Lessons Learned

As we prepare for the 2007 IRA, one can't help but think about last year's dam opening that occurred during the championship races. Despite the fact that Rowing News and row2k never admitted that they published false information about the opening, there was one organization that acknowledged the problem and seems resolved to do their best to avoid a repeat - the ECAC, the regatta sponsor. While I still think it odd (and somewhat unethical) that the rowing press never admitted their mistakes in the reporting of the situation (Oh the shame, scooped by an anonymous blogger!), the ECAC had nothing to do with that and admitted the problem from the beginning. I'm pretty sure everyone will know when that dam is open and when it is closed this year.

About a month ago a story appeared in South Jersey's Courier-Post that gave some perspective to what the local authorities wrestle with when deciding when to open the Cooper River dam. This story dealt with local residents' concerns that the dam was kept open for the Knecht Cup, resulting in unnecessary flooding. This situation seems to be the opposite of last year's IRA when the dam was opened to the detriment of the regatta. (Recall that the issue last year, of course, was not that houses should be flooded for the regatta, it was communicating the state of the dam.) This Knecht Cup story leaves unanswered the question of why the dam wasn't opened until Sunday when the regatta ended Saturday afternoon, but it certainly gives you a good idea of the competing interests that must be balanced by the county. Take a look at some of the comments to this story to see just how sensitive an issue rowing on the Cooper is. Remember this when you're there in two weeks and have the urge to park in a no-parking zone or leave your Power Bar wrapper on the ground.

We're all praying for good weather for this year's IRA, but as an outdoor sport contested on nature's racecourses, problems will occur. This year, though, I feel pretty confident that they won't be of the man-made variety.

IRA Dam Opening: The Final Word

As I reported earlier, the Camden County Parks Director informed me that the Cooper River Parkway Dam was, in fact, open during the afternoon of June 3rd - the most important afternoon in college rowing. During the championship races that afternoon, including the women's lightweight eight, the dam opening created seriously unfair conditions for lane 1 and most likely lane 2 as well. Since lanes one and two were given to those qualifiers with the fastest times, the championship finals were seriously flawed. I gave this information to the ECAC which, to its credit, conducted its own investigation. The ECAC has determined that THE COOPER RIVER DAM WAS OPEN that afternoon.

It is difficult to imagine a more serious error in rowing than racing when there are drastically different conditions for different lanes. This was made all the worse by the fact that the affected races determined the national championship for the men's heavy eight, the men's light eight, and the women's light eight.

This is no small matter. While no one can say what the outcome would have been of fair races, we do know that fabulous crews had their hopes dashed against the shoals of miscommunication. While pride and lasting memories hung in the balance, so too did alumni donations and coaches' jobs. Wouldn't it have been great to see Princeton v Cal from lanes 5 and 6? What would a resurgent Princeton women's light eight have done from lane 5? What would a highly touted Navy men's light eight have done from lane 6? What's done is done, but it was done unfairly and it should not be allowed to happen again.

Gothard Lane, Director of Championships for the ECAC, did the research for the regatta committee. Gothard explained to me that "Without notifying us, the dam was opened on Saturday. From what we understand, the water got so high that they had no choice but to open the dam. If they had not released the water when they did then some of the local neighborhoods might have experienced some flooding later on that day during high tide." It seems then, that this was a tragic case of miscommunication. It's more difficult to understand, however, how spectators and coaches alike knew of the dam opening but the regatta committee did not. As Gothard goes on to say, "If we had been notified by the dam operator, then we could have gathered the coaches together to decide about what to do with regard to the schedule." If I were a coach, I would want to know what the regatta committee's plan is to ensure that this does not happen again. I would expect a letter acknowledging the problem and the plan.

Here is a short chronology of how this all came to light:

- As the women's light eight grand final is crossing the line on June 3rd, spectators mention to Fight in the Dog that the dam has been opened

- FITD analyzes race results after the rumored dam opening and finds obvious abnormalities

- row2k publishes a post-race report stating that the dam was closed all afternoon and was incapable of being opened because of the force of the current

- FITD reads the row2k report but decides that the facts still suggest a serious problem and publishes a post-race report noting the rumored dam opening and its affect on the races

- After taking some criticism from readers for publishing the rumored opening, FITD decides to research the issue and is told by the Camden County Parks Director that the dam was open from 1pm until 3:30pm.

