Several Lower Merion rowers took part in Center City Slams at
Drexel University this past Saturday.  The races seemed to stay on
schedule and we essentially walked in, raced, and left.  The men
warmed up lightly, stretching and erging, before the races began.  In
the Men’s Lightweight category, Junior Walker Mills took first place
and Sophmore Nathaniel Tarshish took third place.  In the Open Weight
category, Avi Molder came in third place. Pictures of just out about
every rower from this event can be found on www.row2k.com.  Both the
men and the women pulled hard and tried their best, leaving LM proud.
We are all looking forward to a successful Spring season, and most of
us cannot wait until we hit the water.

Daniel Cohen

Winter workouts are well on the way and everyone is working hard!
The ergs are getting their work outs at the church on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. And, new this year, Tuesday/Thursday workouts are cross training days in the weight rooms with some spinning or yoga too.

The countdown is underway for the first day on the water - MARCH 8th.

But first….more sweat and a swim test to come.

Enjoy the weather…it will be spring soon enough.

The season is over (well, except for the boys going to the post season Canadian Schoolboys Regatta) and all is well with LM Crew. The Annual banquet is a lovely affair where parents, coaches and athletes gather, share memories, and say goodbye to a season of hard work, ups, downs, and lots and lots of camaraderie. Besides the lovely setting and the good food, the slide show of the season, and fabulous brochure for the event, the night is really all about the kids, their efforts, and acknowledging their growth as rowers and coxswains.

As always, the Comadore opens the night. Jayne Reicherter did a fabulous job all year and she did no less well guiding the proceedings tonight. First order of business, get the business meeting out of the way. Many parents were acknowledged for their awesome contributions in support of the program. Tents went up and went down, food was brought and grilled (and eaten!), board meetings were held, trailers made it to their various venues, fund raising succeeded… you get the point. The outgoing board members were thanked, the incoming board was announced. Parents are a crucial part of the rowing program. We cannot thank them and their contributions enough.

And the evening progressed from salad, to main course, to desert.

And then the real stuff began! Coaches took over and gave out their awards. Boats were introduced, seniors were cried over for the many years of contributions, and the infamous gag gifts were given out by the captains of the team, Gabby Mezochow, Sarah Camitta, Tom Mickler, and Casey Klein.

This year’s seniors were a special bunch. All were 4 year contributors to the program, a rarity in any sport. Gabby Mezochow, Aly Goldstein, Paulina Marcucci, Becky Wahrman, Sarah Camitta, Tom Mickler, James Buckmann, Casey Klein, and Dan Abrams will all be sorely missed. Many have already shared plans to continue rowing next year. We wish them all the best!

Dan Abrams was blushing with the rave reviews he recieved from his coach Brad Nathanson. And who wouldn’t when coach Brad announced in front of all these parents and peers that he is, “the best coxswain I have ever had the chance to work with.”

Aly Goldstein was in the spotlight when Sheila lets the crowd know about how her steady leadership was crucial for the lightweight comeback. Her overcoming 2 months of mono was inspirational.

Becky Wahrman will be missed due to her constancy in effort and attitude, so needed in the long and demanding season that is rowing.

Awards are then offered to the many special contributors to the squad. Anyone surviving to the end of a rowing season is a ’special contributor’ in so many ways. Yet, each year the coaching staff try to identify those athletes that represent the ideal. As coach Regan recalls the award winners:

Most improved novice - Afnan Blankinship and Avi Molder
Most improved JV/V - Alexa Kuentsler and Mike Lowney

Overcoming Adversity Award - Leah Greenspan
Spirit Award - Casey Klein and Paulina Marcucci
Leadership Award - Tom Mickler and Gabby Mezochow
Service Award - Sarah Camitta and Dan Cohen
Best Athlete Award - Julia Policastro and James Buckmann

This year’s ‘best boat’ award was given to the Women’s JV 8. Though this crew didn’t win alot of races, the determination of these athletes, their commitment to the program and each other inspired the coaches this year. Thankfully, its not all about winning.

Each of these awards had a story attached. Each athlete was honored for their contribution to the program, their growth as individuals, athletes and rowers, as a role model to their peers and for future members of the crew. Parent’s cameras flashed, lots of smiles and clapping and a few tears were shed.

The coaching staff deserve their honors too, guiding and shaping these young athletes. It starts with head coach Sheila Dyer who set the tone for the program. Brad Nathanson coached the varsity and JV men. Kate Freeland took hold of the Women’s JV program. Regan Broderick took our novice women and taught them the basics. David Florio created the foundation in the frosh of the Men’s program.

