Masters Nationals were fun. Thunderstorms forced pauses in the heat races
on Thursday and Friday, but for the two days I was there, the weather could hardly
have been better - a bit warm in the sun but comfortable in the shade. Of course
the racers were a bit warm, since there's not a lot of shade on the river, and the
occasional breezes that felt so good to spectators were having definite and
erratic effects on the races, but none of it was what I've come to think of as
"regatta weather". (Whitecaps, crosswinds, headwinds, low water, you name
it.)
We were sharing a tent (actually, a large industrial-type
canopy) with the one boat from the City program and with a club from Colorado. One
of their members, ErgChamp, so named because he actually is world champion on the
erg for his age and weight class, also often races with us. The tent gave us
plenty of room to spread out, with big tables and small chairs. We had also
brought our own lounge chairs as well as enough food and stuff to cover the
tables, and the tent gave us a perfect view of the finish
line.
Hardcore's youngest, who is 10 or so, was there for the whole
event; he's homeschooled (very well) so the time out of school wasn't a problem.
Apparently he did a stellar job as the general gofer and pit crew during the
heats, keeping track of which shoes belonged to whom, not easy when everyone is
wearing Tevas, and manning the videocamera. By the weekend he had plenty of help,
from me, as well as Hardcore, the Judge, and the Judge's partner, none of whom had
made it to finals. (And all of whom were nonetheless happy with the races they had
rowed and eager to help their teammates. This was especially notable in light of
another factor I'll get to later.)
He didn't need much help on
Saturday. We were there all day to enjoy the races but only had two. Rudder had
one of his men's doubles races on Saturday, but they came in fourth of seven or
so. No medal, but not too shabby for a national-level race with competition cfrom
across the country. Another woman from our club, an ex-Olympian, did win her event
by a large margin, with open water between her and the next boat. No surprise
there. There were trophies for some events -- just wherever some individual or
group had decided to endow one -- and a few of us pointed out to her and the
officials that one of the largest was for her event, as apparently no one had
noticed. She flew out that night, that being her only race; I have no idea how she
got a 3-foot-high cup home on the plane.
Sunday was much busier. As
noted, Rudder won a total of four medals, three silver in LM2xA, LM4xB, and Mx2xB,
and one bronze in a pickup boat in M4+AA. No trophies though. Also, another woman
who I will probably need to nom soon, who I will call C for now, raced in her
single and in a mixed double, with a guy who raced in Rudder's Saturday double and
in his Sunday quad. She didn't win anything either time, but was very happy (or
will be when the initial disappointment fades) just to have made it to finals in
her single. Her other race, the doubles race in which Rudder and She-Hulk got
their silver, had no heats and went straight to finals.
The City
women came all that way and only did one race, which just baffles me. Their young
cox, actually the son of one of the women in the boat, did end up getting asked to
cox a few other boats. I developed a liking for him over the weekend; I'd never
talked to him much before. Can't say the same (on either count) for some of his
rowers, though, though a couple of them are nice enough. They went in expecting to
win, which I always think is a mistake. Being determined to win (or at least win a
medal) seems to work much better. They are quite strong, but this is Nationals and
there's a lot more than just strength to it. They did make it to finals, as they
confidently expected, but then came in fourth in the race. A sense of entitlement
is a dreadful anchor to drive through the water behind your boat.
The
championship award for Overall Regatta Jerk actually goes to one of the club
people, though. He came in dead last in his singles race seconds -- but again,
this is Nationals. The competition level is higher than any we get in our other
races, and each race isn't even a setback, no matter how you place, but a learning
point. He was last by only 5 seconds, half a minute behind the winner, which isn't
embarassing. Apparently he was so discouraged that he told Hardcore, at the
start of their doubles race together that he was giving up and quitting rowing
or at least wouldn't be around the boatyard for a very long time. This is not,
needless to say, the attitude you'd want in your partner heading into a race. They
weren't expecting to win, but now Hardcore doesn't even have the satisfaction of
knowing they've tried their best as a crew. As least she does have that from her
other two races. Even worse, he then packed up and left immediately for home, not
waiting around to watch finals. This isn't the action of a supportive team member,
but would only have counted as whiny babyishness except for one thing: he had
brought up C and her boat in his truck. Even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't
leave; she HAD made it to finals and had another race on Sunday as well. What kind
of person maroons someone a twleve hour drive away from home just so he can go
sulk? She couldn't exactly catch a plane home; her boat is a bit large for carry-
on luggage. Luckily they caught him before he left and put a boat Rudder had been
carrying that wouldn't be needed for the weekend on his truck, and Rudder was able
to make room for C in the Hummer. He already had She-Hulk riding with him, as well
as a heck of a lot of equipment, so this was a nontrivial task, but he's talented
at fitting things in. The other guy claimed he had told people he would be leaving
early, but somehow no one else had any memory of that (and, as Hardcore said,
she'd have thought he was joking if she had heard.) The guy was apparently
terribly terribly hurt when Rudder, whom he respects inordinately, told him this
was not a cool thing to do. To his credit, Rudder apparently managed not to use
the sort of language that immediately leaps to mind (to my mind, at least) in this
sort of situation.
Anyway, at least he provided the sort of
outlandish story every event needs to be memorable. Aside from that, we all had a
great time. It was sort of like being at rower camp -- everyone there had a common
interest, almost every one was fit, everyone understood when you commented on a
boat. I felt very short, nothing new for me, and oddly chesty (unis don't do much
for cleavage). I did feel a bit left out because I wasn't competing, and a few
random bitchy comments from the City chicks but my crew know I'm there for them
even when I'm not on the water, and I was able to help out enough to be part of
the team. It was good.
Getting home after midnight and getting to
work the next morning wasn't so good, but that's another story.