July Race Reports
2017 Holland Beker Regatta
Czech sculling star Ondrej Synek was the first across the line in the men’s single final at the 2017 Holland Beker Regatta June 24-25 on the Netherlands’ historic Bosbaan course. The four-time world singles champion and Rio bronze medalist got the better of Croatia’s Damir Martin, the runner up in last year’s oh-so-close Olympic final, covering the distance in 6:38.77 to Martin’s 6:42.43. Third-place honors went to Germany’s Stephan Krueger, who ended up with a time of 6:47.27. In the women’s single, Dutch sculler Inge Janssen edged Great Britain’s Mary Jones for gold. Janssen, a bronze medalist in the quad in Rio, turned in a 7:26.97, with Jones in hot pursuit in 7:29.58. New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, fourth in the women’s single at last summer’s Olympic regatta, finished third overall in 7:33.26.
2017 Independence Day Regatta
Penn AC boated the two fastest under-19 men’s eights at this year’s Independence Day Regatta in Philadelphia July 1-2, with the hometown club’s A entry covering the Schuylkill River 2k course in 6:14.52. Penn AC B was well back in 6:23.86, with Vesper Boat Club claiming third in 6:29.63. The results were remarkably similar on the women’s side, with Penn AC claiming first and third and Vesper sneaking in for silver. Penn AC A finished in a time of 7:01.98, with Vesper a few lengths back in 7:07.81. Penn AC B crossed the line in 7:31.79. In the final of the women’s eight, Vesper Boat Club emerged from a tight battle with Community Rowing, Inc. of Boston to claim top honors. Vesper crossed the line in 6:46.04, just 1.67 seconds ahead of CRI. Riverside Boat Club, also of Boston, rounded out the top three in 6:53.40. The final of the men’s open eight offered fewer fireworks, with PNRA/Mercer walking away with the title. The Princeton, N.J.-based club covered the 2,000 meters in 5:48.6, with Riverside posting a finishing time of 6:05.53. Close behind for third was Vesper Boat Club in 6:06.14. A rarity in the summer race circuit, the octuple sculls title went to Philadelphia’s Crescent Boat Club in 6:17.60. Nearly 10 seconds back in second place was a composite crew rowing under the Crescent/Temple/Whitemarsh banner. Locals Malta Boat Club finished yet another 20 seconds back in third. A mid-summer must for rowers looking to burnish their summer rowing skills, the Independence Day Regatta was first held in 1880 and was once known as the People’s Regatta.
2017 U.S. Under-23 and Junior Trials
With star turns in the single at the U.S. under-23 and junior trials June 26-29 in New Jersey, both Penn AC sculler Kyle Mabry and Naragansett’s Emily Kallfelz earned the right to wear U.S. team kit at this summer’s under-23 worlds in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Kallfelz, fourth in the double at last year’s world championships, finished in 6:59.50, well ahead of second-place Kalia Krichko of GMS, who crossed the line in 8:11.85. Conshohocken’s Katherine Horvat finished third overall with a time of 8:16.77. Mabry’s victory was equally clear-cut, with the Boston University graduate posting a 7:18.65. Connor Donadio of GMS was the second-fastest finisher in the field, with a 7:30.99. Rounding out the top three, and mirroring the women’s results, was Michael Yaron of Conshocken. Mabry and Kallfelz were among 16 crews in West Windsor that had their tickets punched for Bulgaria. USRowing will boat 21 crews in all at the under-23 worlds, with a total of 69 athletes taking part. On the junior front, Clark Dean, rowing under the USRowing affiliation, ran away with the under-19 men’s single title with 27-second rout of the field. An under-23 bronze medalist in the quad in 2016, Dean put his bow across the finish line in 7:18.03, with Aaron Fernandez of Long Island finishing in second in 7:42.08. Dylan Dalpedri of Parati, claimed third in 7:49.23. Claire Campbell of Maritime Boat Club took first in the women’s under-19 single in 8:20.09. Naragansett’s Kathleen Dolan took second in 8:34.80. Dean and Campbell were among six crews earning berths for Bulgaria at trials.
New Worlds Order
While records fell and new faces emerged atop the leaderboard at the penultimate World Rowing Cup in Poznan, the final stop on the three-race circuit in Lucerne July 7-9 saw some of international rowing’s most seasoned veterans take center stage as they prepare for the world championships in Sarasota, Florida. However, in some cases, those veterans were out to prove that old dogs could indeed learn new tricks.
