2009 HOTO Results for Potomac

Hosted by Occoquan Boat Club (OBC), the Head of the Occoquan (HOTO) is one of the largest end of the season regattas in the country.  Collegiate, Club, Junior and Masters crews launch over two days from Sandy Run Regional Park (Fairfax, Va.) to race on a challenging 5000 meter (3.2 mile) course that runs through the Occoquan Reservoir.

This year’s HOTO was held on Halloween weekend (10/31 - 11/01), but you know darn well that didn’t scare us away. Quite a few of us showed up to support our neighbors to the south, OBC … and to cap off our 140th year of racing with some monster finishes. (Get it? Monster? Sorry.)

Check out the PBC HOTO results below.  To see all the results, click here.  For SportGraphics pics, click here.  (Looking strong in bow seat, Men’s Club 8!)

Great job, everyone!  And no, we did not eat all of the Reese’s out of your Halloween candy.

Head of the Occoquan 2009 Results – Potomac Boat Club

05c. Men’s Senior Masters 1x
1. Nick Holland [49] (Potomac Boat Club #01151) 00:22:19.3867 00:22:19.3867
2. Thomas Riddle [49] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02992) 00:23:22.1730 00:23:22.1730

05f. Men’s Senior Veteran 1x
1. Cal Sutliff [72] (Potomac Boat Club #03174) 00:23:49.6500 00:23:49.6500
2. Ben Bennett [70] (Rivanna Rowing Club #01182) 00:25:36.9433 00:25:36.9433
3. John Lavery [78] (Potomac Boat Club #01181) 00:29:32.2000 00:29:32.2000

06. Women’s Championship 1x
1. Morgan Wimberley [25] (Potomac Boat Club #01216) 00:21:13.4133 00:21:13.4133
2. Meghan Gaab [24] (Potomac Boat Club #01212) 00:21:36.8767 00:21:36.8767
3. Maria Bokulich [27] (Potomac Boat Club #01211) 00:21:49.4933 00:21:49.4933
4. Joanna Rubini [35] (Alexandria Community Rowing #02992) 00:23:22.1733 00:23:22.1733
5. Alyssa Fogel [21] (Carnegie Mellon University #01215) 00:23:46.9533 00:23:46.9533

06a. Women’s Lightweight 1x
1. Nicole Dinion [22] (Potomac Boat Club #01222) 00:22:18.6267 00:22:18.6267
2. Brittany Robinson [22] (Potomac Boat Club #01224) 00:23:18.6200 00:23:18.6200
3. Katherine Gonyea [37] (Alexandria Community Rowing #01225) 00:24:11.5367 00:24:11.5367
4. Danielle Millett [22] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #01226) 00:24:54.2800 00:24:54.2800
5. Heidi Hutton [56] (Baltimore Rowing Club #01223) 00:25:31.9733 00:25:31.9733
6. Brittany Brooks [21] (West Virginia University #03147) 00:25:44.4167 00:25:44.4167

21c. Men’s Masters 4+ (40-49)
1. Lauren Schumer [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02621) 00:17:53.5800 00:17:53.5800
2. Steff McKay [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02625) 00:18:18.8400 00:18:18.8400
3. Katie Wood [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02622) 00:18:35.9567 00:18:35.9567
4. Elke Gitchel [0] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02624) 00:19:26.1100 00:19:26.1100
5. Maura Norford [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02628) 00:19:38.7700 00:19:38.7700
6. Lydia Cleveland [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02626) 00:19:56.4367 00:19:56.4367
7. Mike David [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02629) 00:21:09.6100 00:21:09.6100
8. Marianne Wandishin [0] (Oakton Masters Rowing #02627) 00:23:16.7300 00:23:16.7300
9. Irene Walsh [0] (Alexandria Community Rowing #02623)

