The newsletter of the North Palm Beach Rowing Club April-May 2015 NORTH PALM BEACH ROWING CLUB IS A 501(C)(3) NOT-FOR-PROFIT, TAX EXEMPT FLORIDA CORPORATION EDITORS NOTE: This edition comes at the end of the spring rowing season which by all accounts was a really great season marked by many, many good results and events. None of these would have happened without the strong commitment of parents, students and members and from countless volunteer hours donated to the organization. Our lead article puts the successes of the season into perspective and highlights specific accomplishments of our younger rowers. Thank you all for your support! SPRING SEASON JUNIOR AND PBAU HIGHLIGHTS FSRA State Sweep Championships - The spring racing season for the juniors ended on a high note with the NPBRC Juniors placing 2 boats into the Grand Finals and 1 boat into Petite Finals at the FSRA State Championships against over 50 schools and well over a thousand competitors. The girl’s pair of senior Kathleen Kuesters and novice Aubrey O’Brien finished in the top five of the state of Florida! After the days fastest heat — if they had been in the other heats they would have advanced straight to Grand Finals rather than racing through reps -- they showed great determination and raw fortitude by battling through bronchitis, high wind, rough water and a dozen other boats to race almost into the medals! The boys pair of Devon Scirrotto and Connor Downey raced straight into the Grand Final from the heats, but got a bad lane draw and were placed in the outside lane “wind and wave tunnel” to finish 8th in the state — top ten guys! Very impressive! The light four had a tough go against some of the fastest lightweights in the nation, and having to race twice at the end of a very long, hot day. Matt Green, Casey Moore, Michael Ricci and Cameron Winslow, with Brianna Gagliardi coxing in a bowloader, eliminated several boats to make Petite finals. All three boats made finals, WELL DONE! FSRA Sculling Championships - Held earlier in the month, single sculler Leonie Meyaart raced straight into the light weight Grand Finals from her heat — AS A NOVICE! Double partners Kathleen Kuesters and Aubrey O’Brien made Petite Finals, with boy’s double partners, novice Anthony Kuzenkov and junior Devon Scirrotto finishing into Petites also, in a sub six minute time. WELL DONE! The technically correct lightweight quad of Matt Green, Casey Moore, Connor Downey and Michael Ricci laid down the FASTEST TIME EVER of a 5:19 for an NPBRC quad of ANY weight class, to finish 8 th in the state in a breakaway race. Fantastic racing! The boy’s Junior quad of Preston Kirschner, Cameron Winslow, Ethan Ridgeway and Nik Lafontaine made their way into Petites to finish third, finishing top 10 in the state! The boy’s lightweight double of Ben Garelick and Conrad Fite, in their first showing at states finished 4 th in the Petite Finals! As most of you know there are loads of really great pictures contributed by Julie O’Brien which can be found using TeamApp or from her website which is at http://julieobrienphotography.com Thanks Julie! Next up for the juniors is the team End-of- Season Banquet which is from 6-8PM on Friday, May 8 th at the Rialto Club, 104 Castle Island, Jupiter. You should have seen the announcement on TeamApp. The gate code can be found there as well. Dress is casual and there is a buffet dinner from 6-7PM followed by the awards presentation. PBAU- Palm Beach Atlantic University attended two regattas this spring in their inaugural season with NPBRC. After medaling in several races in the Tampa Mayors Cup Regatta, Colt Griffin was selected to represent the team at the FIRA Collegiate State Sculling Championships to place 4th in the Grand Finals. The club is steadily getting faster and faster, nipping at the heels of national medalists like Miami and Sarasota. The team is learning how, not just to row a race, but to RACE a race. Very exciting and well done everyone! Well done… COACH’S CORNER Rowing Clean Rowing clean, without technical mistakes, means YOU do not give your opponent anything. One of the best ways to row clean is to steer straight! Watch every little fishtail in your track, every bad stroke; try to correct on the next stroke. I have seen crews race 2032 meters--in a 2000 meter race because they are rowing serpentine tracks down their lane. Frustrating! Every day, no matter what the workout you are doing, practice steering straight. Watch your track off the stern and particularly discipline yourself to be aware, from a single sculler to a coxed eight of your surroundings and WHERE you are on the course and in your own lane. If you are in a blind boat, take one mental snapshot when you turn to check your path every 7 or 8 strokes. Don't keep turning anxiously to see--trust yourself, trust what you saw, take a snapshot and hold it in your mind’s eye. This way, you won't be offsetting the boat each time you turn. This is a skill, just like pulling the oar correctly, so train yourself to beware of every nuance in the shell, every movement underneath you--so you row STRAIGHT!" JUNE 6 TH NATIONAL LEARN-TO-ROW DAY FAST APPROACHING Just when you think we can take a break there is another event looming for which we must prepare – National Learn-to-Row Day. It’s quite possible that some of you first heard about NPBRC by attending one of these events. In case you didn’t we seem to attract more and more prospective rowers each year as the public’s awareness of the sport continues to spread. This year likely will be another banner year for us and that means we can use a bit of help as we deal with the moving parts of making PBAU enjoys an “end-of-season” breakfast at the club.
