Rowing News interview with LM8

row2k interview with coxswain Jack Carlson

Bee Aggressive

As racing comes closer and closer, the adrenaline begins to flow a little more.  We, the lightweight men’s 8, did some 500 meter pieces this morning.  We were trying to focus on swinging together and being aggressive.  There are some other Slovenian inhabitants bee-ing aggressive as well. 

Some of the first Slovenians we met when we got to Bled were the local bees.  They are not bashful.  They will visit while you are walking, shopping, rowing or running.  Austin was stung in between his toes.  Nick was stung while rowing and at least 3 others in our 8 alone have been stun.  I saw some members of the US heavy men’s 8 dancing around some bees this morning. 

Yesterday, as we were preparing to launch on the dock, I was putting my oar in and all of a sudden the dock began gyrating and I heard a lot of commotion coming from behind me.  It was Nick and he was trying to swat a bee with the towel he brings in the boat to prevent his water bottle from bouncing around.  It was hilarious.  Nick was jumping like a monkey and swinging the towel like I would imagine a caveman waving his club.  Unfortunately, Nick did not kill the bee and just managed to piss it off more. 

I was doing some postcard shopping with Kenny and Nicole Dinion from the LW4x and felt a pinch in my left thigh under my shorts.  I lifted the shorts to see what it was and I couldn’t believe it.  A bee (more like a yellow jacket because it didn’t die after stinging me) was lodged; butt first in to my leg.  It was flying furiously, trying to get away and did not do so until I flicked it.  It was funny, except the pain in my thigh began to grow and the humor began to escape me.  I couldn’t believe how aggressive that bee was. 

The first related story that came to mind was high school basketball.  I used to go to all of the Mathews High basketball games to try and socialize.  One of the things I remember is the cheerleader cheer (I can’t believe I’m documenting this memory) Be Aggressive, B – E Aggressive, B- E A-G-G R-E-S-S-I-V-E.  I can sing it for you some time to get the full affect. 

So like the bees, the US Team is hoping to go for broke on the race course and get the job done this coming week.  Only 1.5 days until racing starts!  Get Aggressive and BEE Aggressive.

- Jimmy

Bow Perspective

More Food for Thought

Blogging is hard.  I dabbled a bit last year with Shivani and her website www.shivspix.com  I’m going to be posting some blogs on her website again this year.  Shivani took a leave of absence from the 2010 World Championships, but is making a comeback this year in Bled.  We will all be excited to see her and you should be too!  Her pictures are amazing and definitely let supporters at home get a feel for what is going on at the regatta.  Anyway, back to my point.  Blogging is hard and I am finding it difficult to come up with things to write about.  The lesson I’ve learned so far is not to search for it too much.  The ideas will come at the most random time, when you don’t have a pen or computer to write it down.  I swear, I had an awesome idea yesterday, but forgot it.  So today I was walking around the shopping center across from the hotel and thought of another idiosyncrasy to tell you about.  I rushed my shopping a bit to type it out on the computer.  Again, amazingly, it is about food.  

When I was a plebe at the Naval Academy I would buy a snickers bar NEARLY EVERY DAY.  I guess I felt like I earned it.  I was in college, rowing and getting paid (barely… $100/month).  As I have gotten older and wiser I have learned to savor the gift of chocolate.  Also of note, if I ate a snickers every day 10 years after being a freshman in college I would not be a lightweight!  Therefore I try to get the most bang for my buck and only purchase nice chocolate.  You could say I’m spoiled.  Not that I couldn’t eat a snickers bar, they are delicious, but I really try to eat nice chocolate.  Think of Seattlites in coffee shops; I am a chocolate snob as they are coffee snobs. 

Well Slovenia is a gift to my madness.  I’ve only been here for 4 days and I’m on my 2^nd bar.  They have Lindt chocolate here, but I can get that in the States so I try to stay away.  Besides, my wife is from Exeter, NH which is very close to where the USA Lindt factory is.  We try to hoard some when we visit family, so I try to go for the local delicacies when away.  I just bought a milk chocolate bar made with honey and am eating it as I type this.  It is delicious and some of the best chocolate I’ve had.  I usually try to stay away from milk chocolate, considering myself a dark chocolate fan, but I am a huge honey fan and couldn’t resist.  The best thing about this piece of chocolate is it does not have a brand name.  It just says honey on the front.  For those of you looking to get in to great food, those are usually the best. 

