Henley Day Fifteen: Moving On & Reading

Sunday has rolled around and the athletes are taking a well-deserved day off. Yesterday morning, attempting to shake off the disappointment of the incident in the qualifier, the crew rowed to Reading through the Marsh Lock, Shiplake Lock, and the Sonning Lock directly to the start of the Senior 3 Men's Eights (many thanks to Peter Needham, the regatta chairperson for getting us into the race). Predictably, the women took a hard-earned third place to some good quality English men's crews and then relaxed for a few hours before racing in the Senior Two Women's 4+ event where they won comfortably against Maidenhead RC.

Rowing back to the Henley boat tents afterwards was perhaps the first time we've experienced a tail wind and tail current in the past few weeks.

We're going to use these next few days to try and taper down our training and provide a little closure on the season - our seniors will be pulling a 2000m ergometer piece on Monday and the remaining athletes are talking about what ways they can stay active.

To all of our athletes back home, we'll be sending out the summer training package soon with suggested workouts, standards, and goals.

Henley Day Fourteen: Not What We Had Expected

More to come on this later especially after a relatively sleepless night pondering what just happened...but the long and the short of it is we did not qualify for the Remenham Challenge Cup at HRR. About thirty strokes into the qualifying race our five seat's oar snapped about six inches up from the blade and we were left to row with seven blades for the remainder of the race. The qualifying times that we recorded unofficially compared to our times in practice and compared to crews that we raced at the Henley Women's Regatta were very favorable so the event stings a little more.

I'd like to discuss the emotions that come up when something like this happens in such an equipment intensive sport - but I'll have to do so later.

We are rowing to the Reading Town Regatta to compete in either a coxed four or senior 3 men's eight category. More to come later and thanks again for reading and following our progress during this incredible season.

Henley Reading List

Admittedly there has been a fair amount of down time while in Henley and since we've been here since June 14th I've been able to get a fair amount of reading done (none that I would consider particularly earthshaking). Death at the Priory was a fairly disturbing historical account of a sordid poisoning and affair in Victorian England, a Jack Higgins' novel A Fine Night for Dying about super-spy Paul Chavasse, the Geno Auriemma autobiography (kind of neat because so many of the players are well-known), Tom Clancy's Net Force (a futuristic story about the far off year of 2010), and The Few and the Proud (an account of Marine Corps drill instructors). Now I'm trying to finish John Grisham's The Testament. I can't say that any of these books are educational or particularly cultural apart from Death at the Priory but at least they're entertaining. Tomorrow we'll walk the course at 10:30 AM and prepare to qualify later on in the afternoon. A good night to all!

Henley Day Thirteen: Qualifying on the Horizon

Time trials. Most likely the hardest discipline to succeed at in team rowing. I had a great discussion with Tom Sullivan from University College Dublin while sitting on the bench across from Temple Island about how our crews might perform in tomorrow evening's time trial. Our discussion ranged from six-boat racing, to head racing, to Henley style match racing and then finally to time trials.

His contention was that six-boat racing allowed one to hide; that the result softened by the number of medals given, by petite and third level finals. In Henley style match racing there was absolutely no place to hide in that sooner or later you would find out if you were the fastest crew in your category and that a first round loss conveyed the same rewards for a late round loss. A stark mindset but nevertheless it does hold a grain of truth.

However, a time trial or qualifying race is really about a crew's ability to perform over the entire course and it will certainly expose any weakness in physical or mental preparation. Just taking that little edge off in the middle of the course or "looking for comfort" can be the difference. I wonder if anybody has done any physiological testing of rowers performing in either a time trial, head-to-head race, or six lane race to see if markers of physical effort or perceived exertion levels are different.

A good shout out to Jonny at the Healthy Deli on Duke Street in the middle of Henley - the Serrano Ham and Emmental cheese sandwich was fantastic and I hope more rowers stop in to enjoy his creations. I've tried the smoked salmon, parma ham, and have heard great things about the roast beef. A+ in this traveler's book.

We go off tomorrow at 5:00 PM in the Remenham Cup qualifying races - should be an excellent test.

Oh yes, if you get the chance to vote in Row2K's crew of the week poll we have been nominated for the 2nd time this season (the first for our performance at the NCAAs and this time for winning the Senior 8+ at the Henley Women's Regatta). Here are the current poll results.

Henley Day Twelve: Pictures from the London Reception

Henley Women's Regatta Video Posted Here

Please check out http://www.row2k.com/video/view.cfm?vid=5030 for video of the final day of racing at the regatta. A row2k video editor's pick! We show up 1:55 into the video. Thank you row2k!

