![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Regionals 2019.
20 May 2019 07:37Wow. So very different from last year, because we went down late, on Friday, rather than on Wednesday to help set up for Perry's team!
Anyhow. Friday. Down we drove, and got to the park in time to see Linnea and watch her launch. The weather was iffy, and the water choppy, so they launched a bit later than they otherwise would have.
When came time for her event... no SRA boat in that heat. WTF? Ask the parents. Then the boat shows up in the second heat. But there were supposed to be TWO SRA boats, one is each heat (actually, these were not heats, but direct to final races), and we're down a boat. And then the second boat comes down the course... with a novice race, and show up on the tracking site as "exhibition" meaning does not count. And Linnea's boat, in the first heat, shows up at "DNS", ie did-not-start.
Crying upset girls from both boats. The officials saw Linnea's boat, which should have been in heat 1, show up, and directed them to the warm up circle. They did not, apparently, check the bow number, they should have been sent to the start line. When they showed up at the start line, they were told they'd missed their race, but could go in the next heat. Which meant when the second SRA boat showed up.... they were SOL.
Fault on this one is two fold. 90% with the official who should have checked bow number to make sure they had the right boat. 10% with Linnea's cox, who knew they were supposed to be in heat one, and she's the boss of the boat, she should have pushed back and said their event was starting too soon for them to make it to the start line if they did a loop of the warm up circle. To be honest, considering that these are teenagers who have been told to listen to officials, I'm not even sure that 10% if accurate. So maybe 80% officials, 15% Linnea's coaches, who should have sent them out with more time, and 5% with the cox. They were not late, they were in plenty of time, but a lot of the coaches, considering the water, had decided on land warm up rather than warm up circle, and in this case, the official's error meant a fuck up.
All the girls in both boats felt dreadful. It was pretty sad. Didn't get many big smiles from the girls in Linnea's boat when they got their medals.
To be honest, what should have been done? The girls in the other boat should have been given a medal based on their time compared to the girls in the other two heats, without penalizing any of the other boats. The mistake was clearly from the officials.
And here is where one of the things Perry's much adored by me former coach has always done: she makes the kids -and parents when she can rope them in, NSM anymore without me and dh- do volunteer hours. Thus the kids know exactly what should have happened, and would have probably either not listened or asked for a full clarification. They've been out there helping at the start line and all of them know how things are supposed to go. Unlike the cox here, who wasn't confident enough in her knowledge of the process to push back. There was some dissent in the boat, because there are two seniors who suspected something was wrong. Anyhow.
Saturday morning, we had to get up at early early early to go volunteer on the breakfast crew for Linnea's team. It was hectic, but OMG, the woman in charge of the feeding of 200 people two meals a day in a what is essentially a field kitchen? Could probably do the same for the US Army. Organized as HELL.
Perry managed to get trains down from Bellingham, so we picked him up Saturday morning and got him to the venue in time to help his BFF E1 launch. She's been having a hard time with things, and having him there did help. They've always been close and always supported each other. I adore E1.
Linnea's race was early. Dh's aunt G got there in time and we got to watch as the boat came in second. They held off the other crew until the last 500m, but Holy Names had the better sprint and got the gold.
Now. A bit of a story about the DRAMA with tea in this boat. Two weeks before regionals, three girls quit. Nope, they wouldn't come back, despite begging from teammates and coaches. They just decided they had "other priorities". (According to Linnea, who rarely bad mouths her teammates, one had a theater production that she deemed more important, the other wanted to focus on grades, and the third was just being pissy.) There were no spare girls on the to make up the number. Then one girl who didn't think she'd be able to compete because she broke her wrist a few months back got the all clear. Down two. The novice coach was able to "donate" one girl. Down one, and things were looking desperate. Linnea and her friend E2 were able to convince their friend E3 -yes, there are three girls with E names in this post, so I'm going edit and number them- to come down and fill in a slot. E3 had quit after last year's regionals because of injuries, but was willing to fill a seat in the boat. She got one practice with them last week, and then they rowed for that silver medal. They did have to move girls around, Linnea moved up a few seats (from 2 seat to 4 seat) so E3 could be in 2 seat), and the boat wasn't as smooth as it had been with the lineup that had been together for the past few months, but a week ago, there was some question as to if the boat would be there at all.
