Potomac’s Results for Diamond States 2010

The record setting temps gave an all new meaning to the heat medals awarded today at the Howard B. Smith Diamond State Regatta (aka “Diamond States”) held on Noxontown Pond in Delaware.

Below are the results we found on Ronin earlier in the day.*  (Wha …? Interference with Lane 4?! Pfffbt.)

To see all the results, click here.

* Events 38 and higher were canceled due to unsafe conditions (read: the storm, not the temps).

Potomac Boat Club - Diamond State Masters Regatta 2010

Women’s E-J 8+

Heat #2
1. Cory Conzemius [62] (Potomac BC #3)	00:04:22.05	00:00:24.5 handicap	00:03:57.55
2. Meaghan Yeatts [60] (Syracuse Chargers #5)	00:04:20.29	00:00:21.8 handicap	00:03:58.49
3. Lexi Eyerman [57] (Genesee RC #5)	00:04:33.28	00:00:17 handicap	00:04:16.28
4. Laura Ebersbach [57] (Syracuse Chargers (B) #4)	00:04:41.41	00:00:17 handicap	00:04:24.41
5. Sue Oldenburg [68] (Wilmington RC #2)	00:05:06.23	00:00:33.6 handicap	00:04:32.63

Women’s D-J 2x Lightweight

Final
1. Karen Ellis [56] (Carnegie Lake RA #2)	00:04:26.69	00:00:18.2 handicap	00:04:08.49
2. Kit Huber [50] (Saugatuck RC #4)	00:04:24.8	00:00:11.4 handicap	00:04:13.4
3. Nancy Petrisko [57] (Potomac BC #3)	00:04:49.06	00:00:19.4 handicap	00:04:29.66
4. Rose Ford [53] (Carnegie Lake RA #5)	00:04:53.32	00:00:14.6 handicap	00:04:38.72

Women’s A-J 2x

1. Sandra Burt [46] (Baltimore RC #6)	00:04:32.89	00:00:09.00 handicap	00:04:23.89
2. B. Ralston [30] (Alexandria CR #4)	00:04:29.2	00:00:00.2 handicap	00:04:29
3. Tara Neider [50] (Annapolis RC #5)	00:04:43.14	00:00:13.2 handicap	00:04:29.94
4. Deborah Davis [52] (SAS Alumni #2)	00:04:54.48	00:00:15.6 handicap	00:04:38.88
5. Joanne Haug [46] (Swan Creek RC #3)	00:05:10.11	00:00:09.00 handicap	00:05:01.11
6. Debbie Charles-Chisholm [51] (Potomac BC #1)	00:05:29.05	00:00:14.4 handicap	00:05:14.65

Men’s A-C 4x

Final
1. Marc Daemen [48] (Potomac/Baltimore #2)	00:03:34.9	00:00:08.8 handicap	00:03:26.1
2. Chris Ives [49] (Greenwich Crew #6)	00:03:48.11	00:00:09.7 handicap	00:03:38.41
3. Yuiry Levitskiy [46] (Virginia BC #3)	00:03:50.33	00:00:07.2 handicap	00:03:43.13
4. George Wheeler [36] (Alexandria CR #5)	00:03:50.98	00:00:01.6 handicap	00:03:49.38
5. Steve Norman [27] (Wilmington RC #4)	00:04:14.76		00:04:14.76

Men’s E-F 1x

Heat #3
1. Chuck Selden [58] (Potomac BC #2)	00:04:25.8	00:00:24.00 handicap	00:04:01.8
2. Neal Young [63] (Potomac BC #4)	00:04:37.65	00:00:32.4 handicap	00:04:05.25
3. john pokorny [63] (Fairmount RA #6)	00:05:01.04	00:00:32.4 handicap	00:04:28.64
4. robert franks [57] (All American RC #3)	00:04:55.37	00:00:22.5 handicap	00:04:32.87
5. Joe Oliver [58] (Carnegie Lake RA #5)	00:05:07.44	00:00:24.00 handicap

Women’s C-D 2x

Heat #2
1. Deborah Davis [52] (SAS Alumni Racing #6)	00:04:39.5		00:04:39.5
2. Paula Krahn Merkle [54] (Baltimore RC #4)	00:04:40.48		00:04:40.48
3. Susan Forbes [53] (Potomac BC #5)	00:05:08.75		00:05:08.75
4. Patti Nash [54] (Chester River RC #2)	00:05:25.4		00:05:25.4
5. Francesca Cogliano [53] (Navesink River RC #3)	00:05:49.18		00:05:49.18