Henley Day Twelve: BU, Basin Conditions, and Why We Won

I've received a number of questions from folks who have asked what made our run at the Henley Women's Regatta successful - that's really putting a coach on the spot but I'll take a stab at it because the underlying question is what makes a crew faster than its opposition and at Henley; what makes a crew fast over a number of repetitions.

I'm very much a believer that the physical capability of each member of the crew is critical to success - those rowers need to have demonstrated increased capacity on a number of different levels to handle the different situations that present themselves on the race course. That is why we don't only look at ergometer scores as a means to measure the capability of a rower. This may seen intuitive but to many younger rowers who correlate success on the erg with success on the water it comes as a surprise that a boat race plays out very differently than a physiological piece on the erg. So to get back on track here, I think that our rowers were very physically prepared to race into a screaming headwind and were very good at recovering from multiple bouts of exercise in a short time period (and yes, the ergometer is a part of developing that capacity).

Secondly, on the day of the semifinal and final we had to deal with a number of unexpected situations. Versus Skoll, much to my chagrin, we were surprised off the start because we couldn't hear the starter nor see the flag and were in the process of sculling the boat to one side. However, the athletes reported that they were fairly calm and just pissed off that they didn't get to execute their best start. By the 500m mark we had made up the margin and started to push out. The headwind, which a sculler described as "rowing into a brick wall" took away much of our front end length in that race against Skoll but we did enough to get open water moving through the enclosures.

I was most proud of the focus, calm, and action that the eight took in between the races. Immediately upon docking the athletes switched their exercise modality, took in some carbohydrates, had some sports drink, got off their feet, and decided upon what they needed to execute better in the final. We knew they could be better into the headwind and the report afterwards was that they had wanted to "battle and conquer the wind". Launching for the final the crew looked purposeful and calm even as the wind howled - during the race every one of their faces was calm as well even as their blades were improved to the water and cleaner at the release.

So why did we win? They were definitely physically prepared but perhaps it was more that they had confidence in their preparation and had a shared desire to execute their plan versus trying to react to another crew.

This afternoon we will brush Boston University's varsity eight who have already been selected by the Stewards for the Remenham Cup - we'll do a little leap frog at base and lower rating (kind of an ersatz brush really) and then a few 1' blasters. After our down low compression work in the last two sessions I'll be interested to see what happens when we let it all hang out.

Reception this evening in London at the family home of J.Jeffrey Louis and then back to Henley. I might have to make an appearance at the Rose and Crown for some bridge later on.

Funny toe path moment:
Rower #1: "Coach, I couldn't hear what Larry said...",
Me: "Open up into the bow, row longer into the release - You are beginning to look like a very upright proper British sculler."
Rower #2: "Coach, what do I look like? An ugly American?"
Me: "Yes, you don't have to try to do that."

That got a little chuckle out of a nearby Aussie coach.

Awesome toe path convenience: The ice cream store at the 750m mark has been a nice stopping point...however, a couple of magnums in the belly doesn't make biking the toe path any easier.

Brutal toe path job: The poor man at UTRC with a really short spade shoveling pounds of Canada goose droppings into the Thames day after day after day. I feel like I should buy him a proper shovel...and a gas mask.

Henley Day Eleven: Day Off from Writing and Celebrating 100 Total Posts

We moved into the Henley boat tents Sunday night and then celebrated the night away with an incredible group of parents, hosts, friends, and rowers at the Little Angel pub. The celebration was really wonderful and being able to relax and enjoy the success of the squad was wonderful. The conversations between the departing rowers, seniors and otherwise, were a little bit tough because the end of their trip seemed to come quickly but nevertheless I'm glad we had the extra time together.

Monday was a rare off day and the men arrived with their 4-, 4+, 8+, and 2- and it was great to hear about their training at home and see the enthusiasm that they are bringing to the river.

In terms of training, we are throwing the book out the window and attempting to absolutely maximize these next few days before the time trial to REALLY raise the standard of the rowing. We are most likely rowing later than any Division III crew has before us and the varsity seems really eager to set the bar as high as possible. With a Head of the Charles victory, NCAA victory, and now a Henley victory it seems tough to duplicate!

We brushed UC Dublin over the course this afternoon at 26 with the lead crew dropping the rating to keep the crews close...we extended to about a length two times over the course and then lengthened. The time was encouraging and we'll come back this afternoon for some easier technical work and the course at 12.

Tomorrow evening we'll head to a reception hosted by the Louis' family in London with the guest of honor as President James Jones Jr. I think we could make a significant impact with blazers and medals blazing.