20d. Women’s Masters 8+ (50+)
1. Ashley David [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02561) 00:18:58.0133 00:18:58.0133
2. Elizabeth Fishback [0] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02565) 00:20:08.1867 00:20:08.1867
3. Rebecca Mulholland [0] (TBC Community Rowing #02563) 00:20:24.1033 00:20:24.1033
4. Tracie Felker [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02562) 00:20:29.5867 00:20:29.5867
5. Michael Henry [0] (Annapolis Rowing Club #02566) 00:20:50.4100 00:20:50.4100
6. Karen Snyder [0] (Alexandria Community Rowing Masters #02564) 00:21:34.7733 00:21:34.7733
7. Kristina Medlock [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02567) 00:22:38.8000

21. Men’s Club 4+
1. Rose Calabro [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02575) 00:17:26.8400 00:17:26.8400
2. Michelle Guidotti [0] (Penn State University #02571) 00:17:41.1633 00:17:41.1633
3. Sue McKay [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02573) 00:17:49.7333 00:17:49.7333
4. Doug Jones [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02578) 00:18:34.4533 00:18:34.4533
5. Brian Gowder [0] (Juniper Rowing Club #01167) 00:19:14.1867 00:19:14.1867
6. Eric Underhill [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02574) 00:20:18.3433 00:20:18.3433
7. Sheila O’Sullivan [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02576) 00:20:41.7133 00:20:41.7133

21c. Men’s Masters 4+ (40-49)
1. Lauren Schumer [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02621) 00:17:53.5800 00:17:53.5800
2. Steff McKay [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02625) 00:18:18.8400 00:18:18.8400
3. Katie Wood [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02622) 00:18:35.9567 00:18:35.9567
4. Elke Gitchel [0] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02624) 00:19:26.1100 00:19:26.1100
5. Maura Norford [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02628) 00:19:38.7700 00:19:38.7700
6. Lydia Cleveland [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02626) 00:19:56.4367 00:19:56.4367
7. Mike David [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02629) 00:21:09.6100 00:21:09.6100
8. Marianne Wandishin [0] (Oakton Masters Rowing #02627) 00:23:16.7300 00:23:16.7300

22a. Men’s Lightweight 2x
1. Jose Carlos Carrasco [24] (Capital Rowing Club #02654) 00:19:11.4033 00:19:11.4033
2. Giorgio Young [16] (Potomac Boat Club #02653) 00:19:18.6433 00:19:18.6433
3. Carson Towne [17] (Mobjack RA #02651) 00:19:27.9333 00:19:27.9333
4. Jamie Cloud [13] (Baltimore Rowing Club #02652) 00:27:14.3733 00:27:14.3733
5. Shlomo Bear [15] (Steel City Rowing Club #02655) DNS

22e. Men’s Master 2x (50+)
1. Anicerto Huertas [47] (Potomac Boat Club #02671) 00:19:08.9467 00:19:08.9467
2. Marek Blaszkiewicz [52] (Alexandria Community Rowing #02672) 00:20:05.7233 00:20:05.7233
3. Alex Torres [55] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02675) 00:20:30.9233 00:20:30.9233
4. Herb Cohen [52] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02673) 00:21:46.6933 00:21:46.6933

23d. Women’s Master 2x (40-49)
1. Anne Cann [47] (Rivanna Rowing Club #02711) 00:20:12.9533 00:20:12.9533
2. Robin Quinn [47] (Occoquan Boat Club #02713) 00:20:41.6733 00:20:41.6733
3. Christine Davies [40] (Potomac Boat Club #02716) 00:21:08.2267 00:21:08.2267

23e. Women’s Masters 2x (50+)
1. Paula Krahn Merkle [54] (Baltimore Rowing Club #02723) 00:22:13.2533 00:22:13.2533
2. Bev Furman [58] (Occoquan Boat Club #02721) 00:22:17.6533 00:22:17.6533
3. Sally Folan [50] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02724) 00:22:18.6933 00:22:18.6933
4. Camilla Durfee [67] (Potomac Boat Club #02756) 00:23:01.3033 00:23:01.3033
5. Elena Blum [60] (Potomac Boat Club #02722) 00:24:33.6900 00:24:33.6900

