On Saturday April 23rd we traveled up to Mathews for their "middle season" regatta. Due to illness and prom activities our team was short twelve members and we had to juggle seat assignments and actually scratch one entry, but we did have eleven crews race down the course. We had a much needed break in the weather compared with the early season regattas. Four of our novices finally got a chance to actually participate in a race! The day started with showers at 5:00 a.m. in the school parking lot, but by the time we arrived in Mathews at 7:00 the skies had cleared and we were gifted with calm conditions for the first few races. There was a light breeze slowly building through the morning and by the time we were finished with our last race and loaded up for the trip home, the weather deteriorated with rain showers washing the boats off for us!
Our best finish was one of our WN4 crews which finished 2nd of 6.
I'll post results when I get them. The video will be edited and added over the next few days. If you have any additional pix, send them my way and I'll add them. Meanwhile, we did get a picture of most of the crew team that attended prom that night.
What a difference a week makes! After suffering in wind and cold at James River we were finally treated to a nice race day for our third spring regatta of the season. Conditions on Lake Whitehurst at Norfolk's Botanical Garden started a bit cool with some wind but as the day wore on the temps rose and the wind fell. We entered eleven events with almost everyone getting two trips down the lake.
The WV4 crew in the lead, which they would lose to NC (in the yellow boat)
Our first event was The WV4 where our girls lead most of the race only falling to NC in the last 200 meters. The time sheet for the other heats shows we are competitive with NA's B-boat but still have a ways to go to match their A-boat's time. Obviously we want to race against NC again and try to hold them off in a final sprint. The edited GoPro video of the race is below.
The WV4 crew
Our next event was the WV8 with the four girls that rowed the WV4 as the stern four of the eight. After a very long delay at the start, the race was finally started. Our girls finished ahead of James River (a large public school program that rows year-round) but out of the money in fourth. Looking at the other heat we did have a better time than NA's B-boat and the crew from First Colonial, but the delta between our finish time and that of NA's A-boat is something that we have to work on (+12.8 seconds.) A pic shortly after the start and the edited GoPro video of the race are below.
The WV8 crew
Our third event was a MN4 crew that had rowed only twice together and had Noah (a coxswain) in the bow. The crew finished third, significantly behind Granby and James River, but well ahead of Cape Henry (who had rigged their boat backwards with the port riggers on the starboard side and vice-versa). No video was taken of this race.
Our fourth crew down the lake was the girls in the WN8 event. This crew had a number of rowers participating in their first race of the season so I'm sure there was a bit of nervousness in the boat. They finished third behind Granby and James River and about 18 seconds behind NA's finish time (in the other heat.) The edited GoPro video of the race is below.
No video was taken of the remaining races, so the story will have to be told by the score sheet.
The other 7 crews racing were the bow four out of the WV8, competing in a W2V4 event, and finishing 3rd of 4; the MV8 crew finishing 4th of 4; the first of two WN4 crews finishing 5th of 5 and the second of our WN4 crews finishing 4th of 4; both of our MV4 crews finishing 4th of 4; and our MxN8 crew finishing 3rd of 4.
The W2V4 crew
The MV8 at the catch
One of our WN4 crews
The MN4 crew heading down to the start
One of our MV4 crews neck and neck with NA
The other of our MV4 crews
Our Novice mixed 8 crew heading down
Since we will be looking at the EVSRA championships in a couple of weeks, our focus at practice will be to specifically identify events in which we will compete, and keep constant a specific crew for each event. Since there is no "double rowing" in the championships it is likely that some team members will only compete in mixed events or in "exhibition" events (neither of which score points in that regatta.)
On Saturday April 9th we made the trip to James River High School west of Richmond for our second regatta of the season. Again we were met with breezy conditions and cold temperatures on the water with the additional twist of a relatively strong river current making racing much more difficult (rowing up current against a 15-25 mph wind.) In fact, the head ref announced shortly after 11:00 am that "all events after event #17 were to be cancelled" due to the horrendous conditions. So we were able to compete in only half of the races we were signed up for.
Our coxswains experienced the problem of rowing too far downstream of the marshalling area for the start, resulting in many crews having to row hard just to get to the starting area. This is not a problem at Botanical because crews can't go past the start area. This regatta also required "floating starts" where the starting ref tries as best as possible to align the bow balls of the crews and then executes a "quick start" (no polling, etc.) Due to the wind and current this process was problematic, at best. The resulting length of the course varies for each start. Originally, the course was supposed to be 1500 meters but after encountering large waves at the 1500 m mark, the ref shortened the course to 1000 meters.
Only one race was captured on video and the edited vid is below. For the rest of the events the score sheet will have to tell the tale.
This post is about how rowers can efficiently place the blade in the water at the catch to maximize the effort on the drive and minimize the chances of either a crab or of missing water due to the blade being slightly under rotated (leading to a crab) or over rotated (leading to the blade jumping out of the water.)
I've copied the seventh page from the rowing technique download available on you myCRU team page below. Please read it carefully and then watch the videos.
Blade Work Blade work is a skill which has direct impact on the movement and speed of the boat. For this reason, many coaches pay much more attention to correct blade work than to the body motion. Yet, the blade work is a direct reflection of what is happening inside the boat. It is possible to change either body motion or blade work and see improvements in the other element. An example of good blade work is shown below.
Recovery
During the recovery, the blades travel toward the bow in a smooth, horizontal plane at a steady height. The rower should allow enough clearance for easy squaring of the blades before entry without skimming the surface of the water.
Squaring
The turning of the oars so that the blades are perpendicular to the surface of the water is called "squaring." Ideally, squaring should start as the hands go over the ankles. Squaring should be executed gradually at a constant speed, during the last part of the recovery. It should neither slow down or stop the motion of the blades ("hanging") before entry.
Entry
The entry into the water should be quick, as a continuation of the recovery. It should be well synchronized with the speed of the boat, without too much back splash or front splash. For beginners, however, some minimal back splash is suggested, to make certain that they don't miss the water. The idea is to use the gravity or weight of the oars, instead of power, to place the blade into the water. "Scooping," the entry of the blades into the water, should be followed with immediate horizontal power.
The "early roll up" as referenced in the title of this post is in contrast to a "snap" roll that many beginners use. Below I've illustrated what I'm calling a "snap" roll. The rower leaves the blade feathered until the last possible moment and then tries to immediately square it, sometimes even while the blade is entering into the water. The problem is that it's hard to feel when the collar falls on the flats of the oarlock when snap rolling the blade. If you rotate not enough or too much problems result.
The early roll up allows the rower to feel the collar drop onto the flat section of the oarlock and ensures when the blade enters the water it will be perfectly square. Below is a view from the port side of reasonable blade work in a pair.
Now the starboard side of a single:
Here is a slo-mo video the US Men's eight practicing before the world championship, followed by a close up of the blade work. Again, note there is not "snap" to the squaring, but rather a smooth easy and early roll up.
On the slow motion video also notice the body preparation at the start of the recovery and the relative handle heights between the recovery and the drive. The handles move horizontally with no "arching."
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