The Little Things- Weather

This is my first post in what will be a semi-regular series on the idiosyncrasies that make rowing unique.

The weather affects all athletes, but in the sport of rowing it seems those effects are magnified.

Baton Rouge is experiencing a cold snap. Temperatures at practice this morning hovered in the upper 30s. I am sure Northern readers would scoff at the thought of Baton Rougeans shivering in and complaining about such temperatures.

But for rowers, low temperatures are absolutely unbearable and in many cases unsafe. For safety reasons USRowing suggests a combination of air and water temperatures that add up to 100. Our lake has no tributaries that bring cold water from melting of snow and ice up north. The water temperature stays warm enough to keep the aggregate temperature over that level year round.

In other sports rain causes the cancelation of sporting events and rowing is no exception. But because our lake is landlocked, a lack of rain leads to dangerously low water levels.

A sewer pipe runs across the University Lake. When the water level is low there is only one spot where boats can cross the pipe without the skeg, a fin at the bottom of the boat for stabilization, hitting it and breaking off.

It has been weeks since it rained in Baton Rouge. The pace of morning practice is sluggish as boats get congested at the buoy that marks the safest crossing of the pipe. Novice coxswains have broken three skegs this week from collisions with the pipe and other obstructions on the lakebed.

An early morning fog may slow down rugby player or power lifter’s drive to practice, but keeps rowers off the water due to a lack of visibility.

Whether practice is on the water or limited to the land, the team is working hard to prepare for the Head of the Hooch Regatta scheduled for Nov. 5 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Hobbs Island Regatta 2011

Saturday LSU Rowing opened its season with the Hobbs Island Regatta in Huntsville, Alabama.

Each fall we begin the head racing season with a trip to Hobbs Island.

Head races are in the time trial format of racing and are typically over a longer distance than the sprint races in the spring. Boats are started at intervals. Crews cannot rely on their position in relation to the other boats to tell them how they will fair in the final standings.

For our team, this race was about knocking off the rust of a long summer. In previous years our team has had a good showing at this race. Last year our men’s varsity eight placed third, our women’s varsity four placed second and our women’s novice eight tied for first.

In previous years, the course started on a stretch of the Tennessee River that was open. After 2,000 meters of the 5,000 meter race the course veered into a sheltered channel formed by Hobbs Island, the race’s namesake. The last 500 meters of the race returned to the open water and the rough conditions that came with it.

This year the racecourse was altered slightly. The starting line was moved to within the calm waters of the channel and the race was shortened to 4,500 meters.

The weather for race day could not have been any better. The wind stayed calm until the last events of the day. Skies were clear and the temperature was in the upper 70s.

At the end of the day LSU Rowing placed third in the women’s varsity eight and fourth in the men’s varsity eight, men’s novice eight and the women’s varsity four. The women’s novice eight placed fifth, the men’s varsity eight placed sixth and the women’s novice second eight placed ninth.

The surprise of the day came when the Men’s Collegiate Eight division was changed to the Men’s Open Eight. With the change came the addition of the McCallie Preparatory School and Montgomery Bell Academy, two high schools.

Montgomery Bell performed as expected. They gave a great showing, but finished last.

McCallie blew everyone out of the water. They posted a time of 14:12.54, beating Vanderbilt by 10 seconds, Tulane by 30 seconds and LSU by a minute.

As a rower in the LSU boat, I had the vantage point of watching McCallie as they rowed straight through the boat from the University of Tennessee- Chattanooga and as they passed my boat in the last 250 meters.

They rowed a remarkably clean race. They balanced power and technique in seamlessly. They remained composed from start to finish and embarrassed rowers competitors older than themselves.

My hat is off to them.

Hobbs Island Regatta- A Look Back

This week the team prepared for a trip to Huntsville, Alabama for the annual Hobbs Island Regatta.

LSU Rowing opens its season in the Hobbs Island Regatta each fall. Last year, the race at Hobbs was my first.

That first race was a disaster. At the time of the race, my boat had only three weeks of experience on the water. We had serious issues to sort out, but whether we were ready or not we were thrust into the realm of competition.

The race went surprisingly well until we reached the 3,000-meter mark. We had been gaining ground on the Auburn boat that had started in the interval before us. At the 3,000-meter mark we passed by fans lined up on the bluff over looking the river.

All of our teammates were cheering, and everyone in the boat wanted to impress our teammates. Without prompting from our coxswain everyone decided to pull the hardest, most hurried strokes we had ever pulled. Technique was thrown to the wind, which also increased from a gentle breeze to a strong gust.

With the wind came rougher water. In the chop, rowers missed water on some strokes and were unable to clear their blade on others. Alex Templeton, the rower sitting in the eight seat, gave a tremendous push and caught nothing but air. The water did not slow the force he exerted and he pushed himself out of his shoes. His feet went above his head and he flopped into the lap of the rower behind him.

The sight of him pushing out of his shoes and his flailing attempts to get back into his shoes captured the essence of that race for us. As novices we were eager to compete, but in the sport of rowing where the victor must strike a balance between grace and power that eagerness is what did us in.

Out of the field of nine we finished sixth.

The disaster that was that race served as an opportunity for my boat mates and me to grow as rowers and to grow together as a team.

As embarrassing as that experience was, I would not trade it for a first place medal. Alex may tell you differently.

(Pictured Right- The LSU Rowing Mens Novice Eight displaying less than stellar form)

Photo courtesy of Courtney Mills

Extended Training Session- Bayou Plaquemine

The first week novice practice culminated in a trip to Bayou Plaquemine for an all day training session.

Our usual practice location is the University Lake on LSU’s campus. The lake is great because of its convenient location; most team members can walk to practice, but its size greatly limits the quality of practice.

The navigable section of the lake only allows 1,500 meters of uninterrupted rowing. Our shortest races are 2,000 meters. Because the lake is so shallow, a pipe that runs along the bottom threatens the skeg if it is crossed in all but one buoyed area of the lake.

The long stretches of open water at Plaquemine offer an opportunity for developing endurance and technique in way that is not possible at our daily practices.

We met at our dock on Dalrymple Drive Saturday morning, loaded the trailer and piled into our personal cars for the twenty-minute drive.

Practicing in Plaquemine created its own complications. The Bayou Plaquemine boat launch does not have a dock low enough to allow a fully rigged scull to pull alongside. Because of that lack we were forced to “wet launch.”

Wet launching requires rowers to walk down the boat launch and, essentially, parallel park the boat at an appropriate depth. If done properly the only part of the rower that gets wet is from the calves down.

It is rarely done properly.

This training session was the first time for the new novices to row without varsity rowers giving in-boat guidance. It was rocky at first, but serious progress was made.

Varsity boats had the opportunity to row at a steady pace for our full race distance. My boat had its best row of the season.

After 4.5 hours of  water time, we loaded our sore sunburned bodies into our cars are returned home.