Radcliffe Press Release

Harvard athletics published a nice press release on the Radcliffe lights. Some highlights:

- Five returning seniors
- Three rowers participated in a U23 camp last summer
- Freshmen dominated in the fall (did we mention that here once or twice?)

The most significant fact for me is the participation of three athletes in the U23 sculling camp. I know the sweep rower ethos, because at one point I drank the Kool-Aid along with everyone else - scullers are pansies, they're loners, they think technique is important, their catches are too soft, they're too in control. Uh-huh. Keep thinking those thoughts as as you suck down their wake. Those of you who are only sweep rowers don't believe me now, but to learn to scull well is to learn to move a boat. While sweep "hammers" wrench in oars, throw their bodies around the boat, and burst veins in their necks, scullers impassively turn pain into poetry while defying observers to know the difference between the paddle and full pressure by anything other than boat speed. Why? Because they know that any errant movement will upset the balance of a boat, that any wasted energy will come back to haunt you when you are the only engine. Don't get me wrong, I like to jump into the engine room of an eight and whale on the oar as much as the next person, but if you can scull, you can make any boat go fast. If you look back at my summer nationals post, you'll see the names of those Radcliffe rowers mentioned. (UCF had two rowers sculling at Nationals while Princeton and Bucknell each had one. And don't forget Bucknell's fall sculling program.) I'll get down off of my soapbox now, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Speaking of warning, I said before that when Radcliffe meets Princeton on April 28th it will be a 1 vs. 2 race. This will be Princeton's first race with any of last year's top three crews, while Radcliffe will have won Knecht (not a particularly bold call, assuming Wisco has their usual slow start). This may very well be Princeton's first wake up call of the year and the rest of their season will depend on how well they handle it.

Bucknell's Sculling

In Bucknell's first Coach's Corner installment, Coach Stephen Kish discusses his fall sculling program. The Bison scull two weeks, followed by a week of sweep in fours. Maybe we can call this the holistic approach to rowing, but whatever we call it, I think it's great. Sculling, which by it's nature is done in small boats, teaches a rower boat feel and the importance of technique. If you can't scull well, no amount of hammering the catch will make up for it. While pure hammers may get away with their gymnastic rowing style for a time in an eight, when a championship is on the line, gymnasts lose. Sculling teaches you how not to be a gymnast. Lightweights in particular should want to scull because summer and post-collegiate rowing for lightweights is all sculling.

USRowing Nationals

USRowing Nationals took place July 19th through the 23rd and a quick look at the competitors in the intermediate lightweight events shows that college lightweights didn't stop going after one another when IRAs ended. I'm sure I missed an athlete or two, but there were several women in Indianapolis who looked across the lane markers to see a familiar face.

In the Elite/Open Lightweight 4x, '06 Harvard grad and NYAC rower Sara Bates met up with Pocock rower and '05 Wisconsin grad Katie Sweet. In a three boat race the Pocock 4x finished first over NYAC, which finished third. Despite the dearth of entries in this event it was incredibly competitive as Sweet's winning Pocock 4x later won trials and will represent the US at Worlds in Eton. Marist rower (they put out some lightweight boats) Lisa Daniello also rowed in the NYAC 4x. Bates went on to win a national championship in the senior lightweight 2x, beating five other boats.

UCF rower Melissa Kroll competed for the Chicago Rowing Center in the intermediate lightweight 4x, finishing third of four boats. Kroll won a national championship in the senior lightweight 2-, finishing first of two. UCF teammate Lauren Schueler, rowing for Steel City, raced the intermediate lightweight 2-, finishing second out of two boats. Kroll also raced the senior lightweight 4+, finishing second out of five boats.

The intermedaite lightweight 2x and 1x saw the most collegiate foes face off. Rowing for the Boston Development Camp, an all Radcliffe 2x of Mariah Evarts and Naomi Ford went out in the heats. UCF's Lauren Schueler's 2x finished fifth in the nine boat field. Under the heading of mixed marriages, the fourth place intermediate lightweight 2x from Undine Barge Club was comprised of Bucknell's Caitlin Doolin and Princeton's Madeline Davis.

Three of the 2x competitors also faced off in the intermediate lightweight 1x. In a sixteen boat field, Radcliffe's Ford went out in the semi, as did UCF's Schueler. Princeton's Davis made it through to finals and finished fifth of sixteen. Although not a lightweight event, Davis also raced the Elite/Open 1x Dash, finishing fifth out of eight.

Both Radcliffe and UCF had at least two returning rowers competing at nationals and who will come back to their college programs with great racing experience. Summer racing isn't for everyone and is best avoided for those worried about burn out. For those enthusiastic about maintaining a high level of training through the summer months, however, it provides great racing experience, exposure to new coaches, and, as is the case with at least one 2x, the opportunity to train and compete with women you previously only knew as rivals.

If you look at the number of entries in these events, you'll notice that the sculling events, and particularly the single, have the largest fields. (The elite events are a special case because there aren't many rowers at that level and this year trials started just one week after nationals.) Not only does sculling help you become a better sweep rower, but if you want to row as a lightweight outside of college, you must scull. The only Olympic event for lightweights is the 2x and the only event at Worlds for lightweights are the 1x, 2x, and 4x. You'll notice that each of the rowers I mentioned above competed in at least one sculling event.

Canadian Henley begins this week and no doubt some of these same rowers will compete there. The competition there is from all over North America and the fields will be much larger. Many of the larger events will run heats with only two to advance to semis (no reps). This method of progression certainly finds the very top boats, but it does result in some fast crews getting knocked out early. By Sunday evening Eastern Daylight Time, the summer rowing season will officially be over (unless you're off to Worlds!). Then it's time to pack the unis and the Coolmax shirts and head back to school for the head season.

Summer Rowing

Now that the summer is here, it begs the question of what are college lightweights doing? Cross training, rowing, or nothing? No doubt we'll see some college lightweights racing at summer regattas, including nationals and Canadian Henley. Rowers with international aspirations will view the summer as an important part of their rowing career because it is a chance to test themselves against intermediate and senior lightweights who also have the same aspirations. Of course, it's also the time to learn (or continue to learn) sculling because the only international lightweight events for women are sculling events.

Thinking about national team lightweights raises another question - how many national team lightweights were lightweight rowers in college? While I don't know for sure, it seems to me that most weren't, or at least didn't compete as lightweights. For all of the worry at the collegiate level about lightweights and weight issues, at the international level extreme weight loss is almost encouraged. USRowing allows lightweights to weigh 140 pounds for the April erg test, 15 pounds over the international weight limit. Why are these large weight fluctuations allowed and what good does it do anybody to test at 140 pounds?

I also wonder if lightweight collegiate coaches encourage national team aspirations, or at least make known the opportunities, as much as heavyweight coaches. There is, however, at least one collegiate lightweight on the national squad. Hannah Moore lists her most memorable sporting achievement as "winning the varsity lightweight eight title for Villanova at the IRA Championships." Remember that? It was 1998. Villanova now rows lightweight boats of opportunity and hasn't been heard from since.