Nate Kress

March 18, 2007

Day 8

The week seems to have flown by so fast that nearly all of us could not believe that it was time to return home. The fantastic weather that stayed with us the entire week seemed to depart only a few hours before we did.

Our last practice on Lake Lanier was a particularly wet one with light showers coming down. It was still warm however, and our remaining time on the water was well spent. Our two varsity boats were once again joined by our first-years, making another full squad practice.

In addition to our three 8s, we practiced with Ithaca College's equivalent boats, as well as the varsity 8 from American University. All crew's lined up for several short race simulations, and as with our scrimmage earlier in the week with Georgia Tech, the atmosphere was charged with competition. All Statesmen boats did well against the other two schools, with our first-years showing particular potential. This early success bodes well for our spring races.

Overall, everyone seems to agree this was a very productive week, both in terms of increasing our fitness levels and honing proper rowing technique. The sunny weather of course helped both our atmosphere and tans, but the cold Upstate New York spring will do little to impinge on further progress. All of us are excited to start the busy racing season which opens next weekend when we host RPI here in Geneva. The season continues close to home when we travel only an hour south the following weekend to pay a visit to Ithaca, along with visiting teams from Ohio State, UMass, Trinity, Marist, and Cornell.

Our second, and last, home race features Grand Valley State three weeks from now. From there on out we race every weekend until graduation. Come support and see some fast racing!

2007 Hobart rowing schedule

Day 7

Webmaster's note: This entry was written by Rob Reinheimer '07.

The team arose to another beautiful Gainesville sunrise today, and headed off to the morning practice session knowing its strength and endurance would again be put to the test in multiple 4-minute seat-racing intervals. Varsity rower Richard Klein '08 had to fill in as coxswain for the morning session. He has experience in the driver's seat, however, and filled in admirably for our usual driver, Michael Talarico '09.

The results from the morning's seat-racing influenced the afternoon lineups. Rowing well, thus far, has been Benjamin Ramsey '09, who has been getting some significant time as stroke of the varsity 8. He was in that seat again for the afternoon session, as the varsity 8, second varsity 8, and first-year 8 boats all hit the water for some technique, steady state rowing, and even a few competitive 500-meter pieces--three boats across the water. One piece focused on the first 500 meters of a 2000-meter race, with five starting strokes emphasizing speed and generating propulsion from a complete stop. The stroke-rating during these first starting strokes can approach 50 per minute.

The second 500-meter piece was meant to imitate the speed and cadence typical of the middle 1000 meters of a race. This piece stayed at around 32-34 strokes per minute. The final 500 meter piece was a sprint. All three boats emptied their respective tanks in an all-out race to the finish line.

The first-years have really come together over break, fighting through bouts of flu and bad haircuts to produce a boat which should fare well this season.

The second varsity 8 is making strides, yet has had few chances to practice with a set lineup. With more hours together, they'll undoubtedly make great strides. The varsity is coming together as well—and is showing signs of significant speed so early in the season.

After bringing the boats back to the dock, a few were unrigged and loaded, as tomorrow we head back to Geneva. Then the team gathered in the Lake Lanier Rowing Centers assembly hall for some delicious Papa John's pizza and good cheer amongst friends. With the pizza quickly inhaled, it was time for a Hobart crew tradition. The first-years had their moment to shine, as they performed skits in front of the coaches and upperclassmen. It was their single chance to poke fun at their superiors—and they did so through spot-on imitations, biting jokes, and even an original song by Asa Bearse '10 and Andrew Fosbrook '10, which detailed many infamous moments in the lives of the elder rowers. The night was full of laughs.

Tomorrow is our last day in Gainesville. A early wakeup is followed by a few competitive pieces with Ithaca College, who is also down here training. The schedule has all three Hobart boats doing 3-minute pieces at race pace. Regardless of the outcome of the pieces, they will inevitably help the program prepare for the first real race on the March 24.

