Mon September 08, 2008
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From the Launch
December 2006 It's December and except for the guy's racing in the Long Beach Bay series on Sunday December 11th, the fall quarter is over. This past Saturday we raced at the Newport Sprints and some of the Varsity raced at the Long Beach Christmas Regatta on Sunday. Finals are this week so the teams are on their own until January. Both the Novice Men and Women ended the quarter on a high note. The Novice Women won two of the three 1,250 meter pieces, closing what always seems to be an insurmountable gap from just a month before at NARF. Our 2N8 was not far off the stern of the Orange Coast N8. They never gave up, even though they where behind they raced every stroke. I think some of them plan on being in the first eight in the spring. The Men also had a good day. They did not win any of the pieces, but did stay in contact. Both Cal State Long Beach and Orange Coast have been on the water a few weeks longer than us so I am sure the margin will decrease in the spring. OCC brought the Varsity Men back down to earth, winning the pieces on Saturday. Both eight's raced well but did not row well and I can take credit for both. We never planned to win in the fall and winning the Fall Classic got us a bit off track. The focus to this point has been body mechanics and building the aerobic base and we are very on track. Almost the entire team would hit a P.R. if we did a 2k erg piece tomorrow and we have not done any training above 16 strokes per minute. The video of the racing showed us what we need to work on and it is exactly what we predicted would be our weak point and focus for the remainder of the season. The top eight has changed for every event and I am sure it will continue when we return. Balance and catches will come slow with this young team but will continue to improve as we move from singles to pairs and then fours. I hope this break from classes gives the team a chance to make big improvements in cardiovascular endurance. V02 max, anaerobic threshold and power will all be built on the aerobic base we have been working to build. Have a great holiday.
Scott Charette
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