Finals Part Two

I think I didn't give enough credit to the smaller boats from this weekend so here we go.

-V4+: Myself, Matt OUTLAW, Chase ROWE, Andy DAVIS, and Ben HAYES

We have been rowing this same line up more than once, and even if practice hasn't been quality to my eyes, on race day it came all together. Racing the four is always a little tougher because it is after the 8, but with a strong race plan and call by Ben, and vicious but relaxed mindset by the rowers, we fought Loyola for the first 750m until Marist took up the challenge. The entire race was stroke for stroke, they attacked and we responded. When 500m to go was in my line of vision, as a boat we committed and increased the gap.





-JV4+: Preston WEINARD, Jared LOW, Chris OTTIE, Jesse BRANTMAN, and Tom RICHARDS

I wasn't able to see much, but when they crossed the 500m to go line, they had such a gaping advantage I wasn't worried at all. The length from stroke to bow was solid, and the power was definitely there with the assistance of a relaxed recovery. Open water finish was their headline.

-Frosh4+: Jeremy SOBIECH, Jacob STRAUSS, Tim EASTERLING, Matt THOMAS, and David "Djabar" WAUGH

I'm always amazed by this little group of guys because they all have somewhat of a different background but they make that disappear when they perform together. A few weeks ago, their skeg broke and weren't able to win FIRA's,  but redemption was what they were looking for this weekend. And holy crap they showed their speed; right off the line they led and kept a strong rhythm to win by so much open water t seems stupid to race. From what I heard, Waugh kept them on the race plan to gain more and more speed. Good job boys!

-V2-: Troy TROUPE and Jesse BRANTMAN

What a cool final race to watch on the men's side. With a will to finish the season right, both of them fought through the whole race for second place and were just nipped on the sprint. They made sure they brought home as many points as possible as they could, and they did. Good job on the third place!

Finals

Finals week is never a fun moment because we, athletes, usually scramble to try to make that 89.85 an A before it's too late. Stress is at its max and rowing is still fully present, but this year it made its mark. The MAAC conference championships were this last Saturday, which made us travel on Friday; this wasn't as fun as it sounds.

Mercer lake hosted us well with cold and windy conditions for the month of April. The V8 went out first and won by a bit of open water to take away what Marist was known as "V8 of the Year" the night before. The 2V8 also won with ease. The Frosh 8 finished 2nd after a strong comeback from a few technical problems half way through the race. We then proceeded to sweep the 4's all with open water.
Having the most points all regatta, we thought we would be conference champions but of course a few technicalities were overlooked and we proceeded to finish second. Yes we are all a little bitter but we know that performance was what mattered and we did just that.
With a long Sunday full of traveling and making it back into my bad at 1:30 a.m., we started a brand new week with a few more exams. The rest of the week will be practiced at JU until we ride up to New Jersey for a few training days as Dad Vails approaches.
This year is looking extremely close and fast. With new results coming out from this weekend such as Drexel beating Temple, Michigan making a late comeback over Grand Valley, and FIT racing big sprint schools, the regatta seems to be loaded with speed.

Starting to sweat!

SIRA Aftermath And On

This was a rough weekend mentally and physically. It's the end of the academic year and people tend to get tense when around each other for too long. We entered the regatta with a great mindset: go big! So for our heat against Grand Valley and Georgia Tech we went all out, even if the top 3 advanced, all of us had something to prove. In our case, we didn't very smart and finished third, but that put us in the nicest semi final. After a difficult and tedious heat, we attacked the semi tired. Now all the big dogs were lined up, and we only performed to an extent, which was deceiving and put us in the B final. With a night's rest and cold winds that don't belong in April, we raced to bring our reputation up to the surface after it drowned the previous day. No questions asked, we did, not the best way but we did, and with one of the nastiest sprints all year, we nipped the two crews in front of us to finish 2nd.B Final Start.All and all the regatta showed us what we need to work before we row up to the start at Dad Vails.


Finals week did start this year, but like always, we are missing some of the action. On Friday morning we are going to New Jersey to attend our first MAAC conference championship. With a bit of a chip on our shoulder, we will be getting off the plane ready to show our true speed. This isn't the best time of the year to race but it shows our strength. With some will power from every rower -guys and girls- we will take home to title.

Chase ROWE...hi.

 Look at this kid's face➚

The Next Few Weeks

You could say our season has finally started. Today, we concluded the FIRA Championship regatta with another consecutive win. Personally, this was a good test, for my boats and all my teammates. Lately, things had been feeling blunt and only racing had the ability to fix it.

The weekend started with the varsity 8+ final which finished 4 second in front of Rollins and 6 seconds ahead of Georgia Tech. Little reminder that the morning began with 15-20 mph head/cross winds creating a rough course. Even though those conditions aren't likable, we actually train in them somewhat often allowing us to feel more comfortable. With this initial win, the JV8+ swung ahead of their field and won easily. Next up was the Frosh 8+ and lets just say that the event always comes with some pressure. Reason is, we've won it 7 years in a row, but the freshmen didn't let us down, and won by a length as they battled a Rollins high-rate-racing crew. With a nice sweep on the 8's field, we moved on to the fours.

