WIRAs recap and looking forward
Well loyal readers, here we are - end of the season. To say that it's been a trying season would be a gross understatement; it has been one of the hardest seasons on record. But to say that it hasn't had it's bright moments and flashes of potential would be to overlook the work that has gone into it.
This past weekend we concluded the 2012 season at WIRAs. Given the results from previous regattas we broke down the teams into what we figured would be the most competitive lineups possible. More in a second.
I'm going to take a moment here and explain an attitude change that I wholeheartedly agree with and that is the idea of competitive athletes/lineups at championship races. A rule that we established this season was that the antiquated idea of "everyone gets to row" is done and at certain regattas - championships - only the most competitive athletes and lineups would race. We would make certain boats a priority and work to get them into the races that we felt best suited the team as a whole even if the entire team didn't race. I know that some would find this unfair but we are rewarding athletes who work hard, not just show up because that is a given and not just go through practice on the coat tails of others, with as good a chance as possible at doing something. Our sport lasts 9 months plus the summer off season. Spring is a short 2.5 month burst so each athlete has 6.5 months plus summer to put themselves in a position to earn a seat or make themselves a priority athlete. Some choose to take advantage of that and some choose to rely on others to earn them hardware and I'm glad that the attitude this season and going forward separates the two groups. We also decided to use championship regattas and the possibility of earning hardware as a reward for hard working athletes.
For WIRAs we broke the women's eight down into two fours, a novice and a varsity. The men's team was more difficult and in the end it came down to a judgement call between sending a varsity four and a novice four - the boat we eventually settled upon.
We drove down Thursday morning arriving in Sacramento that night. This gave us all day Friday to practice and detox as well as the chance for the athletes to do a little shopping. We rigged and practiced Friday afternoon before a great team dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, a Willamette tradition.
Saturday were the heats. The weather was fantastic and the wind from the previous day had decided to take the morning off. The novice men just missed qualifying for the Grand Finals, finishing less than 2 seconds behind 3rd place but earning the top seed for the Petite Finals that afternoon. The varsity women had a very solid race despite being in an outside lane and qualified for Grand Finals on Sunday as did the novice women. \
After a few hours of rest and recovery, the novice men launched for the Petite Final later on Saturday. Once again they drew lane 1 - a double first for me as a coach - and laid down an incredibly fast time, finishing 1st in the race and 7th overall. In their two races they knocked 24 seconds off their best 2k time dropping from a 7:32 down to a very fast 7:08 beating several D1 schools in the process. Despite missing the main finals, they were very pleased with their results.
Sunday had the two women's boats racing in their finals early in the morning. The varsity women laid down an excellent race and finished 2nd, just 3 seconds behind Humboldt State while the novice women finished 3rd behind USD and Western Washington. It was a very impressive finish to their seasons and the season on the whole.
Sadly our season comes to an end without more post season. Unfortunately we run one week short of being able to take the women's boats back to Philly for Dad Vails but finishing 2nd and 3rd at WIRAs is more than just a consolation prize and we return 6 of the 8 rowers plus both coxswains next season - when we will have the opportunity to go to Philly should we have the boats. On the men's side it was an eye opening experience. We should return the entire boat plus the spare we brought down and now after this weekend they can see the speed that we face and their resolve to dedicate more time and effort to off season and winter training should increase.
Overall it was the best way to end the season and an ending that was much needed by this coaching staff. While we don't graduate anyone from the men's team, we do lose two outstanding seniors on the women's team that really helped make that varsity four go. However we do reload next season and the commitment shown by the novice women really helps set a new attitude for the women's team on the whole.
Next year should be a very interesting one for both teams. Until then loyal readers, this has been the 2012 spring regatta season. Thank you and good night.
This past weekend we concluded the 2012 season at WIRAs. Given the results from previous regattas we broke down the teams into what we figured would be the most competitive lineups possible. More in a second.
I'm going to take a moment here and explain an attitude change that I wholeheartedly agree with and that is the idea of competitive athletes/lineups at championship races. A rule that we established this season was that the antiquated idea of "everyone gets to row" is done and at certain regattas - championships - only the most competitive athletes and lineups would race. We would make certain boats a priority and work to get them into the races that we felt best suited the team as a whole even if the entire team didn't race. I know that some would find this unfair but we are rewarding athletes who work hard, not just show up because that is a given and not just go through practice on the coat tails of others, with as good a chance as possible at doing something. Our sport lasts 9 months plus the summer off season. Spring is a short 2.5 month burst so each athlete has 6.5 months plus summer to put themselves in a position to earn a seat or make themselves a priority athlete. Some choose to take advantage of that and some choose to rely on others to earn them hardware and I'm glad that the attitude this season and going forward separates the two groups. We also decided to use championship regattas and the possibility of earning hardware as a reward for hard working athletes.
For WIRAs we broke the women's eight down into two fours, a novice and a varsity. The men's team was more difficult and in the end it came down to a judgement call between sending a varsity four and a novice four - the boat we eventually settled upon.
We drove down Thursday morning arriving in Sacramento that night. This gave us all day Friday to practice and detox as well as the chance for the athletes to do a little shopping. We rigged and practiced Friday afternoon before a great team dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, a Willamette tradition.
Saturday were the heats. The weather was fantastic and the wind from the previous day had decided to take the morning off. The novice men just missed qualifying for the Grand Finals, finishing less than 2 seconds behind 3rd place but earning the top seed for the Petite Finals that afternoon. The varsity women had a very solid race despite being in an outside lane and qualified for Grand Finals on Sunday as did the novice women. \
After a few hours of rest and recovery, the novice men launched for the Petite Final later on Saturday. Once again they drew lane 1 - a double first for me as a coach - and laid down an incredibly fast time, finishing 1st in the race and 7th overall. In their two races they knocked 24 seconds off their best 2k time dropping from a 7:32 down to a very fast 7:08 beating several D1 schools in the process. Despite missing the main finals, they were very pleased with their results.
Sunday had the two women's boats racing in their finals early in the morning. The varsity women laid down an excellent race and finished 2nd, just 3 seconds behind Humboldt State while the novice women finished 3rd behind USD and Western Washington. It was a very impressive finish to their seasons and the season on the whole.
Sadly our season comes to an end without more post season. Unfortunately we run one week short of being able to take the women's boats back to Philly for Dad Vails but finishing 2nd and 3rd at WIRAs is more than just a consolation prize and we return 6 of the 8 rowers plus both coxswains next season - when we will have the opportunity to go to Philly should we have the boats. On the men's side it was an eye opening experience. We should return the entire boat plus the spare we brought down and now after this weekend they can see the speed that we face and their resolve to dedicate more time and effort to off season and winter training should increase.
Overall it was the best way to end the season and an ending that was much needed by this coaching staff. While we don't graduate anyone from the men's team, we do lose two outstanding seniors on the women's team that really helped make that varsity four go. However we do reload next season and the commitment shown by the novice women really helps set a new attitude for the women's team on the whole.
Next year should be a very interesting one for both teams. Until then loyal readers, this has been the 2012 spring regatta season. Thank you and good night.
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