By Don Sullivan
The Head of the Charles – October 23, 2010
This is one of the greatest rowing regattas in the world. Everyone should have it on their bucket list. Several NRC members were competing in this year’s race. This may have been the first time ever that an NRC rower was to be seen racing down the Charles. And it was a very respectable showing. Erin Ketelle, rowing in the women’s single event, came in 8th place out of a field of 34 rowers – from around the country and the world. Her time was 23:15, not that far off the winning time of 21:51. Maybe next year, right Erin?
Amanda Joyner and Kristian Selders raced in the mixed doubles event, finishing 18 out of 25 with a time of 21:47, behind the winning time of 19:42.
Secret City Head Race – October 30, 2010
Secret City Head Race
I’d tell you the results, but then I’d have to kill you. Seriously, some jerk will have them posted on Wikileaks by next week, so we may as well tell you about it here and now. Overall, this was a fun day which featured our first use of the new blades, several club members rowing their first races, and several races which featured NRC boats going against each other as well as other clubs. Although heavy fog delayed the start of racing in the morning, the rest of the day turned out to be wonderful.
Scullers: Good ole Forrest came in first in the men’s single with a time of 21:26. He then also came in first in a composite double with a sculler from Oak Ridge. I think he could have finished first with the Vandy Great Dane rowing bow seat.
Men: The novice men’s four of Steve Patrick, Brad Norris, Abass Aquaye, and Lawrence Yoo, rowing their first race together, and for the bow pair their first race ever, finished second to a novice four from Oak Ridge to claim silver. It was all good once they got off the dock without flipping.
The next men’s event was the four, which featured two NRC crews battling one other from host club Oak Ridge. Due to some confusion on the docks, the NRC “A” boat launched with no bow number and the other boat’s set of blades. The “B” boat, launching second, thoughtfully grabbed the missing bow number and provided it to the “A” boat on the way up to the start, thus helping their teammates avoid a hefty time penalty or having to row back in to get the missing digits. The result was that the “A” boat, with a time of 23:43, beat both Oak Ridge and the “B” boat, turning in an aggressive last 1500 meters. This charge was led by stroke Josh Herring, rowing on port instead of his customary starboard, and pulling hard to impress his new daughter, wife, and in-laws. (Just think what we could do if we all had in-laws present….) It is a great feeling to know that your teammates have your back, so thanks to the “B” boat.
Women: The women’s eight turned in a time of 24:49 and finished third to the Atlanta crew, who had a winning time of 22:37. Oak Ridge came in second. The women’s four was second to Atlanta, with a time of 23:49, behind the winning 23:04.
Mixed eights: This was an all-NRC event, with two boats entered, after Oak Ridge scratched. The “A” boat was stroked by Josh Herring and coxed by Melissa Mcguire. The “B” boat was stroked by Dave Franklin and coxed by Kren Teren. Novice rowers Debbie McCachern and Lisa Delaney were in their first races. The official results were a win by the “A” boat in a time of 22:12.75, beating the “B” boat time of 22:12.9, (a .15 second split) caused by a 30 second penalty assessed to the “B” boat for missing a buoy. Since the “A” boat had also missed a buoy and apparently gotten away with it (along with a concurrent profanity that might have been good for a couple of minutes worth of penalties), the good sportsmanship that had been so manifest earlier in the day in the men’s four event came to the fore once again, and the “A” boat enthusiastically gave their gold medals to the “B” boat. I’m sure that if there had been anyone other than the NRC present to witness this event, there would not have been a dry eye in the crowd. By that time of the day it was pretty much us and the cleaning crew.
Head of the Hooch – November 6, 2010
The Head of the Charles is commonly considered to be the biggest and most prestigious regatta in world, next to the Olympics and World Championships held each year. This year the estimated number of rowers at the Charles was in excess of 8000. At this year’s Hooch there were 9248 rowers and 1922 boats. Look out, Charles!
Once again, the weather was cold but beautiful for racing. Unlike last year, the river current did not resemble the log flume ride at Dollywood.
Head of the Hooch
Women’s team: The women’s eight, rowing for a cure for breast cancer, finished 24 out of 27 entries with a time of 19:48, behind the winning time of 16:58 posted by the Orlando Rowing Club. The women’s four did better, finishing 12th out of 29 with a time of 20:26, behind the St. Louis “A” boat at 18:44.
Men’s team: The men’s four came in 12th with a time of 19:04, beating Rocket City, Oak Ridge, the Arkansas Boat Club, and the Quad Cities YMCA, and almost tied the Carolina Masters Crew, being 4 seconds behind due to their age handicap. The men were 7 seconds behind Miami Beach, and beat two other crews in raw time, but got beat by their handicap. This race featured the first outing by cox Chez Hughes. She did an outstanding job. They hit one buoy on the upper half of the course, and when it rolled down the port side of the boat, it was feared they would be penalized for being off the course. Chez argued that the boat was on the line, and that the buoy could have rolled either way off the bow, and so was not off the course. This must have been a good argument, for there was no penalty. The crew loves Chez, who appears to have a great future as a public defender, should she tire of her teaching career. The men’s eight was remarkably consistent, again finishing in 12th place. They beat Oak Ridge and Rocket City, but finished behind Asheville.
Our mixed four, racing in the fading light in the last event of the first day, turned in a time of 21:43, behind the winning time of 18:32 posted by the team from “Masters Coaching”.
Da scullers: Forrest came in first with a time of 18:28 in the master’s men’s singles event. He and Erin then went on to post a first in the mixed open doubles event, with a time of 18:20. That is two gold medals for Forrest in the biggest regatta in the USA, if you’re still counting. Amanda Joyner also rowed in the mixed open double event, with her stand-in partner (commonly referred to as “The Unknown Sculler”), and they finished 9th with a time of 20:55. In the master’s women’s single event, the NRC had three rowers compete. Erin took 8th (out of 16) with a time of 21:12. Lizabeth Theiss was 13th at 22:37 and Amanda Joyner was 14th at 22:58. Later the women rowed the quad to an 18th place finish, with a time of 19:15.
NRC won 102 club team points at the Hooch, which put us in 8th place overall, the winner being Orlando with 276 points, and second being St. Louis with 232.