The goodbyes at the end of the night are some of the toughest ever. After investing so much, for some the dreams of the year started nearly 12 months earlier, for all the heightened commitment and excitement grew from the winter through the Jersey’s, Cities and then Stotes. For our seniors, the season didn’t come to an end until a very successful outing at Lake Mercer for the Nationals. All year focused on 5 minutes. And then it is done, having given it all on the river.

What a wonderful thing, crew. I already cannot wait for yet another season to begin!

David

The Scholastic Rowing Association (SRA) Nationals is one of the top highschool rowing events of any calendar year. Schools from Michigan to Florida come to compete over 1500 meters. Unlike the Stotesbury that is an ‘open’ event, the SRA’s require an invitation. You have to have been competitive in your locale to get a chance to compete here. Needless to say, it is an honor just to be able to show up. The competition is that much stiffer when you do.

LM was honored to have 5 boats selected to come this year, a great turnout. The Men’s  and Women’s JV 4, the Women’s varsity and lightweight 4’s and the Men’s lightweight 4 all got the nod. Enough said, actually. They were invited and that is thrill enough. The Stotesbury of the weekend before often gives you a good idea of your speed in the field at large. For some crews, the invitation to the SRA’s is the big plum, for others it will be one more chance to take a shot at a PR or a boat that has been edging you out all year, or just one last time to cruise 1500 meters, giving it your all for yourself and your teammates, before the hugs and tears that always end a season.

Mercer Lake is a fine venue. Near Princton NJ it is set in a large park where bike paths roam, hikers wonder through the trees, or teams compete on a variety of sports fields nicely laid out. For rowing, the large lake in the center of the park is bouyed for 6 lanes, 1500 meters, no current, and a decent walk along the bank close to the course for spectating. The schools all bring their tents to support their crews and parents. Grills are ablaze, tables and beach chairs out in force, the weather on Friday, May 22 this year was warm, dry, with a light but steady breeze coming across the race course.

The morning started with our JV men and women competing for the chance to make a semifinal. The Women were up against 30 selected crews. Their 6th place in their very fast heat was a very good showing for this determined bunch, given the time of 6:12 over the course. Schools from NY state and Virginia dominated this heat.  The Men were also in a very tough row. 24 very fast 4’s showed up for this year’s event. Their time of 5:37 was hauling, but not quite enough to advance to the semis. Ann Arbor (MI) took the heat, followed by schools from New York state and Connecticut rounded out the field.

The women’s varsity had two shots at making the semis, and they needed that second shot given the blistering heat that they were in for the first. Needing to take one of the top two spots to advance directly, their 4th place in  6:00 min flat set them up well for the afternoon ‘repechage’, a second chance to put a great piece together. The Mathews ladies from Virginia took this heat and went to the semis along with Nardin from NY. LM joined 20 other crews to battle it out one more time.

Their afternoon row was superb. They were working on the second place boat, comfortably ahead of  the 4th, with three to make the semis as they cruised past in the last 200 meters to the finish line. The Hun school and Germantown Academy edged them out, but without the need to win this race, who really cared? It is on to Saturday and another feather in their cap. Shenendohowa (NY) and Granby (VA) retired for the season.

The Girls lightweights raced at 3:45 in the afternoon. They knew they were in for a very tough heat. Merion Mercy was out in front of them all year, and though absent from the Stotes, these girls were back. The Hun (NJ) were always tough. Tampa Prep (FL), Saratoga (NY) and Oakton (VA) were unknowns but historical powerhouses. It was 4 boats across as the ladies approached the last 250! Taking it up a notch, our girls hammered it home to take second and secured a spot in the semis. Merion Mercy had them by a second. Tampa Prep was back a second, and the Hun pressed them all, missing by just 2 seconds.

Fans were there in support, team mates and parents alike. The Men’s lightweights followed the women. One report suggested that they were confident and didn’t feel a need to prove anything in their qualifier. That pesty Egg Harbor crew was well out in front as they came to the last 200 meters, and it did look like their confidence might have been misplaced as 3 boats were battling for those last 2 qualifying spots all separated by a seat! But the boys put in a few good needed strokes and sailed across the line in second, beating St. Johns and Harriton by a second. Harriton was just bumped out of the semis by 0.25 seconds! Mathews (VA) and West Windsor (NJ) were going home.

Saturday, May 23rd had a steady headwind coming up the course, humid and warm. The morning semifinals tested our kids who rose to the occasion. The parents were there, the kids were supporting each other, and there was some really great racing this day on Mercer lake, the home of the US National Team.

