first race

Pieter · Post by **Pieter** » October 3rd, 2006, 10:51 am

Not a lot of action on this OTW section, so I thought I'll give some new impulse here.

I started OTW this spring in a C1 and since a month I'm allowed to use the (training)skifs of my club (I passed my C1 test)

This sunday i will have my first race in a 1x. I'm very excited for that. Not aiming for a worldclass time (30 min will be more then ok), actually just hoping not to flip over

I know there are more of you out thete who started to row OTW recently.
Any of you been in a race?

Maybe you can give me some race-tips.

Cheers

Pieter

ancho · Post by **ancho** » October 3rd, 2006, 12:09 pm

Pieter, welcome OTW!
Where are you racing?
Take it easy, otw you will have to fight with the usual erg-tirednes + trying not to loose the concentration in order to keep a more or less tidy technique and make the boat run!

Think that it's more important to let "the boat run" than on the erg, so concentrate on a fast catch and a smooth stroke. Think that you probably will be stronger than your oponents, so keep it relaxed and comfortable (as far as possible

)
The worst moment are the minutes inmediately before the start, as soon as you are racing everything goes "from alone" (except the power input)
On a longer distance (5k?), you will have time to try various rhythms, and see how you do compared to other competitors.
Enjoy the experience, and let us know how you have done!

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » October 3rd, 2006, 12:15 pm

Hi Pieter,

I took a learn to row course a year ago. A few weeks after the course started I had been in a single just a few times and I went to the Ann Arbor Regatta. They didn't have a novice-geezer division so I raced in the rec. class. My goal was to not flip and to get to the finish before the racers in the next heat. I succeeded. Like almost all beginners, I could not hold a straight line, and there was an official in a launch shouting my name and pointing with a white flag which way I should turn next. First I had to turn one way, then the other, then the first way, etc. I was thinking "Well, make up your mind, fella. Which way do you want me to go?"

My next race was last fall and I got a ride in a very fast four. The other three rowers were very experienced and even with me in the boat it was going to go fast. I was just trying not to catch a crab and match everybody else's stroke.

This summer I actually got a bronze medal at the Grand Rapids Regatta. There were four eights in a race. Our local club had two eights of mostly learn-to-row course students. They needed an extra man so I rowed in one of the boats. Our club finished third and fourth, but I happened to be in the boat that finished third so I got a medal. Heh, heh.

My advice is to have fun, stay relaxed and just try to have good technique and not worry about your time at all, and enjoy the day.

Byron

Rockin Roland · Post by **Rockin Roland** » October 7th, 2006, 6:18 am

Probably the greatest problem you'll face in your first OTW race is getting too tense in the muscles which in turn will prevent you from being relaxed enough to feel for the boat balance and run. It's common for those with an erging background who are used to applying full pressure on an erg. They try and do the same in the boat but are rewarded with adverse effects.

Try and get the tension out of the boat before the race with a long warm up.

Pieter · Post by **Pieter** » October 8th, 2006, 11:50 am

race-report:

Start was at noon and we had to row to the start an hour/45 min before that (course was 6k and we had to row the course to get there).
The regatta was held on the river Amstel and because of the cloudy weather there weren't a lot of motor boats.
We had a flying start every 30 sec and I was the 10th to start.
Behind me were some very experienced scullers. Trying to stay in front of them took a lot of energy out of the tank.
After 4k I hit my max and the last 2k was like erging a 10k fly and die

Forgot all about technique, all your tips (Roland I wasn't relaxed

) and had to work really hard towards the finishline, without getting anymore speed.

I finished after 28.09 sec.
Rowing in a skiff for only 1 and 1/2 month I'm very statisfied with the result.
There's enough of room for improvement, but unfortunately I have only 2 weeks left rowing in a single scull.
By the end of octobre it will be too cold and the club-rules say: No rowing 1x's from november till march (But I will visit you in Barcelona Ancho as I'm sure you have other rules about this

)

First race was great and I'm looking forward to next season.