Transcript
The newsletter of the North Palm Beach Rowing Club
April-May 2015
NORTH PALM BEACH ROWING CLUB IS A 501(C) (3) NOT-FOR-PROFIT, TAX EXEMPT FLORIDA CORPORATION
EDITORS NOTE:
This edition comes at the end of the spring rowing season which by all accounts was a really great season marked by many, many good results and events. None of these would have happened without the strong commitment of parents, students and members and from countless volunteer hours donated to the organization. Our lead article puts the successes of the season into perspective and highlights specific accomplishments of our younger rowers. Thank you all for your support!
SPRING SEASON JUNIOR
AND PBAU HIGHLIGHTS
FSRA State Sweep Championships - The spring racing season for the juniors ended on a high note with the NPBRC Juniors placing 2 boats into the Grand Finals and 1 boat into Petite Finals at the FSRA State Championships against over 50 schools and well over a thousand competitors. The girl’s pair of senior Kathleen Kuesters and novice Aubrey O’Brien finished in the top five of the state of Florida! After the days fastest heat — if they had been in the other heats they would have advanced straight to Grand Finals rather than racing through reps -- they showed great determination and raw fortitude by battling through bronchitis, high wind, rough water and a dozen other boats to race almost into the medals! The boys pair of Devon Scirrotto and Connor Downey raced straight into the Grand Final from the heats, but got a bad lane draw and were placed in the outside lane “wind and wave tunnel” to finish 8th in the state — top ten guys! Very impressive! The light four had a tough go against some of the fastest lightweights in the nation, and having to race twice at the end of a very long, hot day. Matt Green, Casey Moore, Michael Ricci and Cameron Winslow, with Brianna Gagliardi coxing in a bowloader, eliminated several boats to make Petite finals. All three boats made finals, WELL DONE! FSRA Sculling Championships - Held earlier in the month, single sculler Leonie Meyaart raced straight into the light weight Grand Finals from her heat — AS A NOVICE! Double partners Kathleen Kuesters and Aubrey O’Brien made Petite Finals, with boy’s double partners, novice Anthony Kuzenkov and junior Devon Scirrotto finishing into Petites also, in a sub six
minute time. WELL DONE! The technically correct lightweight quad of Matt Green, Casey Moore, Connor Downey and Michael Ricci laid down the FASTEST TIME EVER of a 5:19 for an NPBRC quad of ANY weight class, to finish 8
th in the state in a breakaway race. Fantastic
racing! The boy’s Junior quad of Preston Kirschner, Cameron Winslow, Ethan Ridgeway and Nik Lafontaine made their way into Petites to finish third, finishing top 10 in the state! The boy’s lightweight double of Ben Garelick and Conrad Fite, in their first showing at states finished 4
th in
the Petite Finals! As most of you know there are loads of really great pictures contributed by Julie O’Brien which can be found using TeamApp or from her website which is at http://julieobrienphotography.com Thanks Julie! Next up for the juniors is the team End-of-Season Banquet which is from 6-8PM on Friday, May 8
th at the Rialto Club, 104 Castle
Island, Jupiter. You should have seen the announcement on TeamApp. The gate code can be found there as well. Dress is casual and there is a buffet dinner from 6-7PM followed by the awards presentation. PBAU- Palm Beach Atlantic University attended two regattas this spring in their inaugural season with NPBRC. After medaling in several races in the Tampa Mayors Cup Regatta, Colt Griffin was selected to represent the team at the FIRA Collegiate State Sculling Championships to place 4th in the Grand Finals. The club is steadily getting faster and faster, nipping at the heels of national medalists like Miami and Sarasota. The team is learning how, not just to row a race, but to RACE a race. Very exciting and well done everyone! Well done…
COACH’S CORNER
Rowing Clean
Rowing clean, without technical mistakes, means YOU do not give your opponent anything. One of the best ways to row clean is to steer straight! Watch every little fishtail in your track, every bad stroke; try to correct on the next stroke. I have seen crews race 2032 meters--in a 2000 meter race because they are rowing serpentine tracks down their lane. Frustrating! Every day, no matter what the workout you are doing, practice steering straight. Watch your track off the stern and particularly discipline yourself to be aware, from a single sculler to a coxed eight of your surroundings and WHERE you are on the course and in your own lane. If you are in a blind boat, take one mental snapshot when you turn to check your path every 7 or 8 strokes. Don't keep turning anxiously to see--trust yourself, trust what you saw, take a snapshot and hold it in your mind’s eye. This way, you won't be offsetting the boat each time you turn. This is a skill, just like pulling the oar correctly, so train yourself to beware of every nuance in the shell, every movement underneath you--so you row STRAIGHT!"