Henley Day Nine: Post race

We won!
Kind of unbelievable and I'm not at all sure what to think of it but will certainly write more later on. Congratulations to all of the competitors at the Henley Women's Regatta for their effort and sportsmanship.

Henley Day Nine

For once, I'm not quite sure what to write! The final day of the whole team's trip to Henley is upon us and the anticipation and excitement of the upcoming racing is mixed with the logistical anxiety of getting everyone safely back to the US.

It's about 11:00 AM and it has been a little bit of a late morning for everyone (especially for the crews who were knocked out yesterday) and our semifinal race versus AASR Skoll beings at 2:14 PM.

Last night an anonymous parent treated us to an amazing dinner at Antico; an incredible restaurant right near our home. I tried a dessert wine 'Ben Rye' which was listed on the menu as 'one of the most amazing experiences' and incredibly enough...it was. Then as a true celebration of the trip Coach Besteman and I went to the Rose & Crown where I ended up playing four or five hands of bridge with the Rose & Crown Bridge Club over a pint of Brakspear. Who plays bridge at 11:00 PM at night in a pub? Apparently quite a few people in Henley.

About to head to the course now for a final check over of the equipment and registration, captains election, letter and thank you writing, and a lockdown of all of our borrowed and rented equipment. More to come later today.

Henley Day Eight: Final Four (Part 2)

The Trinity 2V and 1V eights began racing in the Senior 8+ category today on a rainy morning - it was rather pleasant because the rain was falling straight down and not too much to either side.

Our 'B' entry, a young, ambitious, and fantastic crew that led the way this entire year emotionally and in my mind, overachieved, raced against a very polished and mature crew from the Thames Rowing Club. Thames on the Berks station got off the line very aggressively and the 'B' crew went out incredibly hard and kept the margin to 2 lengths or about six seconds. Thames' time of 5:10 was the second fastest time of the day to that point and it's unfortunate that we met such a strong crew in the first round. But bravo to all of the members of our 2V, the Mighty Mites as they are known, for racing up a category and rowing their boat very effectively. It has been a pretty crazy ride from Hartford to Vermont to California and now to England and I hope they will all cherish the memory of their racing at Henley. A special thanks to seniors Nadia Zahran and Amanda Kulik who have poured their hearts and souls into Trinity rowing through its ups and downs. To next year's returnees, get ready...and be prepared.

The Trinity 'A' entry was then left to carry the Trinity flag into battle as we went up against the Cambridge '99 Rowing Club. After a rough patch of training this week with injuries, differences in focus, and some boat damage the time had finally come to put our preparations to the test. The 8+ went off very strongly and had about a length by just past the end of the island and continued on to win by 5 lengths in a time of 5:10...tied for the second fastest time of the day.

That set up an afternoon match up with the University College Dublin crew that our 2V had brushed on Tuesday. Slightly revamped, the UCD crew knocked out Bucknell University's 2V in the morning racing in a time of 5:08. It was a remarkable performance from both crews because Bucknell had defeated UCD a week ago but absolutely charged back from about a length down in the last 500 and just feel short. UCD was well pleased and I was very happy for their rowers and for their coach Tom Sullivan. In the afternoon racing, knowing that UCD's time had been faster than ours in the morning, we were prepared to deploy our full race plan down the course and the eight took a 2 length victory in a time of 5:15 (into a slight headwind). Times, especially at Henley, are misleading but we were about 6 seconds faster than the next best time.

Tomorrow afternoon just after 2 PM we'll race AASR Skoll from the Netherlands. They are a very tall and lean crew and their coach is incredibly vocal and an excellent cyclist. That matchup will be a very tough one that should be similar to the NCAAs in terms of intensity. The other semifinal has Durham University matching up with Thames Rowing Club. Thames should probably be favored in that race. Many thanks to all of you who are reading this blog...I hope in some small way that it gives you a sense of our experience over here...please keep your emails coming!

Henley Day Eight: Race Day (Part 1)

It's 6:38 AM and the coffee is just starting to percolate well and I thought I would fire off a quick couple of thoughts. There's a pretty steady drizzle and it's fairly cool so I would imagine that the boat launching area will be a little muddy and the spectators won't be so happy. But nevertheless the wind seems to have died down from the last couple of days making all of the rowers a little happier.

The hours before a race never seem completely normal and certainly as an athlete feelings range from 'I don't know if I can do this' to 'let's get this over with' to 'I can't wait to get out there and show everyone what I can do' to a very business-like 'I know exactly what I have to do to get the job done'. What I would love is that both crews come off the water this morning excited about how they raced, satisfied with their preparation up until this point, and hopefully, looking forward to a race this afternoon.

