June 1, 2006 - Selection Camp Day 1
The first day of camp was a success on many fronts. For one, I posted the fastest time on our 1 kilometer ergometer test. My time was a 3:11, less than a second off my personal best. I’d hoped to be around 3:08, but I’ll live with this score for now (since I have to).
The day was also encouraging in that many strong athletes showed up for camp. Honestly, the rowers who are here are much like what I would have expected. There is a huge spectrum in both age and talent. There are serious collegiate rowers like Jesse (Princeton University), experienced master’s rowers like Aerial (Marin Rowing Club), beginning rowers and high-school students like Andrew (Greenwich High School), and some athletes who are recreational, at best. Of the 9 who are here competing along with me hoping to fill one of the seats in the 4+, I’d say there are definitely enough good rowers to field a strong crew. I fully expect this camp to grow every year, especially as we move towards the Paralympics, and I am going to dedicate myself to making sure that we really start serious recruiting and development programs to cultivate younger rowers, even if it means that the task of making the team becomes progressively harder for me.
The spectrum of disabilities among the competitors is also fairly wide, though perhaps not as wide as some might expect. Athletes competing to row the single have only arm ability. Those hoping to fill the double can use both their trunks and arms, and the four will be filled with those of us with leg, trunk, and arm use. In the latter category, there are mainly blind and amputee rowers. By rule, the four must have at least 2 women and can have no more than 2 visually-impaired athletes. I am told that the gender requirement might not stick in the long run but, for now, it is a good political tool for encouraging less open countries to involve women in athletics. The VI requirement is probably just to make sure that as many athletes as possible are given an equal chance to compete fairly.
I can already tell that Jesse is a strong rower. This should be obvious to anyone who knows anything about collegiate rowing, since I don’t know of any weak athletes coming out of Princeton these days. He seems like a nice guy, though he’s very quiet. Jesse was seated directly to my right during the erg test, which was helpful since hearing the power he was generating really motivated me to push hard. His time was very close to mine. I wonder if he is as intimidated by me as I am by him.
Our coach, Karen, seems like a straight shooter. It strikes me that she isn’t the type to take crap from anyone and that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Both of these are good coaching traits.
Today’s water work was pretty simple. We got in the boats in the morning to adjust the foot stretchers, slides, and riggers to our specifications. In the afternoon, we took a light row up the river and back. I was seated in the stroke seat which, for now, is rigged on the port side. I am told that tomorrow I’ll be switching to starboard which is a little nerve wracking since, of the thousands of hours of rowing that I have done, only about 3 have been on starboard. Let’s hope that I catch on quickly, because head-to-head seat racing begins tomorrow afternoon.
The little bit of rowing we did really wasn’t pretty. I felt pretty good and strong, but as a boat we struggled a bit. Everyone was just a little nervous and I could tell that some people were in seats that were foreign to them. I did not get to row with Jesse or Aerial, but I hope Karen will put us together tomorrow.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Jocelyn gave me a couple new good luck charms to go along with the awesome t-shirt that Tank, another Wake rower, made for me. Apparently the local grocery store has a machine that dispenses random rubber band bracelets with motivational words imprinted on them, much like the “Live Strong” band I already wear. Incredibly, Jocelyn put in $0.50 this morning and first got a gold bracelet that says “Courage.” Encouraged by her first find, she dropped another couple of quarters into the machine and out came a black bracelet that says “Faith.” She was amazed, as was I when she told me the story on the way to the camp site. Now I’ve got Wake colors and Faith and Courage on my left wrist. We laughed that anyone else probably would have been annoyed at getting a black bracelet with the word “Faith” on it, but, for me, it’s just perfect. In any case, I can see the contrast of the darker band against my skin, and I looked it a lot while rowing to get pumped up today. Go Deacs and go Jocelyn.
The day was also encouraging in that many strong athletes showed up for camp. Honestly, the rowers who are here are much like what I would have expected. There is a huge spectrum in both age and talent. There are serious collegiate rowers like Jesse (Princeton University), experienced master’s rowers like Aerial (Marin Rowing Club), beginning rowers and high-school students like Andrew (Greenwich High School), and some athletes who are recreational, at best. Of the 9 who are here competing along with me hoping to fill one of the seats in the 4+, I’d say there are definitely enough good rowers to field a strong crew. I fully expect this camp to grow every year, especially as we move towards the Paralympics, and I am going to dedicate myself to making sure that we really start serious recruiting and development programs to cultivate younger rowers, even if it means that the task of making the team becomes progressively harder for me.
The spectrum of disabilities among the competitors is also fairly wide, though perhaps not as wide as some might expect. Athletes competing to row the single have only arm ability. Those hoping to fill the double can use both their trunks and arms, and the four will be filled with those of us with leg, trunk, and arm use. In the latter category, there are mainly blind and amputee rowers. By rule, the four must have at least 2 women and can have no more than 2 visually-impaired athletes. I am told that the gender requirement might not stick in the long run but, for now, it is a good political tool for encouraging less open countries to involve women in athletics. The VI requirement is probably just to make sure that as many athletes as possible are given an equal chance to compete fairly.
I can already tell that Jesse is a strong rower. This should be obvious to anyone who knows anything about collegiate rowing, since I don’t know of any weak athletes coming out of Princeton these days. He seems like a nice guy, though he’s very quiet. Jesse was seated directly to my right during the erg test, which was helpful since hearing the power he was generating really motivated me to push hard. His time was very close to mine. I wonder if he is as intimidated by me as I am by him.
Our coach, Karen, seems like a straight shooter. It strikes me that she isn’t the type to take crap from anyone and that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Both of these are good coaching traits.
Today’s water work was pretty simple. We got in the boats in the morning to adjust the foot stretchers, slides, and riggers to our specifications. In the afternoon, we took a light row up the river and back. I was seated in the stroke seat which, for now, is rigged on the port side. I am told that tomorrow I’ll be switching to starboard which is a little nerve wracking since, of the thousands of hours of rowing that I have done, only about 3 have been on starboard. Let’s hope that I catch on quickly, because head-to-head seat racing begins tomorrow afternoon.
The little bit of rowing we did really wasn’t pretty. I felt pretty good and strong, but as a boat we struggled a bit. Everyone was just a little nervous and I could tell that some people were in seats that were foreign to them. I did not get to row with Jesse or Aerial, but I hope Karen will put us together tomorrow.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Jocelyn gave me a couple new good luck charms to go along with the awesome t-shirt that Tank, another Wake rower, made for me. Apparently the local grocery store has a machine that dispenses random rubber band bracelets with motivational words imprinted on them, much like the “Live Strong” band I already wear. Incredibly, Jocelyn put in $0.50 this morning and first got a gold bracelet that says “Courage.” Encouraged by her first find, she dropped another couple of quarters into the machine and out came a black bracelet that says “Faith.” She was amazed, as was I when she told me the story on the way to the camp site. Now I’ve got Wake colors and Faith and Courage on my left wrist. We laughed that anyone else probably would have been annoyed at getting a black bracelet with the word “Faith” on it, but, for me, it’s just perfect. In any case, I can see the contrast of the darker band against my skin, and I looked it a lot while rowing to get pumped up today. Go Deacs and go Jocelyn.
posted by Jamie at 2:07 AM
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