How so? Look no further than the men’s pair final and you’ll discover that the Sinkovic Brothers’ campaign to switch from sculling to sweep has begun auspiciously for the 2016 Olympic gold medalists. The Croatian duo, who own the world best time in the double from the 2014 world championships in Amsterdam, landed on the podium in their first international appearance in the pair, taking silver behind a new-look Kiwi combination made up of James Hunter and Thomas Murray. And speaking of switching disciplines, Hunter last raced at the 2016 Olympic Games in the lightweight men’s four for New Zealand, placing fifth overall—one of the first in what could be an interesting trend (given the removal of the lightweight men’s four from the Olympic Program) in former lightweights moving over into heavyweight crews and making a name for themselves.
The women’s pair was a repeat of the second World Rowing Cup for gold and silver, with New Zealand’s Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler taking top honors ahead of USRowing’s Megan Kalmoe and Tracy Eisser once again, though this time New Zealand duo didn’t set a new world best time in the process (as they did in Poznan, posting a 6:49.08). (Could these women take over the “Kiwi Pair” moniker after the departure of Hamish Bond and Eric Murray from the sport? Given they have a track record that already includes under-23 and senior world best times, it’s starting to seem like they should.)
In the big boats, it was Romania that earned the gold in the women’s eight—a nation once synonymous with podium finishes in that boat class, but in recent years struggling to find a footing against the likes of the U.S., the Netherlands, and Canada. However, the Romanians took bronze ahead of New Zealand in Rio, and edged the Kiwis again in Lucerne, this time by a margin of just over two seconds, with Great Britain finishing a distant third in a field that did not include an American entry.
Meanwhile on the men’s side, it was another world best time-holding crew from Poznan repeating as champion in Lucerne, with Germany’s vaunted ‘Deutschlandachter’ just holding off a great push from Australia. In the end, just seven tenths of a second separated gold from silver. (The Aussie crew could be one to watch at the upcoming world championships, with a nice mixture of youth and experience, including Princeton grad Tim Masters in four seat.) Taking third place was the Netherlands, and, showcasing growing Dutch depth, a second Netherlands crew took fifth place, with Romania taking fourth overall.
Switching to sculling, again it was Robbie Manson of New Zealand running away from the field—the double Olympian in the quad and double sculls has been having a breakout season, including setting a new world best time in Poznan. And Lucerne was no different. After a slow start that saw him in fifth place at the 500-meter mark, Manson opened up an impressive lead on a very experienced A-final field that included Cuba’s Angel Fournier Rodriguez and three-time Olympic medalist Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic, with Manson eventually winning by roughly four seconds. Rodriguez took silver, with Stanislau Shcharbachenia of Belarus (not yet a household name, but certainly with some pedigree, having placed fifth in the men’s single in Rio, and third at this year’s European championships) rounding out the medals.
How good does Manson have it going? If Manson continues to perform at such a high level, it could complicate any potential comeback to the elite ranks for reigning Olympic gold medalist Mahé Drysdale.
In the women’s single, USRowing’s Felice Mueller had an impressive debut at the senior level, moving over from sweep, where she has had tremendous success in small boats (Mueller has done the majority of her international racing in the pair, four, and eight, including a fourth-place finish in the pair in Rio). In the end, Mueller just missed the podium behind experienced Austrian sculler Magdalena Lobnig (gold medalist a month earlier in Poznan), who edged Mueller by less than one tenth of a second for bronze.
Ahead of both of them was another North American sculler: Canada’s Carling Zeeman. Zeeman is coming off an 11th place finish in the single in Rio, and looking like a solid contender in one of rowing’s deepest fields heading into the next quadrennial. Interestingly, it looks like the top end of the field may be changing with Olympian Victoria Thornley of Great Britain (who earned a silver along with rowing legend Katherine Grainger in the double in Rio) and Switzerland’s Jeanine Gmelin—winner in Lucerne—moving up in the ranks.
Finally, in the lightweight events, it was New Zealand’s women’s combination of Zoe McBride—a world best time-holder in the women’s lightweight single and former under-23 and senior world champion in that event—and Jackie Kiddle continuing the Kiwis’ prowess in the lightweight double, while the men’s side saw Olympic champions Jeremie Azou and Pierre Houin of France extend their winning streak. In fact, to find the last time that Azou finished second, you have to go all the way back to 2014 (and even then, it took a new world best time from South African Olympic champions John Smith and James Thompson to keep Azou off the top of the podium).