24. Women’s Club 4+
1. Sally O’Connor [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02738) 00:19:26.7167 00:19:26.7167
2. Sophie Lin [0] (Baltimore Rowing Club #02731) 00:20:10.2800 00:20:10.2800
3. Gretchen Abell [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02736) 00:20:29.8567 00:20:29.8567
4. Elke Elke [0] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02732) 00:20:30.8300 00:20:30.8300
5. Maura Norford [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02742) 00:20:38.2800 00:20:38.2800
6. Bess Dopkeen [0] (Alexandria Crew Boosters #02733) 00:20:47.1833 00:20:47.1833
7. Patti Webb [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02741) 00:21:52.5767 00:21:52.5767
8. Elaina Brennan [0] (Virginia Boat Club #02739) 00:23:21.8633 00:23:21.8633
9. Michelle Guidotti [0] (Penn State University #02740) 00:23:46.1400 00:23:46.1400
10. Ashley David [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02734) 00:25:21.3600 00:25:21.3600

24d. Women’s Masters 4+ (50+)
1. Lee Roman [0] (Annapolis Rowing Club #02807) 00:20:16.6700 00:20:16.6700
2. Kristina Medlock [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02804) 00:22:11.6033 00:22:11.6033
3. Sammi Moore [0] (Prince William Rowing Club Inc. #02810) 00:22:14.0700 00:22:14.0700
4. Karen Snyder [0] (Alexandria Community Rowing Masters #02808) 00:22:24.2433 00:22:24.2433
5. Elizabeth Fishback [0] (Three Rivers Rowing Association #02802) 00:22:26.7300 00:22:26.7300
6. Paul Peou [0] (TBC Community Rowing #02809) 00:23:10.1967 00:23:10.1967
7. Rebecca Mulholland [0] (TBC Community Rowing #02801) 00:23:10.3033 00:23:10.3033
8. Karen Snyder [0] (Alexandria Community Rowing Masters #02805) 00:23:29.8500 00:23:29.8500
9. Rose Calabro [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02806) 00:24:35.3267 00:24:35.3267
10. Michael Henry [0] (Annapolis Rowing Club #02792) 00:26:41.1867 00:26:41.1867

25. Men’s Club 8+
1. Potomac Boat Club #2864 00:15:38.1070 00:15:38.1070
2. Spousta’s Meat Locker #3192 00:16:32.1267 00:16:32.1267
3. Brian Nahas [0] (Penn State University #02811) 00:16:44.1767 00:16:44.1767
4. Steff McKay [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02812) 00:17:00.9200 00:17:00.9200
5. Eric Underhill [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02813) 00:17:24.2833 00:17:24.2833
6. Michelle Guidotti [0] (Penn State University #02817) 00:17:39.5233 00:17:39.5233
7. Jon Barr [0] (Fighting Gobbler Boat Club #02814) 00:17:44.4433 00:17:44.4433
8. Kris Connor [0] (Capital Rowing Club #02818) 00:19:09.8233 00:19:09.8233
9. Patrick Johnson [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02815) 00:19:47.6700 00:19:47.6700
10. Par Atwal [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02819) 00:22:21.2233 00:22:21.2233
11. Justin Johns [0] (D.C. Strokes Rowing Club #02820) 00:22:42.4633 00:22:42.4633

26b. Men’s Masters 4x (40-49)
1. Potomac Boat Club #2875 00:17:31.6310 00:17:31.6310
2. Unaffliated #02874 00:19:15.8970 00:19:15.8970
3. Patrick Lally [0] (Capital Rowing Club #03048) 00:20:20.4733 00:20:20.4733

27b. Women’s Masters 4x (40-49)
1. Joanna Flanders [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02887) 00:22:19.2000 00:22:19.2000
2. Dori Tompa [0] (Steel City Rowing Club #01293) 00:22:42.2300 00:22:42.2300

28c. Mixed Masters 4x (50+)
1. Bill Cox [0] (Potomac Boat Club #02896) 00:18:18.9767 00:18:18.9767
2. Stephanie Snoich [0] (Northern Virginia Rowing Club #02897) 00:26:06.2567 00:26:06.2567

Watch Head of the Charles results roll in!

Hey, PBC.