 The Women’s lightweights drew the tougher of the two qualifying heats. In their heat was Cincinatti, who had the fastest Friday time and won the medal last year. Montclair, unbeaten and untested in Philadelphia was also in that heat. So, our girls had to take on the unknowns from Notre Dame (OH),  Holy Angels (NY) and James Madison (VA). Notre Dame had the bronze last year, and had a second on our ladies in the qualifying heats. As they came down the river, it was clear that Cincinatti had first, easily outdistancing Montclair. Notredame and LM were nip and tuck for a while, but Notredame pulled it out, leaving our ladies just a little short in 4th with a time of 6:19.3. The girls looked just great in that last 250, long, strong and with a great ratio. Merion Mercy and Harriton would also make the finals from the other semifinal heat with times 0.1 tenth faster and 2 seconds slower than our girls (respectively) giving LM the 6th fastest time of the semi’s. That is the luck of the draw. Our girls were extremely pleased with their row (as they should be). They also reported being cheered on by Harriton. Now that is sportsmanship! The finals in this event were rowed a few hours later. The three crews that beat our ladies in the semis placed 1, 2 and 3 in the finals as well. Cincinatti (OH) took the gold, Montclair (NJ) the silver and Notre Dame (OH) the bronze. Nardin (NY) was fourth, then Harriton and last was Merion Mercy.

Our men looked awesome as they won their semi to put them in lane 4 right next to Egg Harbor who won the other semi for the final to be raced later in the afternoon. The boys were in control through the last 250 meters, but as can be seen, competition is fierce. Canisius (NY), St. Mary’s Prep (MI), McQuaid Jesuit (NY) and Fox Chapel (PA) were all within 5 seconds of each other. Only Woodson (VA) was off the pace. The boys 5:32 was a couple of seconds slower than Egg Harbor, that consistency being the difference to be made up in just a few short hours, or ‘die’ trying!

 The open women’s varsity 4 needed to beat two boats to make an afternoon race. Top two to the final, and 3,4 to the ‘petite’ final. Though they battled seat for seat with Upper Merion in the final 250 meters, they came up just short of a Petite final spot settling for 5th in their semifinal heat. There 6:26 was a very good showing in a steady headwind. Upper Arlington (OH), Woodson (VA) and Mathews (VA) bettered our ladies as well. Nutley (NJ) was left behind.

That’s our boys in lane 4 between Egg Harbor in gray (3) and St. John’s Jesuit (OH) in the bright red boat (5) with 250 to go in the finals. What a race! Our guys hung tough with Egg Harbor, but once again those men in gray had just a bit more in the last to finish with the gold in a time of 5:26 with our boys just 2.2 seconds back taking the Silver. St. John’s took the bronze 3.2 seconds further back. Canisius from Buffalo NY was 4th, St. Mary’s (MI) was 5th and St. Joes Prep (Philadelphia) was 6th. With the intensity of the race and the humidity, one of the St. Mary’s crew collapsed after the finish and was taken out by launch, onto an ambulance and to a nearby hospital. He was reported fine, probably just a bit dehydrated and over heated! Silver for LM. WOW! Nice going guys.

And so the racing season has come to a close… well almost. The Men’s lights are going on for one more week. This time they are off to Canada to race in the Canadian ’school boys’. There they will see not only the powerhouses from Canada, but many of the same schools from Michigan, Ohio and New York who like to race there since the regatta venue is the famous St. Catherines, home of the Canadian Henley and just across the border from Niagara Falls.

Meanwhile, for the rest of us, we are all looking forward to a little down time, the banquet, the many goodbyes to the seniors, announcement of captains and new Association board members, and then the summer. Ahhh, summertime, where the training starts anew.

Yours,

David Greenspan

The nations largest highschool athletic event in total participants took place this past Friday and Saturday. And LM Crew was well represented and can be proud! Just being a part of this spectacle of an event is amazing. From up and down the east coast and Canada come the best programs bringing their best boats. And it is all here in Philadelphia, one of the great rowing capitols of the world.

Friday is a day of head races as all events are heavily subscribed and only sending boats along one after the other can get them all a chance to compete. Head races don’t allow boats to work their racing strategy in conjunction with side by side competition. Some crews do well in this context, and others struggle to find that continued motivation to push themselves for the full 1500 meters. The weather on this past Friday was much better than the forecast that called for rain and thunder. None showed up.

The first LM crews were the Frosh 8’s. Its been a challenging season for our Freshman boys who have had some good rows and some high points including when they broke into 4’s. On this day, they came in 30 of 38, their 5:07 was 12 seconds off the pace needed to make the semi-finals. Now with their season over, the boys can reflect on how much of the skills they have learned, and how much they have grown physically.

The Frosh girls followed. Their time of 5:49 put them well back in the pack missing the semis in an event that had 41 other crews. Its been a tough year for these young ladies if beating other crews was the only measure of success. Its been a huge success for them in terms of their progress in skill, strength and endurance. The camaderie never waivered. And so they join the boys at the end of the racing season with their memories, good and bad, and a hoped for determination to better their performance next year. Hard work during the fall and winter can bring that about!

