June 2 - Selection Camp Day 2

As they say in rowing, I am now officially “bisweptual” since my great accomplishment today was mastering rowing on the starboard side of the boat. Initially, I was concerned that making the transition from life-long port would prove difficult, but good coaching and a bit of luck made it easier than I’d hoped to at least develop a functional ability on the new side.
Still, I can’t say that I returned from practice this afternoon in the highest of spirits. I sometimes forget what it is like to row with younger athletes and the effects that one person can have on a crew. It’s interesting, a single rower cannot improve a boat drastically, but one rower can totally destroy a boat. If you combine the youth of some of those on my boat today with my inability as a starboard, it made for some rocky rowing.
During our morning session we simply did drills which helped me and others acclimate to rowing on different sides of the boat from those we were used to. At lunch, the Executive Director of US Rowing spoke to us about his expectations for our team. It was very motivating and encouraging to hear from him. I feel like US Rowing takes this program very seriously and expects great things from us. In any case, to be included along side the senior team and the other Olympic athletes is quite an honor. I’m not sure that any other sport has such a close relationship between its Olympic and Paralympic program.
With the afternoon heat also came the joy of seat racing. For those of you who aren’t rowing inclined, basically this means that we took out two boats and did a lot of sprints, trading personnel between each to see what combination of rowers made the boat move the fastest. My boat did not do as well as I had hoped. We led halfway through each 500 meter peace, but we couldn’t seem to sustain our power and the other boat always took us in the last few strokes. Inconsistent effort is one of my soap box issues as a coach, so I really had to fight to keep my poker face going and not get after the other people on my boat. Once a coach, always a coach.
Personally, my rowing was not pretty. Rowing starboard for drills is one thing, rowing starboard and trying to drill it is another. I felt like I was only able to use between 70%-80% of my potential power. I do not think that I was directly in the coach’s line of fire as far as today’s round of seat racing went, but I expect to have to defend my seat tomorrow. Hopefully another light morning session will improve my starboard technique to the point where I can really power it up for the afternoon races.
In the evening we all met and ate as a team at a local place right beside the river. It was a pretty good time and I had the opportunity to talk more at length to Aerial, Jen, and Jesse. I was glad to hear that they were as frustrated as I was after the earlier rows, not because I relished in their unhappiness, but because it shows me that they have higher standards for the quality of rowing of this team than the rowing we did today.
Karen assures me that Jesse and I will be in the same boat tomorrow. This is very exciting, since it will allow for a more balanced crew. Our power is very similar, so having him row behind me should really get the boat moving.