Day 6

Let me first apologize for the delay. Yesterday we didn’t get back to Gainesville until quite late after a very busy day. The morning marked our first time off of the week and we all took advantage of the extra bit of sleeping this provided. Afterwards we made the most of the morning and spent our time BBQ’n at the course and testing whose whiffle ball skills were superior. It doesn't take an expert to see why most of us are rowers as opposed to athletes of other sports judging from the hand-eye coordination of some of the guys. Of everyone, Mike Grenier '07 was clearly the worst.

After our fun in the sun it was time to get back to business, so we loaded the boats on the trailer and headed to the Georgia Tech boathouse where we would train with them for the evening practice. The session went well, with our varsity 8+ showing similar speed to GT's. It was good to get back on the water with the kind of competitive atmosphere only another team can provide. It is not without my own mild sense of envy that southern schools get to enjoy on-water rowing throughout the year, although perhaps this adds to our anticipation and excitement come canal-thawing temperatures back in Geneva.

It was also reassuring that despite our indoor training during the winter months we could still be competitive with only a few practices on the water.

This morning we hit the water for some long steady state, meandering deep into the fiord-like passages of Lake Lanier. These extended practices give us a chance to cover a lot of distance and hone the fundamentals of the rowing stroke. In my third year rowing here, I think this practice took us farther than I ever remember, judging from the unfamiliar terrain. It couldn't have been a better day for such a venture as few clouds could be seen and the temperature never dipped below 70.

The afternoon's practice consisted of some shorter and higher intensity pieces and tomorrow morning we have more seat racing. Our training is progressing well and everyone seems to comment on how fast the week has flown by; tomorrow is our last full day of practice before going home Friday afternoon. Our first-year squad particularly has made some huge strides, and they now seem to really be moving well.

Alright, I'm going to rest up, and as seems to be the trend in these updates, bandage my hands.

Day 4

This morning's practice marked the second consecutive practice of seat racing. The goal of course is to set the lineups of the two varsity 8s in order to make the two fastest boats. After these past two sessions, the general results are becoming apparent and the two groups of athletes are starting to mold together. This being said, there are still many switches yet to be made until final lineups are formed. This delay is actually a positive thing, because it results from there being enough depth of skill on the team to require more intra-team selection.

This afternoon we rowed in our new semi-set lineups and Ben Ramsey '09 had some fun of his own. For the first time in his college career this tall, lanky sophomore had an opportunity to stroke, and he started with the varsity 8+. His ear-to-ear grin was evidence enough of his excitement, and he did a pretty good job too. With Ben sitting in stroke seat, today's lineup featured seven of eight rowers, all of whom were at least 6-foot-3, a tall group of folks indeed.

For dinner tonight our team joined the William Smith squad and ate at the Breneau University dinning hall, an all women's college. I, along with Alex Kahn '09, had the chance to enjoy a meal with some Breneau students and mingle with some good southern company. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and settled in. All of us are looking forward to our morning off tomorrow in anticipation for a practice at Georgia Tech in the afternoon.

As is the same as yesterday, my hands are starting to hurt from all this rowing and typing this is not helping. I'll report back on our results from tomorrow's workout with Georgia Tech.

Day 3

Today marked our second full day of training and already it's clear that the team has gotten into a comfortable rhythm. Life down here is pretty simple in the sense that we are able to solely focus on what's in front of us, an oar. With at least two practices a day our regime is fairly straightforward. Each day we literally row, eat, sleep and repeat. Without the distractions of school and everyday life, this provides an ideal venue for concentration and productivity. Even with all the hard work, and trust me, there is plenty, we still have time to chill out and relax, all while coming home to a freshly cleaned hotel room each afternoon.

This morning's workout was another day of mixed lineups so we were able to have two even, competitive boats. The practice was long steady state, aimed at working the body's aerobic system, which we row at relatively lower speeds. This morning we covered approximately 15 kilometers, but our coxswains (the little people who sit in the stern and are responsible for steering, yelling, and generally making us feel bad about ourselves) had a little excitement of their own. Over the course of the night it appears the lake level had risen a bit, causing a fair amount of debris, which had previously been safely resting on the banks of the lake, to be strewn around us. Much of our 15K was spent with our coxswains keening their slalom abilities. Luckily, we avoided any mishaps. Kudos to them.