Stuck in DC this weekend while all your friends are up at the Charles?  We feel your pain.  Don’t forget that you can track PBC’ers racing at the HOCR in near real-time by visiting the results page here.  It’s the next best thing to watching from Weeks!

Well, better than nothing … ?

Posted: 2009 Scullers Head of Potomac Photos!

Photos from the Charlie Butt 29th Annual Scullers Head of the Potomac are up on SportGraphics right now!

• For pics of Potomac Boat Club, go here.
• For pics of PBC-hosted WeCanRow DC, go here.
• To search the whole shebang, just visit the SportGraphics SHOP search page here.

By the way, did you miss out on getting a t-shirt from this special event?  Well, it’s not too late.  Contact Nancy Butt-Packard to see what she has left.  Proceeds from t-shirt sales go to benefit young athletes through the Charlie Butt Scholarship Fund.

Looking good, Potomac!

PBC Sculling Ladder Returns for ‘09!!!

PBC senior member and newly re-elected member of the Board, Ed Ryan, gives us the run-down on Sculling Ladder ‘09.

Attention all PBC Scullers!

Join us for this time-honored tradition of rowing, the PBC Sculling Ladder! It’s a way to have some fun, generate some friendly competition, and establish an informal pecking order of speed among the scullers in the Club. All PBC scullers are welcome!!!

Here’s how it works:

The Ladder.   You’ll see the Ladder hanging on the bulletin board across from the logbook.  The top rungs are now occupied by the top places from the ‘08 Ladder, as best as I can remember.  If you want to join, just take one of the blank depressors and place your name and age on it, together with any other embellishments you prefer. Place your depressor on the first open spot on the Ladder - - it’s that simple.  While last year we divided the Ladder between Girls and Boys, that distinction evaporated midway through the year and we’ll now have a single coed ladder and let the handicap chart work its magic.

The Equipment.  You, your single (or Club single), and oars.

The Challenge (or How to Move up the Ladder).  Any sculler can challenge another sculler within five rungs above his or her name on the Ladder.  A challenge must be accepted and rowed within two weeks at a mutually convenient time.  I’d like to see early Saturday mornings become the preferred time.  An extra incentive to encourage Saturday a.m.’s. — if raced at that time, the losing rower can immediately challenge the winner and the second race will take place as soon as both rowers can paddle back to the start.   Nice workout too.

The Handicaps.   A sheet of handicaps is posted right next to the Ladder.  It’s been scientifically calculated and essentially is a hybrid between the USRowing handicaps and what I’ll call the Gwadz handicaps.  Use your age as of the end of this year. There’s a lot of literature out there on the aging process and athletic performance, virtually all of it very depressing, and the handicaps are intended to adjust for that, as well as to make the racing as competitive as possible for PBC rowers.  The handicaps make this a great opportunity for everyone, from open through the most senior masters, to get out and scrimmage a bit on the river.    Last year we found that races were extremely competitive, and we’d like to see even more Open Scullers participate.

The Races. The race will be a 1000m race.  Standing start.  Challenger gets choice of lane.  The course - and this generated far too much controversy last year – is generally from the top of the Sisters to Key Bridge, but more precisely it is this:  the start is an (imaginary) line drawn perpendicularly from the first large sycamore tree immediately below the creek that empties on the Virginia side across from the top of Sisters – drawn to the sycamore tree immediately opposite on the DC side; the finish is an (imaginary) line drawn from the upstream edges of the Key Bridge abutments between the second and third arches (Virginia side).  If I can get my hands on a launch, I will tie a ribbon around the trunk of the upstream tree so you’ll know which one.  If you want to make it simple, just think of the top set of rocks at the Sisters to Key Bridge, and just do it.  The handicap adjustment is given at the start (i.e., the handicap differential is calculated, the boat receiving the handicap will start first and the other boat will then count off the differential and then start). This is all on the honor system. If there is a current, and you’re giving time, remember to keep backing lightly while counting down the handicap.
View Larger Map

The Spoils.  If the challenging sculler wins, the positions of the two rowers on the Ladder get reversed and the challenger takes the challengee’s spot (and visa versa), even if this means skipping a few rungs on the way up and down. If the challenging sculler loses, he or she must, at the sole discretion of the challengee, (a) wash the challengee’s boat, or (b) provide the challengee with uninterrupted drink service at the next PBC Happy Hour on the House, and address the challengee throughout such event as my liege.

