By Mike Wood _________________________________________________________

Lower Merion Crew sent up its select athletes to the Indoor World Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. The male athletes were selected based on an erg time standard, and the bar for this standard has been steadily increasing over the past few years. The chosen standard was difficult but obtainable, and once the eligible athletes were selected, they continued the Men’s strict winter training program in order to compete in Boston.

Meeting early on a Saturday, coaches and athletes loaded into Coach Benvenuto’s SUV and a rented 15-passenger van. Thanks to Mrs. Friedlander for seeing that both vehicles were loaded with healthy snacks and drinks for the trip.

After the long journey up to Boston, which took about 6 hours, the athletes, along with the coaches, were ready to settle in at the hotel. Unfortunately, like driving in Boston, getting settled in was not that easy. While waiting for the hotel rooms, the athletes checked in for their races, toured the hotel and got in a short cardio workout. The team ate dinner in Harvard Square, and all 17 members of the party had their fill. After dinner, and a long day, the athletes kept themselves busy until the midnight curfew. Around 11pm, however, the whole hotel responded to a fire alarm. After being assured that none of our athletes were the cause for the alarm, the patrons were allowed to return to their rooms; everybody was in his or her room by the midnight curfew.

The next morning, it was February 25, 2007 and Race Day was here! Because of the timing of the races, athletes were shuttled to the competition site in waves, with the lightweight competitors being the first group to head over to compete with some of the best rowers in the whole world. Thanks to Captain Steve Krajewski for his assistance in transporting these athletes. Arriving to the arena could certainly be intimidating. On top of walking in and immediately hearing a world record being broken, Agganis Arena is a huge sports facility located at Boston University and rivals that of the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The floor was broken up with half reserved as a warm-up area and the other half where the competition took place. There were rows upon rows of ergs, National Team members, foreign competitors, friends, family, and even Coach Conley was there to offer some words of encouragement. Once we found a rendezvous section, the athletes weighed in for the lightweight competition, and then it was time for the final preparation before the races.

Once the athletes had warmed up, they waited in a staging area before walking into the competition floor for all to see. Each rower was represented as a little boat on a huge television screen displayed in the center of the arena. Also displayed on the rowers individual monitors were the “stroke per stroke” distances the athlete were ahead or behind in the competition. How do you hold back? You can take 10 hard stokes to gain a place in the standings, but that could cost you near the end of the race. The battle that each of these athletes faced is one thing that is not shown on any monitors. Pushing their physical capabilities, only the individual can be the one true judge of their performance and how they persevere to achieve their goals. The first round of the Lightweight Junior Men was highlighted by James Buckmann being coxed by Aaron Greenspan. Seated in the second erg in the front row, Buckmann set himself up for a strong sprint at the end and was heard on the Arena PA announcement: “And here comes James Buckmann in Lane 2 from Lower Merion and he’s really turning it on at the sprint”. The goal was clear for all the Men that the goal was to pull a Personal Record on their 2K. Although not all the men from LM pulled a PR, they performed under the pressure of this event and were within seconds of these marks. They put themselves in a position to achieve their goals and to realize that with persistence and hard work these goals can be met.

Coming up to the CRASH Bs has been a great opportunity for these gentlemen to learn how to perform and rise to their challenges. This event will be used as a stepping stone to help teach all the athletes the importance that hard work pays and the importance of sticking to your race place. Hopefully these experiences will rub off and continue to raise the level of the whole team. I am truly looking forward to this racing year and the continued excellence of LM Crew.

Male Competitors in the order they finished in their event on our team:

Lightweight Men: James Buckmann (Personal Best Time), Casey Klien, Tom Mickler

Heavyweight Men: Kevin Friedlander, Jake Ferber