Btw How can I attach a picture to this post? (using a mac)

Cheers,

Pieter

Citroen · Post by **Citroen** » October 8th, 2006, 12:38 pm

Pieter wrote: Btw How can I attach a picture to this post? (using a mac)

Upload the picture to a public image hosting service. I use http://www.flickr.com other folks use http://www.imageshack.us.

Once you have the image available, post on here with tags round the URL.

So posting

Code: Select all

[img]http://static.flickr.com/34/66534268_f1dbf05bf9_m.jpg[/img]

will show this image
http://static.flickr.com/34/66534268_f1dbf05bf9_m.jpg

Alissa · Post by **Alissa** » October 8th, 2006, 12:40 pm

Pieter wrote:Btw How can I attach a picture to this post? (using a mac)Pieter

Hi Pieter,

This site doesn't allow uploads of pictures, so you need to have the image hosted somewhere else on the web. If you don't have a site of your own you want to use, there are any number of photohosting sites...some of them are: http://www.imageshack.us, http://www.photobucket.com, http://www.smugmug.com & http://www.pbase.com.

Once you have the image "up" on the web somewhere else, get the address of the image (if you were on a PC, I'd say to right-click and choose "Properties" and copy the url for the image), but each photohosting site will also tell you what to copy for direct linking. Bring that url back here and paste it in your message, then highlight it, and click the "Img" button above the posting window. That should do it, but be sure to click the "Preview" button to check to see if the image is correctly inserted. If it is, then click the "Submit" button (now below both the preview and the editing window below that).

HTH,

Alissa

tomhz · Post by **tomhz** » October 8th, 2006, 2:33 pm

Well done, Pieter

Not an easy job to do a 6K single scull race with only 6 weeks experience. I am sure your indoor season will succeed as well.

Tom

ancho · Post by **ancho** » October 9th, 2006, 11:23 am

Well done, Pieter!
In our club you're only allowed to row in a single scull if you're 40+, so you will have to wait!

Please let me know if you come, I will try to get you on a gig

Now seriousely: Our club is rowing a 6k regatta in the river Ebro in november, maybe you would like to come along?

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » October 22nd, 2006, 6:18 pm

I was in the Head of the Grand (Lansing, Michigan) this morning in a quad. Stroke seat was my son who has not taken a learn to row course yet and who has only been rowing for a couple of months, but he has watched some videos and gotten some instruction from our rowing club members. I'm seat 3 with the orange hat. Yes, I need more layback and more reach at the catch. I'm working on it. It was my son's first regatta and he is addicted. Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uWU3dK7T7o

Byron

throughthepin · Post by **throughthepin** » December 2nd, 2008, 12:19 am

On the video, the biggest fault is everyone is rowing over the barrel, burying the blades way too deep.

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » December 2nd, 2008, 12:17 pm

throughthepin wrote:On the video, the biggest fault is everyone is rowing over the barrel, burying the blades way too deep.

Yes, you're right. As soon as I saw the video that was the first thing I noticed too. I think we're all keeping the drive more level now.

Rockin Roland · Post by **Rockin Roland** » December 6th, 2008, 6:27 am

Byron, I understand that your son in stroke seat is a very raw beginner. Firstly, why is he in stroke seat? Rowing a head race with that sort of technique is very hard on him and the rest of the crew.

His biggest problem is that he is barely using his legs. Severe bum shoot followed by a violent heave with the arms is leading to very little propulsion of the quad through the water. Consequently there is very little run on the boat. You were having trouble following him and not surprisingly were out of timing with the stroke.

Since we're on the topic of rowing technique, Citroen's photo on the erg also shows some rowing flaws. Way too much lunging forward and hunching over at the catch. If you did that in a boat you would miss about a third of your stroke by getting only fresh air with the blade hence resulting in a inefficient stroke.

