Join TEAM PBC and Race for the Cure!

Hey, PBC!

Led by our PBC Open Scullers, the competitive teams have come up with a great way for the entire club to do a little cross training together, get out there in the community, and show our support for the ongoing battle against breast cancer:

Join “Team Potomac Boat Club” as we Race for the Cure on June 2, 2012!

We all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer so what better way to show our support for them than by racing for the cure as TEAM PBC!

The Open Scullers have already signed up for the 5k run, but there also is a 5k walk and other ways to participate and volunteer as one team!

To join us, click on the link below, then on “Join a Team” and enter in “Team Potomac Boat Club.”  You’ll be all set!

http://www.info-komen.org/site/R?i=HppV0ogCBjCHSXtgoIAi3Q

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Katie Stainken at stainken@hotmail.com.

See you on June 2, PBC!

PBC impresses the field in Chula Vista

PBC Open Scullers compete for slots on the Olympic Team at Trials

By: Michael Malone (with a little help from Morgan Constantine Wimberley)

Starting in December, several members of the OS team temporarily relocated to Long Beach, California, to prepare for the US Olympic selection regattas.  Joined by head coach Reilly Dampeer in early February, the team wanted to avoid weather associated issues of the Potomac that might interrupt their training effort.  Without the threat of flooding, ice, a deep freeze, and let’s be honest, their awesome boyfriends or girlfriends to distract them, the focus could be on one thing: rowing fast.

As the name implies, the first selection regatta was the National Selection Regatta I, held around mid-March. This event was the first step in selection of the Men’s 1x, among other events, for London. Two PBC rowers competed. In the red corner, the young upstart, 2011 Head of the Potomac M1x Champion, and aggressive blinker, Willy “Willy” Cowles.  In the blue corner, PBC Open Sculler emeritus, veteran 7-time National Team member, 1-time Olympian, and World Cup gold medalist, rowing for the U.S. Training Center, Samuel “Sam” Thornton Stitt.

Both Willy and Sam advanced out of the time trial – Willy comfortably in 6th, Sam just barely making it into the top 18 by 12 hundredths of a second.  Sam managed to find some speed during the regatta, and both advanced to the A-Final.  In that race, Sam finished third and Willy finished sixth after catching debris on his skeg.  The winner of the M1x race was the unaffiliated Ken Jurkowski, who qualified for the event in London at the 2011 World Championships.  Second place went to U.S. Training Center’s Warren Anderson.

The main goal of the OS team’s temporary relocation to California, though, was to compete for the Men’s and Women’s 2x bids at the second selection event, the informatively named Non-Qualified Olympic Trials and Paralympic Trials, held at the beginning of April.  Five boats wearing Potomac Boat Club colors raced, and the club’s results were very strong.

The highlight of the regatta was the Men’s 2x race. In the A-Final, Willy and Sam faced off once more: Sam rowing with Warren Anderson for the U.S. Training Center, and PBC’s Willy Cowles rowing with Penn AC’s Stephen Whelpley in a composite entry.  It was the battle of the S&Ws.  In what was the most exciting race of the day, both S&Ws jumped out ahead of the competition. While Sam and Warren were clearly favored to win the race, the other S&W matched them for over 1000 meters, even appearing to trade the lead a few times.

With open water separating the S&Ws from the third and fourth place boats, Sam and Warren made an impressive move in the third 500, pulling away from a fading S&W. While Steve and Willy finished second (6:22) to S&W (6:17), these were some seriously fast times. The result means that PBC’s Sam Stitt will (almost certainly) be on the 2012 USA Olympic Team. And while Steve and Willy did not earn the right to row the 2x, they embarrassed the other US Training Center boats, none of which even made the A-Final, and established themselves as two of the top elite scullers in the US.

