The schedule is posted.  The lineups haven’t changed.  The racing looks like fun, but the weather looks bad.  This is a big deal: VASRA has obtained permission to complete the regatta on Sunday if they cannot finish on Saturday.  We’ll hope for the best, and adjust as needed.  It could be a long day/weekend.

Parking and drop-off rules remain the same as last time.  Budget the necessary room in your schedule for athletes to be there, and/or families to watch races (I have heard of shuttle delays lasting 30+ minutes).  To limit fatigue from weather, students are required to be on site just Xhr before their race time (X = 1.5hr for M2x, 2hr for WJ4+, 3.5hr for W4x).  Bring warm clothing to stay dry; the novices had to fight cold all day.

Virginia Scholastic Rowing Championships is always a tough place to medal, and our novices met that challenge once again; very impressive (especially for the women, since three of their athletes only tried crew for the first time in February).  For those unfamiliar with rowing filmed from this angle, the action gets exciting around 3:30.  Of course if you’re in the boat, it’s exciting the whole 6-7min.

They looked good in heats too.  Hopefully this performance helps us recruit a big group of novices for next year.  We want many more student athletes to have this opportunity.

Here are the starts.  Quality isn’t great, but I’m not exactly filming from a stable platform.

Acceleration week had a video.  So does set week.  This is an international crew of high school athletes with epic boat control.  It is possible.  We will pursue it.

Today we worked on accelerating our drives and decelerating our recoveries. We’ve got much more progress to make on this vital skill, so I wanted to share the video that best captures what we’re shooting for. My advice, focus on the sound. Our goal should be to sound that way too. Every row we should have this soundtrack running in our brains. We will aspire to have booming finishes that fling the boat forward, and precise control for the rest of the stroke-cycle so every subsequent finish can fling even further.

The CDC has updated their guidance for COVID-19 precautions.  NPS policy for masking will be changing on Tuesday.  Our team policy will follow suit.  Beginning Monday, masking will be optional during all practices at the boathouse.  Beginning Tuesday, masking will be optional during study hall.

The masking policy has always been about risk mitigation.  The risk equation is different for each of us, and constantly changing.  Granby’s masking policy will continue to be informed by larger guidance, and may change again.  I will keep wearing a mask in many situations, depending on how I assess the current risk/benefit.

All other COVID precautions remain in place.  If you have any symptoms that might be COVID-related, stay home and let us know what kept you away.  When you arrive, make sure your temperature is checked and you sign the paper for risk factor assessment.

The training schedule is updated again.  The posted regattas are basically final.  The question marks will be filled in when we know more.

During this week of no practice, I’d like students to consider doing two things as part of preparing for spring.  First, find a wooden handle (shovel, broom, etc.) and very lightly start preparing your hands to grip/feather the oars.  Stop doing this Friday so any over-worked areas have time to recover.  Second, do some yoga.  This video is good, especially for the verbal cues on exactly how to do the movements.  Listen very closely, doing the routine as the video runs.  If you do it 6 times (once each usual practice day), you’ll benefit greatly as you improve with the routine.

We are 2k testing this coming week, and we’ve got plenty of students who’ve never done that. Plus, it’s been a while since the varsity did a 2k. Now worries; if you’ve been coming regularly to winter practices then you should feel prepared. Even so, here is some optional reading (the first link at the top of the page) that might help you. Families who want to understand more about our sport might enjoy reading the material too.  I’m looking forward to seeing what our athletes can do to finish out 2021. 

Students, I’m hoping that over the short break you have time for a bit of crew study (in addition to the personal training called for in the calendar).  The mirror work page has two new videos added (#3 and #4).  These are about bracing for the heavy lifts we are doing in the weight room.  They offer much more detail than you will be getting at practice.  Bracing is a vital skill for safety and success.  Please watch them closely so you are ready to lift when we get back in the weight room on the 4th.

We lift weights at the school on Saturdays. We’re going to lift heavy which means we’re going to emphasize form/technique to ensure safety/success. Along those lines, here is a reading assignment: hip hinge.  We will practice this at the boathouse too, but the ambitious among us will practice it at home too.