Have Fun.  Row Fast.

-Ed Ryan

PBC Golden at the 2009 MAES

There was a time when rowers would curse that darkest of winter days when the last ramp would be pulled from the river before being enveloped by ice.  It was our lifeline to the water.  Once it was gone, so was the hope that maybe, just maybe, we were actually going to get to row instead of erg.  These days, the hope of getting into a boat still disappears with the last ramp, but based on our results at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints (MAES), it looks like some of us have learned to embrace the harsh realities of winter erging.

Thirteen competitors from PBC earned first place bragging rights in their respective categories at the MAES, with a few repeat performances including another gold from Greg Le Sage in the Men’s 30-39 2000m.  Greg was joined this year by son Joey, who cranked his way to an impressive third place finish in the Junior Men’s Age 13 1000m.  This was Joey’s first 1000m erg sprint, and this summer, he will attend the 16th Annual Navy Crew Camp for Boys in Annapolis with plans on also following Dad into a sweep boat.

Congratulations to Greg, Joey, and all of you who represented PBC so well at the MAES!  For a list of our top finishers, please take a look below.  To see all the MAES results, please click here.

PBC’s Top Finishers at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints
(Much thanks to Cal Sutliff for putting this list together!)

Men 40-49 30 min. row
1st Bob Price - 8110 m
2nd Nick Holland - 7922 m

Women 60+ 30 min. row
1st E. Gordon - 5898

Men 70-74 2000 m
1st Paul Pearlstein - 9:04

Women 70-74 2000 m
1st Camilla Durfee - 9:11

Women Vets. Ltwt 2000 m
1st R. Blum - 9:28

Women 60-64 2000 m
2nd Susan Trice - 9:13

Men 55-29 2000 m
1st Bob Spousta (Cal says we can still claim you!) - 6:37

Women 55-59 2000 m
1st Kathleen Landauer - 7:58
2nd Catie O’Keefe - 8:31

Women 50-54 2000 m
1st/1st Lwt. Cindy Cole - 8:01

Men 40-49 2000 m
1st Chad Jungbluth - 6:26
4th/1st LtWt. S. Schmitt - 6:52

Men 30-39 2000 m
1st Greg Le Sage - 6:11
2nd Todd Nix - 6:26
3rd John Ryan - 6.28

Junior Men Age 13 1000 m
3rd Joey Le Sage - 3:58

Open Men 2000 m
1st Bill Greer - 6:09

Open Women 2000 m
1st M. Schumway - 6:58
2nd K. Stainken - 7:09
3rd M. Wemberley - 7:10
4th E. Mygatt - 7:26

Men Masters 500 m Sprint
1st Nick Davies - 1:21

“Better to row and sink than never to row at all.”

The following post was contributed by Liz, a PBC senior member and a member of its Open Sculling Program.  Liz was invited to race in the 2008 Tour du Leman, along with fellow PBC’ers MJ and Bill G.

The Tour is a 160 kilometer (100-mile) non-stop race around Lac de Géneve in Switzerland. Our PBC rowers were joined by Ryan G. and Osval A. of Thompsons Boat Center, and together, they made up one of only five mixed crews in the race and the only crew from the United States.

Reprinted in its entirety, the original was sent to friends and supporters of Liz’s team following the race in Geneva in September 2008.  Liz was kind enough to let us share it with you again here, despite the outcome!

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Some of you may have heard by now that our race this weekend in Geneva did not go according to plan. Nor did it take as long as we had expected it to, for we were swamped and down for the count within the first hour of the race. Yes, it’s true: despite a great deal of sound logistical preparation (not to mention training), the strong NE wind prevailed. We did a lot of things right but met with a couple of unfortunate events that made us more vulnerable when bad luck hit.

