Season Opener Regatta

    On a cold and windy Saturday our crews pulled off one of the better performances in an opening regatta in the history of the team. Of the seven crews entered, we garnered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes, mostly against schools that have been rowing since August (only we, NC, CH, and NA consider crew a single season sport - all the large programs consider crew a three season sport with head racing in the fall, mandatory erging in the winter and sprint racing in the spring,)

Congrats to the W2V4 crew of Anne, Christy, Aubrey and Reilly (with Noah driving) on their win against NC, NA and James River.

Our WV8 crew of Claire, Christy, Gabby, Delaney, Reilly, Anna and Nicole (with Jess as the cox) placed 2nd in a five boat heat, 0.1 seconds ahead of River City and ahead of the B boats from NA and Cox.

The 3rd place ribbons were garnered by our WV4 crew of Gabby, Claire, Erynn and Nicole (with Ethan in the cox seat) where the crew finished ahead of the crew from Christchurch School.

Coach O'Brien had a good view of all crews at the start and had the following comments:

1. Good day and well done to all crews. Our coxswains showed a lot of poise under demanding conditions. The boat movement into starting blocks was as good (or better) than any team out there. Presence and situational awareness should be where our coxswain focus in practice. Very good start to the season.

2. Evt 7 M2V4+: This boat works well together. A little disorganized out of the start and first ten strokes. Boat bobbled a little and then settled in. Strong first 300M. Competitive with any of the other crews. I wrote "Gitty" in my notes. Highlights: athletic, natural stroke technique for these rowers. Aggressive connection in the water at the catch. Things we will work on in practice: Rolando getting the most out of the top 1/4 of the stroke (catch to mid leg engagement)--layback is getting better, but still hampers recovery rhythm; Steven working efficiently through the stroke; Sean body preparation and oar placement; John--stroke length and outside arm/leg engagement. Coxswain: race plan, passing information, counting off distance and strokes to finish, knowledge of other boat's position on race course.

3. Evt 8 WN8+: I was quite pleased with how this crew worked together in their first regatta. They stayed together even when boat set wasn't consistent, and showed good confidence in moving out of the start and down the race course. Rowers are still getting used to connecting at the catch, and allowing themselves to relax hands and shoulders and let the rowing stroke happen. This will come with time. Start was a tad messy (some oars not placed consistently), once they were off and going I was impressed with how competitive they are as a unit. Timing (I wrote in my notes), rushing the slide, and stroke length will be the focus areas as we get more strokes in with this group. Aubrey good stroke consistency and will learn to prepare the body out of finish and control slide. Maddie is strong rower and needs to make the most out of leg drive. Margaret is athletic and will want to work on outside arm and wrist alignment and getting comfortable at catch. Reilly is powerful and determined--we'll work on handle position and blade depth to take advantage of that power. Hayley has a natural flowing stroke and good instincts--we need to work on endurance and leg drive. Brittany has all the stroke elements and incredible power potential--we will work on consistent stroke length and staying disciplined in body movement during the excitement of the race. Delaney, another powerful rower in the making. We'll work on not rushing to the catch and aggressive leg drive. Anne showed perhaps the most progress in past two weeks, body swing, oar placement and stroke length was impressive; we will work on getting the most power out of that developing stroke.

Pic by Lily's mom

Seeing the results sheet that I note the WN8 finish time of 6:09.8 would have been a winning time in the other heat. And while it's dangerous to compare times between heats because of varying conditions, it is heartening to see the significant difference between our time and those of the WN8 crews from Maury and First Colonial, two large programs that have been rowing since August. Well done, girls! Now, back to Coach O'Brien's comments...