The Women’s 2x had the best outcome for a PBC boat. Our top boat consisted of 5-time National Team member, Pan American Games W1x Champion, and occasional princess, Margot “!” Shumway; and 4-time National Team member, 5-time medalist in international competition, and succulent enthusiast, Sarah “nickname redacted” Trowbridge.  This boat demonstrated that you can train in DC (without having to leave your boyfriend for three months) and be fast, but found that the lack of competitive head-to-head pieces in practice worked against them.  While they advanced to the A-Final, Margot and Sarah were outmatched by the two US Training Center boats that finished first and second. However, those two boats declined the opportunity to compete in the W2x, which means Margot and Sarah have a second chance to make the team. With new found motivation, this dynamic duo will go to Lucerne, Switzerland to compete in the Regatta of Death, or the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta by those who dare not speak its official name. If they finish in the top two spots in Lucerne (May 20-23), WHICH THEY WILL DO, the Olympic slot will belong to them.

Also competing in the NQOTPT was Katherine “Katie (the ‘i’ is dotted with a heart)” Stainken, who rowed with former OS member May Joyce “MJ, if you’re reading this get your single out of the aqueduct” Gay. MJ and Katie made it into the A-final, where they finished fourth.  This was uncomfortably close for Margot and Sarah, but impressively close to anyone else.  Major Minnesota Vikings fan and PBC’er Joe Ledvina rowed in the M2x with Union Boat Club member Nick Baker, where they finished 2nd in the C Final, just behind Boat Race winner Deaglan McEachern. Finally, PBC’s own Morgan Wimberley rowed the W2x with Hillary Cumbest, also rowing for PBC and replacing Morgan’s previous partner just before the regatta. They finished a frustrated 6th, and I better not say how many boats were in the event if I expect Morgan to still talk to me.

Finally, I’d like to add that while in Long Beach, OS team members were guests of various host families and rowed out of Long Beach Rowing Association.  The generosity of the LBRA is much appreciated by PBC and should remind us all of how supportive the rowing community truly is.

PBC Returns to Henley!

For more information on helping the team return to Henley …

• To make a donation, please visit  http://www.gofundme.com/pbchrr to make a donation.
• To “Like” them on Facebook, please go to http://www.facebook.com/#!/pbchrr
• To contact team captain Sean Durkin, please email him at durk96@yahoo.com or call (206) 817-9066.

* * *

Potomac Boat Club (PBC) has named the Men’s Eight it will send to compete this summer, at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. The committed crew of Chad Jungbluth, Peter Clements, Johnny Forrest, Thomas Brock, Sean Durkin, Alex DelSordo, Carl Nunziato and Alex Mastroyannis are training with one goal in mind: winning the prestigious Thames Challenge Cup.

The boat includes eight of PBC’s top masters rowers from PBC’s Men’s Team, some of the most accomplished oarsmen in the Washington, D.C. area.  It also has seven of the men who won the 2011 Head of Potomac in a time of 14:01.0, over highly-ranked crews from Georgetown and George Washington universities. Four of the eight placed 2^nd in the Club 4+ at the 2011 Head of the Charles in Boston, Massachusetts. Chad Jungbluth, Tom Brock, and Johnny Forrest are all returning to Henley after making it to the elite quarter-final stage of the regatta with PBC in 2010.

Like PBC, the Royal Henley Regatta has a tradition stretching back to the 1800s.  It attracts the best athletes from around the world, offering the unique opportunity to race internationally and represent their clubs, their cities and their countries.

Please support our PBC team get to Henley by donating at the link above. Your donation will help with expenses, including equipment rental and accommodations, and is critical to our success.

Check back regularly for interviews and bios of each athlete!

New sheriff in town

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water ….

No conspiracy theory or anything, we’re just saying  … three in a row?  We see a trend.  Bob.  Bob ( … and technically, Bob, again).  And now Ed.  We like those Club President’s with one syllable names, don’t we?

Interesting.  Very interesting.

Now.  Take my hand and let’s check out what our newly elected President “Ed” Ryan has on his mind for the new administration.  It’ll be okay.  We promise.

* * *

Hey, PBC!