Making the semifinals is a HUGE success in this monster of a regatta. Remember that crews come from Florida, Virginia, Ontario Canada to compete, and they don’t come that far unless they think they have something to say on the water. So, when our Men’s JV 4 comes in 13 of 50 boats, that is a monster performance, and it put our Men’s JV into the semifinals, the top 18. Their time was 5:05. Later in the day, they settled for 5th in their heat, two to the final behind 4th by 2 seconds as the final three boats in this heat hammered it home. The future of these men is the future of the Men’s Varsity program. This strong finale gave them a possible bid to go to the Scholastic Nationals in Princeton next week due to that great pair of performances.

The Girls Junior 4 came in 22nd, a mere 3 seconds out of the semi’s. 22 seems like a mediocre showing until you realize that they beat 40 other boats! What a superb row for these ladies, their time was 5:42. Given that they only came together as a 4 a handful of weeks ago, its been great to watch this boat get faster each and every week. Work through the year, and they should have a fantastic varsity year in 2010.

The women’s JV 8 time of 5:31 put them ahead of 10 other boats of 38 entries in this highly competitive event. Its been upward and onward for these stalwart young ladies who will join the 4 and the frosh reflecting on their growth as teammates and athletes this spring season.

The boys lightweight 4 has had a fantastic season, a strength of the LM men’s program since 2005, this version has the respect of all the surrounding schools and many from much further. The coach of the St. Paul’s school in Baltimore has been overheard to wonder outloud, “what do they do up their at LM with their lightweights!” These boys came in second behind arch nemesis Egg Harbor, beating 35 other crews in a time of 4:49, breaking the 5 minute mark in a 4! This put them as a favorite and lane 3 in a semi final that was rowed on Saturday morning. During this very fast heat, they mowed down arch rival Governor Simcoe from Ontario to take first in the heat and lane 4 for the final. Governor Simcoe was the winner of the Stotesbury AND Scholastic Nationals in 2007, always a very strong competitor.

The Girl’s lightweight 4 has also had a fantastic year, and given its winter injury/sickness challenges their overall success is even more remarkable. Their 5:28 was HUGE. It put them 3rd overall out of 35 entries. This is the second year in a row that the women’s program has put a lightweight 4 well ahead of the pack, a favorite to make the finals. And that they did, giving chase and almost catching Great Valley (Virginia) to take second in that semifinal on Saturday morning. This set up their shot at a medal. The combination of these two rows should also show the selection judges at the Scholastic nationals that the event won’t be the most competitive possible if these ladies aren’t invited. Lets hope that they are!

The girls Senior 4 has had some very strong rows this season, and their time of 5:46 was among them beating 19 other crews in their division. It was short of making the semi’s this year, sadly, needing a mere 4 seconds to have remained in the hunt. However, based on their prior performance as well as this showing, there is a chance that this crew will also be invited to go to the Scholastic Nationals.

The finals began with the boys. The afternoon weather had turned from overcast and calm, to breaking sunshine and a steady breeze coming right up the race course. Their heat consisted of 6 crews who were all within 6 seconds of each other as they qualified for the finals based on their time in the morning heats. Egg Harbor was 4:54, LM 4:56, Churchill 4:56, Gov Simcoe 4:56, St Francis (ontario) 4:56, and Boone 5:00. Finger’s were crossed, for who knew what crew might have held something back. As the race began, many a nervous LM parent was at the finish line area holding their breath — if only they could for a full 5 minutes I am sure that they would! There was excellent support from the many LM crew athletes who, despite not racing on Saturday, had come to show themselves and cheer their teammates on. It looked, even with a 1000 meters to go, 500 done, that LM and Egg Harbor were out front. So hard to see the race in detail, it was clearly two boats battling for gold and silver right down to the finish line. LM was stroking hard, but the Egg Harbor crew that has held off our boys all year did so again, taking the finals in a time of 5:07.8, 2 seconds ahead of the LM Lightweights. Boone took the bronze a full 4 seconds further back. Us parents were just thrilled beyond belief with this great showing. Silver at the Stotes, unbelievable! Dan Abrams, James Buchmann, Tom Mickler, Casey Klein, and Michael Lowney can all be proud of this great row. And they will almost certainly have one last shot at the men from Egg Harbor when they square off again at Princeton in the Scholastic nationals.