JUNE 6TH NATIONAL
LEARN-TO-ROW DAY FAST
APPROACHING
Just when you think we can take a break there is another event looming for which we must prepare – National Learn-to-Row Day. It’s quite possible that some of you first heard about NPBRC by attending one of these events. In case you didn’t we seem to attract more and more prospective rowers each year as the public’s awareness of the sport continues to spread. This year likely will be another banner year for us and that means we can use a bit of help as we deal with the moving parts of making
PBAU enjoys an “end-of-season” breakfast at the club.
the day successful for everyone. We won’t know until that day just how many we will get so we are planning for a solid turnout and we will need some help, both on the beach and upland.
We break the activities into several stations: a welcome desk, erg demonstration and live interactive area, a static display of a single racing shell and oars for all to get an up close look, a tent over by the water for handouts and information, an active beach demonstration area with several boats on the water with member rowers in attendance and, last but not least a final station where we can sign people up for follow-on lessons or camps, etc. Jock will host a planning meeting on the 19
th at 5PM at
the club for interested parents or volunteers. Since the duration of the open house is 3 hours (9AM-12PM) volunteers may want to pull a shorter shift or rotate through the stations so having a few more hands will make it easier for all. If interested please feel free to e-mail Jock at [email protected] or just come to the planning meeting. We have already heard from several juniors who are volunteering. They will be eligible for community service hours so parents please remind them to bring whatever school forms are necessary so we can sign off.
HOUSEKEEPING
Don’t get locked out! Better yet, don’t lock someone in. We’ve had both happen lately: a member who arrived but forgot the gate code and couldn’t get in and a couple of members who found themselves locked in after others had left. Root cause diagnosis leads to the conclusion that those locked in had failed to sign their names on the whiteboard so others who returned from their rows, seeing no slings and no names on the board went ahead and closed everything up. In one instance a member was using the ergs
when others returned from kayaking and they never noticed another person there. No worries: we will soon put a gate key on the inside of the side gate as well as the usual system on the outside so in the worst case you can always access a key for that lock.
Surprise Visit by WinTec We received a surprise visit from a local WinTec rep a few weeks ago….well actually he was local but also happens to be the founder of the company: Howard Winklevoss, NOT a local salesperson. What a pleasant surprise. He lives here in the winter and was looking to start a beginner rowing activity at his health club at Lost Tree Village when he heard about our club from one of our members who also resides there. He stopped by and we had a great conversation about rowing and possible collaboration in helping his club get a learn-to-row activity going. We hope to partner to bring the sport to some of their members, possibly at their site but also possibly at ours. He also wanted to have a look at the Wintec boats in our inventory and after doing so decided to donate new riggers for both of our doubles and a new seat for one of them. What a nice gesture and a great boon to the club. It will greatly extend the life of these two boats. Thank You Howard!
In the small world category it turns out that Coach Susan had interviewed both of his sons, Cameron and Tyler for one of her books: The Eight: A Season in the Tradition of Harvard Crew. They were both members of Harvard’s varsity crew and 2008 US Olympic Team men’s members and inspired Howard to launch a new club and build a very successful company around the sport. Not bad.