When they got back on ground, boat and oars put away, at their post race "boat meeting" a few of the girls on the boat were grouching that that was "their worst piece EVER". E2, who is not one to suffer fools lightly, snapped back at them that she was not going to listen to that type of CRAP and walked off. Linnea ran off as well, in tears, and completely devastated. She felt she'd rowed a good piece, and was thrilled with the result, as well as thankful to E3 for bailing them out. They sorted it out a bit later, and I think the end everyone was pleased with having a silver! medal! at regionals.
A note about Linnea's friends, now called E2 and E3. Also awesome girls. My one gripe is that they're both seniors headed to uni next year, but I hope that Linnea will be able to stay friends with them. E2 will be at UW, and E3 will be at Western, so Perry is thinking about seeing about recruiting her as a coxswain. Nothing like opportunistic recruiting!
Another Perry's former coach thing: one of her goals for the rowing program is that the kids should be able to row "any boat, any side, any seat", not be completely tied to a given size boat, or a boat where you've rowed before, sculling (two oars) or sweeping (one oar), or starboard or port when you have one oar, or a given position in the boat. Linnea's program isn't as good with that, but I'd say that E3 qualifies for that. It's one of Perry's biggest assets as a rower. As a freshman he's "first backup" if someone is hurt or injured in the varsity boat (fingers crossed that no!) because he can be dropped in anywhere and will adapt. I suspect that it's both training and his own ability, and clearly E3 can as well.
E1, Perry's friend, had her final shortly after that, and she did not place, but rowed a fast, tight piece.
It was a long, but good weekend. It was strange not to have Perry rowing!
And here is Linnea with her two silver medals!
Anyhow. Friday. Down we drove, and got to the park in time to see Linnea and watch her launch. The weather was iffy, and the water choppy, so they launched a bit later than they otherwise would have.
When came time for her event... no SRA boat in that heat. WTF? Ask the parents. Then the boat shows up in the second heat. But there were supposed to be TWO SRA boats, one is each heat (actually, these were not heats, but direct to final races), and we're down a boat. And then the second boat comes down the course... with a novice race, and show up on the tracking site as "exhibition" meaning does not count. And Linnea's boat, in the first heat, shows up at "DNS", ie did-not-start.
Crying upset girls from both boats. The officials saw Linnea's boat, which should have been in heat 1, show up, and directed them to the warm up circle. They did not, apparently, check the bow number, they should have been sent to the start line. When they showed up at the start line, they were told they'd missed their race, but could go in the next heat. Which meant when the second SRA boat showed up.... they were SOL.
Fault on this one is two fold. 90% with the official who should have checked bow number to make sure they had the right boat. 10% with Linnea's cox, who knew they were supposed to be in heat one, and she's the boss of the boat, she should have pushed back and said their event was starting too soon for them to make it to the start line if they did a loop of the warm up circle. To be honest, considering that these are teenagers who have been told to listen to officials, I'm not even sure that 10% if accurate. So maybe 80% officials, 15% Linnea's coaches, who should have sent them out with more time, and 5% with the cox. They were not late, they were in plenty of time, but a lot of the coaches, considering the water, had decided on land warm up rather than warm up circle, and in this case, the official's error meant a fuck up.
All the girls in both boats felt dreadful. It was pretty sad. Didn't get many big smiles from the girls in Linnea's boat when they got their medals.
To be honest, what should have been done? The girls in the other boat should have been given a medal based on their time compared to the girls in the other two heats, without penalizing any of the other boats. The mistake was clearly from the officials.
