Midwinter Meltdown...Mendota Rowing Club Madison, WI

[Eric308]

Just returned as a spectator this year due to two recent surgeries. I saw a phenomenal performance by a guy named Andrew Benko in the Senior Masters group (he's 48). He pulled a 6:05.9 and it looked like it was locked on 1:31.5 the entire time. I've never seen a more consistent and effortless rower. Also, at the end he was barely breathing hard. He obviously qualified for the Crash B's which I think he won last year. I personally congratulated him and he was very humble and appreciative. Great to see such a great event from the sidelines, but I'll be back next year. Check-out the video I just found from three years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXT1chg9tcc

[Bob S.]

Indeed! At last season's C-B, I had the privilege of having an excellent view of Benko's performance and was quite impressed by his machine-like precision. When the pace/rate charts for that event were made available on the net shortly afterward, I checked him out and was even more impressed at how little variation there was in each for the bulk of the race. Each had a variation of only 1 in the last figure, like 30-31 for the rate and 1:31.0-1:32.0 for the pace. Those might not be the exact numbers - the charts no longer seem to be available, but I used these just as an example. There were a few seconds of settle at the start and a couple of hundred meters or so of effective sprint at the finish. The middle was practically just 2 thin lines.

[lindsayh]

I suspect Andy Benko is up there with the very very best OTE men like Benton and Oesterling. He has done quite a few of the CTC challenges in the past few years and times are amazing. The records will probably tumble when he turns 50 - the 2k WR is very fast around 6:08 and has not really been approached seriously by anyone yet.

[hjs]

I suspect Andy Benko is up there with the very very best OTE men like Benton and Oesterling. He has done quite a few of the CTC challenges in the past few years and times are amazing. The records will probably tumble when he turns 50 - the 2k WR is very fast around 6:08 and has not really been approached seriously by anyone yet.

Indeed he will break that record if nothing happens, it proves tough to stay fit and motivated around 40/50, I have seen a few guys whu could have broken the record, but for some reason, proberly motivation and injury its proves to be difficult.

Benco is also not overly big, 188, certainly not light, but no giant. Among heavies 188 is short.

[Eric308]

I suspect Andy Benko is up there with the very very best OTE men like Benton and Oesterling. He has done quite a few of the CTC challenges in the past few years and times are amazing. The records will probably tumble when he turns 50 - the 2k WR is very fast around 6:08 and has not really been approached seriously by anyone yet.

Indeed he will break that record if nothing happens, it proves tough to stay fit and motivated around 40/50, I have seen a few guys whu could have broken the record, but for some reason, proberly motivation and injury its proves to be difficult.

Benco is also not overly big, 188, certainly not light, but no giant. Among heavies 188 is short.

Agreed. I saw him up close as in shaking hands, and the guy is ripped. I wonder why he isn't on this site. This excerpt is from a write-up from the '08 CB's.
There was a concert of German exclamations when four C2 Team Germany athletes were in the fastest grouping for the 40-49 Heavyweight Division. Taking the lead and never letting it go was 6'9" (that would be "six cubits and a span" to put it in David and Goliath terms) masters ubermensch Ralph Eckhart, who set the World Record for the event in December in Dresden. "I thought it was very possible to beat it here," he said later, and so he did, posting a 5:57.8. He admits he didn't feel well in the morning, and almost didn't race. Everyone should wake up feeling so horrible. An expert at understatement, Eckhart says he rows for fitness and the outdoors (he is a water guy too) and that "it is very meditative."

His nearest opponent, a rather soft spoken and average-sized erg fitness enthusiast Andrew Benko from Dubuque, Iowa, was just 3.5 seconds back. Benko, who wore loose cotton gear (no unisuits or slick trou here), and had no one to yell Jawohl, mind you, was proud but somewhat awestruck by the entire experience. The 40-year-old John Deere rep (he is not a farmer, he notes, but is in the construction division), focuses his training on the erg, which he "picked up at the YMCA about 10 years ago." Benko rowed one year as a novice in college, but is an erg-only guy now. The victory in his eyes is that he was rowing in third for most of the race, but pulled past C2 Team Germany rower Arnd Schneider in the last 400, and he notes, "I don't normally have a very good sprint."