Safety Moment
Rowing Alone
Being on the water by yourself has its special allure for sure: just you, just the water, just perfect! It also comes with some obligations. The first is respect. Respect the water. Know which way the tide is flowing and how strong it is. Look near the dock pilings and you can see if it is really ‘pulling”. Respect the weather: which way is the wind is blowing? Look for signs of impending bad weather. Down here a thunderstorm can appear quickly and lightning is always a concern. If leaving the site after coming off the water remember to tie down your shell snugly as a micro-burst from a passing storm can send them flying. Respect Wildlife. It has happened to others so it can happen to you: getting hit or even flipped by a manatee. Do not chase them, or tease them….just enjoy knowing that they share the water with you in peace….and then calmly get back into your shell. Simple, right? !
Should you wish to report a safety issue or concern a list of the safety committee members is at the end of this newsletter.
Trailer Gets Upgrade As many of you know getting to a regatta takes a lot of work with many moving parts and lots of work to do before, during and after the event. It’s a well-choreographed exercise as each boat, oar, cooler, and other stuff has its own place on the trailer. The trailer of course is the unsung workhorse as it follows happily along knowing it’s got the goodies everyone will need once there.
However, upon closer inspection it seems that the trailer wasn’t really following exactly along…rather it was more like “crabbing” along. Why he never mentioned this is still a mystery. Yep, the axels were just off-kilter enough to cause wear spots on the tire treads which also affected safety. In addition, given the length of the overall system we should have had surge brakes all along. Now we do, and new radial tires too. One other little detail was also not quite right: we needed to have the rear running lights within four feet of the longest overhanging piece of equipment. Thus when we had “eights” on top we needed to be able to extend the trailing lights. As the picture clearly shows we have now done that too- and it’s removable. Let’s give thanks to Kauff’s Trailers for doing a wonderful job, and to Bryan Jandorf for helping to design the fix and Brian O’Brien for bringing all of this to our attention and also for doing such a yeoman’s job of hauling the team and all of its stuff to so many regattas this year!
We are planning several camps for the summer. Novice Camp: The first will follow immediately after the National LTR-Day, June 8-13
th and will
target new rowers, both adult and youth. The camp will be run in two levels, 10:00-11:30AM for any novice older than high school and 11:30 -1:00PM for high school age persons.
Advanced Camp, June 15-20th
.This is aimed at current rowers who know how to row. Class size is limited to twelve people and goes from 9:00AM -1:00PM. The first session from 9-10:00AM features rowing followed by video replay from 10 -11AM. The second session is from 11:00AM -1:00PM and includes rowing and wash down.
A second Novice and Returning Rower Camp: June 22-26
th. This will be like the first
and will catch any who may have missed the first camp and any returning junior rowers who want to get some early training or conditioning. Times will be reversed and high school will go first beginning at 10:00AM and novices older than high school will start at 11:30AM.
Please let your friends know and speak directly with Coach Susan for further information and to let her know of your interest. Note too that she will be gone most of July at US Nationals with Jacqui Kapinowski as Jacqui competes for a seat to Rio. Go Jacqui!
Beach Improvements If you row or have a penchant for watching practices you may have noted that when the tide is in the beach is NON-EXISTENT. This can be a problem, not just for our teams but also for teaching learn-to-row classes. You just can’t do much with no beach.
A solution is at hand. We have tried a test patch where we removed much of the overhanging underbrush from the area just to the north of our launch site (right photo). The resulting debris pile is at the right. We are now ready to ask for a club workday to give all members and friends a chance to help as we clear another 20 meters to the north. Stay tuned for another
announcement soon. We’re targeting the last Saturday in May but this could change.
New Website By the time you get this you will also have seen our newly revised website. To repeat some of what we had in the last newsletter some of the new features include the ability to sign up online on the website for any of our programs and also to pay for them at the same time. We will keep Regatta Central available as a backup but expect PayPal to be more useful for us and also you. When you join as a member or register for a learn-to-row class or sign up your child for a competitive program you should be able to do it all in one stop. All members will also get a username and password which will allow you to see and interact with protected functions such as the club calendar to reserve a boat, the member’s forum to stay in the loop for what others are doing or join a user group. Members will get an e-mail with instructions on getting through the initial registration and on how to interact with the new features.
County Commission Recognizes NPBRC The Palm Beach County Commission, specifically Commissioner Hal Valeche, recognized NPBRC at the monthly commission meeting on April 7
th. The proclamation noted our
many accomplishments since our formation 8 years ago and called attention to the numerous successes our junior rowers have had in recent regattas. Representing the club and receiving the Proclamation were Matt Green, senior captain and Head Coach Susan Saint Sing. Matt has the unique distinction of having been active with the club for almost its entire existence, starting with our first Holiday Boat Parade row in December 2007. Great job coaches and team!