And here is where one of the things Perry's much adored by me former coach has always done: she makes the kids -and parents when she can rope them in, NSM anymore without me and dh- do volunteer hours. Thus the kids know exactly what should have happened, and would have probably either not listened or asked for a full clarification. They've been out there helping at the start line and all of them know how things are supposed to go. Unlike the cox here, who wasn't confident enough in her knowledge of the process to push back. There was some dissent in the boat, because there are two seniors who suspected something was wrong. Anyhow.
Saturday morning, we had to get up at early early early to go volunteer on the breakfast crew for Linnea's team. It was hectic, but OMG, the woman in charge of the feeding of 200 people two meals a day in a what is essentially a field kitchen? Could probably do the same for the US Army. Organized as HELL.
Perry managed to get trains down from Bellingham, so we picked him up Saturday morning and got him to the venue in time to help his BFF E1 launch. She's been having a hard time with things, and having him there did help. They've always been close and always supported each other. I adore E1.
Linnea's race was early. Dh's aunt G got there in time and we got to watch as the boat came in second. They held off the other crew until the last 500m, but Holy Names had the better sprint and got the gold.
Now. A bit of a story about the DRAMA with tea in this boat. Two weeks before regionals, three girls quit. Nope, they wouldn't come back, despite begging from teammates and coaches. They just decided they had "other priorities". (According to Linnea, who rarely bad mouths her teammates, one had a theater production that she deemed more important, the other wanted to focus on grades, and the third was just being pissy.) There were no spare girls on the to make up the number. Then one girl who didn't think she'd be able to compete because she broke her wrist a few months back got the all clear. Down two. The novice coach was able to "donate" one girl. Down one, and things were looking desperate. Linnea and her friend E2 were able to convince their friend E3 -yes, there are three girls with E names in this post, so I'm going edit and number them- to come down and fill in a slot. E3 had quit after last year's regionals because of injuries, but was willing to fill a seat in the boat. She got one practice with them last week, and then they rowed for that silver medal. They did have to move girls around, Linnea moved up a few seats (from 2 seat to 4 seat) so E3 could be in 2 seat), and the boat wasn't as smooth as it had been with the lineup that had been together for the past few months, but a week ago, there was some question as to if the boat would be there at all.
When they got back on ground, boat and oars put away, at their post race "boat meeting" a few of the girls on the boat were grouching that that was "their worst piece EVER". E2, who is not one to suffer fools lightly, snapped back at them that she was not going to listen to that type of CRAP and walked off. Linnea ran off as well, in tears, and completely devastated. She felt she'd rowed a good piece, and was thrilled with the result, as well as thankful to E3 for bailing them out. They sorted it out a bit later, and I think the end everyone was pleased with having a silver! medal! at regionals.
A note about Linnea's friends, now called E2 and E3. Also awesome girls. My one gripe is that they're both seniors headed to uni next year, but I hope that Linnea will be able to stay friends with them. E2 will be at UW, and E3 will be at Western, so Perry is thinking about seeing about recruiting her as a coxswain. Nothing like opportunistic recruiting!
Another Perry's former coach thing: one of her goals for the rowing program is that the kids should be able to row "any boat, any side, any seat", not be completely tied to a given size boat, or a boat where you've rowed before, sculling (two oars) or sweeping (one oar), or starboard or port when you have one oar, or a given position in the boat. Linnea's program isn't as good with that, but I'd say that E3 qualifies for that. It's one of Perry's biggest assets as a rower. As a freshman he's "first backup" if someone is hurt or injured in the varsity boat (fingers crossed that no!) because he can be dropped in anywhere and will adapt. I suspect that it's both training and his own ability, and clearly E3 can as well.
E1, Perry's friend, had her final shortly after that, and she did not place, but rowed a fast, tight piece.
It was a long, but good weekend. It was strange not to have Perry rowing!
And here is Linnea with her two silver medals!
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}