Henley Day Seven: Tough Day for American Fours

The first day of racing at the Henley Women's Regatta has finished and it was a tough day for US fours attempting to qualify for the senior 4+s. The standard that was set by the lead qualifiers was very high and I was excited to see how our four stacked up. Unfortunately, all the US collegiate crews were required to race in the senior 4+ category and as most of the crews were either JV or 3V crews they found the going a little tough. Crews from Holy Cross, Hamilton, and Boston University were also eliminated from the running. Our crew rowed with admirable length and a desire to row high and now has to match that with the power to make it effective.

Dealing with disappointment in sport is something that one needs to learn - the mark of the true competitor is how you deal with both victory or defeat...your reaction to an event should define you rather than the event itself.

Great event at the Henley Rowing museum - fantastic to see the crews dressed to the nines and even better to see them with their families.

Funny quote #1 (Announcers): Crew X is rowing a rather industrious 33 strokes per minute and are slightly short in the water. Crew Y is still trying to find their line on the race course and are having a rather tough go of it.

Funny quote #2 (A crew off the start - screamed with no cox box): 'SQUEEZE, SQUEEZE, SPIT, SPIT, SPIT, GOOOOOOOO!'

Racing tomorrow 9:10 AM for the 2V and 9:50 AM for the 1V

Henley Day Six: Qualifier Eve

Thursday has come and gone and it was the best of times or the blurst of times (thank you Simpsons...). The 2V and 1V did some competitive work on the course into a pretty blustery head wind and recorded some good times but we had very little separation between the crews. One crew felt fantastic about their performance while the other was fairly underwhelmed and to be honest I didn't feel that good about the body language and look of the rowing compared to what I've seen in practice. On the good side of things, the times were still relatively quick but the level of satisfaction was somewhat low.

The four rowed the course and did two final preparations for their qualifying race that goes off at noon tomorrow. The Trinity rowers will be lining the backs with encouragement to see if we can't help drive them into the top sixteen in the senior four. If they do it, it will be a tremendous accomplishment for three freshmen, a sophomore, and a first semester coxswain to make it into the field. But regardless of what happens, they have been an absolute pleasure to have on the trip and both Coach Besteman and I feel that their contribution has been so valuable to the future mission of the squad. Hannah Smith also made contact with the University of Edinburgh rowing team where she will be studying next semester...perhaps a tryout of sorts?

In the evening, after a somewhat drawn out sermon by me, we went to Brian and Susan Triptree's for a barbecue of grilled peppers, zucchini, asparagus, onions, plenty of salad, bread, and sausage. They were very kind to offer their three-terraced backyard with 85 degree pool for our use. It sure is tough to be in England.

The 1V and 2V will do an early morning row at 6:30 AM to stretch their systems before the course closes at 8:00 AM for qualifying races. Then it's a fair amount of family time as so many wonderful parents have found their way to Henley. It's always an awesome moment to watch the faces of the parents and athletes light up when they see each other for the first time...however, from a cynical standpoint as one parent put it...the bickering starts soon afterwards.

A special shout out to Coaches Will Porter, Andy Card, and Pat Tynan who are coaching at Bulldog Rowing Camp this week. They are a really supportive and fantastic coaching staff who are undoubtedly stretching the minds of their campers as we are here in England.

Great restaurant with friendly atmosphere: The Healthy Deli - quickly becoming a team favorite and when they can identify you as 'from Trinity' before you even open your mouth you have to wonder a little bit.

Also entries for the Remenham Cup were posted today - there are 17 entries being reduced to 8 by qualifying races. It will be interesting to see who is required to qualify but we absolutely must assume that we have to in order to make it into the Henley Royal Regatta.

Updates on qualification status as soon as I can get to a computer.

Henley Day Five: Late Row Complete

Very short post here as the rain is starting to come down...the 2V found their energy again after a pretty startling video session so I have high hopes that they'll be proud of their preparation for racing on Saturday. The 1V had an unfortunate incident with the booms after a vicious wind gust and I hope our coxswain will be able to regain her confidence/aggression because incidents like these really can happen on a crowded race course with difficult conditions. Thankfully, the boat is definitely rowable and should not be an issue.

We'll aim for a 9 AM start tomorrow morning for our final two-a-day.

Welcome to all of the Trinity parents who have already made their way to England - it's great to see your smiling faces and I know your daughters are excited to have your tremendous support.