The Women’s Lightweight 4 followed in the next event. Lane 5 is slightly disadvantaged on this race course, and the women had Mount St. Joes on their right and Harriton on their left. Just like the boys, all of the crews (except the dominant Montclair with a time of 5:31 to qualify for the finals) were within a few seconds of each other. Mt. St. Joes was 5:42, LM 5:41, Great Valley, 5:41, Harriton 5:41, and Hun at 5:46 filled out the field. Still blue from holding their breath for the boys, the parents and LM crew supporters now turned their eyes upriver to see the girls already underway. According to sources not confirmed, Harriton fell back early following a mis-step, but it was clearly a 3 boat race for second with Montclair well out with 750 to go. At the bottom of the island, Great Valley appeared to have the edge and Harriton and Hun were coming on hard after our girls. The LM lights looked great, but just not quite strong enough to run down Great Valley, or hold off the hard charging Harriton foursome and settled for 4th, 0.5 seconds out of the medal in a time of 6:07. Gabbie Mezochow, Aly Goldstein, Julia Policastro, Ellen Urheim and Leah Greenspan were all smiles having rowed 3 great races in the weekend for their most effective performance of the season. With luck, there will be one more chance to show their skills in Princton.

For many, the LM racing season is over. For some, they will go on to those Scholastic nationals. Either way, the season has challenged all of these young people, and we got to see how they individually and together rose to the occasion. They have done us all proud at LM.

Go LM Crew!

There is nothing like the UM regatta. Every year for the past 6 or so, LM Crew has been to Upper Merion to compete on the Saturday before Mother’s Day. On this day each year, the Schuylkill River race course is home to the Dad Vail regatta, the largest College rowing event in the US. And, since it always is the weekend before the Stotesbury, the largest High School rowing event in the US, LM Crew takes the day to ‘burn it out’ in the final preparation for the Stotes. Most all of the athletes compete in at least 2 events, often racing 4, sometimes as many as 6 times for the day. Unique opportunities such as combining 4’s to make 8’s, having mixed crews, breaking 8’s into 4’s are all possible and usually thrown together and raced. ‘Hot seating’, jumping athletes out of one boat directly into another to go and row again is routine.

And the parents love it too. Who doesn’t have fun watching the athletes go up and down the river 100 times! And this UM regatta was no exception. Lots of food, warm clear weather, and a ton of racing make this a special event.

The athletes are now completely spent. It is unusual (but this has been an unusual year) to have 80+ degree weather this early in May. The heat and humidity added an extra ‘tax’ to this day. At least the river was flowing fast making the races a touch shorter than they might have been. But the slog back up to the starting line must have been a real chore. Of course, there was that special learning experience going upstream for our Men’s novice 4. Way to bring some comic relief (and cool waters) to enhance the experience guys!

I wasn’t paying too too much attention to what crew raced in what event and to what end. I do know that Tom Mickler won in a single. Our Lightweight Boys won the open weight 4 event, and later raced the lightweight 4 event (results unknown at this moment). That the Ladies lightweight and open weight 4’s missed out on medals after their 4th piece for most all of the athletes in these boats, having won heats in their respective 4’s and then combined as an 8 with some also rowing JV and later a mixed 8. There was the JV 4 ladies that not only rowed as a JV 4, but also as a varsity 4 and made the finals. There were Men’s frosh in an 8 and a 4. The women’s frosh had a superb row though they just missed finals. The JV women also had a very fine piece (at least they looked really good to me) and I have no idea what other races they might have been in. But I do know that trying to get team pictures together was a bear. Why? Because whenever I asked to get a boat together I was told, “sorry, but so and so is out with the xyz boat and the other two are in the abc race and they are on the water right now…”

And so with that, I will close. I know there is alot more to tell, but I would like to let the coaches, parents and athletes tell their own story (or that of their kids). If you scroll down to the bottom of this column you will find a place to comment. Add your view of the day please.

Yours in rowing,

David Greenspan

Lets start with the top of the news. SILVER for the Men’s Lightweight 4! These guys continue to pound the competition, with only the guys from Egg Harbor standing in their way of the gold. On this day, Shipley had to settle for the bronze as our men rowed them down in the finals on this rainy, cool, but otherwise perfect day for rowing. Having first come in third in the head race and drawing lane 2, the guys looked good as it was clearly a 3 boat race coming into the last 500. Egg Harbor was out once again, and held off the boys in Maroon by a length, 1/2 length further back was Shipley, who just survived a rush by Harriton. Oakcrest and St. Augustine were well back. 9 other crews didn’t make the finals.