We are about 10 days out from our race for lanes at the World Championships so I have to start watching what I eat.  I try to stay away from dairy and sugars.  Chocolate, honey and jam are about the only sweet things I continue to ingest.  The thoughts that go through my mind are, “you’re not going to get to eat a lot of it, so eat the good stuff.”  Well Slovenia is definitely providing some good stuff and I’m sure I’ll find more. 

Another sense of food snobbery comes in the form of bread.  Read about it at www.shivspix.com

- Jimmy

Traveling as a lightweight

Any kind of traveling is tough as a lightweight, but air cross-continental travel can be brutal.  Airports are littered with calorie rich goodies.  If you talk to any rower they will tell you that most lightweights have  a serious sweet tooth.  I, from experience can tell you it is a mental challenge to not inhale sweets all day. 

To avoid this predicament I have learned to travel prepared.  If I do not bring some food along I WILL end up snacking on trail mix, candy or tuna salad sandwiches (tuna salad in airports is mostly mayonnaise).  Trail mix may sound great too, but it is loaded with fat that does not make weighing in 2 hours prior to racing easy.  So I bring fruit, vegetables and premade sandwiches.  This trip was a pretty good one.  I had an apple, a crown of broccoli and baby carrots.  Obviously, I don’t think many people could last an entire trip on those foods alone so I do eat some of the airplane food.

Airplane food can be very dangerous.  It’s mass produced food, which I’ve had plenty of while in the navy, meaning it’s probably not healthy.  However, there are healthier versions.  I choose to not eat quite a bit of it as well.  Last night’s flight was a choice of bbq chicken and vegetable pasta.  I went with pasta.  The meal came with pasta, salad, bread, crackers, cheese, ranch dressing and a brownie.  I ate most of the pasta, the salad without the dressing (Tim McLaren would be proud), a little bread and of course the brownie.  There are a lot of bad calories in ranch dressing and the cheese that I don’t need.  The brownie is not the healthiest choice, but everyone needs a vice ;-). 

The best part about this entire process is the looks you get from fellow travelers.  I happened to be traveling by myself this trip so I didn’t have numbers of other lightweights to reinforce my “odd” eating habits.  I was sitting in the Atlanta airport and pulled out a ziplock bag of raw broccoli.  A family, just 5 ft away began whispering and giving me odd looks.  I almost stood up and bought and icecream cone to raise my self-esteem (j/k), but I stuck to my guns and nibbled on the greens.  On the plane I pulled out some baby carrots and received similar looks from my neighbor. 

There are some hazards to this healthy eating.  In Munich I caught up with the LW2X of Julie Nichols and Kristin Hedstrom and the USA M1x, Ken Jurkowski .   We took a flight together to Ljubljana, Slovenia.  We arrived, waited for a bit and took a van to Bled.  During the ride I was eating some broccoli and Ken made a joke causing me to laugh.  Well the laughing caused me to inhale and small bits of broccoli flew to the back of my throat and I began choking.  Headline:  Rower Dies Due to Broccoli Inhalation.

Thankfully, like parting my hair down the middle, this is just a phase in my life.  It seems to come and go in conjunction with my race schedule.  Weird, right?  Needless to say I won’t be eating this way on the way home!

P.S.  We had our first row today.  Bled is beautiful and the course is pretty amazing

'Round the buoy

"PRAY FOR A GOOD HARVEST, BUT KEEP ON HOEING"
                 - Slovenian proverb



'round the buoy 5k -- a Coach Roock special.  Here's the 1st half and a little bit of the 2nd half.

See you in Bled.

BIG DOGS ONLY,

Jack

"A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer"

"A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer" - Novalis

Our superhero-themed row, in support of the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth has garnered a lot of attention on row2k.  Check out the photo of the day, here.

Goodnight Hanover

It's a bittersweet night for the Hanover Training Center.  After a long summer of love, laughter, and crushing 11 minute anaerobic threshold pieces, our time in New Hampshire is coming to an end.  We fly out to Slovenia Friday.  Tonight will be our last in this charming New England town.  It's kind of sad.