Men’s A 4+

Heat #1
1. Laura Smith-Spark [30] (Potomac BC #5)	00:03:42.9		00:03:42.9
2. John Curtin [33] (University Barge Club #6)	00:03:47.1		00:03:47.1
3. Kris Connor [31] (Capital RC #4)	00:03:47.35		00:03:47.35
4. Rachel Freedman [31] (D.C. Strokes RC #2)	00:04:07.08		00:04:07.08
5. Chet Riley [27] (Virginia BC #3)	00:04:10.09		00:04:10.09
Heat #2
1. Libby Stancik [27] (Capital RC #4)	00:03:45.69		00:03:45.69
2. Cory Conzemius [31] (Potomac BC #5)	00:03:42.1	00:00:05.00 Interfered with lane 4	00:03:47.1
3. Gabe Sim [27] (Saugatuck RC #3)	00:03:56.05		00:03:56.05
4. Michele Handzel [34] (Syracuse Chargers #2)	00:04:13.03		00:04:13.03
5. Sarah Doyle [34] (Prince William RC #6)	00:04:29.46		00:04:29.46

Women’s C-D 8+

Heat #2
1. Kristina Medlock [50] (Prince William RC #1)	00:03:57.8	00:00:10.6 handicap	00:03:47.2
2. Gabe Sim [51] (Saugatuck RC #3)	00:04:05.77	00:00:11.5 handicap	00:03:54.27
3. Kendal Wolf [51] (Potomac BC #4)	00:04:11.7	00:00:11.5 handicap	00:04:00.2
4. Karen Snyder [43] (Alexandria CR #2)	00:04:15.21	00:00:05.1 handicap	00:04:10.11
5. Fran Mulherin [47] (Wilmington RC #5)	00:04:19.22	00:00:08.00 handicap	00:04:11.22
6. Sarah Morgan [52] (Rock Creek Rowing #6)	00:04:35.08

Men’s C-D 1x Lightweight

Final
1. joe paduda [52] (Potomac BC #3)	00:04:12.61	00:00:15.6 handicap	00:03:57.01
2. Mark Malone [52] (Navesink River RC #4)	00:04:14.36	00:00:15.6 handicap	00:03:58.76
3. Jeff Cutler [43] (Malta BC #6)	00:04:07.4	00:00:06.4 handicap	00:04:01.00
4. Peter Pietra [49] (Potomac BC #2)	00:04:15.32	00:00:12.1 handicap	00:04:03.22
5. Meinhard Hausleitner [51] (Greenwich Crew #1)	00:04:22.81	00:00:14.4 handicap	00:04:08.41
6. Jim Benz [50] (Passaic River RA #5)	00:04:22.52	00:00:13.2 handicap	00:04:09.32

Women’s E-J 2x

Heat #1
1. Kathy Lhommedieu [56] (GMS RC #2)	00:04:33.1		00:04:33.1
2. Anne Shapiro [56] (Central Pennsylvania RA #5)	00:04:43.27		00:04:43.27
3. Suzanne Rauth [57] (Passaic River RA #3)	00:05:08.9		00:05:08.9
4. Linda Ensor [55] (Navesink River RC #6)	00:05:13.47		00:05:13.47
5. Gail Edie [59] (Potomac BC #4)	00:05:14.81		00:05:14.81
Heat #2
1. Cheryl Capps [61] (Potomac BC #3)	00:04:55.8		00:04:55.8
2. Carol Randel [60] (Saugatuck RC #4)	00:05:04.29		00:05:04.29
3. Maryann Caruso [61] (Hiawatha Island BC #5)	00:05:30.71		00:05:30.71
4. Susan Markel [63] (Syracuse Chargers #2)	00:06:09.17		00:06:09.17

Men’s D 4+

Heat #2
1. Tiffany Dao [53] (Potomac BC #2)	00:03:50.3		00:03:50.3
2. Steff McKay [52] (Capital RC #5)	00:03:54.22		00:03:54.22
3. Sarah Doyle [51] (Prince William RC #4)	00:04:15.95		00:04:15.95
4. Robbie Colburn [53] (St Andrews Alumni Racing #3)	00:04:18.74

