Learn to row  

As our club undertakes another learn to row session, we look forward to welcoming those that have chosen to give rowing a try.  As Emerson said, "the one thing in the world, of value, is the active soul".  All of these potential 'rowers' should be commended for trying something new, for their active souls. By joining in this pursuit, we will remind ourselves of why it is we ourselves row or in helping to teach we just might learn something new about ourselves.  I for one am very excited to welcome the future of our club.

Youth Races

Recently, the youth program competed in it's only home race of the season.  The day was marked by good weather and great parent participation.  Parents....keep in mind, that for that first race, kids aren't going to want you there.  But, once you show your support, you'll be a very important part of the day.  If this is how the day was to be measured, it was indeed very important.  It was a real treat to see the beach lined with support, tents up, and food cooking.  The competing teams were from Stonington and Weston/Wayland and all teams should be rewarded for their efforts and teamwork.    

Results:                               Stonington                        Wayland/Weston              Barnstable

Boys 2nd boat                  5:53                                      6:03                                        6:13

Girls 3rd boat                    6:31                                                                            (A) 6:45     (B) 7:05

Girls 1st boat                     5:38                                                                                      5:32

Boys 1st boat                    5:20                                        5:42                                       5:24

Girls 2nd boat                   6:12                                                                                      6:26

Meet the Membership

Within this column, I thought it would help personalize our club if we met a rower through three basic questions:  What do you like about rowing? What do you like about our club?   What do you like doing outside of rowing?  

For the next issue, I would appreciate responses sent to the editor. 

Coaches Corner

I will endeavor to more actively seek submissions from our coaches or rowers for their personal tips.   Instead of journalism, I have begun my first term as a youth coach and though this has limited my time, I have this observation to offer.  My endurance experience has been in bike riding.  As such, I relate rowing often to this experience.  When climbing or increasing pedal r.p.m, the motion begins with a pumping of the arms.  Arms are like the larger cogs on a bike gear chain.  Larger cogs are more easily spun and speed can be increased more easily here.  Though speed can be more easily attained with the arms, it is harder to sustain.  The legs are like the smaller cogs.  Because the legs contain such large muscle mass,  I always believe, 'you have legs all day' once you find a sustainable rhythm.  How do I use the bike analogy to help me in rowing?  I use it primarily in power pieces.  During a power ten I first think of quicker arms in and out.  Rowers will often wonder how they can increase the rating without creating rush.  I believe quick arms are a good place to start.  On a power ten, think first arms for a stroke, then extend it to arms and back, then pick up the momentum with the legs.  If you pick up a power piece immediately with the legs, I believe you unnecessarily burn them out by not understanding the nature of their power.  Quick arms in will give you good send and the arms away will naturally match this rate.  It is important that arms remain moving through the finish into the recovery.  One way I emphasize this it to count the power pieces after the arms and backs on the recovery.  It emphasizes the idea of recovery and promotes the idea of the slide beginning only after body prep., which often gets lost once the rating comes up. 

For The Record

As a team, we share in each other’s endeavors.  As such, we want to share in your victories.  Compete in a regatta?  Hit a personal best on the erg? Run a road race?  Let us know.  Having a good row, go for the course record, measured by the Youth’s 1500 meter house on the point to the third flag  pole.  Be the first to ‘set the  bar’.  

Here are the standing youth records at the 1500.

Boys 2nd boat                   6:13

Girls 3rd boat                   (A) 6:45     (B) 7:05

Girls 1st boat                     5:32

Boys 1st boat                     5:24

Girls 2nd boat                    6:26

Postcards

Recently moved?  On Vacation?  Drop us a ‘hello’ 

Everyone be sure to wish Erica a Bon Voyage as she leaves us for a summer in Alaska.  Best wishes...and send us a postcard!

In the Loop

Good news?  Bad news?  Searching for boosters for a charity run or bike ride?  Have a cross-training hobby you are looking for others to share in?  Let us know.  

Eric Caldwell is doing a 63 mile bike-a-thon for the American Diabetes Association in memory of a good friend that died with Diabetes.  Any support of any amount would be greatly appreciated!

contact:  Eric

Minutes

3/14

Beyond Results

Because no newsletter is interesting without a little human interest, this article is offered for any personal submissions.  Until such submissions, I offer up another of my own.  

Tom Carhart

            Recently, I went to see my alma mater and a friend of mine race.  I saw the name on the boat, and said to myself…the Tom Carhart.   For me, this is more than just a name on a boat, it is also the name of a man I’ve known.  Mr. Carhart has always been a friend of UMass rowing.  Though never in an official capacity, his genial good smile always went a long ways in lightening ‘the moment’.  I remember saying to myself, “one day, when I’m old, I’m going to be a Master too”.  Of course, Mr. Carhart, at that time had already achieved status beyond the Master level, yet, it was a term that denoted much more than age.  For there is something to be said for those that simply ‘stick to it’. 

