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We arrived Wednesday night to a blanket of hot and humid air : ) Welcome to Ohio and mid-west summers! After a very long travel day we had what we had thought was a great dinner and settled into our hotel. The next morning we woke up to one of the rowers having food poisoning from the night before!! So, we took the morning practice off and hoped it would run its course quickly. We were able to get in a practice row that afternoon thankfully.
A big storm was threatening the races, so all day Thursday the race officials were re-designing the progression structure. Rather than having heats, reps, semis and finals, they needed to cut out all of the reps from the schedule. This completely changed our race strategy and up'd the stakes of the heat. I must mention, that we had 3 goals for the weekend....
- Make petite finals
- Beat San Diego (the team that popped an oarlock at SW champs - that petitioned to get into Youth Nationals, and they did)
- Beat Humboldt (2nd place finisher at SW champs)
Friday morning: With the change of the race structure, we needed to get top 3 in our heat to qualify for the semi-finals. The bottom 3 would go to a run-off for a C final (not what we wanted and trained for). 23 boats were in the Women's 4x race. Sculling around the country has taken off and the quality rowing from these 4x's was outstanding to say the least. Our heat was tough. We had two grand finalists from the year prior and no knowledge of the other teams results, so we knew the heat was going to require a top performance. The girls knew the stakes and we very nervous (they barely spoke for all of Thursday and until we launched!!). With storms raging all around the area the officials were rushing through the races. The girls rowed to the top of the course, checked in, and were told to proceed to the start line - 20 minutes early! They had no warm-up time. They lined up and started the race and fought to earn the 3rd qualifying spot in semi final!!! They had a time of 7:25.2.
We had just met two of our goals!! San Diego did not qualify to the Semi's and by making the semi final we were guaranteed a spot in the petite finals! The reward and feelings of accomplishment felt so good and the girls were so happy with their achievements!!
Saturday- This morning we were to compete in the semi final. The top 3 would move onto the grand final, the bottom 3 to the petite. Looking at our semi-final, we had Long Beach (1st at SW champs), New Canaan (wicked fast in the heats), Saugatuck (also super fast in the heats), Tempe Juniors (always in the grand finals of sculling events, and Chattanooga. It was by far a semi final that was incredibly fast. At that point, you make a decision. You have to either be intimidated and not perform or know that you can try your hardest and fight all the way down the line....the girls choose the 2nd option! They looked spectacular as the fought and were in contact with all of the boats through the last 500 m. They definitely rose to the competition and made the top three crews have to fight to get ahead. We finished 5th in the semi - putting us in the petite final. The biggest upset of the regatta was that Tempe didn't make the grand final either - the 4x's were tough this year!!
Sunday - Petite Final. With Tempe jrs first in the time, we were within 3 seconds of the rest of the 5 crews in the petite final. We knew, that this race was going to be determined at the finish line. Its was going to be a back and forth battle all the way down the course (that's what you would expect at Nationals!) SO, again rising to the competition the girls went out with determination and grit that I was so excited for. They put together each performance from the previous two races and went for it. It was an all-out sprint from the 1500m with 5 of the crews. I was so proud and the girls took very effective moves and walked with every stroke they took. All of the previous months training was evident in that sprint! We finished 3rd in the petite with a time of 7:09 - 9th fastest in the country!!
Oh - and goal number 3 was met, we beat Humboldt by 3 seconds.
Other local crews also did well at the regatta with Carl Reinke of Deep Water Rowing in Stocking winning the Men's Youth 1x Petite Final and Capital Crew coming in 5th of the Women's Youth 4+ Grand Final. Pacific, Long Beach, Oakland, Marin, MAC, and several other southwest crews stood on the medal stand on Sunday!!
Thank you again to all of you for your support. The girls truly represented River City well at one of the toughest competitions in Youth Rowing. I hope that next year we take the successes of this year and soar even higher!
GO RCRC!!!
Tricia
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