Men’s G-J 1x

Final
1. christopher collins [78] (Rivanna RC #4)	00:04:57.39	00:01:05.00 handicap	00:03:52.39
2. Cal Sutliff [73] (Potomac BC #2)	00:04:51.2	00:00:52.9 handicap	00:03:58.3
3. Walter Cesewski [67] (Potomac BC #5)	00:05:10.34	00:00:40.00 handicap	00:04:30.34
4. Hans Mueller [72] (Wilmington RC #3)	00:05:26.28	00:00:50.6 handicap	00:04:35.68

Women’s C 4+

Heat #1
1. Dana King [43] (Carnegie Lake RA #5)	00:04:33.2		00:04:33.2
2. Desiree Boucher [47] (Rock Creek Rowing #2)	00:04:34.84		00:04:34.84
3. Kendal Wolf [49] (Potomac BC #4)	00:04:36.37		00:04:36.37
4. Emily Clevelnad [44] (Prince William RC #1)	00:04:40.03		00:04:40.03
5. Maddie Alden [47] (Mercer Masters #6)	00:05:07.4		00:05:07.4
6. Rebecca Burns [49] (Annapolis RC #3)	00:05:25.29		00:05:25.29

Mixed D-J 2x

Heat #3
1. Nancy Faigen [60] (Potomac BC #4)	00:04:32.9	00:00:23.5 handicap	00:04:09.4
2. Liz Turner [62] (Saugatuck RC #5)	00:04:42.48	00:00:26.5 handicap	00:04:15.98
3. Jackie Wehmueller [57] (Baltimore RC #2)	00:04:59.03	00:00:19.4 handicap	00:04:39.63
4. RED SARGENT [68] (Fairmount RA #3)	N/A	00:00:36.3 handicap00:00:00.00 DNS	N/A

Men’s B 4+

Heat #1
1. Laura Smith-Spark [36] (Potomac BC #3)	00:03:37.4		00:03:37.4
2. Steff McKay [38] (Capital RC #4)	00:03:40.88		00:03:40.88
3. Katie Wood [45] (Virginia BC #6)	00:03:49.48		00:03:49.48
4. Gabe Sim [38] (Saugatuck RC #2)	00:04:01.47		00:04:01.47
5. Michael Stratmoen [36] (D.C. Strokes RC #5)	00:04:53.39		00:04:53.39

Men’s A-B 8+

Final
1. Libby Stancik [34] (Capital RC #6)	00:03:17.2	00:00:01.00 handicap	00:03:16.2
2. Tiffany Dao [30] (Potomac BC #4)	00:03:19.66	00:00:00.2 handicap	00:03:19.46
3. Gabby Hammond [35] (Saugatuck RC #5)	00:03:32.33	00:00:01.3 handicap	00:03:31.03
4. Katie Wood [41] (Virginia BC #2)	00:03:37.39	00:00:03.9 handicap	00:03:33.49
5. Rachel Freedman [32] (D.C. Strokes RC #3)	00:03:34.39	00:00:00.7 handicap	00:03:33.69

Women’s E-J 1x

Final
1. Anne Cann [60] (Rivanna RC #4)	00:05:01.5	00:00:27.2 handicap	00:04:34.3
2. Ann Couwenhoven [56] (Baltimore RC #6)	00:05:04.65	00:00:21.00 handicap	00:04:43.65
3. Dana Perrone [63] (Potomac BC #2)	00:05:19.72	00:00:32.4 handicap	00:04:47.32
4. Pat Williams [56] (Prince William RC #5)	00:05:19.36	00:00:21.00 handicap	00:04:58.36
5. Liz Turner [60] (Saugatuck RC #3)	00:05:26.88	00:00:27.2 handicap	00:04:59.68
6. Evy Anderson [60] (Baltimore RC #1)	00:05:39.22	00:00:27.2 handicap	00:05:12.02

Men’s E-F 2x

Heat #1
1. Michael Tebay [57] (Greenwich Crew #2)	00:03:48.3	00:00:19.4 handicap	00:03:28.9
2. Chuck Selden [62] (Potomac BC #3)	00:04:14.35	00:00:26.5 handicap	00:03:47.85
3. Mac Holcomb [56] (Wilmington RC #4)	00:04:10.11	00:00:18.2 handicap	00:03:51.91
4. Chris Shuster [55] (Unaffiliated #5)	N/A	00:00:16.9 handicap00:00:00.00 DNS	N/A

Excessive heat warning for DC metro!