Who isn’t proud of our Women’s Lightweight 4? The ladies came in 4th of 13 in the head race to be the other LM Crew to make the finals. They came into the final 500 well back in 5th, closing the gap during their sprint but could not catch Harriton and Mount St. Joes that were in a dogfight for that Bronze medal, with the Mount edging out the scarlet. The Crew from Montclair controlled the event for the second week in a row, disappointing second place Merion Mercy who settled for second once again. The Hun school was 9 seconds behind LM. There are two weeks until the Stotes with the Upper Merion regatta in between. Lots of time for both of these crews to find their stride and peak for ‘the big one’.

That sentiment is also true for the other LM crews that put in determined performances today. This rain soaked but windless day started with our Novice women rowing for the first time in the Freshman event (there is no ‘novice’ in the Stotes or the SRA’s). Freshman is tougher than Novice and so our ladies had stiffer competition today. Our Freshman men’s crew followed right behind. These are the big time races and the best in the area give it their all.

Following our Frosh was the JV. Our WJV4, 9th of 24, was a mere 5 seconds (a boat length, 1.4%) short of qualifying for the finals. Our MJV4 (a) boat was 10th of 27. Our MJV4 (b) boat battled down the course later in the same head race. These 4’s had the best showing in this divison for LM in many a year.  Ladies JV 8’s are a very competitive bunch, often being the best 8’s of some larger programs. Ours was up against very stiff competition, indeed.

The morning head races was closed out by the WV4. 9 of 17 was an excellent showing for our ladies. 2 seconds was the difference between our girls and that 6th place time that would have put them into the finals.

I would like to acknowledge the commitment of the many parents AND athletes who stuck it out to the bitter end with our kids racing late into this dreary afternoon. The support of all is very much appreciated!

Lets hear from some of the athletes about their races!

The NJ Scholastics raced on a hot breezy day for April. And with races running as much as 90 minutes late, staying cool waiting for the race to start would be a challenge for athletes this day. The LM Rowing program rose to the occasion. 5 crews made it to the finals in the morning heats! All three varsity and both JV 4’s got a chance to row again late into the evening. The Frosh 8’s showed themselves to be tough competitors but just came up short for an afternoon race.

This year Jersey’s was all match racing, no head races. Also unusual for a medal regatta was a ‘floating start’ instead of ’stake boats’ that give a better alignment. Still, racing went off on schedule… for a while. The Freshman men came in 3rd of 6 in their final. I have heard that they were much happier with their piece the next day. The Novice Women came in 4th in their tough tough heat. By then the wind had really picked up making their row a real challenge.

The Varsity openweight women started the qualifying bonanza with a solid second in their heat to make the final. Very late in the day, they rowed in for a 5th place overall out of 15 crews starting the day. The Men’s JV 4 followed Montclair into the finals. Their 4th place finish out of 18 was a superb showing for this tough crew that is getting faster every week.  The Women’s JV 4 in their first ever race also came in second in their heat. Their 6th place in the finals out of 18 crews overall was simply remarkable this day. The Men’s VL4 took their heat, beating 4 other crews with Harriton claiming second 4 seconds behind. The men had a tough final, Egg Harbor claimed the gold by 4 seconds putting down Shipley by 2 seconds in the final 250m. The Women’s Light 4 took second in their heat behind Montclair that went on to win the event. Our ladies came in 4th of 12 overall and were pleased with their performance.

The Cooper Cup followed the next day. For some of these athletes it was race #3 and 4 for this hot and breezy weekend with temperatures into the 90’s. For the Men’s Lightweight 4, it was #3,4,5 and 6 as they raced in both the lightweight 4 AND the Varsity 8 event with 4 of the JV men. And these were not your standard highschool 1500 meter races, but the longer club/college/international distance of 2000m. Though I know the lightweight men are unhappy with their final showing, their Silver (losing to Shipley by less than 2 seconds) is really unbelievable given the amount of racing and the hot, hot weather!

The Ladies lightweights started the morning with a solid 22 second win in their qualifying heat. Their final, many hours later, captured the GOLD decisively by 11 seconds, handling all 11 other competitors this day. It is reported that they were extremely pleased with this last of 4 pieces for the weekend.

The Women’s varsity Open 4 also won their heat beating 4 other crews. They had to row through two to take the Bronze in the last 250m showing their grit and determination in their 4th long row of the weekend.

The Men’s lightweight 4 and JV 4 combined to be a ‘varsity 8′ and rowed to a second place finish just 10 seconds behind a well established Upper Merion Men’s 8 and beating 2 other crews decisively. Unfortunately, our JV men couldn’t get their entry into this race this year with boat limits squeezing them out.

This also happened to our Freshman’s men’s 8 who had to row in a Varsity 8 event. They felt they had a superb piece despite coming in last. They were within striking distance of two other boats until the last few hundred meters, what a fabulous show!

The Ladies Novice came in second of 6 in their final event. They looked really strong coming to the finish line, dominating the third place crew by 16 seconds!

