SUPER RACER

I was called Super Racer the other day. It caught me completely by surprise. My results weren’t exactly stellar for my first year of sculling racing. But then it was explained that the term referred to the number of regattas I attended. I only missed a few that I could drive to, for a total of 13 (3 of which I flew to). If you add up the number of actual race starts (which happily equals the number of finishes) the number goes up to 42 race starts for 39 events (made a couple of finals).  Note, these are not all in the single scull (10 race starts in the single).  I had a lot of teammates from a total of 11 different clubs (10 from the USA, one from Argentina).

But back to the “not so stellar” results. This is if I were to measure my success in terms of the number of medals (or amount of new bling on my wall; 8 total). I know people who brought home from one regatta more medals than I brought home all year. My success this year is measured is intangible terms. I have heard it said (not by many) that racing a lot turns a race into a boat parade (kind of like your local fun run). I beg to differ. My coach told me in January that she wanted me to race as many 1000m races this year as I could. I complied. Why is it good to race as much as you can? This is what I learned/experienced:

I have approached several different types of starting arrangements, and started races in varying weather conditions.  I have launched from docks and beaches.  I have raced in my boat and borrowed/rented boats and oars.  I have studied a variety of warm-up traffic patterns. So, for example, when I was en route to Masters Worlds and Tiffany Knapp (race official extraordinaire) was talking to me about the starts, launching, warm up area, etc., I could refer to similar conditions or arrangements I had experienced in other regattas.  This took the extreme panic mode out of the equation.  Note, that I had to pass through the extreme panic mode several times before this could happen.  

Here is a list of experiences that I can now rely on and take forward into 2019 and beyond.  This list is long.  I am thankful Maggie (Margaret Christopher) made me do all these races (though she didn’t really have to twist my arm). I was plenty scared for several regattas, but as I began to work through them, I became comfortable, and established a routine.  My racing itself wasn’t great, but I’m thankful that I’ve worked the kinks out of the logistics so I can now focus on racing better, and sharing some of my experiences with others stepping forward uncomfortably to do the same.  

Starts:

• Floating starts with headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds (both sides): learned how to hold position
• Stakeboats with crosswinds both sides: learned how to keep chopping and not pull the poor boat holder off his/her perch; then how to execute a start before getting blown into the other lane (not pretty, need to work on that)
• Start approaches from behind the line, and in front of the line: learned how to maneuver between the boats and back or row into the holder without crashing into various pieces of equipment
• Cut off at start approach by another racer (I beat her)
• Long warm up areas, short ones: how far I can go before it’s time to just wait

Weather

• Calm water: learned to appreciate it
• Rough water: learned how to keep my head, and hold my line
• Cold: learned what to wear, and what to stow
• Rainy: ditto what to wear, and how long to keep rain gear on
• Warm: learned to appreciate this too
• Very hot and humid: ugh.  Learned how to carry water; relax and not cramp; minimize warmup

Logistics

• Where to put the oars so they can be retrieved easily en route to launching
• How to launch – when to get ready to have your boat checked before launching, beach starts, busy docks, high docks, rough water
• What to eat before and after
• How to warm up: which places have the best shady quiet paths for running, and when it’s just too hot to do anything till you’re on the water
• How to stay warm, or keep cool
• How to weigh in
• How to get registration information
• How to register – I did a lot of that
• How to get the oars and boat you rented; what are the measurements you need for the oars; how much time to leave to acquire said equipment in time to launch and not be too early

Preparation

• What to bring for me and my boat (and other boats and people)
• What to do the day before, and after
• How to rest after day one and two (and three) to be ready to race again the next day
• How to mentally relax in between races (if there is time); I learned how to meditate at Nationals (thank you Maggie!)
• How to jump from race to race when there isn’t time to take a break
• How to warm up on the water; how hard to go, or not to go and be warm yet not worn out – and this varied based on weather and number of races
• How to stop from cramping at every start (this took several races)

Coordination

• How to arrange races with people from other clubs
• Melding with other people at a race whom you have just met (like: what’s our line up? Great, let’s race!)
• What are race commands in Spanish?  (learned that 5 minutes before our start – thank you Claudia!)
• Use the warm-up period to practice race starts with someone you just met the night before (at least 4 of those)
• The extreme importance of friends willing to help you out. A huge thank you to Mare Chapman, and Melissa Maxwell for always being there to help.

The race itself:

• How to do a start at an actual race. Yes, this is different from practice
• How to not just give up after hitting several lane markers
• If you finish in the other lane and haven’t hit anyone, that’s ok
• How to keep my head and power up after a crappy start and have a better second half
• The white flag in the officials boat behind you just means the race started ok. They aren’t telling you to stop (no I didn’t stop)
• It’s really sweet NOT to be right on top of the officials boat following the race

In case you are curious, here is the medal count:

Green Lake Spring Regatta: 

2^ndin W2x (with Cate Lockhart, Green Lake Crew)

3^rdin Mixed 8+ (with PRC Mixed Masters Team)

Lake Stevens Spring Sprints:

2^ndin WLWD1x

Northwest Regional Championships:

3^rdin WLWD2x (with Melissa Maxwell, PRC)

Masters National Championships:

3^rdin WLWD1x

Row for the Cure:

1^stin Mixed 8+ (with Ancient Mariners, PRC)

Green Lake Frostbite:

1^stin W2x (with Cate Lockhart, Green Lake Crew)

3^rdin Mx2x (with Ted Leslie, PRC)

Boating data (# of race starts per boat type):

1x (10)

2x (14)

4x (4)

4+ (6)

8+ (8)

2018 is wrap.  I consider it a massive success and it was a blast.  If you want to know what’s on tap for 2019, no spoilers here, so you’ll have to “watch the movie.” Or better yet, subscribe to the blog and read it here!