You might think that the nine of us have seen little of this place aside from a stretch of the Connecticut river and the beds in which we spend almost all of our free time sleeping.  You might think that every day here is painfully, painfully boring.  You might think that some of us are absolutely dying to get the hell out of here.  You might even think I'm complaining right now on this very blog.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  Because this town has embraced us.  And we've embraced it in return.  

From the waitresses at Lou's Diner to the waitresses at Everything But Anchovies pizzeria to the waitresses at the Dirt Cowboy cafe, we've seen a fascinating cross section of genuine, warm-hearted people.  We've also met some people that didn't bring us food but really none come to mind right now.  Really, I think Lou's Diner owes the HTC squad a little something.  The amount of money we've given that place in the last couple months could put Lou's kid through college.  I think we deserve a plaque or a free omelet or something.

Each of us has also built a special relationship with the people that made this all possible - our host families.  Because they also give us food.  And because without them, we'd all be sleeping at the boathouse like hobos and assistant coaches do.  Or sleeping in our cars, like I do when I drink too much to drive.  

So for those reasons, we've been very lucky to have such wonderful hosts.  And between eating at their dinner tables and sleeping in their guest beds, we've become part of these families.  We got to know about their daily lives, their kids, their connection with rowing, where they keep the extra toilet paper.  You know, personal stuff.  Honestly, you do start to feel some kind of bond.  But tonight we break bread together for the last time.  It's going to be hard.  Like breaking up with a girl you were dating purely out of convenience.  Fortunately this time when I say it's because I'm leaving the country, it'll be the truth.

But as hard as it is to say goodbye to New Hampshire, the HTC can't wait to say hello to Bled.  This is what we've been living for.  The big show.  We've been busting our asses all year to prepare for the world championships.  And now game time is just a couple weeks away.  As the camp's progressed we've speculated about our speed and our chances at winning.  And we could safely give ourselves great odds because back then we had so much more time to prepare.  And we could go out for practice and just be content to try to improve a little.  But now that comfortable time for speculating and preparing and trying to do better is over.  It's time to get the job done.  The pressure is on, big time.

We'll be in Slovenia in a couple days.  Yes, we're fast.  But are we fast enough?  How fast it that?  Who the hell knows?  It makes me nervous.  Until the grand final, we'll have a handful of race pressure pieces to pull.  From here on out we just have to make sure we crush every one.  We can't settle for pulling "a pretty good piece considering the conditions".  Hearing that phrase is never satisfying.

Part of this reality check, at least for me, comes from the fact that entries were released today.  And looking at the opposing lineups, these crews will be seriously fast.  So the question is, "why should I expect to be able to beat these guys?"  And also maybe, "Why should I expect to win the world championship?".  The only way to answer those questions is by posting super fast times during our last weeks of practice.

Every single row is important now.  Like midgets at a urinal, we're going to have to stay on our toes.

But before we take off, I just want to say thanks for the memories, Hanover.  We'll never forget you.  We'll call you when we get back, we swear.

Matt

T-Shirt Time

No Bob, I'm not referencing the Jersey Shore.  Duff, who is about to race the LM2x in the PanAm trials is a huge fan of that show.  He even got me to watch a few episodes in Chulajuana.  What I'm referencing in the title is what every lightweight man thinks about when they are named to the national team:  GEAR (or kit for our Oxford coxswain).

I remember when I made my first team.  I was so excited to go to Poland and race in the lightweight 8.  So many great lightweights before me were able to row in that event and many great lightweights I know never had the chance.  I was ecstatic.  All nine of us were sitting in the boat bay discussing the paperwork with Margaux Jackson and she said, "are there any questions."  Immediately, I thought of "how do we get from the airport to the hotel?  What do we wear?  Did I really make the US Team?"  I didn't express any of these questions, but I thought them.  Then one of my closest friends on the team raised his hand.  "Yeah, I heard we may be getting track suits.  Is that true?"  I lost it in laughter.  All summer, the heavyweights I knew made snide remarks about lightweights and gear and I resented every little comment.  I was wrong and they were right.  We are gear whores.