Be smart in the heat, PBC!!!

An Excessive Heat Warning has been issued for the Washington Metropolitan area from noon until 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, 2010. The Heat Index may reach 110 degrees.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control web site for the warning signs of heat exhaustion and what you can do about it at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/faq.asp.

Those racing tomorrow up at Diamond State Masters regatta in DE, drink lots of water throughout the day.  Heed the early warning signs of heat exhaustion and dehydration.  Try to stay in the shade when you’re not racing, and GOOD LUCK!

Floyd B. Galler, Potomac Boat Club, Passes Away While Snorkling

Bill Lanouette wrote that Floyd Galler was a stalwart of their Sunday morning rowing group for more than two decades.  They sure seemed sad to hear of his passing.

If you would like to add any thing about Dr. Galler, please feel free to comment via the comment form at the bottom of this post.

In the meantime the following was released in the Washington Post.  Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to Dr. Galler’s family.

Floyd B. Galler, Psychiatrist

Floyd B. Galler, 76, a psychiatrist who had a private practice in Washington since 1968, died June 18, 2010, while snorkeling on vacation in Cancún, Mexico. The cause of death has not been determined.

Since the late 1970s, Dr. Galler had been a forensic psychiatrist for the D.C. courts, specializing in family court matters. He also was a consultant to the State Department in the 1960s, and to St. Elizabeths Hospital in the 1970s.

Floyd Bruce Galler, a native of Chicago, received a bachelor’s degree in 1955, and a medical degree in 1959, both from Harvard University. He moved to Washington in 1966, and spent two years as a commander in the U.S. Public Heath Service, in which he was head of child psychiatry at St. Elizabeths Hospital.

From 1986 to 1994, Dr. Galler was a psychiatric consultant for the Sleep Disorders Center at Georgetown University. Since 1968, he had held teaching positions at Georgetown and Catholic University, among other places.

He was a lifetime fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. His memberships included the Cosmos Club and the Potomac Boat Club. He was a Chevy Chase resident.

Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Nancy Stowe Galler of Chevy Chase; three children, Eric S. Galler of Silver Spring, Heather G. Brandes of New York City and Rebecca M. Galler of Burlingame, Calif.; and five grandchildren.

– Lauren Wiseman, The Washington Post, Post Mortem

Potomac’s Results for IDR 2010

Turns out, the weather up in Philadelphia for this year’s Independence Day Regatta (IDR) wasn’t so bad after all!

Missing from the racecourse, but not the initial heat sheets, was the women’s Masters Rowing Program. We’re told they decided to skip the holiday traffic. Hard to blame them for that! We’re sure we’ll see them up at Masters National Championships in August.

Below are the PBC IDR results we could dig up.  To see all the IDR results, please visit the results page here.

Good job, everybody!

12 Mens Junior 1x (G. Young) – 4th
13 Mens Junior 2x (N. Al-Naji, R. Rasmussen) – 2nd
17 Mens Junior 4x Potomac B.C. A (P. Lacey, T. Myers, E.Meade, J. Hanlon) – 2nd
17 Mens Junior 4x Potomac B.C. B (A. Casey, W. Richhart, G. Gellatly, P. Bates) – 4th
27 Mens Intermediate 2x (N. Al-Naji, R. Rasmussen) – 4th
27 Mens Intermediate 2x (E. Meade, J. Hanlon) - 6th
37 Mens Junior 1x (P. Lacey) – 6th
38 Mens Inter. Light 4x (W. Richhart, D.Thom, B. Vihstadt, G. Gellatly) – 3rd
44 Womens 1x (K. Stainken) – 3rd
44 Womens 1x (L. Krawczyk) – 6th
58b Mens Masters 1x (E) (E. Ryan) - 3rd
58c Mens Masters 1x (F) (N. Young) – 4th

We LOVE the IDR.

Funny. We used to dread the Independence Day Regatta (IDR) in Philadelphia. Nothing against the regatta itself, of course. It’s expertly run. It’s scenic and historic. And, yes, we admit it … we kind of dig the “old skool” style of some of the Philly refs. (We can’t help it.)