- FITD informs the ECAC of the dam opening; the ECAC launches its own investigation

- The ECAC confirms that the dam was open during the IRA championship races

Sometimes, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

[Update: The most recent issue of Rowing News repeats the false story about the dam not being opened and unable to be opened for the championship races. No doubt the truth came out after they went to press. It's particularly unfortunate that they led the IRA article with the false story. The article also says that the Cornell light men were in lane one while they were actually in lane two and Navy (sixth place) was in lane one.]

What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?

I was feeling bad after being taken to task by a few readers for writing so much about the lane problems at the IRA final (I should have written it in a separate post) and I decided it would only be fair to see if I could get more information.

After some online research I determined that the dam in question was the Cooper River Parkway Dam at Kaighn Avenue. I then made a few phone calls and sent a few emails before I determined that Camden County Parks controls the dam. Finally, I sent an email to Caren Fishman, the Director of Parks for Camden County and asked for the Cooper River Parkway Dam opening times for June 2nd and June 3rd. This morning I received the following response:

6/2/06 12:45 - 2:45 p.m. dam opened
6/3/06 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. dam opened

The June 2nd opening coincides with the halt in racing on that day - the last race ran at 12:36 and the next race ran at 3:15 - so it provides confidence that this is the correct dam.

If you recall, the row2k June 3rd post-race report said

the water folks did not open the dam during racing - in fact, they were not able to, as there was too much water for them to be able to do so, so they had to let water spill over the top of the dam naturally.

We have a serious discrepancy. The dam was open during the final races of the day Saturday. I'm not sure who "the water folks" are, but they didn't seem to know when the dam was open and when it was closed.

There was a 2 hour dam opening Friday, racing was halted, and when it resumed the lane seedings were switched. Saturday there was a 2.5 hour dam opening, racing continued during the opening and lane seedings were not switched. A mistake was made on one of these days and judging by the Saturday results, it was that day. The current effect first showed up on Saturday in the men's heavyweight V8 final, which was raced at about 2:15 (it was delayed). Races just prior to that, ending at 1:45, did not show the effect. The river current had to go from near zero to fast enough to affect racing and, although I don't know how long that would take, 45 minutes seems within reason.

So here we are. The rumors seem to be true and it looks like we had a serious problem with the fairness of the National Championship races. This is not a function of rowing being an outdoor sport. This condition was controlled for on Friday and it should have been controlled for on Saturday. Competing championship regattas (e.g. ECAC) have been organized as a result of perceived unfair conditions such as this. Serious questions need to be asked of the IRA Regatta committee. We are now left to wonder how much of a disadvantage lane one, and probably lane two, had in the men's heavy V8 grand, the women's light V8 petite and grand, and the men's light V8 petite and grand.

The worst part of all of this? It gives the Pac 10 ammunition on their quest for a men's heavyweight NCAA championship.

[Update: The ECAC is checking into this; see comments.]

Wisconsin - Again!

The University of Wisconsin came out of the reps to win its third consecutive National Championship today. Facing the most talented field in the history of women's lightweight rowing, Wisconsin won the gold by 4 seconds over second place Georgetown and 8 seconds over third place Radcliffe. Princeton, UCF, and Bucknell rounded out the field.


Wisconsin had the race pretty well in hand after 500 meters, although it had to fend off Radcliffe most of the way until Georgetown began storming back on the field at the 1000 meter mark. Georgetown, who was rowing in fourth place for the first half of the race, seemed to catch a second wind at the halfway mark and rowed through both Princeton and Radcliffe to take the silver. Wisconsin looked cool and in control, rowing long in the wind, and powered their way down the course to start dynasty talk in Madison.


In the petite, MIT pulled out a win to signal that they're not content to rest on their history any longer. Dayton came in second, just ahead of URI. Lehigh, Ohio State, and Stanford rounded out the field.

A few years ago, observers would criticize this event as not competitive. Last year the spread between first and sixth was 35 seconds, and the spread between first and tenth was 58 seconds. Two years ago the same spreads were 37 and 64 seconds (1st and 12th). This year the spreads were 15 and 37 seconds. Two months ago, not many outside of the category would have thought that the women's lightweight eight final would be this competitive. Women's lightweight rowing has come into its own this year and I don't think it will ever look back.

A discussion of this race would be improper if it did not mention the elephant in the room - lane assignments. This was a major topic of discussion in the boatyard and among coaches (losing, that is). The first inkling of a problem came when the starting line announcer commented on a strong crosswind blowing from lane one to six. This means lane six is favored. The wind was the least of the problem, however. Yesterday afternoon, the river was drained resulting in a several hour delay. When racing resumed, lane assignments were reversed, with those crews earning a higher seed in earlier racing assigned lane six. This afternoon the river was rumored to have been drained again, beginning around 1pm or 1:30pm. When the river is drained, lane one has a decided disadvantage because it has to row against the heart of the current. This disadvantage eases up as you move to lane 6. This meant that those crews earning the best seed for the final, Princeton and Radcliffe, would be at the greatest disadvantage. The lanes were not switched today.

