State Regatta

Saturday Nov. 12 LSU, Northwestern State University and Tulane University competed in the biannual State Rowing Championships of Louisiana in New Orleans.

The race was the last of each team’s season and the first 2,000-meter race of the season. This race served as a preview for the spring sprint race season.

The venue was the New Orleans Outfall Canal. The navigable portion of the canal is just over 2,000 meters.

The canal is narrow, so races were separated into flights. All of the boats in the first flight would row to the starting line and wait for each of the races in flight one to finish. After every race finished, flight two launched and rowed to the start. There were three flights total.

Tulane won all events except the Men’s Varsity 4+, which was won by LSU, and the Novice 4+, which was won by Northwestern State.

The conditions in the canal proved to be problematic for participants. The first 500 meters of the racecourse were covered in a thick layer of duckweed and debris.

Rowing through the duckweed was difficult. It weighed down the oars and slowed the boats as they cut through the scum. By the end of the races in the second flight, boats and rowers were coated in a layer of green.

Several boats hit logs hidden under the duckweed. Those boats suffered broken skegs early in the race and struggled to navigate through the three bridges on the racecourse.

By the final flight, the wind had blown the weeds so far up the racecourse that races were shortened to 1,500 meters.

At the end of the day, equipment malfunctions cost each team at least one race.

When the conditions were taken into consideration, our team was proud of the results and hopeful for a strong 2K season in the spring.

A late lunch on the levee and an afternoon spent with teammates in sun made for the perfect end of the day and of the fall season.

Head of the Hooch- Trip Home/Game of the Century

Our team finished packing the trailer and boarded our charter bus to leave the race site by 5 p.m.

For this trip we rented a bus and paid an extra fee to have satellite TV so we could watch the LSU vs. Alabama football game. We, as dedicated LSU students, had been highly anticipating this game that had been dubbed The Game of the Century.

Everyone on the bus was excited to watch the game and cheer for the Tigers, even if we could not be in Tuscaloosa for the game.

When we got on the bus for the return trip, we immediately noticed a problem. When we switched the channel to CBS we were greeted with an all grey screen with the message, “No service. For subscription information call [Direct TV toll free number].”

Our captain made calls to Direct TV, the bus company, our coach who was driving separately with the trailer and numerous sports bars along the route home showing the game over the two hours until kickoff. As time and phone conversations wore on, it became increasingly doubtful that we would be able to watch the game.

An hour before kickoff, Jonathan Dejean, our captain and one of the most die hard LSU fans I know, announced that there was no way for us to watch the game. Instead we would be stopping for dinner as quickly as possible and re-boarding the bus to listen to the game on the radio.

I was devastated. I have been a devout LSU fan my entire life. I am a third generation LSU student. My grandfather was in Tiger Stadium on Halloween night when Billy Canon made his famous rumbling punt return. Both my mother and father were students at the “Earthquake Game” against Auburn in 1988. All of my family agreed; this game against Alabama was the most hyped game in memory.

To add to my angst, my father and brother had made the trip to watch the regatta and were staying an extra night with a family friend in Chattanooga. My coach had given me permission to stay with them an extra night and ride home separately from the team.

I debated whether I should stay or ride with the team. In the end a cramped bus seat, 15-inch screen and the guaranteed camaraderie of my 60 teammates trumped the promise of a warm bed and reliable high-definition cable.

As long as I got to watch the game I would be fine.

I silently brooded while I bought my dinner after Dejean made the announcement.

When we got back on the bus we tuned the radio to a station broadcasting the game. We were driving through Alabama at the time and the only station we could pick up was broadcasting out of Tuscaloosa as part of the Crimson Tide Sports Radio Network.

The homerism made me sick.

But as the game progressed my teammates and I became less frustrated with the situation and more anxious about the outcome.

When a big play happened we collectively groaned or cheered.

By the time the game went into overtime, the bus had reached Meridian, Mississippi and the edge of the radio range. The reception crackled in and out. The voice of the announcer was overwhelmed by static.

We heard bits and pieces of the commentary. It was first-and-ten. then there was some kind of penalty. All of the sudden Montgomery made a third-down sack and Alabama was lining up for a 52-yard field goal to take the lead.

When they missed we went nuts.

