Commonly Forgotten

I have officially made it through my first fall season, as well as my first winter season on a college crew team. During this time, I have made a few casual observations here and there. For one, college crew is much different than high school crew. The biggest difference that I have noted is the compilation of line-ups. My high school team always had the few boats that remained the same from week to week, however, we also compiled a handful of other boats in order to give athletes a chance to compete in more than one race. In college, you have your one boat, and you practice everyday with said boat. College rowing is set-up like this for the main reason that in most regattas, for example SIRA, each rower may only compete in one race. It also adds to the competitive factor of each boat.. but, not my point. That's not what this blog post is about. To make a long story short, college rowing, at least in my experience, focuses more on eights, rather than fours and sculling. This is one of the biggest differences that I have noticed.

Anyway, time to get to the point of this blog post. It took a while to get used to eights after mainly rowing fours throughout high school. I've definitely become accustomed to eights. They have grown on me to say the least. Eights give you a little more room for creativity when it comes to warming up. In a four, for the most part, you are limited to rowing by each pair, eventually progressing to all four. In an eight, however, you can row by pairs, fours or even sixes. But coxswains must take caution when dictating a drill or warm-up by sixes. There are more people to switch in and out, and it's very easy to forget about a pair. Either they luck out and get a longer break, or they get the short end of the stick and row for longer. Hence the title of this post, "Commonly Forgotten."

Now, you may not agree with this statement, but take it as you will. Three and four are most commonly forgotten. When rowing by sixes, it's as if they don't exist. At first I just thought it was all in my head. Rowing at four seat, it would seem that I never got a break, and when I did, it was very short. I kept my mouth shut, because I probably just had skewed perspective. I thought, "Well hey, I'm sure everyone else is thinking the same thing about their pair." I kept to myself for the next few practices, until I began to notice it again. This time I wasn't even rowing four seat, but rather two seat. Another thing I noticed while at two seat- bow pair gets all of the breaks, especially when the team starts a new drill. Whenever the coach takes a break to talk to the boat and give advice, or when it's time to switch drills, the coxswain will almost always restart with "stern six;" it's simply habit. But back to three and four. As I continued to row at two seat, I noticed that the body in front of me was always rowing.

My thoughts were confirmed one day when the current three seat turned around as bow pair was to switch in for seats five and six. She asked me, "What about three and four?! We've been rowing the whole time! When do we get our break??" I was relieved to discover that I was not the only one who felt that way. I don't know what it is, but three and four are commonly forgotten. It's a matter of fact.

I've come to the conclusion that three and four are commonly forgotten because of bow pair. As a former coxswain, I understand that it is a handful switching pairs in and out, giving each pair equal rest time while, at the same time, counting out the strokes and pauses for the drill that is being executed. So, the mind must simplify things to the best of it's abilities. For this reason, you have your bow pair sit out after five and six, because it's much easier to say the words bow pair join in two, rather than three and four in, and five and six out. Coxswains will commonly start with "stern six," or "bow six," both of which include three and four. If the coxswain decides to start with "stern six," then before things get too complicated they'll make sure to switch out stern pair for bow pair. Without stern pair rowing, the coxswain's focus turns to the next pair directly in front of them, five and six. This is my guess as to why five and six still get breaks, even though it's still a mouthful to say. If the coxswain decides to start with bow pair, then it's easy to switch stern pair in for the first switch, and have bow pair go out. Then, what do you know! The boat is back to rowing stern pair, and so begins the cycle all over again.

Again, this is simply my guess as to why three and four are commonly forgotten, and again, take it how you will. It may not happen in all boats, but for those of you who row three or four in a boat where it does occur more often than not, you have my condolences.

Today, I leave you hopes that you all have a happy Easter. Keep an eye out on the sidebar about OUWC. Regatta season is officially here. Good luck everyone.

April's Top 10

Usually most of my monthly top 10's have something to do with a general aspect of crew that everyone can relate to. However, since I am still in spring break mode, and can't get camp off of my mind, I'm going to dedicate one last post to it. I think if you experienced Camp Bob yourself, you would understand! :) So, without further ado, I present to you April's top 10!

THE TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS OF MY CAMP BOB EXPERIENCE:

10.  3-a-day practices. (At first it may not sound worthy of the top ten when, in fact, it is. Simply because, if you have a bad practice, you have two others to look forward to.)
9. Everyone tripping over the same root in the ground every single day, (in my case, more than once a day.)
8. FREE MEALS! (even if they weren't the best)
7. In general, bonding with everyone on the team.
6. Making friendship bracelets for each other.
5. Getting the day off to travel to Charleston, SC.
4. Tye-dying with the team.
3. Lying out on the dock and falling asleep to the sound of the waves.
2. The gorgeous sunset/sunrise every night/morning
1. Beating Northwestern twice, and Lawrence four times on race day.

So, that should about wrap up my ranting on Camp Bob, until next year! Just a couple notes to all of my followers: there will be more Bob pictures going up on my Flickr account soon, and by soon I mean a few days. Expect a new post on Sunday. As for the topic, you'll have to wait and see! Well, that's all for now.

Today, I leave you with this link. Anyone looking for a good laugh should check this out. It's just a little rowing humor- the personality traits of rowers in an 8. Does the stereotype for your seat fit you? Feel free to comment below! Personality Traits in an 8

(Link taken from Cambridge Rowing Club's website)