Spring Fling I

   Another cold and raw day, with almost everybody getting two chances to race down the lake. For most of the novices and our coxswain Hana (who's currently batting 1.000) it was their first race experience. So, I take yesterday as a learning experience for most. Congratulations to the WN4 crews who placed first in their events. Special kudos should be given to Megan, Natalie, Airielle, and Amanda who beat crews from First Colonial, Hickory, and Granby all of whom started rowing in the fall (the public schools run their rowing programs fall and spring.) The fact our girls finished with open water ahead of their competition with only four weeks of rowing under their belt is a significant win.

    Also deserving a mention are the MLt4, WV4, and W2nd4 crews all of whom had close finishes with our independent schools rivals. Our MLt4 crew of Ben, AJ, Thomas, and Brennan is getting closer to NA's crew (a boat that has been together since 9th grade and seems to be the fastest MLt4 in the EVSRA.) Our WV4 crew of Alexandra, Ann Marie, Courtney and Corey beat Cox and almost caught Norfolk Collegiate's crew even after stopping midway down the lake with a serious crab. Our W2nd4 crew of Reagan, Anna, Laura, and Erin easily beat both NA and NC  Full results are below with additional comments. As usual, blue = 1st, red = 2nd, yellow = 3rd, green = out of the podium finishes. Note also that we got nine mentions in this morning's paper. Too bad it couldn't have been more!

    The next race will be in six days, with only a couple of practices in between. The regatta will again be at Botanical but with a much smaller crowd.  Let's hope for warmer weather for our Spring Fling 2!

Season Opener

We competed on a cold, raw day in eight events. Results are below, followed by some comments.

 

 

Congratulations to our MV4+ crew that won their heat. I hope all will experience the satisfaction of crossing the line in first place. A word about comparing times between heats: in rowing this is almost never done. When floating starts are utilized the length of the course is different in each heat (and, unfortunately, often in each lane.) Only when starting platforms are used could any sort of comparison be made, but even in that case, differences in wind conditions can and do influence heat times. For championship regattas, heat winners (and sometimes those in 2nd place in their heat) always re-row against the other heat winners to determine the event winner. The newspaper "order of finishes" based in inter-heat times is next to useless.

I hope everybody learned a lot about racing and the work that needs to be done before the launching of boats, during the regatta and the packing up at the end. Yes, it was a long day (I hit the sack by 9:30.) For our next regatta things will be more hectic because I anticipate entering six additional events, with lots of double rowing.

If anyone has some pictures that they took during the regatta feel free to e-mail them to me and I'd add them to this post.

Rowing Technique

Erg Pull results

At yesterday's erg pull we were represented by Mike, Russell, Alexandra and Anna. The results were the best we've had at this winter event and are significant because all of the other schools participating at this erg pull run fall, winter and spring rowing programs, and we're just beginning to gear up for our spring season. It's interesting to note that the schools we compete against in the season-ending independent schools regatta (Norfolk Academy, Norfolk Collegiate, Cape Henry, Broadwater, and Trinity Episcopal) did not have any participants. "So how about the results?" you ask.

Mike finished 5th overall, and ahead of all but one other boy his age. Russell finished 29th overall and ahead of all but 6 other boys who were also15 years old. Alexandra also finished 29th overall and ahead of all but 4 girls her age or younger. Each piece was noteworthy. Mike blasted out at the start and was easily in the lead of all the rowers at the 500 m mark, but was unable to sustain the pace and slowly dropped back, still finishing in a very respectable 7:07.1. Russell also blasted at the gun, in fact, jumped his slide and took a few seconds to get back on his seat, losing precious meters. Still, he finished below his personal best at 7:51.6. Alexandra, with Anna coxing, finished at 8:51.2, well off her personal best. She summed the experience up by saying "I didn't like it!" The smiling shot below was taken before she pulled her piece.

















It's interesting to compare the erg-pull environment with pulling a piece on your own. At the erg pull you have no flexibility when to start. The starter yells "Ready, attention, ROW!" and off you go. There is also a lot of screaming as supporters of all the other participants urge them on  (Alexandra was simultaneously rowing in a heat with 18 other girls (she ended up 10th in her heat.) When pulling a piece by yourself, it's easy to plug in the earbuds and tune out the rest of the room, something that's not possible at an erg pull.

Still, I'm very impressed and thankful for the efforts put out by this year's rowers. Maybe next year we can finish still higher! Complete results are here.

Well, the swimming and wrestling seasons are coming to an end, so those athletes can now transition to rowing. I will make team selection on the 25th based on your best erg scores. So please get to the trailer and pull a qualifying time.  Preference on the ergs will be given first to those who have not posted a qualifying time and then to returning rowers who want to lower their time. Once novices have made the cut they don't need to pull again but are able to workout if there are machines not being used.

Mr. B.