Any Rowing Stories?

[spiveyp]

It has been a windy week in Austria! Today was the Wolfgangsee 20km and we have been training hard for a while now. Thursday saw the first wind coming after a still and dry few weeks so we took full advantage of it and set out into pretty rough conditions to train for bad conditions on race day. Then came the squall! I can safely say that Hudson racing shells are buoyant. We were totally swamped by waves and at the same time going with the wind, nothing could be done and we struggled home only to get the boat out of the water and unfortunately tear a muscles in my back due to bad posture and the cold and a heavy boat. So that was the end of my racing, but my replacement did a stirling job, but after 10km the race was abandoned due to all the boats being totally waterlogged, literally down to the gunwales in each boat, the waves wreaked havoc but everyone had a great experience. Some stopped on the shore and emptied their boats only to get going again and be swamped again, but they still kept going to the 10k mark. Turning around and going back was not an option, except for a very fine double scull From Vienna who were the only boat to complete the course. It took 1 hour to complete the first 10k for most boats, these are good rowers so it gives you an indication of the bad conditions. Never been so glad to have pulled a muscles!

[footplate]

Not many stories as such: but here is an interesting video from Hugh laurie on rowing - actor, singer, and earned a blue in the boat race: hmmm....
- how god blesses some people

[footplate]

I have another good rowing story I was told by my brother this weekend - it referred to one guy that we grew up with. He was rowing at International as a Junior but struggled thereafter, his height seemed to cause some problems.

Anyway, he rowed at a decent club through uni and at the HORR they were hoping to finish well. Anyway, mid way through the race, the guy rowing at 5 oar snapped in half! And much to his shock, he was ordered to jump out the boat and swim to the shore as he was dead weight! After much swearing and fighting, he outright refused and sat in the boat to the finish. I think he may have left the boat after that instant.

However, I took side with this guy when I found out, I wouldnt want to swim in the thames

[spiveyp]

The Thames is a bit smelly isn't it. There would be a few safety issues jumping into that rat infested water. Weils Disease being one. It's a race but not worth dying for. In an Olympic final in Athens with nice clean clear warm water, no problem, or even at the HRR where you can get to safety quickly, but when you have hundreds of crews coming up behind you and you have to swim 100m to the shore and Wade through stinking Mud, No Way!

[BenRedman]

Seriously? You're not going to get a fantastic time with 7 people rowing anyway!

Having said that, that kind of behaviour isn't without precedent! Coxless fours only exist due to this:

"In 1868, Walter Bradford Woodgate rowing a Brasenose coxed four arranged for his coxswain to jump overboard at the start of the Stewards' Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta to lighten the boat. The unwanted cox narrowly escaped strangulation by the water lilies, but Woodgate and his home-made steering device triumphed by 100 yards and were promptly disqualified."

[hydrophile]

I'd also heard something about an American crew where one of the seats jammed and the oarsman promptly unscrewed his blade, tossed it in and jumped in after it? I was told that after that incident, the HRR rules were amended to specify the number of people that had to be in the boat at the finish!

Re the Thames, I've had the pleasure in one of my early sculling experiments. I can report that in East London, it is tepid in summer, and tastes surprisingly salty with a hint of mud. (Well maybe I shouldn't be too surprised given we've had occasional seal sightings )

[stelph]

Seriously? You're not going to get a fantastic time with 7 people rowing anyway!

Well...... you may be wrong with that, check this video and the first boat off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Ogv9aajY4

This was the UTRC 2nd 8+ from 2006, the story is that whilst waiting for the start a crew from UTRC was doing a burst and shot straight into the UTRC boat, seriously mangling the bowrigger (and bowman).

http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/slug/utrcrigger.jpg

Rather than quit however the crew raced anyway with just 7, set off 132nd and finished 144th, OVERTAKING 3 CREWS IN THE PROCESS (I don't know about you but that's got to be the most demoralising thing everv ).

[pmarnold]

Rather than quit however the crew raced anyway with just 7, set off 132nd and finished 144th, OVERTAKING 3 CREWS IN THE PROCESS (I don't know about you but that's got to be the most demoralising thing everv ).

Especially for their bow man

BR rules (2.6.1b) say "A crew must finish the race with the same complement as that with which it started. If any crew member leaves the boat before the finish the crew shall be deemed not to have finished."

but I guess if you only start with 7 it's fine...

[footplate]

Rowers ey? Mental......possibly the strangest sport in the world! hhaha interesting video! ANd yeah it is a true story about that guy I mentioned above....good crew, but some things just go to far.

[hydrophile]

BR rules (2.6.1b) say "A crew must finish the race with the same complement as that with which it started. If any crew member leaves the boat before the finish the crew shall be deemed not to have finished."

but I guess if you only start with 7 it's fine...

Ah - that must be the rule which got amended then. Thanks!

On the lighter side of things, a female friend from uni was going to watch her boyfriend row at a major head race. There she was, in her jeans, on her bike, ready to cycle along and yell her lungs out at strategic points. Then she noticed the crew were whispering in urgent hushed tones to each other "No, YOU ask her".
Yup you guessed it. Before you could say Bobs your uncle, she found herself disguised as a bloke and rowing for dear life in someone's spare half used unisuit. Someone didn't show. She was not the happiest of bunnies.

ps-had they know about Rule (2.6.1b) they might have been better off rowing with 7 people and not being DQ-ed.

[BenRedman]

Seriously? You're not going to get a fantastic time with 7 people rowing anyway!

Well...... you may be wrong with that, check this video and the first boat off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Ogv9aajY4

This was the UTRC 2nd 8+ from 2006, the story is that whilst waiting for the start a crew from UTRC was doing a burst and shot straight into the UTRC boat, seriously mangling the bowrigger (and bowman).

http://www.twrc.rowing.org.uk/slug/utrcrigger.jpg

Rather than quit however the crew raced anyway with just 7, set off 132nd and finished 144th, OVERTAKING 3 CREWS IN THE PROCESS (I don't know about you but that's got to be the most demoralising thing everv ).

Ah yes, I was actually there that year! (And no, I'm not going to tell you where we finished! ) But the point is, they were obviously going to do better than that with an 8th person, so their final position wasn't anything like what they were aiming for, so it's not worth risking life and limb for.

[KH1]

Seriously? You're not going to get a fantastic time with 7 people rowing anyway!

Aha you would think this but..... in last year WHORR, a vet C/D/E composite crew headed off the start line with only 7 rowers after the stroke person injured here wrist.

They came 147th. Out of 300 odd boats

I think that in all future HORR's, WHORR's and Vet's Heads, one experienced crew (IM1 or better) should be selected, at random and be paid to row with one stroke sider less, Where they finish should be the cutoff. No Club who put up a boat that went slower than the selected 7, should be allowed to put a boat into next years race AND should lose a deposit, unless they are in rank novice category or rowing at Vet F or greater.

Sometimes a line needs to be drawn in the sand.

Lewin

[hydrophile]

unless they are in rank novice category
Lewin

Phew! I'm safe then!

BTW - how gorgeous is the weather outside right now?! DYING for an outing ...

[Gittus]

Best Bumps video ever?

http://www.row2k.com/video/view.cfm?vid=14028

[KH1]

Once uppon a time there was a large hwt rower called Lewin and a smaller, lwt rower called Benjamin.

Lewin sat in the middle of an Eight Man Boat from Maidstone. Benjamin sat on the very end of an Eight Man Boat from Oxford.

One day Lewin's boat and Benjamin's boat rowed down the Thames as fast as they could.

Lewin's boat went slower than Benjamin's boat.

Lewin was sad.

The End.