The JV4+ went out first in the grueling weather. As they passed us, they were the cleanest group out there leading with confidence. Next was the Frosh 4+, who had won their heat and the overall times by 20 seconds. Luck was not on their side today as their skeg broke. It was obvious that they would have won with total ease, but they had to let this one unfold without them. And the final event was the varsity 4+. I'm not sure if this race had the worst conditions of the day, but no matter what it was not enjoyable water. On this Sarasota course, there are now 8 racing lanes allowing more boats in a final, for example the V4. The main competitors that had me worried were Rollins, UF, and of course Georgia Tech. To add to the suspense, the start was insane because of the winds. From what I remember though, we had a pretty clean start and stuck most of our boat out front to pass the 500m mark first. After that, we settled out with strong strokes but with a lot of energy used keeping the wind and wake from making us crash to port. Since it was the final race, we tried to open the field as much as possible towards the end, and won by 6 seconds over GT. Overall, we won almost every event we entered and supplied our legacy with one more year.

This is a good building block for next weekend's race: SIRA. This is a huge preview for the end of the year to actually see everyone's speed. From past results, a lot of team are fast but close.

The next few weeks are going to be difficult as we travel every weekend including during finals. Exams will be rescheduled but we will work through it. We will be making our first appearance at the MAAC conference race and we look forward to it. After that, it's all or nothing at Dad Vails. 

Spring Break 2012 Training Camp

Let's just say I'm exhausted.

This week has probably been the most demanding training week I've ever experienced, not because it was especially hard but because of the amount of meters we laid down as a group to get faster and fix our problems. It started with a long row (40km approx. to Bolles) on a surprisingly flat St. Johns river that almost cost us lunch time. From then on, we worked everyday, long and short, to become faster than the previous weekends had shown. Even though some of us have lived in Florida for a while, the sun was brutal every day and there was no escaping the feeling of energy getting sucked out of you. But we made it.

This week was a lot harder than last year. All of our energy and focus was all poured into rowing and no other distractions, which showed when people were fighting for seats. I hate those stupid regatta shirts that say "Eat, Sleep, Row" but that's all I did with the occasional trip to Wally World. We still had fun though since we had the Pair Championship Race on Friday afternoon. The way we choose the pairs is by the last ergo times. The best pick first and so on. I picked Brian COSMILLO because we had rowed the boat earlier in the year. Our main goal was to beat Bernadas VINGILIS and we did it, then we only fell a length short in the semi final to not move on. The winners were The Sarasota Sissies - Chase ROWE and Jacob STRAUSS. Good job ladies.

And this morning, with the little bit of energy left in us, we raced 2x2k gold medal standard time trial with different conditions. They were good pieces and shows that work has been done. It was a good finish to the week and now we rest until Monday.

Total meters: 180,000

         Look at Bernard's tiny infant head ➘

Exciting

Things are getting exciting everywhere. First of all, spring racing has really starting all over the place, the XCHANGING Boat Race is only 3 weeks away, and the Olympic Games are close to the 100 days countdown.

For us, things have just started. Last weekend we faced Temple on Stetson University's lake with not-so-great conditions. Yes, we lost and not by a seat, but it was perfect timing for a wake-up call. I try not to let excuses succumb when I explain wins or loses and I won't here. Temple came off their spring break and we are still a week away. Any collegiate rower will tell you that there is A LOT of speed acquired of the 7 tough days of spring break training. So with a reminded loss, hard work is being put down from the entire team while preparing to face Columbia this upcoming weekend in Melbourne. Let's see if we can put down our real speed before entering Spring Break Training Camp 2012.

Keeping it in the university racing theme, the Boat Race is coming up with great speed. Having always been an Oxford dark blue fan, I cannot wait to see the speed coming out of each boat since this is also an Olympic year. Back at home, I would probably have some friends over and watch the almost 20 minute long row, but I don't believe it will possible this year. I'll try to find it somehow.

Speaking of an Olympic year, the London 2012 Games are only 135 days away from opening. It's probably the most exciting time for me because I get super stoked about all the different sports. The level of competition this year is unbelievably high with the GB team and the NZ team sending a huge fleet of podium worthy boats. It's now time to see if the U.S. men can get redemption in the next coming months for a chance at the medals.

No matter what, this year is going to be amazing. Underdog or not, we are coming strong!

It's about time!

Like I said in the last post, I would write again when a 2k, a good practice or race came up; well all three have.

 It has been a tough last month for me since winter training is over and spring is knocking on the door. Reason is, we have lots of potential but, me especially, have not lived up to our expectations. After failing at my first 2k on the ergo of the year, I was pissed needless to say, not because I was way off, but more in the way that I let my team down as a whole while they all advanced to the next level. With a few bumps in the road like getting sick, and my back hurting, I worked hard and got back on it. This led to a new PR of 6:35; better but I'm not settling for that this year.

On the water, it's been a different story. I feel like I have been progressing technically trying to be long for the giants in the back. Trying to change the way I row has been definitely a small struggle. but I am open to the idea because all I want to do is win really. The water hasn't been cooperating that much but when it is flat, every boat has taken advantage of it.

This weekend, in our first race of the year, we will be facing Temple in Deland, FL as they finish up their spring break training. Yes it is only a dual meet but there is way more to it. Lets time travel back to Dad Vails last year; we knocked them out of the Grand Final when it mattered the most, and like any excited person, I sort of screamed it at their faces and let me tell you, they were not happy... Now that it is a new year, they have set themselves up to be as badass as possible by performing very well over the their entire fall and announced that their pod of seniors will lead the entire team to some good performances. So to start things right, they want to race us. And the things is, everyone is waiting to see the results. Personally, I hate not having an underdog mindset, so for me it's like last year all over again: get ahead, stay ahead. The work has been persistent in the boat and I don't see why we can't work them harder.

In any case, spring is announcing itself to be VERY entertaining!

Can't wait!