I’m not sore today. This comes as something of a surprise; yesterday I rowed as a substitute in my company’s eight. (Yes, my company has its own crew. Is that mind-blowing or what?) It was their second outing for the year. During their season, they practice once a week. Any assumptions you might want to make about their technique from these two facts are likely to be entirely accurate. Also, it’s been a looong time since I rowed in an eight. I did handle a sweep oar in the Christmas parade of 2005, but that was a barge (i.e. non-tippable), and rowed at snail speed. Before that you’d probably have to go back to 2002 or 2003 to see me in an eight anywhere but the coxswain’s seat.
We did have a good cox, one of the students from the university crew they row out of. And though the timing could have been better and there were missed strokes now and then, this crew did avoid being consistently down to one side of the other. That’s what really wrecks your back. The oars had wood handles and were huuuuuuge compared to the sculling ones I’m used to, so I have sore spots on both thumbs. I think there are a few people in the boat who are pretty good rowers – one guy also rows regularly with our club. Also, the coach got there a bit late and we all chose our own seats. I tend to gravitate toward bow since I’m so small, but I really should have known better than to choose bow seat when the only other woman in the boat was in three.
They’re all really nice – I stayed for a couple of beers afterwards. Yes, the college boathouse has its own bar. Drinking age is 16 here for beer. I enjoyed that part a lot. I don’t think I want to sub into this boat more than now and then, but it was nice to get out on the water and not have to worry about steering. It was also a great opportunity to practice my Dutch; the coach translated all the drills for me and the guy in two seat made sure I didn’t miss any of the coxswain’s commands, but I did figure out a lot of it on my own before they translated.
Oh, I almost forgot: there’s a full account of this weekend’s race and the visit to the Keukenhof up at Avontuur.
Loved reading and especially reading Avontuur !