It’s really just everything else that bummed us out. Fighting the holiday weekend traffic on the way up there. The parking (or lack thereof) once we got there. Phillies Fans (just kidding; we’ll keep baseball out of this). Driving all the way back to DC with bellies full of meat (cheesesteaks) after a million races.

Anyway. You know what we’re talking about.

So, why would we love the IDR so much now?  Because darn if they (… and we’re guessing ”they” are the Schuylkill Navy’s Carole and Clete Graham) didn’t go make it SO easy for us to find every single Potomac Boat Club athlete signed up to race this weekend! All 45 or so of you!

Below is the list of the PBC folks you’ll want to root for - or watch out for - this weekend up in Philly.  See the numbers by each name?  Those are event numbers. Links to events and race schedules are below the list.

We just hope it’s as easy to get the big medal count next week after the regatta.  Row hard, PBC!

Potomac B.C. Competitors - IDR 2010

Al-Naji, Nader 13, 45
Bates, Philip 13, 17
Bryant, Virginia 29
Buffkin, Beverly 29
Calabro, Rosemarie 2
Capps, Cheryl 2, 29
Caraher, Hanne 29
Casey, Alex 13, 17
Chambers, Mary Beth 2, 29
Charles-Chisholm, Debbie 2, 29
Conzemius, Cory 2, 29
Desautels, Denise 29
Durfee, Camilla 31
Farber, Courtney 2, 29
Flanders, Joanna 2, 29
Fry, Kathy 2
Gellatly, Gordon 17, 27, 38
Hanlon, Joe 17, 27
Holland, Nick 58, 72
Kandell, Ellen 2, 8, 29
Kelleher, Elizabeth 29
Krawczyk, Lissa 44
Lacey, Patrick 17, 37
Landauer, Kathleen 2, 29
McCullough, Joani 2
Meade, Elliot 17, 27
Means, Marilyn 2, 29
Moncton, Jonathan 51
Myers, Tip 17, 27
O’Connor, S. A. 2, 29
O’Keefe, Catie 2, 29
Petrisko, Nancy 29
Pietra, Peter 59, 72
Rasmussen, Rob 13, 45
Richhart, Will 17, 38
Ryan, Ed 58, 72
Stainken, Katherine 44
Sternbach, Sally 2, 29
Sutliff, Cal 31, 58
Thom, Daniel 13, 38
Vihstadt, Ben 13, 38
Young, Giorgio 12
Young, Neal 58

Race schedules and other reports (yep, lifted right from the Boathouse Row IDR site at http://www.boathouserow.org/rega10/idr10.html):

Friday	html	pdf	Condensed race schedule	Coaches report
Saturday	html	pdf	Condensed race schedule	Coaches report
Sunday	html	pdf	Condensed race schedule	Coaches report

WeCanRow DC

Potomac Boat Club is very proud to host WeCanRow DC, a volunteer-directed, not-for-profit, educational and support organization offering breast cancer survivors an introduction to sweep rowing, and ongoing recreational and competitive rowing opportunities.

Below is our WeCanRow DC photo gallery! If you have WeCanRow DC photos to share, please send them to Penelope at editor@potomacstar.com.

For more information about WeCanRow DC, please visit their web site at http://www.wecanrowdc.org.

PBC Men go for a cuptastic Henley 2010

From June 30 – July 4, Potomac Boat Club’s Men’s Sweep Team will compete for the Thames Challenge Cup, the prize awarded to the winner of the Men’s Club Eight event at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta.

The regatta, first held in 1839, takes place annually on the River Thames near the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. More than 500 crews from 20 nations will compete this year, including our own.

PBC men last competed at Henley in 2007. They were the only U.S. crew to make it to the Thames Challenge Cup quarterfinals. A few of the guys from 2007 are returning this year and hope to better their result. We think they will.

The 2010 crew includes Apollo Nguyen (cox), Chad Jungbluth, Paul Holland, John Forrest, Mike McCarthy, Bob Price (PBC President), Brian Wood, Nick Davies, and Tom Brock.

Each event at Henley is a single-elimination competition; in other words, you could be one and done, or get to play all week.  Boats race two at a time down a 2,112 meter-long course so narrow, there are only a few meters to spare when side-by-side. Adding to the potential drama (and undoubtedly, the regatta’s popularity with spectators), the course is lined by floating, unforgiving wooden bars or “booms.” Steering into the boom is known by onlookers as a “Henley Royal F[oul]-up,” and offending coxswains must wear crowns emblazoned with the same for the remainder of the regatta. (Just kidding about that last part. Maybe.)

