faster boat dropped a second; the bad news is that Norfolk Academy's "A" boat dropped 3 seconds so the delta went up a couple of seconds. Continued practice and a more shuffling of seats may get us closer. Coach O'Brien wrote "Same challenges we saw in practice. Balance, oar handle too low for some at finish, lack of consistent body swing. Good potential in this group."

Kudos to Russell for completing his first single race. He'll be back in Single-Minded at Mathews and at the ISR after taking next week off from sculling (no double rowing allowed at the championships.) Both he and Natalie, and anyone who wants to learn to row the single over the summer, should watch, study, and absorb the instructional videos from Calm Waters Rowing.

In Heat A of the WV4 event we finished fifth. Natalie had back problems (and ended up scratching in the W1x event.) It is important that all rowers learn to listen to their body. As Bill Manning wrote in his article (the one I keep sending you and the one that folks keep not reading...) "Know the difference between the discomfort of exertion and the pain of injury. College coaches expect this maturity from their athletes. Only you know what you're feeling, what is tolerable and temporary, and what is a problem. Speak up if you're injured...It's your responsibility to not let an unfortunate annoyance become a real problem."  I do give props to Natalie for making the decision to scratch before her single event. For the WV4 race (recorded on video below,) Coach O'Brien wrote these notes: Out of sorts here. Natalie was jumpy and quick throughout the stroke. I understand her back hurt—it was noticeable that she couldn't get pressure on the oar. We need to get back to basics—drive at the catch, solid long stroke, controlled recovery. The various technique challenges hurt balance in the boat. They can do much better. Meagan Prokoprius was awesome here and in the 8. 

Another win came in the W2V4. Here are Coach O'Brien's comments: I wrote SOLID!! on my ref sheet. Airielle, Taylor, Becky, and Nealy were very very good. They put in hard strokes, and did much of what we stressed in practice, and just got a little hurried from mid point on. Good boat. Grace made me smile at her coxswain calls. She just about repeated all my reminders from practice verbatim. She obviously is very observant and intelligent. She is calm with the crew. I guess I like what she’s doing. These girls don’t realize how much faster they could be with just a little more focus and effort. Very gratifying to see their progress.

    I note that often fatigued crews can drift away from the basics. The race only lasts about 6 minutes and yet during that time period many rowers forget what we drill for hours during the weekly practices. When coxswains help rowers to focus on proper technique, even "repeating reminders from practice verbatim," the boat can get back into balance, times can drop , and finish places can improve.



 The MN8 crew finished second in their heat.

   Here are Coach O'Brien's notes from this race: These folks are coming along. Lots of common errors cropped up, but they really put in an effort and looked very good for a group of novices. ... Anthony cannot keep his head in the boat, but he pulls hard so there is good news there."

    I'm reminded of a classic poster that hung in many a boathouse during the 1970s and '80s, that of Tiff Wood hammering his oar so violently that it bent with the force. More on Tiff is available here.

 

 

The next Tiff Wood?

 

   Yep, hammering can be effective (Tiff won a bronze medal in the world championships) and I suppose you can look at your oar (but we really don't want you to!!!) but the bottom line is that the blade must be locked in the water and not creating lots of froth or splashing.

 

   Our third win was in a MV4 heat where we finished ahead of Broadwater, Maury and Cape Henry. When looking at the finish times of all three heats I realize we still have a ways to go. Here are Coach O'Brien's observations from the water: “Uneven handle height; no body swing,” and his comments to me: Can’t argue with a good result in the heat, but they could probably have knocked 20 secs off their time with better form and effort.  That would have gotten us closer to NA but still a bit off their time. More work on technique this week is in the plans.

 

  

Our last event was the Mixed eight, with a start that was hampered by being well off point at the go signal. Even though as a team we do a good job of locking onto the stakeboat in a timely manner, we can improve on the sculling of the bow to achieve the point. Watching the first video on how Amanda (seat 3) takes Natalie's oar (seat 2) shows how quick and effective this technique can be. We'll work on it some this week. Here are coach O'Brien's comments: As Pilar mentioned, they were off from the gitgo. Pointed 45 degrees left at start, got off the line slow. Pilar adjusted well and brought the boat up the course correcting as she went. They were gaining on Maury most of the first half of the race and then lost steam. I was pleased with how they did despite the rocky start. Under different circumstances and with more umph they could have knocked 30-40 secs off that time.

 

   Overall I'm pleased with the day. Below are the complete results and the section of the Virginian-Pilot that reported the high school sports scores. Every mention of  Bishop Sullivan is the paper is noticed and appreciated.