Head races are a completely different beast from the 2K races of the spring and summer. They require a different skill set, different clothes, and a different mind set. To pull of a successful head race a lot of things have to go right and not all of them are under your control. Here we are going to give a few tips for how to have the best head race season you can.

Weather is always a factor in a head race and because the race is much longer weather plays an even bigger factor. The first thing to take into account is whether you are racing up stream or down stream. Most rivers this time of year are flowing pretty slowly so you don’t have to worry much about the current. If it has rained within the past two or three days near the river you are racing on this could dramatically change the course you take. If you are racing the Charles the current will determine if you should take the center arches or the outside arches in the power house stretch. In general if the current is strong you want to try and stay in it as much a possible while racing down stream and out of it as much as possible while racing up stream. While this may seem obvious many people don’t plan for the changing current conditions.

The other big factor weather plays is that it can get cold during head race season, I remember racing the Charles when it snowed and boy was I under prepared. It may look tough racing in a snow storm in just a uni, but it doesn’t normally lead to the best result. Its always better to be to over dressed when heading out than under, you can always take it off. The second aspect of this is that head races don’t always have ideal warm up areas. In some cases you only have room to row to the start. In bigger races such as the Charles you may have a large warm up area, but will have to wait to start as you are called into the chute. This is the second reason to have warm clothes, making sure you don’t get cold after warming up and before the start. If its cold and you happen to be sculling I highly recommend poggies until you start the race, even if your hands get hot. Keeping your hands warm right up until the start of the race will help you keep control of your oars during the race.

Warming up for a head race can be tough. Warming up on land as much as possible may be your best bet if you don’t know what to expect. I recommend trying to do some several minute pieces at sub race pace to really get a sweat going. If you are comfortable with it, try and only do enough at race pace to make sure you are able to get into a good rhythm. Being able to get into a good rhythm is important for several reasons. I find turns and bridges tend to through off my rhythm when I am racing and being able to get that back is hugely important to having a good race. The other thing that can throw off your rhythm is a collision. These happen, whether you’re a novice or a national team member and being able to recover from them and getting back into your groove is crucial.

When making your race plan there are a few good things to keep in mind. First off making sure you have enough room between you and the starting line to make sure you are up to speed when you hit the line. At the same time you want to make sure there is enough room between you and the boat ahead of you to make sure that you can pass them (hopefully) at a spot in the course that works for you. Secondly know when you are going to make your pushes. Coming out of bridges and turns are a great place to make a push and will also help you get back into your rhythm. Secondly, somewhere in the second half of the race you need to know where you are going to shift gears. Find a bridge or a turn that you can come out of and turn on the jets for the second half of the race.

Since the Charles is coming up this week we will try to provide what I believe to be some helpful tips for this particular race. Like I said before, try to spend as little time sitting in the chute as you can, this is hard but making sure you are not early is as important as not being late. Try staying high on the rate through the BU Bridge and then trying to settle into a rhythm around magazine beach. As you line up for the power house stretch know which arches you are going to go through ahead of time. When you hit the River Street Bridge make a push until you reach the Western Ave Bridge. Once you come out of Western Ave start setting your self up for Weeks. Once you have completed the turn at Weeks make another push as you line your self up for Anderson. The turn at Anderson is bigger than most people realize. You are really going to be pointed at the Cambridge shore on the fare side of the turn. Push again and start committing yourself to the second half of the race. As you come around the turn and line up for the Elliot Bridge do everything can to go through the center arch. This will set you up for the best line on the last turn. If you are forced to go through the shore side arch you will have to over correct back towards the Boston shore to avoid the docks sticking out at Windsor. As you finish the turn you have about 400m to push to the finish line.

Good luck!

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By, Will Daly – Stroke of the USA LM4-

Not much happened today.  The men’s quad raced and made it through, a few other boats raced for lanes, but otherwise it was pretty quiet as far as racing goes.  It got much cooler and started raining today, apparently this is the weather we will have for the rest of the regatta.  The high 60’s low 70’s are great to race in but I could do without the rain.  If you want to find out more about the racing and how all the US boats are doing click here.

By, Will Daly, stroke of the USA LM4-

 

Today was a day of thirds; third in the women’s quad, third in the women’s double, third in the lightweight men’s four, third in the men’s eight.   The good news is all these boats are moving on and will get to keep racing.  The women’s eight did win their heat, for the rest of the days results and how things are progressing click here.

 

So I didn’t get much behind the scenes today because I had my own racing to take care of.  Our race went fairly well (I am in the men’s lightweight four), at least it gave us a good starting point to work with.  We chose not to go to a world cup so that we could train a little bit more and not have to worry about losing weight.  From a physiological perspective it seems like it was a great choice and hopefully that’s what it comes down to as this week wears on.

 

More racing tomorrow, I have to put on my compression tights and get to bed.

By, Will Daly, stroke of the USA LM4-

So racing has finally kicked off and the US is doing pretty well so far.  A few boats won their heats, a few boats came in second and all the boats are moving on. If you want to see the results and know how the progression works click here, the rest of this post is going to be about behind the scenes.  What are people talking about in the dining hall and what are people thinking about during this stressful week of racing.