On Saturday, June 26th, if all the guys make it into town on time, PBC will tune up and shake off the jet lag at the Reading Town Regatta.  Once racing starts at Henley, you can follow the guys as they battle through the competition by signing up for Twitter, Facebook or any of the other Henley results services offered at http://hrr.co.uk/pdisp.php?pid=316.

In the meantime, below we’ve included an alphabetical list of the clubs PBC will have to beat to advance, followed by a list of past PBC winners at Henley.

Safe travels and best of luck to Apollo and our crew. Row hard, guys!

~

The Thames Challenge Cup
Current holders: Molesey Boat Club A

1829 Boat Club
Abingdon Rowing Club
Agecroft Rowing Club
Broxbourne Rowing Club
Carlow Rowing Club, Ireland
Combined Services Rowing Club
Curlew Rowing Club
Durham Amateur Rowing Club
Galway Rowing Club, Ireland
Henley Rowing Club
HSBC Rowing Club
Kingston Rowing Club
Lea Rowing Club
London Rowing Club ‘A’
London Rowing Club ‘B’
Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club
Molesey Boat Club ‘A’
Molesey Boat Club ‘B’
Potomac Boat Club, U.S.A.
Putney Town Rowing Club
Reading Rowing Club
Runcorn Rowing Club
St. Michael’s Rowing Club, Ireland
Sons of the Thames Rowing Club
Staines Boat Club
Star Club
Thames Rowing Club ‘A’
Thames Rowing Club ‘B’
Thames Rowing Club ‘C’
Thames Tradesmen’s Rowing Club
Twickenham Rowing Club
Upper Thames Rowing Club
Vesta Rowing Club
West End Rowing Club, New Zealand
York City Rowing Club

~

Past Winners of the Henley Royal Regatta - PBC and Washington & Lee High School

1964

Washington-Lee High School

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

1969

Washington-Lee High School

Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup

1973

Potomac Boat Club

Silver Goblets & Nickalls Challenge Cup

1975

Potomac Boat Club

Stewards’ Challenge Cup

1980

Potomac Boat Club

Silver Goblets & Nickalls Challenge Cup

1996

Potomac Boat Club & National Training Ctr.

Double Sculls Challenge Cup

Henley 2010 - Men’s Sweep Practice

Below are some random photos taken of Potomac Boat Club’s Men’s Sweep practice, on Thursday, June 3, 2010.  This year, the men return to the UK, to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta (June 30 - July 4).

We hope to have more information on the lineup and race schedule soon.  Stay tuned.

2009 - 2010 Annual Report, The Potomac Star

Potomac Boat Club, Publications Committee
Chair: Penelope Wrenn Walz
Subject: Annual Report

---

I. First, thank YOU!

We have many people to thank for the success of the Potomac Star (the Star) this year, including Reilly Dampeer, Nick Davies, Camilla Durfee, Eric Edmonds, Marc Edmonds, Jim Edmonds, John Forrest, Marc Gwadz, Jim Hatch, Nick Holland, Jean Hopkins, Greg LeSage, Owen Lewis, Matt Madigan, Elizabeth Mygatt, Bob Price, Ed Ryan, Dick Schwartzbard, Chuck Selden, Julia (and Margot!) Shumway, Tom Stork, Cal Sutliff, Susan Trice, Steve Vermillion, but, most of all, YOU (now you can’t say we left you out).

II. About

A. Background

The Potomac Star is Potomac Boat Club’s online rowing news and information resource. It was launched in March 2009, as a replacement for The Blade, the semi-annual club newsletter previously published in hard copy format and distributed via regular mail to club members. The Potomac Star is produced by a volunteer staff with input invited from the club at large.

Please send your comments or suggestions for new content to Penelope at editor@potomacstar.com. Penelope may not respond right away, but she’ll try really hard to get back to you in a few days. If she doesn’t, please feel free to send her a very sweet and understanding reminder to respond.

