Schuylkill Navy Regatta: Don't Forget the Medal!

June 17, 2011: Pre Race

Loaded Izzy all by myself!

Since Philly is about four hours away from Poughkeepsie, I wanted to stay overnight somewhere closer. Marissa, my friend and a fellow Marist rower, lives in Jackson, NJ, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes from Philly. Her family was kind enough to feed and house me before my race (and also let me play with their cats!)

Amusing Dexter with a flashlight

Marissa's mom's AMAZING dinner: chicken and potatoes and salad

Tigerlily is happy for the attention

June 18, 2011: Race Day

Rigging in the sunshine

Marissa and I only had to get up at 5:45 a.m. to hit the road for Philly. We left at about 6:30 a.m. and despite very confusing Google Maps directions, we made it to the course around 8 a.m, just in time to set up and help Sean launch.

Sean launching

View from the launching dock

Sean Clarke, 1st racer on the water

 

My race was at 10:35 and Sean had recommended that I launch about half an hour before. Even though my race was not a 2k (it was a 1k), he said that I still had to follow the traffic pattern for the people in the 2k races. I assumed that this meant I had to go all the way to the 2k start and once I launched, that’s where I headed. I had a decent amount of time to warm up once I was down there but suddenly, it seemed like I was the only boat on the river. I had to row up the course until the Strawberry Mansion Bridge before I saw anyone who looked like they were in my race. Apparently, all the other novice singles had waited at the Bridge for our race to start. Well, at least I got a good warm up in…about 3k more than my competition!

 

I raced from the 1st blue line (1000m) to the 2nd yellow line (finish line)

The Race

I was in lane 2, with my competitors in lanes 3, 4, and 5. Even though I’ve raced in Philly tons of times, I had never only raced 1000m. The start for my race was at the dock of the St. Joe’s boathouse, which is the halfway point during the collegiate spring racing season. I hoped that this would make the race feel easier. However, even though 1000m is shorter than 2000m, it still feels really long. 

Once again, as soon as the official said “GO!”, my brain shut off. I know I did a start, and I think I did some power strokes but I was focused completely on keeping my bowball ahead of the other racers. After about 250m, the girl in lane 5 went off course and veered into the middle of the course. Fortunately, she was behind the pack so she didn’t interfere. The three of us pushed a little bit over to the middle of the course, so I was in lane 2 ½ (if there was such a thing) when I passed the start of the island. I knew that, even though there was a good chance I was going to win, I wanted to push it. My body seemed to know that the island meant “sprint” without me even thinking about it.  I passed the island and knew that in an 8+, the end of the island meant 20 more strokes. 20 strokes in an eight is definitely not equivalent to 20 strokes in a single. I think I took 30 more strokes before I finally heard the “BEEP” signifying that I had finished the race.

 

 See more video from Schuylkill Navy Regatta on my Youtube channel. 

After the race, I was my normal oblivious self and missed the fact that the officials were waving me to the medal dock to get a medal. I knew that winners got a medal, but the thought didn’t even cross my mind after the race. Like I said before, I think my brain shuts off when I row…and sometimes forgets to come back on. This meant I had to walk all the way back to the grandstand to get my medal. The officials thought that it was pretty amusing, at least. 

After much ado...

Schuylkill Navy Regatta medal

Since Sean unfortunately didn’t qualify for his final, we de-rigged the boats and headed off an adventure for authentic Philly cheesesteaks. We ended up at Dallesandro’s, which was AWESOME. I definitely plan on making a return visit when I head back for IDR.

Small place, big cheesesteaks

Perfect for hungry rowers!

Results
Can be found here.

Overall Impressions of the Race
This was a good step up from Derby. The officials were more official, but it wasn't so crazy or crowded that they were intensely scary. I got to race on a course that I have raced on many times throughout my rowing career, but I got to experience it in a different way. It was a relaxed atmosphere while still being a competitive race. And the medals were cool, once I made it to the grandstand to get mine! I think this was a good race for me at this stage, worth the travel time and money.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to Marissa and her family for being generous enough to give me a delicious meal and a place to sleep. It was also great to have Marissa at the race for support and a lot of laughs. Once again, thanks to Sean for taking video and lending me oars. And special thanks to my beloved car, Izzy, for not hating me for the 450+ miles that we traveled.

Maybe if I can just get my bow close enough, I can spear a watermelon! (Picture taken safely at a red light on the trip home)