This afternoon we started seat-racing, one of our methods for boat selection. This is a process of determining which rowers are faster than others so we can put our top eight guys into the varsity 8+ and the next fastest into the second varsity 8+. We usually do this in four person boats to eliminate as many variables as possible.

Basically it works like this: the two boats race each other for a determined about of time. Before each following race (of the same time) a different rower is switched into the boat, or between boats. This allows coaches to compare the margins between boats and determine the speed of each rower relative to one another. Since none of us know who will be raced next, and the outcomes are based on each previous piece, you really have to go all out on every piece. Needless to say, this is a very hard workout.

While I haven't had the chance to see our first-years in action yet, they seem to be making great progress under the boisterous leadership of their coach, Michael Hoepp. The goal of course is to be in racing condition by the time we scrimmage Ithaca and Georgia Tech later in the week.

While I could report on more, I'm going to cut tonight's entry short seeing as how I'm quite tired and my hands are beginning to hurt as I type.

Day 2

Today marked the first full day of spring training. Our first practice of the day starts near sunrise when we can take advantage of the still water. The morning session is even more serine with the absence of the usually boisterous motorboat traffic. This mornings practice the varsity team split into two lineups with even talent, as to create a more uniform technique and speed throughout the team. In addition to this, two even boats inevitably leads to a much more competitive practice with each boat trying to best the other. The results of each practice generally leads to bragging rights until the next challenge…needless to say, my boat won.

While the varsity squad was off in mixed boats, our freshmen, who practice with Coach Hoepp, were rowing alone. For a few of our frosh the sport of rowing is new to them, besides their experiences this fall. The first few days of spring training are spent rebuilding the fundamentals of the sport, and soon they will rejoin the rest of the team for some really intense water time.

This afternoons practice we began to do some shorter, high intensity work, which helps us to bring up the stroke rate. By the time we hit the peak of our racing we aim to maintain a cadence of close to 40 strokes a minute over a two-kilometer course. It’s essentially a sprint the entire time.

The weather was even better than yesterday, which is exactly what we all have been hoping for coming from the icy freeze of perennial upstate NY winters. This evening we stayed out on the water into dusk and enjoyed a magnificent Georgian sunset. With daylight savings going into effect early this year, we will get to enjoy another hour of evening rowing starting tomorrow.

Day 1

The first day of spring training for the Hobart crew team didn't start in Gainesville Ga., where we planned on staying for the duration of break. It started in Geneva when we boarded the bus fated to deliver us to our destination. This carpet-clad chariot would be our home for the first seventeen hours of this so-called "vacation." Various bad movies were shown while 30 questionably odorous men spent the many hours killing the time until arrival.

Once we finally pulled into Gainesville the rush of relatively warm air was a much-welcomed change from the musk of the bus. Immediately, our first task was to unload and rig our boats, which made the trip south a day earlier with Coaches Alton and Hoepp. After our equipment was ready to go and we had christened a new boat with some champagne, as is custom, we were ready to wipe off the cobwebs and get out for our first row of the season.

For the next week we will train at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic venue, a world-class facility located on Lake Lanier. The body of water is a winding, seemingly endless place, perfect for the kind of seclusion and concentration needed for our training régime. Practices will range in length and intensity, with at least two sessions each day, but a theme of intensity and an ethic of resolve are clearly palpable. Needless to say, this is a far cry from the relaxing spring break experiences of many of our fellow classmates, currently basking on Cancun or Caribbean beaches.

Throughout the week we will keep ya'll (the southern accent is already rubbing off) posted as we prepare for our racing season this spring. We will actually get a chance to see some competition here in the Deep South when we scrimmage Georgia Tech and Ithaca College later in week. STAY TUNED!

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