Southwest Regionals 2011

A crowded Lake Merritt for SW Regionals

Sunday:  All those practices of 3x1000m race pieces or 8x500m (here and here and here) and of high rates, manic starts, balls-to-the-wall sprint came to a head this Sunday at Southwest Regionals at our own Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.

There were a total of 371 entries in the regatta, which is quite a size-able number.  After all, Lake Merritt is not a large body of water, and the regatta pretty much dominated the park (apologies to any runners, non-rowers, angry parents trying to take their screaming three year old to Fairyland).  Lake Merritt Rowing Club was out in full force, running the regatta as well as racing on the water.  LMRC had a total of 21 entries in addition to 4 entries from the San Francisco Bay Blades.  Results to the regatta can be found at RegattaCentral.

Womens 4x at the start line; LMRC in middle lane

The LMRC Women's team competed in a variety of boats from a pair to fours and eights.  In fact, I think that everyone on the women's team who competed walked away yesterday with at least one metal!  In masters rowing, it is always hard to tell exactly how "good" the competition is.  Sometimes, your race might only have two or three boats or you might have to race in a heat to make it into the final.  Still, it is exciting to have everyone on our team earn at least one metal!  It is a testament of how far we have come.

As for myself, I had two events--Womens 1x (AA age group) and Mixed 2x (B-C age group).  Since both events were in the afternoon, I spent the morning holding boats at the start line.  Quite an interesting job!  You wear a bib, marking your lane number--I was Lane 5.  Each lane had a stake boat in which you sit and hold your lane's race boat as the boat gets aligned.  When the announcer says, "GO!", you let go and the boat is on its way.

Womens 4+ with bow-loaded boats
where the coxswain is placed in the bow of the boat

You get to see how the different rowers and coxswains handle the stress at the start.  Some rowers are stoic and hardly acknowledge you.  Other rowers are clearly nervous, fidgeting in their boat and throwing you a tight smile.  And yet, there are other rowers who come to the line, ready to strike up a conversation with you.  Now, coxswains are even more interesting to watch.  Some coxswains know what the hell they are doing--they get the boat to the line on time, have no problem backing to the stake boat, and get their point down the course.  Others have a little more trouble--they get confused as they try to maneuver towards the stake boat and start to panic or get really bossy or annoyed.  Also, to be clear, boats have to be at the start line and in their lanes two minutes BEFORE your race time.  If your boat arrives after the two minute warning, the officials will probably wait for you, but will issue you a warning.

While some rowers raced all morning and were just about to tap the beer keg, I was getting ready to launch for the Womens 1x.  In my head, I was awfully nervous, probably even more than at Gold Rush.  First, the water had been somewhat bumpy all day with a cross-tailwind.  The single and the pair are the two most sensitive boats to rough water.  Second, this was my first race of the day while most of the competition already had one or two race before.  Most people would find this to be advantageous.  But when the distance is only 1,000 meters, it is crucial to feel comfortable racing and to be able to lock into your race rate and speed quickly, making every stroke as efficient as possible.  There is very little room if you catch a crab, have a bad start, or have a bad row.

I had thought about adding another race as a "warm-up" before the singles race to help me get comfortable mentally, but did not.  At some point somewhere, I might have a really important race, and there will not be a chance for a "warm-up" or "throw-away" race.  Like at San Diego Crew Classic this year, we had no heats, just a straight final.  You have one shot.  Can you deliver on race day, in the moment you need it the most?  Can you keep your head on straight?  Can you remember to sit up and get that extra run every stroke down the course?  Can you handle the pressure if you find yourself behind?  Can you handle the pressure when you are ahead, but the field is about to catch you?

I had a decent warm-up and practiced several starts.  During the warm-up, I did something that I usually do not do--I talked to the other singles out on the water.  In fact, I even ran into (figuratively) a old friend from my novice days when I rowed during the summer whom I have not seen in about five years.  She was racing in the singles race after mine.  At one point in the warm-up, we had four singles lined up and we practiced a start together.

Our race was delayed by five minutes as one of the doubles in the race had mechanical problems.  Occasionally, a problem might arise with the boat that cannot be fixed on the water.  If that happens and an official is notified, he or she may allow the defective boat to return to the docks and fix the problem, and the race will be delayed.

When we finally got lined up in our lanes, my boat holder was actually a friend of mine who rowed a summer at Lake Merritt.  With all the boats present, the official started our race ahead of our scheduled race time.

We were off!  I do not remember my start particularly well, but it must have been decent enough or else I would have actually remembered.  I did 10 strokes high and settled to a...36!  For reference, I have never rowed 1,000m in a single at a 36spm before.  My usual race rate was about a 31spm.  I relaxed a bit and thought about swing, allowing the rate to come down to a 33-34spm.  In the first 100m, I did not look out of the boat, but I could feel Lane 3 (River City Rowing Club) next to me.  By 300m, I could feel her fall a little behind and looked to find myself slightly up on the rest of the field.  By 500m, I was ahead and I was pushing for time.  The water got rougher in the last 250m.  With the exception of a few rough strokes coming out of bow, I made out alright.

Race 32 AA: Womens Masters 1x (AA-A) Final 1 @ 02:08 PM

1.  Lake Meritt  (A. Cheng) 04:02.65
2.  Berkeley   (R. Haurwitz) 04:15.09
3.  River City A  (K. Rindell) 04:17.05
4.  Long Beach A  (L. Pomatto) 04:18.03 

Apparently, during the race, the commentator mentioned my name several times and commented on my boat, which was a wooden boat, borrowed from another LMRC member.  How embarrassing!

The mixed double was the last event of the day.  Our particular final (B-C age group) had three LMRC boats (of six boats total) and with the varying age handicaps, made it one of the most highly anticipated and "fun" LMRC races.  My mixed doubles (Mx2x) partner and I had about 13 seconds to make up on the oldest boat in the race.  My fault for not being older!

With a tailwind and a slight cross wind to starboard, we had a clean start (definitely better than last year), five strokes high, and settled.  In the first 250m, we pushed slightly ahead of the field.  I called to swing and relax. At 500m, I called for more because I knew we needed as much time as we could get for the age handicap.  We had to adjust our point twice.  At one point, I meant to say, "Point", but it came out sounding like "Port", which was not the side we needed to power up, and I quickly corrected by saying, "Starboard pressure."  


In the last 500m, we had a little trouble getting hands out quickly and together.  I am sure it was not our prettiest row.  When it is a race and especially when the water is rough, who cares how good you look?  Just get your blade in and drive!  You still have to hold onto your balance and be sure not to lunge at the catch.  But rough water makes it difficult to feel boat run.  Instead of worrying about it, be UNFAZED.  There could be waves crashing over your boat, drenching you to the bone, but you are going to keep rowing totally UNFAZED.

In the end, we did overcome the age handicap.  A good way to end a long day!  It's days like this that we remember why we row.

Race 53 B-D: Mixed Masters 2x (A-J) Flight 2 @ 05:08 PM  (times handicap adjusted)
1.  Lake Meritt B  (G. Lewis) 03:39.20
2.  Lake Meritt C  (B. Birch) 03:48.17
3.  Long Beach B  (R. Glidden) 03:58.93
4.  Lake Meritt A  (D. Kaisel) 04:01.73
5.  Bair Island  (B. Farmer) 04:08.28
6.  Tempe Town Lake B  (K. Axx) 04:38.23

Thank you to all of the LMRC regatta committee and volunteers who helped put on SW Regionals.  My three hours of boat holding was minuscule compared to the hours poured into setting up the event, lane lines, docks, launches, etc.