4. Evt 13 MV8+: Made good strides compared to recent practices. Start was a little inconsistent, but timing got better as they moved through first 20 strokes. When they stay aggressive, they can be in the top tier of the private school teams. Will, great job at stroke, much less wasted movement coming out of finish. Robert has great stroke length and needs to stay aggressive. Leg drive dropped off after 300M and noticeably by 900M. Sean has as much power and desire as I've seen on our team, we'll work on balance, body preparation and movement and rhythm, good changes from practice last week. Evan, I noted "good technique" need more Umphh. Another rower who should realize how much raw potential they can unlock with more work and toughness at the catch and drive. Rolando good timing at catch and needs to match that up through the stroke. He can do a lot if he pushes 30% harder through drive. Very improved in recent practices and it showed in this event. Jonathan gets my most improved at this point in the season award, body discipline and timing were much better, we'll keep working on that. Matt nice full stroke, overall nice rowing for someone still getting used to the boat. With more fundamentals (catch, recovery pace and getting most out of leg drive), he will add much to the boat. John has greatly improved stroke length and needs to keep that going in the race. Getting more power in leg drive will help set the boat and keep bow balanced and tracking straighter. We'll work on that power output. Great progress from last season.

5. Evt 16 WV4+: Good effort from this boat. Gabby showed poise and rhythm in tough conditions. Claire adds power when rowing from either side and helped balance out the boat so port side rowers didn't dominate. Erynn much improved technique and gritty competitor. Nicole wonderful full stroke and precise timing. What I'd like to see out of all these rowers is a longer stroke with more power in that top 1/2 from the catch to where the oar blades are perpendicular to the axis of the boat (think Tiff Wood bending the oar blade). I wrote "scratchy but good start, nice settle and tough through 900M". These rowers are coming along. 

Again, looking at the results sheet that I note that our WV4 finish time of 6:19.5 was faster than the finish times of both NA's and NC's WV4 crews, albeit in heat A. It is good to see that we will be competitive against our private school peers when we meet head to head. Well done, girls! The "Tiff Wood" reference is shown on this post from a couple of years ago. Now, back to Coach O'Brien's comments...

6. Evt 25 W2V4+: Impressed me today. On my ref sheet "SOLID :-)" Anna set nice pace at stroke, like to see more leg drive and controlled slide. Christy matched up well with stroke, like to see more body swing and aggression through drive. Aubrey brings natural rhythm to the boat and stroke mechanics that are really improving. Reilly, gave it her all, and we want to capitalize on that energy with clean oar placement and depth throughout the drive. 

7. Evt 27 MV4: Good first regatta. Seemed fatigued by 600M. Puddles were much smaller and closer spaced (showing less power through stroke). The fundamentals we noted for future practices in MV8 above apply here. Harder to mask set and power issues in the 4+ and the tough environmental conditions didn't help. We will work on having these rowers attack the practice pieces with more abandon and aggressive strokes. I think top 1/4 drills and reverse pick with straight arms are the areas we hone in on.

Pic by Lily's mom

Coach O'Brien and Erynn's dad also got a 10 second video snippet of the WV8 crew as they went by at the 600m mark. Coach's comments follow.

8. Evt 32 WV8+ Lots of solid effort. Timing and oar placement need to be more precise. Stroke length has gotten shorter compared to previous 200M. The wind also begins to be a factor as all crews are struggling to tap down and clear the finish in between the crests in the chop.

Goods: much more together than early practices. Determined pace for most of the race.

Areas we'll focus on in coming practices: handle height (oar depth), outside hand and upper body placement coming out of the finish, pushing harder on drive and controlling recovery. The potential of this boat is unlimited of they want to put in the work."

Summary. Excellent team effort on a less than optimum day. Those not rowing contributed immensely to our results on the water and should take pride in how the team worked together. I'm excited to work with these rowers in the coming weeks.

The following pics were sent to me by Rolando's dad:

The wind caused lots of problems at the finish with two of or 8's ending up sideways on the causeway, including the MV8:

I'll be adding more pictures as I get them. The video of the WN8 race is below:

Our WN8 crew:

Pic by Maddie's mom

The food tent:

Pic by Maddie's mom