The Ladies JV 4 won their event, taking home a Gold medal beating the 5 other crews decisively with 15 seconds to the second place boat. These ladies deserved to celebrate this fabulous win. Their 3rd event of the weekend, and third row as a foursome overall. WOW.

The Women also fielded a JV 8 too. Though this boat came in 6th, the fact that this combination rowed so little together was a major hurdle. You would never know it by looking at them.

The Parents are also to be commended. The Tent went up at the beginning of the Jersey’s and water, food, and great support for our athletes continued through two long hot days. Nice job everyone!

Boatings for the weekend:

WV4: — Marisa Fraimow (cox), Julia Vresilovic, Paulina Marcucci, Becky Wahrman, Lauren Maslanka  

WVL4: — Gabby Mezochow (cox), Aly Goldstein, Julia Policastro, Ellen Urheim, Leah Greenspan 

MFreshman 8 — David Katz (cox), Jack Holmes, Ron Koren, Nathaniel Tarshish, David Gilmour, Dylan Edwards, Avi Molder, Austin Klein, Sam Pollock

WNovice8 — Carolina Torres (cox), Morgan McMullen, Leslie Rothstein, Samriddhi Sharma, Giana Frusone, Demi Ratchford, Dara Meekins, Afnan Blankinship, Phoebe Thai

MVL4:  — Dan Abrams (cox), James Buchmann, Tom Mickler, Michael Lowney, Casey Klein

WJV 4+ – Rachael Bowen(cox), Allegra Massaro, Alexa Kuenstler, Morgan Gerwitz, Sarah Joseph
WJV 8+  – Erin Segal(cox), Ruth Dana, Francis Loeb, Jordan Chamberlain, Alicia Goeff, Dara Meekins, Becca Ferber, Katie Glick, Julia Strauss

Saturday’s weather was to die for. Today’s was supposed to be cloudy and breezy with rain on the way. So much for the accuracy of the weather forecaster. We did have some clouds, but the winds were modest generally, and the warmth and sun that was often with us made the day a beauty for rowing and spectating.

This is the last Manny Flick race. The Flick’s are like the ‘regular season’ and crews are using these races to learn technique, improve their fitness, and most importantly, to learn how to race! It is psych 101 out there on the water as crews test each other out… or not… and prepare for the ‘medal races’ that begin next week. The next two weekends are key. Top finishers at the New Jersey Championship (or the Catholic League Championship that races the same weekend in Philly) and the Philadelphia City Championship the following weekend get offers to race at the Scholastic Nationals. So, these are important events.

Spring break is a huge plus for our guys and gals. The extra water time without the pressure of school really makes a big difference, and all in all, it showed today. Its great for the parents too. With that break from the racing, our enthusiasm builds, the food gets better, the interest gets more focused, the gossip is… Well enough of that, lets get to the racing!

As a busy weekender, I couldn’t get down to watch anything but the last three events of the day. But it was a good day for the lead off boat, the Men’s varsity 4. Our guys hauled it over the competition, a full length over Vineland winning their race with relative ease.  The Radnor boat that edged them two weekends ago were well back.

26 crews went down the course in the men’s JV4 event. Our A boat came in 11 and our B boat 24. These two boats continue to plug away, never say die boys!

The Frosh Men’s 8 came in 7 of 14, the best showing to date. I heard rumor of celebrating in the boathouse, and why not! You lay it out there in front of the entire city rowing community and who shouldn’t celebrate. And if you do a PR, what a cool thing that is. So, this 7th is fabulous. Moreover, they made up nearly 30 seconds on the same crews that took lead spots in Flick #4.

Not to be bested by the boys, the girls Novice 8 also cruised today. Their 11th of 23 is super given their much more modest 18 of 23 two weeks ago. You Go Girl!

The ladies JV 8 looked pretty darn good slugging it out going by the tents. They finished 16 of 20 never taking off the pressure all the way down the course.

Following the JV ladies came the women’s Varsity Lightweight 4. And Ohh my what a race. I had the chance to bike this one along, and since it wasn’t a head race, it was fabulous to watch. Right off the start our ladies edged out over favored Mt. St. Joes who won each of the last 3 Flicks. Right along side in lane 1 was Haddonfield that took the lead by the bridge by a couple of feet. There things settled out. Haddonfield in the lead, as much as 1/2 a length after a move they made at the 750 mark, Mt. St. Joes about 3/4 of a length behind LM, and Harriton about a length behind the Mount. With 500 to go, the Mount closed to 1/2 a length, and then our ladies started to move. In front of the tent, our girls had come to within a deck of Haddonfield with the Mount right on their heals. LM continued to surge, had a couple of feet on Haddonfield with 10 strokes to go and it looked like it could go either way as Haddonfield wasn’t going to let LM just walk away. OVER OVER went the finish horn. 0.4 seconds separated the two boats, with LM the victor. The Mount was third a mere 1.9 seconds (barely 1/2 a length) back. Harriton was 4th, a length and bit behind the Mount.