I myself enjoy a new gear package, especially when it's unexpected.  Many times, I have been the designer of extra unisuits, vest or any piece of workout clothing I can think of.   In fact, I designed the masterpiece to the right.  A few of the US lightweight women may be sporting this gem as well.  (RIP Seattle Supersonics)  Well this lightweight 8 camp has a nickname:  Lightweight Gear Camp.

It started off slow, but the gear soon came like an EF5 tossing trees and houses at us from every direction (OKC Reference).  First, we were blessed with some HOC gear from Fred Schoch.  He was wearing a nice article of clothing and one of my teammates said in a half joking/half serious tone, "Fred, that's a sweet jacket.  If you have any extra you should bring some by."  Well Fred showed up 4 days later with a box full.  It reminded me of Christmas with my 3 brothers, CHAOS.  We tore through the boxes like vultures, ensuring that we all had the correct sizes.  Then came the boat gear.  We tested out a King and  Fillippi this year.  The King rep gave us all hats and the Fillippi rep gave us all t-shirts.  There is a another jacket on the way too.  THEN, our coxswain shows up with t-shirts that say Hanover Training Center.  Then a few of us got some NYAC gear.  Then we got our U.S. team gear packages.  We're riding the gear wave and it's not over yet.

Today I started talking to shirt makers about the t-shirts for our big donors (for a small donation of $500 dollars you can have one, www.firstgiving.com/2011uslm8).  We have gotten them made in the past and will again this year.  Due to an excellent suggestion from our coxswain, Jack, we are going to try to change the design a bit from previous years.  I found myself getting a little excited and saying, "I might buy myself one."  The problem is that I have huge tupperware full of t-shirts at home.  T-shirts from high school, college, the Navy, Pocock, different regattas, blah, blah, blah.  My wife, Shaunnah, who I love, is going to kill me if I show up to our apartment in Annapolis with ANOTHER t-shirt.  God knows I don't need another one.

The worst part is that I probably will get one.  Why?  Because I'm a LIGHTWEIGHT.

- Jimmy

P.S. from Jack -- as further proof of the obsession Jimmy describes above: somehow unsatisfied with the copious amounts of gear we have already received, 6-seat Nick LaCava saw fit to charm a Black Bear Sculling Camp bucket hat straight off of the head of one of our launch guests !  Perhaps Nick just has a penchant for all things "bucket" (see his post below)...

row2k gallery

Thank you to John Flynn from row2k for coming out with us for a couple practices! 

Check out his great photos by clicking Here

Spicing it Up

I hope all of you saw the video Austin posted.  There are a lot of positives from watching video of yourself rowing.  Analyzing catches, body position, grip, oar angle, blade depth; the list goes on and on.  What I want to talk about is what we were doing on this video, SPICE!

When the 8 was selected about 2.5 weeks ago we hadn't really tested the speed of the boat at high rates.  We had done a lot of work, mostly seat racing, at Dan's beloved seat race stroke rate of 33.5.  33 is too low and 34 is a little too high, so 33.5 was the rate.  Anyway, Dan introduced us to spice rowing.  He talked about it coming from the Dutch, I believe.  It's a work out where you go 40 seconds full pressure and then 20 seconds off and repeat, many times.   The most we've done is 3 sets of 15 minutes.  That's 30 minutes of really hard, intense rowing!  The cool thing is that the human body doesn't start going nuts until after 40 seconds of hard rowing and 20 seconds of recovery is just enough to allow you to repeat.

The goal of the workout for me is to row hard, but efficiently.  That's something that we are trying to do as a unit.  If we can get to the 1000 meter mark at the same time as everyone else and use just 1 or 2% less energy to get there, then we can hang on the oar a little more and press a little harder in the 2nd half of the race and have that extra gear in the end.

1' pieces Wed evening

This is the 3rd or 4th time we've done spice and the workout is really starting to grow on me.  It's very helpful.  You can do many of them at base pace or at higher, sprint pace.  This morning we were working on the sprint portion and just testing what rates were most efficient.  Tomorrow we're going to do some longer race peaces.  Needless to say, Dan is preparing us well to drop the hammer when we see the green light in Bled.

