I learned that I can row in adverse
conditions with a coxswain I don't know – there are more good
coxswains out there than I realized. In the two years I have rowed –
I am still learning quite a bit about the sport – I have found
three coxswains that I have learned to absolutely trust: one on the
Lafayette and two on the Occoquan. They gained my trust through our
rowing experiences together, both in practices and in races. The
specific experiences included expert turning, smooth docking, quick
commands, and good decisions in races. I have often joked that if
“coxswain X” told me to row staight for the shore, I would do
it”. I have rowed with several other coxswains. Many of whom I
consider to be competent, but people who have not yet earned my
absolute trust (that “row into the shore” kind of trust). I have
also rowed with a couple of coxswains I do not trust based on
experiences in crashing into docks, running aground, or receiving
confusing commands.
This weekend, I was nervous about
rowing in windy conditions with a coxswain I didn't know well. We
ended up scratching that race because not everyone in the boat was
comfortable going out on the river when winds were forecasted to be
20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph (and, honestly, who is?). I did row
later in the day, in a four instead of an eight, and with a coxswain
I had never met. Rowing with a coxswain I had never met was a leap
of faith. I took that leap based on the trust I had in the
experience of the three other rowers with me and the visible weather
conditions. While the wind was still blowing, the clouds had cleared
away and the sun was now shining brightly. It is amazing what a bit
of sunshine will do for me. When the sky was grey at my house and I
saw a bird flying backwards in the wind, I didn't imagine myself
racing at all. When midday arrived and those strong winds blew the
clouds away, I felt better about the prospect of rowing.
I wish there was a way to judge
coxswains I meet before going on the water with them. I asked our
coxswain Maxim (we called him Max) what boats he had coxed and how
many times he had been on the river that day. Happily, he had been
on the river twice already coxing an eight and a four. He had just
the racecourse experience we needed – local knowledge that was as
recent as it gets. I still got into the boat with him without
knowing how much overall coxing experience he had. I suppose I also
transferred the trust I had in our Racing Director Eleanor to Max
because Eleanor had found the coxswain at the regatta that afternoon.
That is not a logical risk analysis.
The end results was that Max was a very
good coxswain. He was aware of discomfort or nervousness in the
boat. He counseled us to stay calm and focus on our recovery
technique to keep the boat set as we rowed in very stiff winds and
choppy water up to the start. During the race, where we had better
water conditions, he kept us to row hard and to keep up our pace.
The only item on which I disagreed with him (and where I pretty much
ignored his command) was his call for us to increase our strokes per
minute above 30 during the last 500 meters. This is something that
works for high school rowers, but I knew my boat mates well enough to
know that racing our spm above 30 would not speed up our boat. I
know I would begin to shorten my strokes and deliver no additional
power to the boat.
In terms of my own abilities, I learned
that I could row in the stroke seat in windy conditions. This is
something I had never done before. I was able to set the race pace
that I wanted (and we won our race, beating at least one boat that we
expected to be beaten by) and get through the gusts of wind that
buffeted our boat during the race. The more challenging row, though,
was getting up to the start when the wind was blowing more steadily
hard. There were a couple of instances where it felt as if the wind
lifted our boat on one side out of the water. I was able to avoid
panicking; I attribute that ability to the miles I have rowed on
water in the last two years. I have had a few occasions rowing in
windy and choppy conditions so I knew what some of it felt like (the
difference in racing this weekend was that the air temperature was 40
degrees colder than my previous experiences). The row to the
starting line was not fun, but I was able to do it. I enjoyed our
row during the race. We might have had the best 10 minutes of
weather for the day. We were hit by gusts of wind, but the steady
stiff wind that hit us before the start lightened as we raced down
the course. We even had one short section where the winds seemed to
die down completely and we made good time with strong strokes in a
set boat.
I and the members of my club need to
take weather conditions seriously. I believe I did. I was willing
to scratch my early boat when there were the worst of conditions.
The weather did improve throughout the day. The sunshine made me
feel better, but that is not a logical improvement in the weather
conditions. I need to keep that in mind when evaluating future
conditions. I did learn, however, that I can row – and race – in
windy conditions.