Below is my account of how things went down. Apologies in advance for a long email. If any of you are especially brave, I have also attached some emails sent to a handful of DC rowers throughout the weekend by our teammate and team scribe, Ryan. Some of you received these, but many of you have not. His accounts are quite accurate and provide some color for you of the excitement before, the drama during, and the heartbreak after our ill-fated attempt.

Here we go.

The wind and water were horrible as we left the dock. We were well-prepared, though, and had gotten a great deal of useful advice from our competitors as well as competitors from previous years, including Tom Dryer and Bob Miller, who competed in 2005 as the first US team to race in the event. They came in 2nd that year, setting the record in the Masters category along the way.

Shortly after we turned around the first buoy (800 meters from the start), we were in about 4th place when Bill’s foot stretchers popped out. This forced him to drop out to fix them, and slowed us considerably. As waves washed over the gunwhales, Ryan tried to bail, but our handpump was totally overpowered. MJ also dropped out to help bail, and Ozzie and I kept rowing, but I knew this was not good. Not only were we going slower, but slower moving boats tend to sit lower in the water. Water was pooling in the stern, in part because the three stern-most people had stopped moving (to bail) and in part because the stern was heavier than the bow to begin with. Once water started to pool, incoming water kept rushing to the stern, making the imbalance even worse. To be honest, I had no idea how bad it was because I was in the bow and could only see about two inches of water in the boat beneath me (in contrast to 12-16 inches in the stern). In fact, when MJ asked for my knife to cut a water bottle to bail more effectively, I thought to myself, we can’t do that! We’ll need that water to drink in a few hours…” I was pretty oblivious.

Finally, we all had to stop to bail. This was a bad sign. We weren’t moving anywhere, so we weren’t getting any closer to good water (which turns out to have been more than 20 KM away). We were also sitting extremely low in the water. During this time, a number of boats had passed us, including an all-women’s crew who, we later recalled, were sitting very high in the water. They probably had an average weight of 120 lbs. This helped them for awhile, but 90 minutes into the race, two consecutive waves did them in. They’d made it for awhile, but their time had come too.

What finally did us in, though, was a safety launch that zoomed up next to us and threw out an enormous wake. In one rolling wave, all of our good bailing work had been zeroed. Ryan yelled furiously, but too little too late: Ryan, Bill and MJ were sitting in water. “It’s over,” said Ryan quietly.

It’s hard to describe what I felt in that moment. My gunwhales still above water, I could see everyone going down in front of me. Is this really happening? This is not what we came to Geneva to do. There’s got to be a way to keep rowing. I also thought, wow, we’re idiots. How could we have made so many stupid mistakes to allow this to happen? Everyone must be laughing at the dumb Americans who had no idea what they were doing.

For a few minutes, I thought we might have a chance. It didn’t occur to me (us) that by accepting help from the safety launch, we were disqualifying ourselves. We asked the officials several times if we could keep going but got no response. I think they couldn’t bear to break the news to us, and figured that we’d realize we were done soon enough. Ozzie, Bill, and Ryan were pulled in to the safety launch and wrapped in space blankets. It was really cold out, and everyone was shivering. MJ and I spent a good 15-20 minutes in the water after that.

Nobody knew what to do. I ended up taking charge, orchestrating a group effort to pull the shell alongside the launch, flip it over guts up (it had flipped once we got out of it), and pull/lift the boat out of the water to drain as much water as possible. At this point, we secured the boat to the launch, and MJ and I climbed aboard. I was pretty charged with adrenaline and wasn’t too cold. Frankly, I think being in the water was warming than being in the boat. Bill and Ryan were shivering uncontrollably. At that point, MJ said, Liz, I think we’re done. I think we all knew it, but at that point we agreed. It was over. How disappointing.

It is ironic that our rescue boat delivered the wake that did us in. To be honest, though, if that wake hadn’t come along, it is highly likely another wave would have delivered the final blow. Overall, the rescue effort was impressive. 80 athletes had to abandon the race and almost all of them spent some time swimming in Lac Leman. Nobody was injured. In addition to the safety launches chaperoning the athletes, there was a yacht dedicated to every shell in the race equipped with safety equipment, a radio, and a doctor on board. Had we finished the race, our yacht would have followed behind us for the duration. The race could not have happened safely without such a dedicated and serious safety team.