NOTE: New NCAA slideshow posted along with our NCAA 2008 Team Trophy shot. If you have any other photos please don't hesitate to upload them to picasa or email them to me at wesley.ng@trincoll.edu

Henley Day Five: Wind-ing it Up for Qualification & Racing

The crews met at the Henley Rowing Club for our final row out of that establishment before moving camp to the Henley Women's Regatta course. Many thanks to Mervyn Theaker for coordinating our stay at the club - it's a very easy place to boat out of and one that I would recommend to others if they needed an alternative to the Upper Thames Rowing Club.

The 2V and 1V completed a competitive bit of work at controlled ratings and alternating intensities over the distance with the intent to really ingrain the landmarks and vagaries of the course into the minds of the coxswains. The head wind was blowing pretty strongly and unfortunately we had an injury recurrence in the varsity eight that may keep the athlete out for the next few days. I'm optimistic that with proper treatment she'll be ready to go for this weekend's racing. The 2V also did a short starting sequence brush with Bucknell's 2V and it helped us identify some other areas that we can improve upon as we get closer to putting it on the line on Saturday.

This has been the first day where it has been really dark and gloomy (very England-like as one coach on the bike path put it) and it can take a little bit of the shine off of having an afternoon off.

Lunch today at the old Francesco's Cafe - excellent cappucino and spaghetti napolitano...dinner shortly at the Rowbarge Pub for a return engagement.

Challenge 1: Avoiding the afternoon nap

Challenge 2: Having enough cox box chargers

Challenge 3: Finding the missing remote for our video camera

Challenge 4: Keeping bike tires filled while on the coaching bike path

Henley Day Four

All three crews rowed once this morning with our 2V brushing University College of Dublin, the 1V doing a full Henley time trial at 26 spm, and the 4+ did a lot of down low steady state looking for power and length. The 2V brush was fascinating (thanks to Tom Sullivan, their head coach) because it showed us a little bit of how we go to speed and what actually creates that. Trusting our power seems to be the most critical piece as we were very competitive at the lower ratings and at max speed but at cruising base speed found ourselves slightly wanting. What a great Henley tradition to be able to do pieces against crews we normally would never see.

The 1V was very much on their own as they went out to really harness the energy and strength they've developed over the year and absolutely smoked the 24-26-28 range over the Henley Royal Regatta course. The first and only time I've seen them harness their strength this year and I hope it's coming in time for them to apply it over the Henley Women's distance and the Henley Royal Regatta qualification course. Incidentally, when the Henley Royal Regatta says the entries close at 2:00 pm....they mean it. A breathless individual came up at 2:03 PM to try and enter and was firmly told that entries closed at 2:00 PM. Phew.

The afternoon was spent in various states of repose. The four plus spares traveled to Oxford for a bit of sightseeing, while others lounged in the main square and 'people-watched' while others explored the bookstores in town. The coaching staff was a little more mundane as I fixed a flat tire on my bike (with some excellent assistance from the 2V), bought Stewards Enclosure badges for some parents, read a little bit of a novel, and then stared at the inside of my eyelids for a good 90 minutes.

Dinner tonight was at Neal's Rowbarge Pub where we enjoyed Thai Green curry and spaghetti bolognaise...a really fantastic meal. A few of the rowers and Henry Palmer '05 who has been rowing out of Leander for the past two years enjoyed some time discussing the intricacices of rowing in England and the national system. It was really a great time catching up and being able to gather some further ideas about what's going on in various countries and seeing what we can bring back to Trinity.

Tomorrow we'll do an early AM row with some speed play and 26 work and then most likely an evening row to watch the sunset (or cloudy rain from the water). Glad to see that we're linked to www.row2k.com now - I hope we'll have more regular visitors!

All the best from across the pond...

Henley Day Three

A day of emotional ups and downs, some competition, a beautiful day, and a little surprise.

The 2V, 1V, and 4+ practiced at different times today according to what they had decided upon the previous day and it was good to see them take ownership of the process. The 2V practiced at 9 AM after getting a little more sleep and made a game attempt at learning the intricacies of double dutch rope jumping - here is a video of how adept we are it...After coming off the water the mood of the practice changed considerably and I probably could have reacted better because I thought the rowing was a huge step in the right direction for the crew with their speed work and base tens looking truly excellent.

The 1V returned in the afternoon around 1 PM for their one practice of the day and it was great to have our full lineup together again. I think we have a good shot at managing injuries well the remainder of the way. After a cox box snafu the crew did a short block of strong steady state and then returned later in the evening to do a brush with an American D1 crew and acquited themselves well. We were overstroking but were able to move out which seems to be our modus operandi this season. Let's hope it keeps working.

