Rowing Climax
Today was awesome. It was our first and last race of the season. We looked great in our matching uniforms. (I guess the word uniform implies matching, but I don't really have control over most of my involuntary resources right now.) There were lots of changes in the order because of the potential bad weather, but we actually saw none. I have to give a large shout out to Margret and Alex for getting their butts there on a Sunday and waiting around for us to row.
Originally, the women were supposed to row first, but since the schedule was changed, as I mentioned above. We had to put the rigging on the boat that was lent to us by NSU. We got the boat together, and the women decided that they needed the bathroom for a second time this morning. The men took the boat to the dock. This usually isn't a big deal, but the boat was heavier, which we women found out later) and the dock was across a street and over a levee. No small task, indeed. They guys got the boat in the water, and they were off to warm up.
The women ran and warmed up. We stretched and waited for the men to return because we were hot-seating it. This means that as soon as the men come in, we have to jump into the boat. Normally this isn't hard, but for some odd reason with all the money that they have can't make a dock that will support 18 people and not soak their feet in the process.
We sat on top of the levee to wait for the men to come in. We were shocked to see them clear the bridge first! Our boys beat tulane and NSU! We were screaming like mad. In fact, our boys won by about 3 boat lengths.
We jumped in the boat and started warming up. When we had to turn, we had to execute the all important chop. Can I say that for once we just looked awesome? Our cox was shocked. We rowed almost into Lake Ponchatrain. We decided against that. Eventually other women's eights made it into the water and we headed to the start line. In order to do that, you have to row the entire length of race down to the start line. When we go there we rowed a bit more. In fact we back tracked and needed to go back to the finish line. What I'm trying to say is that I think we rowed a bit more than we should have to warm-up. It didn't help that after we were in the right spot to start, they decided to race another group before us.
Finally the race started, and we had a good start. We were neck in neck with tulane and NSU. When we had to clear the first bridge (there were like three), we had to slow down because not all of us could go through at the same time. We went through and still maintained our tie with tulane. Then when we had to clear the second bridge, we had to make a full stop and start over again from that spot. This is where tulane started and got a lead on us. I cannot tell you how much this sucked. We continued to row without stopping at this point. It was so hard. At one point, I had no strength in my legs to pull myself up on the slide. I just pulled with everything I had. When we finally made it close to the end, we could hear the LSU fans screaming. They were the loudest. It's great to know that LSU fans will come out and be the most spirited no matter what sport it is, even a club rowing sport.
We finished second to tulane, but not by that much. For an established team, they should have been much better than that, and NSU for that matter. Had we not rowed so much before, it might have been a lot closer as well.
When I stepped out onto the dock, I got a massive calf cramp. Then we were responsible for carrying the boat back to the trailer across the street. We were exhausted, and it was not easy to bring that bad boy back. I think we impressed the spectators with our finesse. Well, except for tulane who kind of laughed a bit, but we all know they suck.
Afterwards, we had our victory lunch at Popeye's. We're a really classy team. Overall, I think we did awesome. It was the first race ever for the Rowing club and we did awesome. We may have looked a little ghetto, but we surely shocked many of those people on the canal today. If you see a rower, give them a high five and a congrats because every single one of them earned it.
Originally, the women were supposed to row first, but since the schedule was changed, as I mentioned above. We had to put the rigging on the boat that was lent to us by NSU. We got the boat together, and the women decided that they needed the bathroom for a second time this morning. The men took the boat to the dock. This usually isn't a big deal, but the boat was heavier, which we women found out later) and the dock was across a street and over a levee. No small task, indeed. They guys got the boat in the water, and they were off to warm up.
The women ran and warmed up. We stretched and waited for the men to return because we were hot-seating it. This means that as soon as the men come in, we have to jump into the boat. Normally this isn't hard, but for some odd reason with all the money that they have can't make a dock that will support 18 people and not soak their feet in the process.
We sat on top of the levee to wait for the men to come in. We were shocked to see them clear the bridge first! Our boys beat tulane and NSU! We were screaming like mad. In fact, our boys won by about 3 boat lengths.
We jumped in the boat and started warming up. When we had to turn, we had to execute the all important chop. Can I say that for once we just looked awesome? Our cox was shocked. We rowed almost into Lake Ponchatrain. We decided against that. Eventually other women's eights made it into the water and we headed to the start line. In order to do that, you have to row the entire length of race down to the start line. When we go there we rowed a bit more. In fact we back tracked and needed to go back to the finish line. What I'm trying to say is that I think we rowed a bit more than we should have to warm-up. It didn't help that after we were in the right spot to start, they decided to race another group before us.
Finally the race started, and we had a good start. We were neck in neck with tulane and NSU. When we had to clear the first bridge (there were like three), we had to slow down because not all of us could go through at the same time. We went through and still maintained our tie with tulane. Then when we had to clear the second bridge, we had to make a full stop and start over again from that spot. This is where tulane started and got a lead on us. I cannot tell you how much this sucked. We continued to row without stopping at this point. It was so hard. At one point, I had no strength in my legs to pull myself up on the slide. I just pulled with everything I had. When we finally made it close to the end, we could hear the LSU fans screaming. They were the loudest. It's great to know that LSU fans will come out and be the most spirited no matter what sport it is, even a club rowing sport.
We finished second to tulane, but not by that much. For an established team, they should have been much better than that, and NSU for that matter. Had we not rowed so much before, it might have been a lot closer as well.
When I stepped out onto the dock, I got a massive calf cramp. Then we were responsible for carrying the boat back to the trailer across the street. We were exhausted, and it was not easy to bring that bad boy back. I think we impressed the spectators with our finesse. Well, except for tulane who kind of laughed a bit, but we all know they suck.
Afterwards, we had our victory lunch at Popeye's. We're a really classy team. Overall, I think we did awesome. It was the first race ever for the Rowing club and we did awesome. We may have looked a little ghetto, but we surely shocked many of those people on the canal today. If you see a rower, give them a high five and a congrats because every single one of them earned it.