If you were wondering what Glenn Ochal, bow seat of the men’s 4-, was thinking about this morning before going out and winning his heat I’ll tell.  It wasn’t rowing, well I am sure there was some rowing going on in there, but he was focused on the Eagles, the Philadelphia Eagles that is.  They had a preseason game yesterday and he knew everything that went down.  He and Cam Kiosoglous, coach of the lightweight men’s four and also an avid Eagles fan, could have talked for hours, but racing got in the way.

Tomorrow will bring more racing and some more insight into the US National Team.

The World Cup series concluded last weekend as it always does in Lucerne Switzerland. This year the US sent one of the smallest contingents ever with only five crews competing. In the men’s double John Graves and Ben Dann placed 10^th. In the second US men’s double Ian Silvera and Derek Johnson struggled ending up in the pack of the D final. Ken Jurkowski placed 16^th in the men’s single while Gevvie Stone added another World Cup medal to her collection coming in 3^rd in the women’s single. The real highlight of the regatta though was the Bronze medal finish of Michelle Sechser and Devery Karz in the lightweight women’s double.

These two represented the US last year in a World Cup and at the World Championships. Having finished in the B finals in both events these two knew they had their work cut out for them. Competing in the only Olympic event for lightweight women means the competition is fierce and they knew they needed a change. They headed to Philadelphia’s boathouse row to train under John Parker at Vesper boat club. After winning NSR I Devery and Michelle skipped World Cups I and II which are often considered easier to qualify at to focus on training.

Their choices paid off when on Sunday they held a steady pace throughout the race to cruise past the British in the last 500m and into 3^rd place. This means they will be representing the US at the World Championships in France at the end of August.

We caught up with Michelle after she arrived home and got her take on the race and the big decisions she had to make this year.

The move to Philadelphia seems to have been a great one for you guys.  I know a lot of athletes consider moves at some point or another and it is not a decision to be made lightly.  What were some of the things you considered while making your decision that you think might be helpful for other people to think about?

I had spent 3 years at the OKC Training Center and it support me and developed me into the rower I am today.  I think each crew has slightly different needs, especially depending on the boat class.  However, for us we were looking for 3 things: A competitive training group, high level coaching, and an environment that allows for a life outside of training.  The training group at Vesper has been a huge asset.  We have a very competitive group of lightweight women; on any given piece depending on the SPM and distance there will be a different winner.  Vesper had a very transparent and competitive selection process in the early spring just to be able to compete in the LW2x at NSR I. We also have every small boat class to battle with a daily practice: LM2x, LW2x, LW1x, W1x, M1x, M2X, M2-.  We get pushed in different ways by different boat classes.  This has helped us learn to hold our technical changes, rhythm changes, etc with the pressure of a field bearing down on us. Also, living in Philadelphia has been a really cool experience that allows us to build lives outside of training and keep our morale high. The Schuylkill Navy Collaborative has created a healthy relationship between all of the boathouses on The Row.  Thanks to this elite athletes form other clubs such as Malta and Penn AC get to train with our group and further raise the standard of speed. 

Obviously you always want to be successful when you race, but knowing you also had to place at least fourth to qualify for the World Championships or you would have to go to trials has to add a bit of pressure.  How did you and Devery cope with this, or did you try and put it out of your minds?

Our goal going into World Cup III was to evaluate our speed and performance against a full international field.  We didn’t treat it as a negative pressure, but rather an opportunity to thrown down our fastest 2k race and practice our composure and focus under the heat of a ferocious international pack.  We never spoke about trials.  Devery and I keep our mission simple.  Our mantra is: “Step 1: Test, Step 2: Get faster.” We used this perspective after NSR I as well and it allows us to acknowledge that after each accomplishment or checkpoint we must always be looking for ways to improve ourselves.  We went to Lucerne to test our speed and race performance and we placed 3rd.  Now we are working hard to improve and get faster.  The fact that we placed 3rd allows us to avoid trials and be better prepared to represent the US at the World Championships. 

I really enjoyed watching you two race, you seemed to get into your groove and stick with it and push through the field.  Anything stick out in your mind about how the race unfolded?

We learned a lot in our 4 races, and each one built upon the race before it.  The most important learning piece was to be comfortable sitting in the pack and not shifting up through our gears too early.  It takes a certain wherewithal to wait to red-line it but this allows us to play to our strengths.  Each race helped us learned how to shift up through our gears more decisively.  The thing stuck out the most to me in final was our decision to attack again and again until the very last stroke.  There is exactly only one moment in the race when your bow needs to be in front. Most importantly, World Cup III helped us identify the things we are doing well and the areas we are working to improve upon leading into the World Championship. 

Everyone racing in France’s first concern will be qualifying their boat for the Olympics, and while you two are a little more sure of yourselves in that regard than other I am sure you don’t take it for granted, but I am sure you are thinking even more about changing the color of your medal.  What are you and Devery going to be working on to keep improving your speed?

The biggest part of racing in Lucerne, other than earning our seats for the World Championships, was identifying our strengths and weaknesses. I think we both came away from that race not thinking about our placement, but rather: Okay, now I know all the things I want to work hard to do better for Worlds. It’s incredibly motivating and we hold each other to a very high standard of continual improvement.  We spent a few days apart, cross-training after our return to the States and we both came back very anxious to get back to work and find more speed.