Mange Tak

Here's a quick note from Karen Hewell reporting live from Denmark!

I raced today. In a boat! But I will not sing "I'm On A Boat"! But I did... really. I was in one.

I raced three times back to back, and barely had time to dry off from the enormous waves that kept slamming into the rigger frames and showering me with freezing cold water. I spent most of the day shivering, and since I had begun the day with a bad taste in my mouth - ah, hello homesickness! How I didn't miss you - I was sure that this would put me in an even more sour mood. Luckily, it did the opposite. I need to make the effort to get out of my apartment even when I have no motivation. Laying around on the random double bed in our front room watching re-runs of House and eating frozen chocolate is a bad, BAD idea.

I thought it was funny when I found that there were even MORE differences between Danish rowing terminology and American rowing terminology. For example: We'll preface this with an explanation of the American saying. When a rower "catches a crab", it means that the oar gets caught under the water and is made especially difficult to get back up to the surface. Now, this saying is ODD - whatever - but it vaguely makes sense when you think of it in terms of, 'yes, crabs are water creatures. If a crab for whatever reason decided to latch onto your oar blade, it would probably create a somewhat similar response**. Yes? Yes.

In Denmark, people don't catch "crabs". No. They catch owls. SERIOUSLY. "Careful, you could catch an OWL. With your OAR." Do owls in Denmark frequently dive underwater? Do Danish owls have a fish fettish? Rather, how do people not laugh when someone says that?

Additionally, I was told that when I said our boat was 'walking' on another boat (this one means that you're gaining on another boat - i.e. you're 'walking through' a boat) it made it sound as if we were prancing down the lane, splashing water and singing. Frolicking? Maybe. Anyway, I need to entirely reassess my calls during races here. Don't want to conjure up any more images of us with bonnets and pink baskets, picking flowers. All in all, it was a good day. A great way to shake
off some of the crap that the week had muddled up in my brain. Tomorrow morning I'll be off to the gym with new fervency, seeing as I've had much too much fun this week, and it's beginning to show around my waistline.

**I told my friend Rebecca that we lost by a tenth of a second because we had caught a "baby crap" during the last 100 meters of our race. Later on, she told me she was so sad that we had lost because, and I quote, "a creature had somehow
gotten caught on our oars". My life is complete now.

Keep a lookout for a champion...

For those attending our practices, and in case you don't know already, we are in the presence of a 2009 USRowing Masters National Champion. I'll give you a hint...it's one of our coaches, and it's not me.

Day 2...looking good so far

Just a couple hours ago, we finished our 2nd day of practice. I like seeing the varsity really showing enthusiasm to the new rowers, and willingly helping out with their progress. We did a boat launch "demo", and it seemed to open some eyes to the novices, because they got to see a part of what we do up close. Its so easy to get wrapped up in getting them to learn how to row, and then they don't get to see what they're working towards. What made it better is that we got a little bit of everything in today! The varsity got a solid workout in to prepare for their first 5k erg test, and the novices got to see some video from last year. Then the novices got to put everything they saw earlier into practicing the technique on the ergs. Them being able to see what to look forward to definitely gave them a push to start improving their rowing. We're going to hit the water next week in the barge, and mix that with some workouts to get everyone the fitness needed for the season.

Altogether, we still need some more people, and hope that some people can open up their schedule to experience this great sport.

2nd day of fall 2009!

Just a quick note to say that the men and the women have both finished their 2nd day of practice for the fall 2009 season. The women (so far!) have 6 returning rowers and 8 newbies. While not quite the numbers we were hoping, the novices are showing great promise even after only two days and we also have two novices with experience which is HUGE for us! We hope to continue gaining people in the next couple of weeks as school schedules start to firm up. Our hope is to have a recruitment meeting sometime next week.

Keep checking this site for an updated from Karen Hewell ('11) who is spending the year abroad in Denmark and is rowing with a local team there. Check out her blog at www.redwreck.com for an interesting take on coxing in a foreign country!

That's all for now, thanks for checking in!

Pre-Season Post

So I guess this is my first entry in the ASU Rowing blog. Just want to say that I am so thankful for having returning rowers on the team that are so enthusiastic about making this team really develop into something special. I would talk about what I can provide for this team as the new mens coach, but if you've read my bio, you would tune out about now.

What I can say is that I have not really been a part of an established, and nationally successful team that continues to succeed just by tradition. However, the past 2 rowing clubs I have been involved with really showed me a sense of what it takes to create a successful team from small roots. The high school club I joined in Atlanta only had about 30 something rowers total, and by the time I graduated, we had reached our capacity of 110 rowers, and actually started a waiting list. This was because we simply did not have the facility or other means to accomidate more. That waiting list is still used today, season after season. What I realized is that it took dedicated rowers, coaches, and parents to work together and build the structure of the team. It took a lot of time and sacrifice, but in the end, it made the team grow exponentially, and the team name is well known in the region.

At Jacksonville University, I was recruited to help build that team as well. The coach was seeking rowers that were genuinely passionate about the sport, and not just the athletes that have shown success. The passionate ones in this sport can quickly pick out others that are in it for the wrong reasons, and only do it for scholarship or they're forced into it for other reasons. I'm not saying all rowers under scholarship are like that, but some exist. Anyway, after some time there, those that were honest about growth and recruiting stuck around, and did the best they could to make a name for their school. With that kind of attitude, they did not necessarily make enormous achievements, but just the passion of the sport was shown to others. By the time I left in 2006, a little team of about 20-30 athletes got the attention of alumni and other supporters, and that same year, a state of the art rowing center was built to give the team the best facility possible. Those involved in the team building process can attest that the rowing center is an obvious result of their efforts and enthusiasm.

Here at ASU, I plan to contribute whatever I can to create a similar effect on those that get involved. Being involved in a building process of a rowing team for the 3rd time would be quite an honor and an experience of a lifetime.