Rower's Diary: Racing In Rough Weather
4/15/2002 7:51:14 AM | Women's Rowing
Varsity eight stroke Alicea Kochis (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck HS) writes about the team's loss to Northeastern and the University of Pennsylvania. The weather was rough on the Charles River this past Saturday, which made racing a big challenge.
April 13, 2002
This past weekend was perhaps one of the toughest race weekends for our team that we have had since I have been at Syracuse. We traveled to Boston to row against the University of Pennsylvania and Northeastern, and rowed in the worst conditions I have ever been in.
The Charles River Basin was very rough. At the start we attempted to bail the water from our boat. The effort was futile; waves continued to crash over our riggers into the hull. The stiff head wind and white caps made it difficult to get locked onto the stake boat. When we finally did get locked on and pointed, it didn’t matter that we were half a length down. The starter had to get the race off.
Everyone had the same conditions. It was survival rowing at its best, but it was fair. Waves continued to crash into our boat. I was hitting my winged rigger constantly. The water level in our boat was past our heels. Despite all of this, we were in this race, and determined to cross the line first. Coming through the 1000-meter mark we were winning. We had half a length on Northeastern and even more on Penn.
Before I could even see the handle, I felt it. It hit my chest, throwing me against my rigger. My coxswain kept repeating, "Get it out, get it out." I tried to muscle it out as the boat pivoted towards the starboard side. I was stuck between my oar handle and 7 seats rigger. All my effort couldn’t get the oar out. Finally, I squeezed out, and with the help of my pair partner we got the oar to release. Immediately all eight us of us frantically started rowing. At this point we were so far off of the course that we were rowing toward shore instead of down the course. We had to stop and turn the boat back toward the course. Looking back at the video of the race, we timed 28 seconds from the time I caught the crab to the time we started rowing down the course.
We raced hard to the finish, taking some of our best strokes. But it was too much time to make up. We did manage to come back within 18 seconds of Northeastern, but we just ran out of time. Northeastern and Penn beat us fair and square, but I think we all wished it didn’t happen that way.
After our race, they cancelled the rest of racing due to unsafe conditions. All of the JV’s were already down at the start so they were told to row it back down the course to the river. Under the Mass Ave bridge, our JV swamped in a Titanic-like fashion. They were up to their armpits in water and had to be rescued by launches. Their boat was towed in. Luckily, it was a warm day, and all of the coaches from other programs who were out there came and helped so no one was hurt. I’m sure it will become one of the great war stories of Syracuse rowing!
I think the day took a bit of an emotional toll on the team. Most people did not even get a chance to race, and everyone wanted to. I think the feeling was probably the same on the other teams, as racing is what we all work so hard all year for. But, it was a safety issue, and we are an outdoor sport, so I guess it comes with the territory!
As for me personally, I’m angry but determined. Our coach is not switching line-ups this week, as she has the confidence in us as a boat, and in me as a stroke, to make the boat go fast. That confidence feeds to us. We are all coming to practice tomorrow a little more focused and with a little more determination. This weekend is a big weekend for us. We race Radcliffe and Dartmouth at home. Both of these crews rowed in Boston this past weekend and had to survive the conditions, so there is a lot on the line for everyone.