Thanks for following and have a good night.
- Jimmy

Attack of the Beard

Over the last few years, I've noticed a few things.  First, rowing is really hard. Second, there seems to be a loose connection between having a beard and being really good at rowing.  I'll let the other guys talk about how hard rowing is, and in this post, I'll talk about growing a beard.  

A beard has never seemed to be a big deal to me.  The whole time I was growing up my Dad had a glorious mustache and usually a beard too.  When it came time for me to grow my first fuzz, truthfully I was a little scared; would I be able to carry on my heritage with something glorious, or would it be scraggly and unbecoming?  When it grew out, a sigh of relief washed over me, and I think it turned out OK.

Since then, I have had an On/OFF relationship with facial hair.  Often my beard length would follow the seasons, as it keeps the sun off in the summer, and the warmth in in the winter.

As my beard has come and gone, I've noticed many others in the rowing world with glorious beards. They often seem to be the amazing rowers too. In my innocence, I began to wonder, "could it be the power of the beard which makes them amazing rowers"? Since I have not figured it out yet, I invite you to gaze upon some of the glorious beards that have shown themselves in elite rowing in the last few years:

Eric Murray, New Zealand 2-:

Olaf Tufte, Norwegian 1X:

Derek Rasmussen, Cambridge University Boat Club President:

I'm sure there are more, but I have been rushing this so I invite anyone to comment with more bearded rowers who have come up over the years.


 - Kenny

Fun Times in the One Times (or the joy of sculling part 2)

As a follow up to Christian's post about sculling, I thought I'd share some things that I was thinking about when I was sculling today.  And as a coxswain -- and therefore as someone who watches rowing much more than someone who does it -- an hour plus of actual work in a 1x provides ample food for thought.

The main thing I was thinking about when I was out there was all the progress we need to make in a short amount of time.  Slovenia was featured in the NYT today (see Lake Bled picture top left), and before we know it, we're going to be there.  A couple of weeks ago, most people in the camp were thinking about how to make the boat and get named to the US team.  Now we are the US team, and the goal is not to beat other guys for seats in the boat, but rather to beat Italy, Denmark, Germany, Australia, etc. etc. etc.

And to that end, as I was sculling, I was thinking about practicing what I preach technically.  Dan had some words of wisdom for me, and I can attest that not lifting the back at the front end, for example, is easier said than done.

One other thing I was thinking about is: it's nice to have a coxswain -- I would say that -- but seriously: it's a pain to think about rowing well AND steering.

And finally, I thought about the last time I raced the single.  Today I was out in Dan's tub single.  But last time was not dissimilar: Canadian Henley, men's flyweight single, and I was using the single owned by sometime Syracuse coach and fellow Georgetown heavyweight alum Dave Weiss.  I don't know what weight-class Dave's single was, but suffice it to say, at least 90 pounds more than I weighed at the time... (a picture of me riding high in this boat above right).

 - Jack

The Joys and Pains of Sculling

Though we're training for the lightweight eight event at Worlds, every now and then our coach (the illustrious Daniel J. Roock, who is somewhat like Yoda except younger and taller) breaks us up into smaller boats during our rows.  There are various reasons for this: the variety keeps us fresh, the decreased size and stability force us to be sharper technically, and different boat classes require different approaches to the rowing stroke which can benefit us both back in the eight and in our future endeavors in the sport.  For many of us, small boats rowing involves hopping in a pair (read: two-man sweep boat) with somebody of the opposite side.  For me, as I am gradually and painfully beginning to discover, it usually means one thing: sculling.

For the uninitiated (and for those who enjoy reading me rambling, which is hopefully most of you because it's gonna happen a lot), rowing as a sport has two variations: sweeping, where every rower has only one oar that sticks out to either side of the boat, and sculling, where each person has two oars.  Pairs, fours, and eights are sweep boats; singles, doubles, and quads are sculling.  As a group, each of the eight of us has a different level of sculling experience, with me coming in near the bottom (meaning that I can count the number of times I've done it on my fingers, and the last time was well over a year ago).  This, naturally, means that I'm going to end up doing it the most during small boats sessions.