The 4+ also 'brushed' an American 4+ and showed some improvement over the course of the pieces. Understanding a new sense of intensity will be key for these athletes as they attempt to qualify.

Awesome lunch today - German smoked ham, a British green apple, spreadable goat cheese, and a Cornish butter scone with mature cheese made for an excellent sandwich. Thank you Waitrose for making it happen and to Patrick for the usage of the roof of his house boat. I hope to post pictures in the days to come.

Dinner tonight at the Rose and Crown - congratulations to Rebecca and Craig on their 10 week old baby boy George -growing up in a pub has got to be a great way to make it happen. He'll certainly have his share of barroom chatter and conversation.

Off to bed - a brush with University College Dublin tomorrow for the 2V at 8:30 AM - I hope we'll make a good run of it!

Henley Day Two - Part B

7:00 pm has rolled around and our second 'outing' of the day is finished and put to bed. The crews did two trips with some aggressive start work. Both are much better adjusted than yesterday but we're still trying to sort out heights, feet position, etc. to try and optimize the shells for them.

The day got a little windy towards the end but the water was gorgeous - house boats and pleasure craft trolling at huge wake speed do not make for fast water though.

Will be anxious to see the results of the Reading Regatta held yesterday and today.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to eating at Craig and Rebecca Mee's Rose and Crown pub as a team and then to Neal's Rowbarge Pub on Tuesday evening.

Off to eat and maybe a quick post afterwards when I'm better fueled.

Henley Day Two - Part A

We're in between rows after an 8 AM row where all three crews did two loops looking to make some of the technical changes that we identified yesterday from the differences in our shells. What's remarkable to me is how the athletes perceive the speed in different hulls and how they can adjust for it with their impulse and technical awareness.

We have one rower down right now with a hamstring/lower back injury - we'll try the OTC remedies here of electrostimulation, intrasound, and ibuprofen gel. Other than that, the weather is cool and sunny - about 70-75 degrees with a little breeze.

Observations from the path:
1. Coaches on bikes are very different from coaches in launches - I'm convinced that the more frantically a coach is driving their bike the more poorly their crew is rowing. There is very little of that 'cool as a cucumber' look to anybody.

2. Every coach sounds the same! We all want calmer bodies and better blade work and more leg connection - in fact it made me feel kind of unoriginal when everybody seemed to be saying the same things ad nauseum - that begs the question...what differentiates one coach from another?

3. All coxswains sound the same - albeit from the same country. US coxswains speak about the same technical things while the British coxswains sound similar as well. I would love to know who originated the British coxswain phrase of 'Get on the legs....THERE! On the legs...THERE!' It seemed that every cox and rower in a coxless boat said it at least once. I guess it wouldn't be rowing if wasn't repetitive.

4. Funniest coxswain saying of the day while a crew was doing a racing start - 'You're at 42 strokes a minute...ohhhh....you're a clever bunch....42......clever....42....ohhhh.' Loved it.

We'll go out this afternoon to finalize the rigging and hopefully an early night so people can get some rest!

Henley Day One Complete

NESCAC approval - check
Funds raised - check
Everyone on the airplane and arrival at Heathrow - check
Oars and equipment arrived safely - check
Homes for athletes welcoming - check
Janousek, Empacher, and Stelph boats arrived - check
Henley Rowing Club dock access - check

The Henley rowing course all to ourselves on a gorgeous Saturday evening in England - amazing.

It's now 10:26 PM or 5:26 PM eastern time and we've been awake now since about 6 AM on Friday morning...I'm expecting that the amount of activity after the redeye flight that we took will help jump start our adjustment to the time zone. The boats will take some getting used to but overall I'm quite pleased with how our logistical arrangements have worked out. I'll be really interested in seeing if the rowers can shake themselves out of the airline fatigue funk and enjoy the subsequent days of our trip just a little more.

Also, something weird that may seem weird only to me (sorry Peter King for the blatant plagiarism) - I bought a mobile phone here for £9.00 and bought a sim card with £30.00 of pay-as-you-go minutes and it only costs 4p per minute to the US and Canada and 15p per minute domestically within England.

Ate at the Row Barge tonight and set up a dinner on Tuesday night there for the team...and then we'll also eat at the Rose and Crown on Monday night. We happened across the Triptrees at the Rose and Crown and they were kind enough to treat us to a welcoming pint and some bawdy stories. It's great to be in England.

Update on the row tomorrow after it's complete.

