My last practice on the Chattahoochee

Granted, this was from two days ago, 5/23/17.  ACRA 2- and 4+ start and settle. 4 first time Kaela stroking.  2- still w/o rudder.



From today, 5/25/2017: Beth and Hannah in the 2-.  Big tailwind, moderate current, roughish water.  Fast time.

2- Weekend before ACRA

Start and 2' race #1.  Yeah, the start was a bit...off.  But the middle is ok.  Catches are good and timed well.  You can advance frame by frame with the comma and period buttons and see the connections are fairly good.



Pre ACRA.  Boat fishtails when Hannah on the steer.  Think this race was a bit more checked than the first.  At 1:37, timing is perfect with connection.







As soon as I said your point was good, you headed for the island.  A few strokes a bit off on timing.

First row pre ACRA

With Liza guest star.  For a first row, this isn't bad.  Bodies moving fairly well together.  Hand heights are a problem, and connection timing.  Match with Rachel, and Rachel make sure you're connecting as early as possible.With Liza guest star.  For a first row, this isn't bad.  Bodies moving fairly well together.  Hand heights are a problem, and connection timing.  Match with Rachel, and Rachel make sure you're connecting as early as possible.



Liza guest star.  Rachel, you can see that I want you to tap down more so you and Mel touch at the same time if the boat is off.  Liza make sure you're tapping down as well.  Renee, you can see the oar come off the lock here.



Back in the pair.  Fairly good boat control.  Make sure the hands come out before the bodies come over.

Monday before Vails 2017

38spm.  Catches have to be precise and blade depth can be a problem getting out clean.  Jo you can see you're just a little off to stbd at the finish.  Mandy a couple bad catches.  Not bad.....



Monday before Vails 2017.  Nice catches port side.  HannahH careful of the finish, a little water in the air.



Started a little shaken as Steph was turning the boat, but smoothed out.

May Day with the Regulator

Guest stars Steph at cox, Kaela at 3, HannahM at bow.  Kaela watch the hand heights.  Match to what Blaze does, even when the boat off set.  Mel, good change on the digging, not seeing it here.



After I stopped shooting, the boat shifted up a bit to 26-28 and found a great rhythm that lasted for about a mile.  I'm not going to pretend this is perfect rowing, but when a crew finds "swing" like this, just hold onto that feeling as long as you can.

A further word on that subject--

My father was an avid golfer.  He loved the game and I had absolutely no understanding of why, until my senior year of high school rowing.  Dad kept souvenirs of "perfect moments" in his golf life.  A hole in one ball, signed by his friends he was with that day, decorated a wall in our home.  A ball he shot a double eagle (in the hole from second shot of a par-5) sat on a little pedestal.  I've heard golf described as chasing perfection.  Players will strive for years and decades for the perfect moment; thousands of swings distill down to one perfect shot, when the player's swing is exactly what they want, contact with the ball is exact and the shot lands exactly where they want.  

In rowing, we strive for the same sort of moment.  It doesn't happen often.  I can count the number of times I've felt that on one hand.  It wasn't always in a race.  I hope the crew in the Regulator got a little taste of that perfect moment.