Teaching sweepers to scull has plenty of benefits.  Being forced to apply power equally through both halves of your body helps keep your muscles balanced out, and since the boats tend to be smaller and less stable a premium is placed on technique, efficiency, and control.  Many rowers find that spending time in the single, the smallest and least stable boat, is the best way to develop the kind of boat feel that lets them move bigger boats the best they can.  Sometimes rowers can even find more success as scullers than sweepers, as with this guy:

For those who don't know, the above image is the first thing that comes up when you google Mahe Drysdale, who went from being 5th in the straight four in the Athens Olympics to winning four world championships in a row in the single.  Unfortunately, as I learned during my first outing in the majestic training single known as the "Grey Beast", me in a single bears a closer to resemblance to this specimen:

For those who don't know, the above image is the first thing that comes up when you google the words "drunken monkey". (That caption is technically inaccurate, since chimpanzees are classified as apes rather than monkeys, but for the purposes of this blog it's sufficient to convey my message.)

I can pinpoint various reasons for this comparative lack of grace and finesse in sculling boats.  Lack of experience is the biggest factor: boat feel is something I feel like I have a decent grasp of in pairs or fours (though obviously something I'm still trying to improve), but trying to find it again in a mostly foreign motion is a whole other enchilada.  On top of that, my body has become so used to rowing starboard over the last few years that one side is actually stronger than the other - a point that really got hammered home earlier today when I discovered that, during continuous rowing, I am physically incapable of turning a sculling boat to starboard. Add all this to the fact that I am in the midst of a long-standing and bitter feud with my shoulders over where they should be going during the rowing stroke, and things can get very ugly very fast.

But, for all the blood, sweat and tears that are shed during these sessions, the silver lining is that I do learn more about rowing every time I go out - things like gripping the handle, feeling connection through the oar, and engaging the various muscle groups in my back during the stroke. (My thanks and gratitude also to Austin, who was a very patient and wise mentor today in bow seat of our double.)  Of course, this pales in comparison to the other silver lining, which is that tomorrow we're back in the eight - with a change in the lineup, no less.  This change promises to bring some sorrow to the boat with the dissolution of our beloved bucket, but also both curiosity - who will stroke? who will bow? how will middle four function without the stabilizing force of our 4-5 bucket rig? - and excitement - maybe this time I'll be out of 3 seat!

But probably not.

Cheers,
Christian

Do Work

I've had the pleasure of calling more than a few boathouses home.  Mathews/Mobjack, Gunnery, Navy, Everett, Pocock, Mercer, OKC and now Dartmouth.  With those facilities come different types of coaching and again, I consider myself lucky to have been influenced by each one of them.  The funniest coach I've had was in Everett and then I followed him to Pocock.  That would be the man, the myth, the legend... Matt Lacey.  Matt has a way of making the worst, most painful work seem fun.  He's gregarious, yet he knows his crews have to work hard to move fast.  One of my favorite Matt Lacey comments is "Do Work!"  It's such a simple phrase.  At the same time, it has a lot of power behind it.  You can think about it as pulling your brains out or focusing so hard technically you go cross eyed.  

Now that we have officially made the team it's time to come back to Hanover and DO WORK.  Up to this point in the camp the 9 of us have made a lot of great technical changes and done a lot of physical work.  However, we have to raise our game.  The 2k at trials was not terrible, but I believe could have been better.  In order to win the World Championships we are going to have to put in the work and just get faster.  You can't avoid the work.  We are all excited to continue working with Dan on the Connecticut and even more excited to get over to Slovenia and test ourselves.

Above is a picture of me doing work in my Pocock unisuit (along with a disgusting mustache that I shaved about 3 hours after this was taken).  

Have a good one and don't forget to donate!  www.firstgiving.com/2011uslm8  

Thanks

- Jimmy

Back To Hanover

Now that we’ve officially qualified as the US Lightweight Eight, we will be heading back up to Dartmouth to continue training until we leave for Slovenia. Our coach has given us the weekend off to recover and travel, and we will reconvene Monday. Thanks to all our generous host families who put us up in their homes while we were staying in Princeton! 

-Nick

Hanover/OKC composite wins in an upset!