A set of slides under your erg would fix that and also help you sit up in a much stronger position at the catch.

Citroen · Post by **Citroen** » December 6th, 2008, 8:22 am

Rockin Roland wrote:Since we're on the topic of rowing technique, Citroen's photo on the erg also shows some rowing flaws. Way too much lunging forward and hunching over at the catch. If you did that in a boat you would miss about a third of your stroke by getting only fresh air with the blade hence resulting in a inefficient stroke.

Thanks for that comment. I know I hunch too far forward for the catch, I've been working on it.

Rockin Roland wrote:A set of slides under your erg would fix that and also help you sit up in a much stronger position at the catch.

I had a go on an erg on slides at BIRC (it also had the wobbly core-perform seat) and got a 1:23split without it feeling too hard. If I ever get my own erg I'll be buying a set of slides to go with it.

Byron Drachman · Post by **Byron Drachman** » December 6th, 2008, 11:32 am

Rockin Roland wrote:Byron, I understand that your son in stroke seat is a very raw beginner. Firstly, why is he in stroke seat? Rowing a head race with that sort of technique is very hard on him and the rest of the crew.

His biggest problem is that he is barely using his legs. Severe bum shoot followed by a violent heave with the arms is leading to very little propulsion of the quad through the water. Consequently there is very little run on the boat. You were having trouble following him and not surprisingly were out of timing with the stroke.

Since we're on the topic of rowing technique, Citroen's photo on the erg also shows some rowing flaws. Way too much lunging forward and hunching over at the catch. If you did that in a boat you would miss about a third of your stroke by getting only fresh air with the blade hence resulting in a inefficient stroke.

A set of slides under your erg would fix that and also help you sit up in a much stronger position at the catch.

Hi Roland,

Those are helpful comments. Thanks.

Yes, my son was a raw beginner. The other scullers besides me had just finished a learn-to-row course, which was mostly sweep rowing, so they had not spent much time sculling. At the time I had a sore back and a dislocated rib and couldn't do much layback or take a long stroke. I've gotten my back and rib fixed in the meantime.

In the meantime several of us have taken more sculling lessons including a sculling course for a small group of us that met six days a week for eight weeks. It was taught by a fabulous coach, so now at least I know what I should be doing. Doing it is another matter.

Maybe next summer I'll get another video and post it.

By the way, last October at the Head of the Grand I got in a quad with a couple of ringers: stroke seat was an expert sculler and a coach. Seat three was another coach who was an outstanding collegiate rower and still active in coaching. I was seat two. Dang, it's fun to be in a boat where the rowers in front of you are doing everything right. We had an absolute beginner as bow seat, who caught a bunch of boat-stopping crabs as we rowed to the starting line. Luckily for us, we had an excellent coxswain/coach who managed to cure his case of crabs by the time we got to the start. We did the entire race with no crabs. It was bow seat's first regatta and he had a nice experience and he'll be back for more, I am sure.

About slides: I never realized how much I liked them until I lent them to a friend with back problems. They helped the friend with back problems so he bought his own. Was I ever anxious to get them back.

While I'm rambling and this is the OTW thread, I'll mention that the river finally froze over about a week ago. For my last row I took out a rec. boat and was breaking through thin sheets of ice. I'm not going to use my beautiful wooden Staempfli as an ice breaker. Once in a while I would slide up onto a thicker piece of ice. If you get stuck on a piece of ice, the drill is this: you bang the blades of the oars up and down, but not so hard that you're abusing the oars, until they break through the ice. It's like that drill where you sit at the catch and raise and lower the blades in and out of the water. Once you break through the ice, you take a stroke. I also carried a hammer so I could lean over and smash the ice if I couldn't break through the ice with the blades. OK, maybe that indicates compulsive behavior: time to go indoors and get on the C2. But you know the difference between OTW and erging so maybe it doesn't sound completely crazy to you.

Byron