Sat July 05, 2008
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From the Launch
February 2007 I can't believe its February. How did I get so busy? We have our first race at the end of the month. We had a scrimmage with OCC last weekend, alumni races this morning and then a scrimmage with Long Beach State next weekend. Sunday the 26th will be our season opener with UCSD and CSULB. Are we ready? The Novice women row well but don't pull hard and I can't seem to get the point across. Beating OCC in our scrimmage didn't help my cause. I think the coast Novice women are having a tough year. I hope our awakening comes sooner than later so we at least have time. The Novice Women have quite a bit of potential but potential is just a word. We can't win races with words. The Novice Men are on track to do quite well. We have depth through most of the second eight and I am quite excited to be able to race 2 competitive eight's. The men also had a last minute scrimmage with USC a week before Coast. We got beat by both programs but I am confident we will close the gap and be trading seats with those crews soon. We did some seat racing and have a solid grasp on how things are at this point. More seat racing to come. Speaking of seat racing we just finished our first round with the varsity guys. Today for alumni day was the first time this year we put a 1st 8 on the water. To this point we have made line-ups based on single time trials and erg times. This is the first time we have boated by seat racing results. It's been tough. I feel like I'm crushing dreams. We have more deserving guys than seats and I know it's hard to swallow. I hope the guys can soon begin to focus on the upcoming races. I have been there. My first year at Long Beach State after rowing at Coast I rowed in the 2V and thought it was the end of the world. Once we started racing I realized my shirt and pride where still on the line so I focused on my boat and team mates. I never gave up training to be in the V8 but in the mean time had my best year of collegiate rowing. We worked hard, had great times and grew together as a team. We did not win any big races but did win most of our duals. My Novice year we went undefeated, my second year at Long Beach I stroked the V8 but my first year at L.B. in the 2V8 was the best. I think all our boats can be competitive at the W.I.R.A. Championships but for the 2V it will be up to them to make a commitment to take control of their destination.
Scott Charette
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