Racing with an extra 10 lbs of "insurance weight" in the boat, eliminating any possibility of being DQed, the now-official US LM8+ rowed down the course with some authority this morning.  Despite the increasing headwind squashing our hopes for a quick race, we walked off the water satisfied but still eager for improvement along the entire 2k-o-fun.  We went off the line at a 46 for the high strokes before eventually settling to a 37 (give or take a beat) for the body.  In the final 500m we were able to make two shifts up to a 42 to finish the piece and stop the clock at 5:57.  While this race was the most important race on everyone's mind, in no way have we tapered for it - saving some extra juice for when there are medals to be won.  Now we are really looking forward to some side by side racing over the next few days here in Princeton - and even more so when we head to Slovenia where we won't be able to understand the cox's next to us (how DO you say power 10 in Italian?)  But until then, we will be matching up against the current US LM4- plus the two light 2-'s from trials (which consists of a Kyle and three Phil's) in an 8+ this afternoon and tomorrow before we head back to Hanover.  By the way, now that we've completed trials, we need to start raising some funds to make it to Slovenia!  So if you would like to donate, please go HERE

-Austin

Fours and Eights

The past two workouts have been at Carnegie Lake in straight fours with the US LM4-.

Back to Mercer this afternoon in the 8+.

 - Jack

Confessions From The Bucket, Part I

The exact origin of the bucket is forever lost in time. James Sopko claims that the bucket was around when he first began rowing, so we can trace its existence back to at least the 1980’s. Unfortunately like all things that have become shrouded in myth and lore, the history of the bucket is lost after that. [Editor’s Note: this is completely untrue…Jimmy graduated sometime in the 80’s, but he began rowing shortly after the Vietnam War]

What is a bucket? A bucket is when two rowers from the same side row in consecutive order. Normally a boat will order port, starboard, port, etc. but when there is a bucket, two ports or two starboards sit one after the other.

Life in a bucket is difficult. The first thing that stands out from a boat with a bucket is the bucket. Rowers in a bucket are frequently ostracized from the rest of the boat. They often find themselves sitting alone during meal times, and are almost always picked last for spontaneous games of wall ball. Bucket rowers are frequently subjected to intense ridicule (common insults are ‘hey your mom is so bad at rowing that she’s always in a bucket…’) And you never get a seconds respite, even when your pair is setting up the boat you have to awkwardly move back and forth.

This aggression towards bucket rowers is probably a result of the mystery of the bucket. Why do coaches put rowers in buckets? No one will ever truly know. Some say it is because of their technical prowess, others say it’s their seemingly limitless strength. One thing for sure is that there is a strong positive correlation to how handsome the rowers in the bucket are.

Yup, life sure is different in a bucket. And I would know- the upcoming trials race will mark my fourth year of bucket rowing. Like everything, in order to understand life in the bucket now, we must first look back into the past.

The following picture is me rowing in 2005, senior year of high school. This is an example of the unusual and enigmatic 7, 6 bucket. The biggest downside of the 7,6 bucket is that the lead rower will frequently become distracted. It takes only one pretty bird to divert his attention. 

The next picture is me rowing in 2006, sophomore year of college. This is an example of the classic 5,4 bucket (the bucket pattern in the current eight.) Notice that when the bucket moves back into the middle of the boat, it is back rower that becomes easily distracted. 

I had to wait another four years before I went back into the bucket. This last picture was me rowing in 2010. It exhibits the 2,3 bucket, something that is very common in fours (at least that’s what my coach told me when I was feeling self conscious and the other rowers were making fun of me.) 

Thanks for reading my short history of the bucket. Stay tuned for Part II of Confessions From The Bucket!

-Nick

Step 1

First day of US Senior Worlds Trials in Mercer.

Even as the only lightweight eight in the event, we need to stay hungry -- after all it is Shark Week.

First of all, we have to guard against defeat: making sure our boat is on weight, our guys are on weight and, generally speaking, there are no screw-ups.

We hit the nail on the head this morning, and executed our plan.  We raced today full pressure 10 beats below race pace.  It was a good piece, and we kept it LOUD.  5:55.86.

Now to Lake Carnegie for the afternoon to do some work in fours with the US light 4-.

- Jack