The last race of the day was the Women’s open 4. Upper Merion was out in front the entire way down the course, or so it appeared from the tent. The battle was shaping up for second, with Collingswood and Ocean City. By the top of the island, our girls had pulled past both and appeared to be moving away. A missed stroke with 20 left could have given Collingswood a shot, but the girls settled into their final strokes and walked away with second. Good Going!

Rest up everyone… at least until Tuesday. The first racing since Spring Break was great. Bring on the medal regattas!

And another beautiful day for rowing on the Schuylkill. Three Sundays of racing, three Sundays of relatively mild weather and calm waters. Though today there was a gusting headwind coming up and across from starboard (island side) to port (us fan’s side), the water was relatively flat. Rowing is a sport that is highly dependent on the weather. All outdoor sports are effected by wind, and rain. With rowing, the very rowing platform, i.e. the boat, moves underneath the crew with the wind and the waves. Head winds tend to help stabilize the boat. But it turns the race into one of weightlifting. Tail winds tend to make the boat less stable, steering going this way and that, the platform flopping. The key to the ‘drive’ portion of the stroke is often those first few inches. ‘Hooking up’ is that feeling at the ‘catch’ (the point where the blade enters the water) that the blade is solidly in the water and the rower can lever the hull foward towards the finish line, hopefully in sync with the remainder of the crew. (When the entire crew is hooking up at the same time comes a feeling of true exhaultation.) Getting that feeling as the boat is blown forward by the tail wind is all that much harder, the stroke never feels ‘right’ without it. Cross winds are yet another challenge. If only they were steady! But most winds are not, and so the boat is pushed left or right, sometimes now, sometimes not, and hands go crashing into the gunnels and hips never feel square on that drive.

Today’s racing saw the women heading out early, and the men finishing up the day. It also saw the first day of ‘head racing’. These races are time trials used to allow many boats to enter an event. All crews must get used to these races as entering the finals of races later in the season require a successful head race to qualify. Of course, a time trial is different. There is no head to head push. The only motivation is to run against the clock, to try to catch the boat in front, and to fend off the boat behind. There is no way to know how fast that is or needs to be. Internal motivators have to drive the crew to success.

Many probably know of the ups and downs of athletes in the Women’s lightweight 4. The crew assembled for each flick has differed. Yet, with each week, the boat rows faster, with the ‘gold standard’ so far this year being set by the Mount St. Josephs. On this day, the Mount had to come from behind to beat Harriton by 1.5 seconds. There is a deep seated feeling of competition that comes from a sister school. Our third, just 8 seconds back and 9.5 behind the Mount looked awfully good to me. As a Harriton grad and cox (class of 73) I have a warm feeling seeing our Lower Merion Township colleages press the Mount for the first time this season. That 9.5 seconds is closer than the last two weeks, and that is with the Mount battling to catch and pass Harriton. It is a really interesting season!

The Open 4 followed a bit later. I watched with the many parents, sipping coffee and eating our carbs to support our girls. It was very hard to see who was doing what in the early going of this race. Usually, you can tell what is up by looking at the boats across, imagining a horizon running across the river, and seeing who is lowest relative to that horizon (being in front) and who is highest (being in back). The launches positions just made that especially hard today for some reason. None the less, as the ladies came down, it was clear they were in a real battle for 4th place with Ocean City right by their side in lane 6. That lane 6 is often a disadvantage because of the current, but today looked to be an advantage. The current was running from the end of the week of rain, and the island sheltered the lane. Our ladies held them off to take that 4th by a smidge.

Head races ran for the remainder of the crews other than our varsity boys who switched to open weight after two dominate rows in the lightweight category. I got a chance to watch our novice ladies come downriver (my head cold sent me home after that). They looked pretty good for race number two. Out there all by themselves, I was able to get some video (see the home page). They came in 18 of 23. Our ladies JV 8 came in 11 of 19. The boys frosh came in 17 of 20, and our two boys JV 4’s came in 11 and 16 of 20 respectively.

I am so sorry to have missed our boys in their open weight 4 event. The guys came in second, but probably neither they nor the winning crew from Radnor could have known that as they crossed the line as there was only 0.17 seconds between them. That also gave them the third fastest time of the day as one other V4 heat was won by a crew from Egg Harbor with a time that would have been 0.27 seconds faster.

 They don’t get more exciting than that!