[Bob S.]

Agreed. I saw him up close as in shaking hands, and the guy is ripped. I wonder why he isn't on this site.

Andy Benko is aware of this forum and either reads it occasionally or hears about items concerning him from someone who does read it. Awhile back one of the regular contributors told about corresponding with him by PMs and getting good advice. I received a PM as well in response to a post in which I referred to his rate/pace consistency. He told me how he worked hard on that in training. Probably he has either gotten word of this current exchange already or will soon.

Bob S.

[Eric308]

Agreed. I saw him up close as in shaking hands, and the guy is ripped. I wonder why he isn't on this site.

Andy Benko is aware of this forum and either reads it occasionally or hears about items concerning him from someone who does read it. Awhile back one of the regular contributors told about corresponding with him by PMs and getting good advice. I received a PM as well in response to a post in which I referred to his rate/pace consistency. He told me how he worked hard on that in training. Probably he has either gotten word of this current exchange already or will soon.

Bob S.

Thanks, Bob. Understood. Actually, I was wondering why he isn't listed in the rankings.

[Bob S.]

Thanks, Bob. Understood. Actually, I was wondering why he isn't listed in the rankings.

He is listed in earlier years for the 2k at least - probably just a result of race results reports from the event organizers. In the other seasons, including this one, it is possible that he didn't do any on the times/distances of the ranking list.

There are a lot of ergers, including some at the top who don't bother with the rankings. I know of one that often sets the monitor for 1 meter or 1 second higher than a ranked piece to avoid accidentally ranking it. I don't feel that anyone is obliged to rank their results. The really top rowers, like national team members, often do not rank just to keep the data from their opponents.

[hjs]

Thanks, Bob. Understood. Actually, I was wondering why he isn't listed in the rankings.

He is listed in earlier years for the 2k at least - probably just a result of race results reports from the event organizers. In the other seasons, including this one, it is possible that he didn't do any on the times/distances of the ranking list.

There are a lot of ergers, including some at the top who don't bother with the rankings. I know of one that often sets the monitor for 1 meter or 1 second higher than a ranked piece to avoid accidentally ranking it. I don't feel that anyone is obliged to rank their results. The really top rowers, like national team members, often do not rank just to keep the data from their opponents.

Most indeed don,t rank, over here in Europa even more so, you can find results of races, so its not hidden, but they simply don,t rank. You can find races in germany which will show super results. Over here there are often sub 5.50 2k at the nationals, never ranked though.

[Eric308]

Thanks, Bob. Understood. Actually, I was wondering why he isn't listed in the rankings.

He is listed in earlier years for the 2k at least - probably just a result of race results reports from the event organizers. In the other seasons, including this one, it is possible that he didn't do any on the times/distances of the ranking list.

There are a lot of ergers, including some at the top who don't bother with the rankings. I know of one that often sets the monitor for 1 meter or 1 second higher than a ranked piece to avoid accidentally ranking it. I don't feel that anyone is obliged to rank their results. The really top rowers, like national team members, often do not rank just to keep the data from their opponents.

Most indeed don,t rank, over here in Europa even more so, you can find results of races, so its not hidden, but they simply don,t rank. You can find races in germany which will show super results. Over here there are often sub 5.50 2k at the nationals, never ranked though.

Thanks, gentlemen. Interesting....I just checked and right now he would be well within the top 20 of 6166 (all) men listed in the rankings. Not bad for a 48 year old.

[ArmandoChavezUNC]

Definitely good to keep in mind that the majority of very fast people (i.e. nat'l teamers, past nat'l teamers, and other elites) do not bother with posting their times. My 2k/6k/10k/HOP rankings are well within the top 100 according to C2, when in reality, they're probably not even top 1,000 in the world. There is a vast contingent of extremely quick rowers/ergers out there who don't care to post their times on C2.

[thecrashton]

wow that video is just incredible. the power and consistency is amazing. doesn't even look like his rate is that high.