Just about to Board

We're here at Boston Logan Airport and we're about three minutes from boarding the plane...we had our last row on the Connecticut this morning and did a really cracking 1000m piece and a further 90" piece that was some of the most aggressive rowing I've seen our crews perform.

Afterwards, the packing of the travel box, oars, and boathouse went seamlessly - I don't know if I could be working with a better group of athletes right now as they have been so committed to making this trip something special.

When we arrive we'll head directly to the Wilson's residence and then head on down to the Henley Rowing Club where we should pick up our equipment - a Janousek 8+ and Stelph 4+ from Winchester College and an Empacher 8+ from Magdalen College.

After talking about this idea of going to Henley last summer it's absolutely unbelievable to think that we're actually about to go!

I'll have to write about the rethinking the structure of our season and weekly practices to maximize success. If you are a recruit we'll be in touch soon and please keep checking this blog for updates on our progress.

ON TO ENGLAND!

Cooler Temperatures and Seat Racing

Phew. Talk about an emotional roller coaster - after seat racing this morning with very tight results we came back out in the eights this afternoon and ran a couple of pieces to finalize the lineup and while close it was decisive enough in terms of time, look, and feel for me to feel comfortable that this is the fastest lineup we have.

That doesn't change the fact that the push from our younger rowers in the 2V and even within the 1V are what constantly drives the progression of speed in the program. It's so easy, for athletes and coaches alike, to get caught up in the emotions and expectations of the moment, and forget to take pleasure and pride in physical progress, improved performance, greater confidence, etc.

I believe that our team knows now that if consistent effort and drive are not applied over time then progress quickly grinds to a halt and we're left with stagnation.

One of our key words at the top of the blog is 'unity' - contrary to what one might think, being a part of the Trinity Women's Rowing program doesn't mean you automatically belong - consistent effort, intensity, commitment, and a shared willingness to sacrifice are what create true 'unity'. We are unified because of what we are trying to accomplish and further unified because we recognize the common means to achieve it.

Some technique tomorrow and some speed play in the afternoon before Friday's time trial. Have a great night everybody.

Speed Investigation

Another steamy morning and a good long row - this morning we did a series of 2' pieces with switching to continue our pursuit of speed and a rise in the standard of rowing in the program. In between sets the team took a quick swim and I think they really needed it. Following that, we did a series of steady state blocks and an aggressive post row to end the days activities. We'll be back at it tomorrow morning at 7 AM to do some side-by-side racing. After examining the draw, it appears as if both crews will have a very challenging time making it to Sunday and we'll have to pull out all the stops to have our best chance of success.

Also, our order of jump ropes arrived (personalized in our school colors and labeled with our mascot and sport name) courtesy of The Jump Rope Store. Check them out at www.jumpropestore.com

Many thanks to Mike Harney of Harney and Sons Fine Teas located in Salisbury CT. We love to support local businesses that create such high quality products.

Just a Day at the Beach

Well...kind of a day at the beach but with a little ergometer testing before hand! The team gathered in a very steamy and humid Ferris Athletic Center this morning to do a little longer distance erging - something we haven't done in quite a while and the results were pretty startling. Everyone saw improvement from the fall (thank goodness) but the maturity and ability to manage the piece both in terms of executing a plan and managing discomfort was apparent. Even with no ergometer time, challenging heat, and little rest I was excited by the standard the team set.

Following that the team drove to the Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT - it's the longest sandy beach in CT on the Long Island Sound and it's only 45 minutes away. A little rest and relaxation with a little beach breeze was probably preferable to another session on the water. Pictures to come shortly.

Coach Besteman and I met with two excellent recruits around lunch time and are buttoning up final details for our Henley Trip - the draw can be found here

Our travel advance check was delivered today and the Bank of America was wonderful in helping with my requests for wire transfers, bank drafts, currency exchanges, and ATM limit changes (they even stayed open an extra hour to help me sort through everything). They get a check plus for their work today.

Tomorrow - distance work and power.

Heat Wave Continues - Departure for England Imminent

We met this morning at 7:00 AM at the boathouse to try and get our row completed before we were hit with the worst of the heat and power boaters. It only got up to 80 degrees but with 100% humidity it was challenging to stay focused. We raced two five minute pieces that illustrated some good improvement but we still need to find more comfort in executing a power rhythm.

Tomorrow we're going to do a fitness evaluation indoors and then head to the beach as a team in the afternoon. The work thus far has been really solid so going to have a little fun is totally worthwhile.

After that we'll practice Tuesday through Friday morning and then get on the plane Friday evening to arrive in England on Saturday morning. Can't wait!

Have you checked out Pandora yet? Perfectly useful for work, study, relaxation, or travel.