We were brought to the nearest shore, where to my surprise, two boats were waiting, having rowed to shore of their own accord rather than sinking. To this point, I had thought that we must have done some incredibly stupid things to bring this about. With some sheepishness, I must admit great relief after realizing we weren’t the only boat to succumb to the conditions. Even more amazing, I could not believe that some crews had elected to abandon the race on their own. Maybe they weren’t taking it as seriously as we? Maybe it was less important to them because they hadn’t traveled so far? Many of these crews had raced this before, and were from the UK and Germany. Easy enough for them to come back next year… While we hadn’t come to Geneva to become swamped in the first hour, we certainly hadn’t come to row back to shore when we saw how bad the conditions were.

We were taken back to SNG. The boat arrived on a trailer several hours later. We took hot showers and were fed hot soup in the club (which is more of a country club than a DC boathouse). By the time we arrived at the boathouse, seven crews of 21 were out. By the time we left the boathouse an hour later, there were only six crews left. (The sixth crew was disqualified many hours later after missing a mandatory time cut-off).

One of the first crews to sink, even before us, was a crew of 20-something Germans who had all been on the U23 German national team. They had come in 2nd the year before, and had also issued a challenge the night before to the reigning champs. They were fantastic rowers, they had prepared their craft well, and they had gone down within the first mile.

One of my other favorite failure stories was of another German crew. They had two electronic bilge pumps, each of which could pump 150 Liters/minute (that’s 18,000 liters/hour). They got a couple of waves back to back and were done. Unbelievable. As Ryan recounts in his emails (attached), it’s bizarre to think of a race in terms of who sunk when.

Throughout the weekend, we worked through the events in our minds, wondering what we had done wrong or what we could have done differently. There are clearly several things that went wrong, and probably some things we could have done better, but it became clear to us that we had prepared as well as we could have for this race. Even a bilge pump or two would probably not have saved us.

At the same time, though, five crews made it through. They did everything right, and were blessed by good luck. Any of them could have been overcome by a few ill-timed waves. They got it done. On Saturday night, as the first crew came in, everyone surrounded them and their boat, to congratulate them and figure out what it was about their craft that had gotten them through the first 20+ KM. We got some ideas for next year, but also saw that we had done many things similarly to them.

We are all itching to see if we could have survived, what we would have looked like/felt like/rowed like after 14 hours. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend, but it was painful to see how flat the water was on Sunday. We are tremendously disappointed that the race went down the way it did, but I don’t think we have any regrets for how we prepared or responded to the circumstances.

One thing I do know: if they had canceled the race due to the conditions, we would have been even more disappointed. How many times have I responded to a canceled race saying, “I would have rather tried to brave the conditions and have failed than not even get the chance to try?” Well, we got our chance.

Better to row and sink than to never row at all.

For all of you that have made it through the email this far, thanks for your patience and perserverance. Above all, thanks for your interest in and support of this endeavor. It means so much to me that we had so many people rooting for us. Special thanks to Marilyn, Robin, and Michael for coming with to Geneva.

The weekend didn’t go as planned, but it was an adventure nonetheless.

Best,
Liz

Men’s Sweep Practice August 2008

Men’s Sweep Practice August 2008

Below are a few photos of the Men’s Sweep Team taken back in August 2008. Although Coach Mark Borchelt may have been too busy coaching to have taken all of the pictures on this particular day (…we think there were more than 800 total?), he happens to be a professional photographer, as well as a longtime PBC senior member.

We hope this Gallery will inspire members from all of our competitive teams to start sharing their photos online with us here at The Potomac Star. If you have photos, links to photo collections, or photo ideas that you would like to share, please contact us at editor@potomacstar.com.

By the way, you can find out more about Mark as a photographer at Borchelt Photography. And if you would like to see Mark in action as a rower, just take a close look at the photo above (you might have to click on it for a better view … ).  That’s Mark in the bow of the lead Pair without coxswain (2-), the event he won with Lt. Terry Adams at the Henley Royal Regatta back in 1973!

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