Everyone was standing in front of his or her seat with an ear pressed to a speaker straining to hear what happened when LSU had the ball.

The static got worse, but the words and phrases we caught from the Alabama announcers became more depressed. When we lined up for a field goal the station started to change to one playing oldies, but it faded back to the staticy broadcast of the game in time for us to hear “The kick is up… and good. The Alabama Crimson Tide has lost its first game of the season.”

The bus erupted.

As upset as I initially was that I did not get to watch the game and that I had not chosen to stay with my family in Chattanooga, I realize now that my experience Saturday night is one that I will value forever.

I have not touched on it much in this blog, but our team has always put fellowship first. We realize that we may not win every race or any regatta, but even if we were to do so those accomplishments would pale in comparison to the value of the tight-knit community of life-long friendships our team has created.

Saturday is a perfect example of that. I will probably forget what place my boat finished in my first Head of the Hooch within a matter of years.

But someday I will tell my grandchildren about my boat mates and I the night we didn’t watch The Game of the Century.

(photo courtesy of Courtney Mills)

Head of the Hooch- Race Day

Head of the Hooch

LSU Rowing competed in the “Last of the Great Fall Regattas,” Head of the Hooch, in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Saturday Nov. 5.

(The hectic scene as some of the 1600+ boats entered in Head of the Hooch launch and recover)

The morning started with temperatures in the high 30s and an hour-long fog delay.

Once the fog lifted, the women’s varsity 8+ was the first of our boats to compete. Next was the men’s varsity 4+, followed by the men’s varsity 8+ and the men’s novice 8+.

(The LSU Men's Varsity 4+ as it approaches the 4000-meter mark)

In the afternoon temperatures reached the mid 60s and the gusts of wind that had made the race course choppy the day before were nonexistent. The women’s varsity 4+ and the women’s novice 8+ A and B boats enjoyed the improved weather for their races in the afternoon.

Overall the results were underwhelming. Our boats finished in the middle of the pack in virtually all of the races.

The pool of talent at this race was unlike anything we had ever seen in head racing. The women’s college club novice 8+ division had 49 entrants, Earlier in the season at Hobbs Island, the same division had only eight boats entered.

(A shot of boats approaching the finish of the Women's Novice 8+ event)

The places we finished in each race may have been disappointing, but the weekend as a whole was immensely rewarding.

We competed in this year’s largest regatta in the country. We had a great time watching a day full of rowing among a close-knit group of friends at the most beautiful venue I could have imagined.

Our expectations for next year will without a doubt be raised. But for now we will head into the home stretch of the fall season content with this year’s experience in Chattanooga.

(All photos courtesy of Courtney Mills)

Head of the Hooch- Arrival/Practice Session

This weekend LSU Rowing traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Head of the Hooch Regatta.

We groggily boarded a charter bus at our dock at 2:30 a.m. and made the long drive to Chattanooga. We arrived at the race site around 3:00 to see the most competitors we had ever seen.

Everything about this race is big.

The Head of the Hooch is the second largest regatta in the country. More than 1,200 boats have entered. In comparison, the Hobbs Island Regatta that we participated in earlier in the season had only 152 entries.

(Crews set out their oars near the launch dock to ease the launching process on race day.)

The river is big. We will be rowing on the Tennessee River as it passes through downtown Chattanooga. At Hobbs Island we rowed on the Tennessee as well, but we stayed in a small channel sheltered from the wind and waves of the main stream.

The venue is picturesque. The racecourse ends in the middle of downtown Chattanooga. Crews will row past the Hunter Art Museum, Tennessee Aquarium, the Bluff View Art District and numerous parks along the river.

The sheer volume of boats trying to launch for practice sessions before the race made things difficult this afternoon. A few of the boats LSU Rowing planned on racing tomorrow did not get to practice.

The crews that did get to practice experienced what I found to be the most beautiful rowing venue I have encountered in my short rowing career. The water was clear. The trees covering the mountains lining the racecourse were displaying their brilliant fall colors. Beautiful buildings sat atop steep cliffs along the river. The sky was clear, there was a slight breeze and the temperature was just cool enough.

Everyone, whether they rowed today or not, is looking forward to tomorrow’s races.

(Photo courtesy of Courtney Mills)