Now, I am that ‘old’ that I imagined in youth, though I don’t feel it, in age I am a master, and as I begin to understand what it truly means to be a Master, I’ve been able to understand the new level my sport has been taken too.  While competing in college, there was always the pressure of expectation.  Youth always assumes perfect health and time for commitment.  Though neither was often the case for the majority of us that suffered through the injuries of overtraining and having to work to help afford school, but such was the assumption.  Through this assumption was the smiling face of Tom Carhart from the corner of the boat house.  What did he know that gave him such calm?  He had attained mastery beyond age and beyond his sport.

            As the weather starts to get warm again, I really want to be out in it.  If you are sick in the winter, many will tell you that you just need a few days in the hot sun to bake it out of you.  Even if you’d had a healthy winter though, there are medicinal properties to pure vitamin D.  Properties that may be  worth doing with out just to sense the renewal. 

            I work very early in the morning, times when the water is best.  I pass Great Herring pond, and often the water is perfect.  Now that the weather is warm, there is certainly a sense of longing as I continue on to work.  In fact, I often see Mass. Maritime Academy out practicing, and can visualize the stillness being broken into action.  Yet, I continue on to work.  For, being a Master in age is all about making priorities. 

            This Sunday, the water was good in the afternoon, but I’d promised my parents that I’d rake the lawn.  Though they are retired, I know that they still appreciate the predictability of a schedule.  And, being a master, is all about making priorities.  I hate to rake, and so, sought the most efficient way to complete the job.  I became acutely aware of the length of stroke and point of contact with the land.  I appreciated the fact that my hands were sufficiently ‘roughed’ up so as to not suffer the accustomed blisters.  It was another day off the water, but it truly wasn’t.  I know that writing this, I will incriminate myself as obsessing over rowing, but I would urge everyone to obsess over some self indulgent diversion.  As we get older, we grow to realize that more and more people ‘count’ on us.  And, that’s a good thing as nothing is more rewarding.  But, it is also important to hold on to some diversion which is ultimately unimportant except for the self growth that comes from simply trying hard. It is important to always hold on to this sense of self amongst the expectations placed upon us. 

            So, as I rake, I became acutely aware of the nature of the land.  This is a practice attained through learning the properties of water and the most efficient ways in which to pick up the water.  As I drive by the lake in the morning and have such vivid imagery, I realize that there is in fact an essence of me that is on the lake, that is always ‘chopping’ up every bit of still water with action.  For there is more to our essence then our physical properties.  We are a combination of mind, body and spirit.   As I start my day with a cup of coffee and punching the clock, there is an element of calm which supercedes the day.  I am all the better for knowing the pleasure of calm water, and when in fact, I am able to be on that water, that element of calm is very useful in that brief moment of recovery in which ‘rest’ consists of a split second.  When I rake, I remind myself that one of the reasons that we do the ‘pick drill’ is to learn to pick up the water at various degrees of readiness.  This physical drill is effective in everything that we do for when I consider the properties of water and land, I do so with more contemplation than moving boats.

            Many of us that have continued to row from college have done so because they have felt that they have yet to achieve their potential.  This may in fact be true, but only because their potential is not in numbers but in the sense of having done enough within the boundaries of priorities.  Though I am older, and not as in as good of shape as I was in my teens and twenties, I am somehow only ten seconds off from breaking 6:30 in my 2k….a level I only attained only once in my ‘fit’ days.  How could this be possible?  I can only attribute this to learning what it means to be a Master.   To be a Master is to find a workable balance. To be a Master is to find self balance.  To be a Master is to always incorporate passion and purpose into daily activity.   This is evident in any Masters event where success is measured purely by effort.

            I love to compete, though this has not always been the fact.  In high school, there was nothing ever harder for me than ‘lining up’ in track, and somehow, in basketball the opposition always looked bigger on game day.  But now, I love to compete.  It is one of the few moments in which I can really lay it all on the line and the results beyond having tried my best are ultimately unimportant.  As evidence of competition at the Masters level, I wish to offer this example.  I refer to the Masters men as the ‘circuit’ as I often see the same guys.  When I see one guy in particular, I don’t have to worry about winning.  When I see another guy that I always beat, I realize that I have a target on my back, that his training is towards beating me.  And that’s okay, because we all know that our competition makes each of us stronger.  In fact, there was one race in which I went into a finish line sprint in rough water and flipped. This friend, just behind me yelled, ‘get back in that boat and race me!’, and I did, because not to would cheat what each of us of what we strived for.  It was probably the truest moment of competition that I’d known.  That flip was a baptism into the Masters rank.              

I am not trying to tell anyone how to live their life, but I do want to share what works for me.  Something that I didn’t realize in my college days, was that amongst the expectations of unlimited time and perfect health was myself and the pleasures of unimportant diversions.