May 13th, 2011 was certainly a day I will never forget. It was the first day of racing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta. I traveled there with Ohio University Women's Crew looking forward to some great racing. We only had two entries this year, but that didn't change anything. We went into the day with a lot of heart, and came out just the same.
The first of our races to go out on the course was the women's varsity 8. We ended up getting 6th in our heat, but pulled one of our best times of the season putting us only a mere few seconds from 5th.
A few hours later, I went from rowing mode to coaching mode, as I prepared to send the novice 4 girls on their way. As we sat down for our boat talk, I could only see focus on their faces. Up against William and Mary, Binghampton, Manhattan and American we knew it was going to be a tough heat.
New heat sheets had been posted the day before, which apparently caused a lot of confusion at the starting line for their event. Some boats showed up late not knowing they had switched heats, creating delays and switches in the way events came down the course. I counted events coming down the course, and when I saw my girls in their lane in last place at their designated event time, nerves started pumping as I hoped they would make the moves to pull ahead from behind. Moves that we had practiced all season. Then, the announcer came on the loud speaker, informing that this wasn't the correct event, and that they skipped heat 2 for now because a boat was late to the start.
For the next few heats I had a similar feeling. Are those my girls? How are they doing? Are they going to make their move? And then, no. It wasn't them yet. Finally, after a few out-of-order events, it was time. My girls tore down the river in a solid second place from the time I could see them, until they crossed the finish line. As the race came down to the last 500 meters, they began to make a solid sprint move, something we had dedicated an entire week of practice to. They move closer and closer to first place, and if they had started this move maybe another 250 meters earlier, they could have caught them. But 2nd it was. And on to the semi-finals they went.
The rush of watching them row by as we all cheered them on was something comparable to nothing. It was the first time, at least from my knowledge, that we've had a boat advance straight to semi-finals at Dad Vail. Running to the dock to catch the girls, I had an incredible feeling of success running through my veins. I couldn't even fathom what the girls were thinking.
All I saw when I arrived at the dock were huge smiles. The comment I won't forget was, "That was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again." I knew those extra difficult erg workouts would pay off sometime. Today was that sometime.
The next day started off well. We arrived early at the race course ready to prepare, and even had a 30 second spot on CBS' morning newscast. Talk about cool. After everything was taken care of, and we waited for launch time, all around were faces of focus. 15 minutes later, the girls were launched and on their way to the start line. I had an undescribable feeling come upon me as I headed toward the grandstands to anticipate the race. It's my first year of coaching, and I sent a group of girls to the semi-finals of the biggest race of their season. I wanted the very best for them, and at that point, I couldn't have asked for more.. except maybe a spot in the grand finals, of course.
As others surrounded me, waiting for the race, my nerves set in again. The anticipation of my girls' performance was growing every second. What were they going to do? How were they going to place? I hoped their nerves weren't as bad as mine. I felt as though I had sent my children off to college or something. All I could think was, "start the race already!" That and, "Now I wish I had gotten my secret rower those pink binoculars!"
Then it was time. The announcer came over the loud speaker telling us the first semi-final of the girls novice 4 was underway. I strained my vision as best I could to see down river how they were doing. They looked good. All of the boats seemed pretty close. As the boats reached closer to the thousand, there were two boats with a dominant lead. "That's ok, I thought. They can make a badass move across the 1000. That's what we've been working on." And they did. It wasn't enough though, as every other boat matched them. They held a solid 5th going into the sprint, keeping it pretty close to 4th. Then, out of nowhere, 6th place Jacksonville made a huge move and pulled into 5th. I knew my girls wouldn't settle for that.
I closed my eyes at that moment and thought to myself, "MAKE. YOUR. MOVE." I opened my eyes, and as I glanced at the short distance left to the finish line, it happened. They knew exactly what to do, and Ryann, the coxswain, called it at the perfect time. My girls had a HUGE second surge in their sprint, and with every stroke they established what they were there to do. Beat boats. Within 10 strokes they were neck and neck with Jacksonville once again. From the view we had, and 5 strokes left, nothing was clear. As both boats got to the finish line, we saw the flag go up, and then immediately down, indicating maybe a second difference between finish times at most.
I turned to my coach, who had the same blank expression as me. Nobody there had any idea. Who took 5th?! Betsy and I would have to wait. We ran to the recovery dock, and got the girls. We congratulated them on a great race, and a beautiful finish. Unfortunately, we told them that they'd have to wait to find out what place they finished, even though Ryann was almost positive they'd taken fifth.
As it turns out, they did get fifth. And not only did they get fifth but they beat a couple other teams in semi-finals, even after going in with the slowest time. They made significant improvement from heats to semis alone, which is all that I could ask for. They grew so much as a boat in the little time they were given to do so, and it clearly showed in their results.
Semis at Vails this year, and who knows what we could conquer next year! Only time will tell.
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