This kind of talk is heard at regattas all over the country, and is easily dismissed as sour grapes. On row2k Ed Hewitt said that the river was not drained and that the water naturally spilled over the top of the dam. While denying a heavy drainage current, this statement actually confirms the existence of a current. Watching the races that were run after 1:45 (giving the alleged drainage a bit of time to develop a current), there certainly appeared to be a problem with lane one. Despite the row2k report, I heard observers say they could see current in lane one, particularly near the start, and a rower or two who claim to have actually seen the gates open. Readers of FITD know I like to look at statistics, and this situation seems to lend itself to that kind of analysis.

I reviewed all the finals run today except those in which the lanes weren't set until after races today (unfortunately I didn't note those lane assignments) and one race with an incomplete result (MO4+ grand). Not all had six boats. In these races (25 in all) prior to the MV8 grand (at 2:15), the average finish of lane one was 2.4, while the average finish of lane six was 4.2. Further, 39% of the time lane one finished first, and 68% of the time lane one was in the top three. Lane one was last just once. In the four races for which I know the lane assignments after 1:45pm, lane one was last, last, fourth (Princeton), and last. Lane six was 4th, 4th, and 2nd (Georgetown).

Now let's look at specifics. In the men's heavy V8, Yale finished last from lane one. In its heat Yale finished second, 1 second behind Princeton, and won its semi, beating eventual winner Cal. Favorite Princeton rowed in lane two and lost to Cal in lane four. In the WLV8 petite, Stanford, who never had a time slower than any of the boats in the petite, finished last from lane one. In the MVL8 Navy was in lane one. Navy, seeded second going into the regatta, won its heat with a faster time than eventual winner Cornell. Navy finished last in the grand from lane one.

I find this to be pretty damning evidence. In our case, it turns out that the best thing that could have happened to Wisconsin was to go to the reps. The absolute worst thing that could have happened to Radcliffe and Princeton was to win the heats. I'm particularly sorry to see this happen to Princeton (lane one) because yesterday they were a crew risen from the dead, and there is no better story line in athletics than redemption. Radcliffe (lane two) was on course to row possibly its best race ever. I don't think the data suggest an advantage to the outside lanes, but it clearly shows a disadvantage to lane one. Even if true, Ed's report that the water was only spilling over the top of the dam is confirmation of a current and evidence that the lanes should have been switched. They switched lanes yesterday and they should have done so today. Without the switch the five most important races of the day were suspect. Quite honestly, I'm upset that any of us has to spend time talking about this. A few things seem to be obvious - there was a current (from the row2k report) which disadvantaged lane one, there was a cross wind (from the race announcer's report) which disadvantaged lane one, and the lanes should have been switched (from the regatta committee's actions on Friday). Who knows if it would have changed the outcome, but we wouldn't be here now talking about it.

So, that's the conspiracy theory, believe it if you will. Like all good conspiracy theories, the "authorities" deny it but the evidence "proves" it. Despite the lane problems, we all participate in an outdoor sport in which factors beyond our control come into play. We have to believe that for every day conditions go against us, there is a day when they are with us. As Darrell Royal once said, "Breaks balance out. The sun don't shine on the same ol'dog's rear end every day."

Congratulations to Wisconsin, they took the long road to the championship and did the Midwest proud. With all of the East Coast vs. West Coast talk it's great to see the Badgers stand up for the Heartland to remind everyone that people row there too. Six Wisco seniors now head off into the world with cheese hats and three National Championship gold medals. Georgetown finishes its best season ever and will never again be taken for granted. New coach Jim "Beastmaster" O'Conner must be doing something right. Despite seeing bronze once again, Radcliffe is clearly on the way back. With the number one ranking for most of the season the Black and White were the top program in the Weld boathouse and are challenging the men for top program at Harvard. Over this season I've called Princeton the Sybil crew and the light switch crew. Today I have a new name for them - the most courageous crew. They beat their heads against the wall several times this year and, like a knocked-down champion fighter, kept coming back for more, punishing their opponents all the while. After a few years of knocking on the door, UCF and Bucknell are now among the elite of lightweight women. They, along with the crews in the petite final, are part of a new vanguard in women's lightweight rowing making the category stronger than it's ever been and proving that history doesn't make the difference, athletes do.