B. Content

o Pages

§ Home

§ About

§ Club Rowing

§ Racing Programs

§ PBC Calendar

o Columns

§ PBC News

§ The Race Report

§ Special Reports and Polls

o General content and other features

§ Club information

§ News, articles, surveys, comments

§ Content sharing through AddtoAny

§ Google calendar

§ Youtube video feed

§ Password protected areas for member only information

§ Photo galleries fed by Flickr

§ Links to other PBC communication areas, including Potomacboatclub.org, PBC Yahoo Group, PBC  Member Bulletin Board

§ Word Press publishing platform

§ Google Analytics and Google Apps

III. Newish on the Star!

A. USRowing News – Now you can access all the latest USRowing news via Twitter from the right sidebar of the Star

B. Twitter at pbc_potomacstar

o Reach includes members, other clubs and a few vendors

o Emergency information

o Notices and reminders

o Links to new posts on Potomacstar.com

C. Facebook moderated by the Star’s Abner Burnside

o Reach includes members, former members, remotely located members, mobile members

o Emergency or urgent information

o Notices and reminders

o Links to new posts on Potomacstar.com

o General commentary

IV. Interesting stuff … about you

A. A note on your privacy

Thanks to Google analytics, we get to see a certain amount of visitor information, like what browser and operating system you’re using, what city you’re visiting from, the keyword search you used to find the Star, and other information that we hope to use to understand what you’re really interested in and the things we might do in the future to make the Star better. Don’t worry, though … we don’t know exactly who you are, and even if we did, we wouldn’t tell anyone!

B. Visitors from all over!

Due to our small target user base (i.e., friends and members of Potomac Boat Club), and to avoid some of the administrative headaches that come with a heavily trafficked site, we haven’t made a huge effort to optimize the Star for search. In general, we use a subscribe-to RSS feed, the Yahoo group, Twitter, and Facebook to let people know when there is something new on the Star. We do on occasion optimize a particular post, like the post announcing open registration for the 2009 Head of the Potomac, or a particular page, like our Racing Programs page.

Interestingly, despite our somewhat intentionally low profile, last year, we found the Star was growing regular readership from all over the country … and even the world! Was it crack journalism? (Doubt it.) Prolific use of eco-friendly manure? (Could be.) The addition of our Men’s Sweep Gallery, which continues to be huge in the Netherlands, Brazil and Croatia? (Most likely.)

Well, whatever the reason, welkom, bem-vindo, and dobro došli! The following is a list of the Star’s top ten countries/locations (by number of visitors):

1. United States; top ten states are the following:

i. Virginia

ii. Maryland

iii. California

iv. DC

v. Massachusetts

vi. New York

vii. New Jersey

viii. Washington

ix. Texas

x. Illinois

2. United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Australia

5. Germany

6. Italy

7. New Zealand

8. France

9. The Netherlands

10. Ireland

C. You lookin’ at me?

Google analytics prove to us that, like the rest of the world, many of us at PBC like to Google ourselves … and a few of you even have a number of friends/fans/cyber-stalkers who like to Google for you!

Below is a list of the top keyword searches that led folks to the Star. We’ve excluded the names of individuals to protect your privacy!

1. potomacstar.com

2. potomac star

3. potomac boat club

4. national team rowing

5. rowing club dc

6. scull Washington

7. rowing camp junior

8. row crew virginia

9. masters national championships

10. crew dc club

D. Top Posts of 2009

We’ve published 72 posts since the Star’s launch at the beginning of 2009. The following is a list of the top five posts of the year:

1. Our first PBC Profile: Guess who? (April 20, 2009)

2. Board to establish fund in Challinor’s memory (July 12, 2009)

3. Safety lesson learned the hard way (January 5, 2010)

4. Register for the 29th Annual Charlie Butt Scullers’ Head of the Potomac (August 21, 2009)

5. Let’s GO, Margot!!! (August 12, 2009)

V. Keep it coming!

The Potomac Star’s regular staff is a staff of one, one who realizes that she chairs a committee of zero other members (yet regularly uses plural pronouns when referencing staff), that further, she invented a staff member born approximately 165 years ago to find friends on Facebook, and that even right now, she is writing in the third person. Kind of pathetic, isn’t it? Yeah. We think so, too. But this is why you are so important to the Star’s future success! Please keep sending us your story ideas, photos, comments, and other suggestions for content! This is your Potomac Star, PBC! Thanks for letting us be part of it!

Watch a replay of the 2010 Boat Race!

If you missed the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race live yesterday on the BBC, you missed a good one!  But no worries!  Click here to watch the blow by blow replay on the Theboatrace.org!

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