July 06, 2001

an entry on not rowing


Something I ate last night disagreed with me (I should know better than to combine pesto tortellini with alfredo sauce before a rowing morning) so I didn’t row this morning. I did go out there, though, and am very glad I did.

The women who want to row in a four in the Head of the Charles next October are supposed to do 6000m erg pieces to compete for their spots on the crew. One of them, K, had almost never been on an erg before and wasn’t convinced she could do that distance. (Don’t ask me how you can row for a year and only get away with only erging once; if I knew that, I would be doing it!) I knew she could do it, on the theory that if I can, any rower can. Besides, 6000m is less than half an hour and she’s used to two-hour practices on the water.

But she was nervous about it, so when I told Coach Yosemite Sam that I wasn’t feeling well and would rather not row, he asked me to coach her through a practice piece. And of course, to no one’s surprise but her own, she finished all 6000 meters. She did it in 28 minutes and some, a good 2-3 minutes slower than she’ll need to qualify for a spot in the Chuck crew, but now she knows she can do it. I think my presence was a big help, too, for both encouragement and distraction -- the hardest thing on an erg is fighting the boredom.

After that I coxed a junior women’s crew in a 1000 meter scrimmage race. The masters won it, but then they had several men in the boat, including one who is so strong he far outpulls both Rudder and T2. Amusingly, Rudder and T2 in their double kicked ass -- 16 asses in fact; they beat both eights by a long margin.

And now I’ve made up for not writing as much about rowing lately -- didn’t want anyone to think I’d mellowed.

Posted by dichroic at July 6, 2001 08:31 AM
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?