What remains to be seen is whether nations with strong traditions in the lightweight four take the same approach as New Zealand and James Hunter, moving elite lightweights into heavyweight boats, or whether the fields in the lightweight doubles continue to grow ever deeper. In any case, one thing is clear: The best of the best generally find their way to the podium, regardless of weight or boat class.
What’s Your Race Plan?
The lanes may be straight, but you still need a road map to reach the finish line. Your race plan is the tool that will guide you there. Remember to keep it simple but positive. Write your plan clearly on a piece of paper and copy it for each crewmember. Include cue words that help you maintain your technique as the buoys tick by. Know the sequence of the race and mentally rehearse it before practices and in the evenings. Simulate pieces in training to refine each part of the race, especially if you have a known rough spot. Revise as needed. Use your formula to stay focused and in the moment. A good plan should allow you to draw upon all the energy and mental power you have and also work through the pain. It reinforces your resolve and gives you the best chance for an optimal performance. Your race plan need not be complicated, either. It can be as simple as a few reminders every 100 to 250 meters—calls like “swing,” “length,” or “rhythm.” Or it can be more detailed, with precise stroke counts and slide lengths at the start and tactical calls emphasizing technique and power at the major distance markers of 500, 1,000, and 1,500 meters.
Gasping for Air
Have you ever thought about how you breathe during rowing? I have, and my initial thoughts turned out to be all wrong. I believed you should inhale during the last part of the recovery so that you reach the catch with full lungs. This pattern seemed to make sense on the first view, since filling your lungs with air would help to stabilize the core and presumably protect the back—similar to how we breathe when lifting weights. But I was mistaken. Why? Because creating such pressure within the torso also compresses the heart, thereby inhibiting the massive blood flow our sport requires. The catch position already increases pressure within the torso, pushing the intestines into the rib cage, so air-filled lungs would only be in the way. Rowers instead engage in a different breathing pattern. We exhale at both turning points of the stroke and inhale during the drive and the recovery. On the drive, we stabilize the core to maintain posture partly by contracting the diaphragm, which causes inhaling. At normal training stroke rates, we only have time for one breath on the drive and one on the recovery. This is one reason why we normally do not teach rowers how to breathe. Everyone finds their proper breathing pattern naturally.
Attention, Campers
There are many reasons to attend a rowing camp, including the potential impact it has on your recruiting status. But like so many things, it comes down ultimately to the type of camp you choose to attend and what you put into it.
Instructional camps affiliated with colleges are common and typically less than a week. Living on campus and meeting the coaching staff is a little like taking the college for a test drive. Depending upon skill level and commitment, some can improve significantly during these camps. They’re also an opportunity to show coaches how you row and how coachable you are. These camps will not, however, help you train like student-athletes. No college-based summer camp for high school rowers comes remotely close to the demands of college rowing.
Significantly, unlike in many other sports, rowing coaches generally do not use their camp as a primary tool for evaluating prospects. The top programs’ camps rarely help a prospect get recruited unless she is an athlete from another sport and new to rowing. Instead, colleges mostly use their camps to supplement assistant coaches’ meager salaries.
Competitive racing camps offer increased opportunities and benefits. They are also longer, more demanding, and typically more expensive. College coaches frequently visit these camps scouting for talent. Performing well at club nationals or Canadian Henley increases a prospect’s college options. These camps also give prospects a better sense of the athletic demands of college rowing. They cannot replicate the challenge of balancing one’s studies with rowing, but they include two-a-day practices, something many college teams regularly do.
Other camps are designed for more than rowing. Rowing is a vehicle for international travel, personal growth, and/or long-term development. These camps can better prepare you for college rowing, but unless you improve on the erg during the camp it won’t substantially increase your recruitability.
USRowing camps receive a lot of attention in the recruiting process. Attending a weekend identification camp will not, in and of itself, help because the results are not shared with college coaches. Development camps are valuable but not necessarily a better option than staying home and racing with your local club. Junior national team selection camps are by invitation only and can help significantly. Nearly everyone who attends selection camp gets recruited by multiple colleges.
No matter where you go, however, behavior and attitude are all-important. Show college coaches that rowing is your passion and priority. Demonstrate a clear commitment to improve. Chip in, help out, and don’t play it too cool; humility along with ambition impresses coaches.