Row with Ray
We’re starting a new program to see if people like it. It’s called “Row with Ray”, with the Ray being board member Ray Bernard. He will be using one of the club’s “eights” to introduce novices to the sport and to sweep rowing. This
is designed for the general public who want to give it a try, and who may just “walk in” without prior plans. We hope to interest those from the National LTR event to sign up for this. He will line up a cox and pull if/as needed from master’s members to build an eight for a novice row. The intent is to make it easy for someone who has always wanted to give it a try but who also is not looking to commit….yet. The cost is $100 for a one-month membership which is creditable toward the full annual member fee if they join. They’ll get on the water right away and it lets them try it on before committing to a full membership. This has worked at other clubs to draw in new members and he’s ready and eager to see it we can have similar success here. We have dates listed on the calendar so please help spread the word and make people aware that it’s available. The first one is the weekend of June 20-21
st.
NPBRC Board and Coaches
President Jessica Merriam
Vice President Shirley Blackall
Secretary Gretta Curry
Treasurer Jock Merriam
Director Ray Bernard
Director Beth Eisenman
Head Coach Susan Saint Sing
Assistant Coach Monica Larkin
Assistant Coach Billy White
NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
4
Annual Calendar of Events - 2015
Jan: 1st day of HS training Jan 6th. LTR- Jan 16-18th
Feb: High School, Feb 7th- Southern Sprints, F I T campus, Melbourne Florida; LTR- 13-15th; Visiting Masters Camp- 15-18th; Junior ID National Camp (select juniors)- 15th; Visiting Masters Camp- 22-25th ; Feb 28th- Sarasota Invitational Regatta
Mar: 14th- OARs invitational, Turkey Lake, Orlando Florida (Masters and high school); March 21st, Tampa Mayor’s Cup (HS and Masters); 27-29th- LTR, Full Moon Row
Apr: 4th, Miami International Regatta; April 11 and 12th, Florida Interscholastic Sculling State Championship, Sarasota Florida; 18th, Annual Members Meeting and Masters Social; April 25 and 26th, Florida Interscholastic Sweep State Championships, Sarasota Florida; HS season ends/social event May: 8th - High School End-of-Season Social, Rialto Club, Jupiter; 15-16th – Stotesbury Cup, Philadelphia; 15-17th- LTR; 22-23rd – SSRA Scholastic Nationals, Cooper Creek, NJ (champion juniors) Jun: 6th- National LTR Day (9:00AM-Noon); Summer Camps: 8-13th , 10:00-11:30AM for new rowers older than high school, 11:30AM-1:00PM for novice/new high school rowers; 15-20th- Advanced camp for those who already know how to row; 20-21st- “Row with Ray” for novices who want to try an “eight”; 22-26th- New Rowers camp (second camp for novices- same as first above but with time slots reversed); 27-28th – “Row with Ray” (same as above) Jul: TBA- Florida State Games (Masters and high school), Sarasota Florida; 7-8th – “Row with Ray” for novices who want to try an “eight”; LTR- 24-26th ; Coach and Jacqui Kapinowski at US Nationals Aug: 7-9th- LTR; 10-15th- Juniors camp for new and returning rowers; 22nd- HS Fall Registration begins; fall juniors begin 3-day/week training through Sept 9th; 18th, PB County Public School Start Sept: 9th- OAPB school start date; TBA- PBAU Start date; 19th- Junior final processing date/cutoff for fall season. : 26-28th- LTR
Oct: Regattas: Head of Indian Creek; Full Moon Row; HS FUNDRAISER
Nov: Regattas: Head of the Giblet; LTR; Full Moon Row; Masters Fall Social
Dec: Holiday Boat Parade (1st Saturday); Full Moon Row
New Masters Members Murray Fournie Mary Schrot Sloan Mathis RuthAnn Carey Susan Conaty Jacqui Kapinowski Alan McDonald Caroline Howe Jim Hatch Deena Ruiz Dan Mellon These are new members joining within last 90 days. Welcome Aboard!
Safety Committee: Jock Merriam, Chair Gretta Curry Alex Chin Mary Boehm Rick Blackall Susan Saint Sing, Head Coach
