.34 seconds and a question

The previous post was written rather quickly. I really didn't think too much about what I wanted to say. I simply wanted to communicate to the guys not to be afraid out on the water. Because rowing is such a mental sport, an oarsman is competing against himself and his own limits as much as another team.

Last year at Midwest, the varsity 8 missed the finals by .34 seconds. Unfortunately, that happens in this sport. A bowball plus a few inches. A bitter loss. The guys were very upset. I was miserable.

.34 seconds is such a small margin that the coach starts looking at himself. Did I check all the rigging? Did we practice the racing start enough? What about the sprint? Finally, what was I thinking putting out a varsity 8 that year?

There were 4 lightweights in that boat. One was a novice. Looking at the other crews, I was sending small boys out to race much larger ones. I started questioning my decisions. I started wondering if that was the right way to go this year.

With a crew of mostly lightweights, why not concentrate on lightweight events, develop the novices slower and put only my heavies in a JV 4+? It seemed like an easy question. I would go with events that my crew seemed best suited for on paper and wait until next year, with a lot of seniors. In short, I got scared.

I got scared of sending my team out with a disadvantage. I didn't want to put them or me through that .34 seconds again. So I went against my better nature and moved away from a varsity 8. I figured we would enter that in a few regattas but forget about it at Midwest this year.

Then I re-read my own post and thought about what I meant. If the guys had put all this trust in me, were showing all this courage with the workouts, why should I take a chance at glory from them? Everyone loves the 8. The 8 is the ultimate expression of "team."

Then the heavyweights in the 4 were struggling. It wasn't anything a particular oarsman was doing, it just wasn't matching together, and the boat was getting slower rather than faster. The guys were frustrated and worried. I was also. I thought about the best 4s I had ever seen, and they all rowed together very well, with four oarsmen matched very closely. That wasn't my 4.

Finally, I was asked a question. If I put together a varsity 8 this year, would it be faster, slower or the same as last year? There's an easy question. A bunch of guys with a second year of the winter training program? It had to be faster, without question. If it was faster, wasn't it worth a shot again at the varsity 8?

My entry at Midwest is going to be structured for one purpose: I want to be back in Cincinnati in June with more than 2 rowers this year. Why should we not enter the categories that bring an invitation to nationals for the most rowers? That's the V8, light 8, light (or fly) 4, and 2x. There will also be a JV8, JV4 and a novice 4.

I asked you why should you be afraid to go harder than ever on the water. Why then should I be afraid to challenge you? The respect, glory and big trophies go to the big boat. Let's go take a shot at it all.

Remember where you've been, conquer where you're going. It's revenge time.