Heat Wave on the Horizon

Sitting here in front of the boathouse (It's 6:09 AM) on a foggy morning everyone seems just a little groggy as this is our third morning in a row. The athletes working reunion have very varied schedules and we've adjusted the schedule to accommodate that.

The temperatures in Hartford are now predicted to go up almost 30 degrees over the next eight hours so we're going to try and avoid midday rows as much as possible. Maybe we're leaving for England just soon enough.

The last three practices have been...interesting. Thursday afternoon we got back in our boats that had just returned from California and had a pretty smashing row...maybe the best impulse and run I've seen.

Friday morning we got together and did a long distance continuous row that also showed improvement but the mental aspect of that type of row became apparent through the middle when the concentration got a little ragged. We rowed again at midday (again, because of reunions) and did some aggressive start work and I was well-pleased with the push.

This morning...I told the story of my math teacher Mr. Procunier...a challenging teacher if I ever had one and only now am I learning the lessons he taught! It's 10 years since I graduated from high school and I hope I'll get the chance to tell him that as I know he was battling prostate cancer. The zen proverb of "when the student is ready the teacher will come" still holds true today!

Workout: Distance with bursts followed by an aggressive post-row.

Henley Workout #1

Got out on the water early this morning for a distance row looking at making some exaggerated changes and it was reasonably good after a four day layoff. Sometimes it's easy to forget how much time away from the boat can really change your rhythm and sensitivity to the balance. We finished with a hard post-row that should jump start some fitness gains.

At 12:30 PM today there is a celebratory lunch for the team at Mather Hall amidst the backdrop of reunions - it should be great to hear from the President of the College as well as be recognized by many of the faculty, staff, and alumni.

We'll pick up the shells at about 2:30 PM from Yale and be back to rowing our own eights and blades. We'll do a little speed work this afternoon along with tech work #1.

Also - Trinity Women's Rowing will be featured on the front cover of the Trinity Day Planner for the 2008-2009 - nothing wrong with a little free publicity!

Bonus question: Can anybody identify this picture?

Henley Training Begins Tomorrow

We're back at it again tomorrow to prepare for the Henley Women's Regatta and an attempt at qualifying for the Henley Royal Regatta.

We have much to improve upon in terms of fitness, intensity, and rhythm - a tall task when you have to funnel your intensity into a 1500m race.

Also, many thanks to all of the recruits who have contacted us while we were at the NCAA Rowing Championships in Sacramento, CA. We'll be contacting you shortly via phone or email to set up visits and I thank you in advance for your patience.

To the water...

Varsity Eight National Champions!

The day is winding down and I thought it appropriate to finish off with an entry about an incredibly special day. I woke up this morning and went downstairs to the hotel lobby and saw a small group of the rowers from the first varsity eight. They were incredibly alert, relaxed, and having a good time with each other - and that feeling continued all the way to the race course.

Watching the petite final where our 2V finished a hard-earned 3rd place, narrowly being beaten out by St.Lawrence's varsity, I fully expected that the crew would have to race neck and neck all the way down the course in the grand final. What played out was dramatically different as our varsity eight produced their best first 500m of the season and gained a full length on the field by the 750m mark and holding off the field to win the gold by just over 3 seconds.

After the incredibly tight and exciting racing of the New Englands and ECACs the victory in that race was undeniably special but even more so because of the joy that the 2V athletes and all of the parents and friends felt watching that performance. The members of the varsity eight are coxswain Stephanie Apstein, stroke Natalie Jones, seven Carmel Zahran, six Loren Massimino, five Ashley Swiggett, four Deede Dixon, three Ali Schmidt, two Amory Minot, and bow Ellie Wierzbowski. The members of the second eight are coxswain Courteney Coyne, stroke Ali Berluti, seven Amanda Kulik, six Mina Aiken, five Nini Case, four Alex Purdie, three Jamie Callahan, two Sarah Keller, and bow Nadia Zahran. Our spares were Emily Gittleman, Chloe Aronson, and Hannah Smith - all of whom are expected to do great things in the future!

Huge congratulations to all of the competitors at the NCAAs and especially to those Division III competitors who face more challenges in training than many in the rowing world understand. Well rowed and I hope we'll get a chance to do it again next year.

Next up: HENLEY! We depart on the 13th for Henley-on-Thames to continue what has already been a magical season. More details and thoughts to come...and oh yes, the Zinfandel Grill in Folsom was fantastic - many thanks to our parent group for their generosity and support (that never really does justice to what your support actually does to help your daughters and their collegiate rowing experience).