This is the first of what I hope will be regular communiques from me to the club.  I want to thank you all for your support, as well as the confidence you expressed  in me when you elected me President of Potomac Boat Club.  I am honored and humbled, and I intend to do everything I can to make PBC a great club, in every sense of the word.

Next, as I discussed at our Annual Meeting, my overall goal is simple:  Continue the transformation of PBC from a rowing facility to a Club.  In general, this means to me that we embrace all PBC members – old and young, whether you race or just enjoy rowing for exercise.  I want PBC to be a place where members know each other, respect each other, and appreciate the fact that they belong to such a great and unique institution.

Now, please allow me to share with you a few of the more significant shorter term goals that the Board is currently pursuing:

• House:  Complete the dock replacement.  At some point, docks and other high wear capital improvements require replacement.  The new docks are ordered and we’re hoping to have a ‘dock transition’ in mid-August, at a lull in the competitive rowing season.
• House:  Finish what we need to do to make the house fundamentally safe, including a fairly significant porch repair project, and continuing to enhance security.
• Finances:  Address the fact that we are facing higher overall expenses – maintenance, boats, utilities, and repairs.  We pay less than most folks pay to belong to a gym and get the best club in DC.  It’s a bargain, and we will do our best to manage it all very prudently.  A dues increase is probably on the horizon, but it won’t be major and it’s something that we’d like to stay on top of so we don’t hit a cataclysmic point where a major increase is suddenly unavoidable.
• Communications:  Institute a periodic newsletter to all current and former members – the entire “PBC community”  - that goes out whenever necessary with club news and information.  I don’t claim credit for this – as a former Vesper rower, I get their newsletter every couple of weeks, and it’s terrific.  It keeps me in touch with the club, and even guilts me into contributions.  If anyone would like to help me with this, please contact me offline at president@potomacboatclub.org.

Those are big picture items we’ll be working on this year.  Real, real short term, I want to remind everyone of two events this weekend:

First, the Cuatro de Mayo party on Friday evening, hosted by our extraordinary social committee (see how practice feels on Saturday morning after a few margaritas!).

Second, the PBC Work Day on Sunday, May 6, 2012.  Our club operates on a volunteer model, and we need all members to embrace that.  If you are paying your dues and not participating in clean up/maintenance, you are shortchanging the club.  Please be a good member and show up for the workdays.  Lots of jobs to do, free coffee and you’ll meet other members.  For you lawyers out there, learn how to use a broom!  And one thing I’ll ask you NOT to do – do not come down to the Club and take out your single or a double in the middle of a PBC Work Day.   It’s rude and it’s not at all cool.  Work for an hour or two, and then go out.

Finally, a few words about the new administration:  I’m going to be practicing NBOD … No Business On the Dock.  It can destroy a row, the dock is for launching and landing, and it’s just the wrong place for a discussion.  But I am going to institute “office hours” on the porch following my Saturday AM practices, so you and all other members will typically find me up there starting around 8:30 a.m. on Saturdays, after I get totally beaten up by a few select scullers in the Club.  If you bring a cup of coffee, it’s like a campaign contribution – extra time!

Thank you PBC, and special thanks to our great Committee Chairs for making it all happen – Steve Vermillion (house), Virginia Bryant (social), Penelope Wrenn (racing), Pam Roberts (membership), Mike Malone (club), George Kirschbaum (security), Samantha Byrd (regatta), and Kathy Hughes (finance) – and to all of the great members who serve on those Committees.  The ship runs on your steam.

Bleed Red,

Ed

Rowing with pride and gratitude

It’s so rare that people take the time these days to show their gratitude, much less send a thank you note.  Stephen Whelpley took time out of the insane demands of a U.S. National Team Quad Camp training schedule to write the following note of thanks to the PBC Board.  That’s practically an Olympic feat itself.

Steve thanks the club, but as you read on, you will see all of the thanks appropriately go to Coach Reilly Dampeer.  Reilly’s scullers train hard and row to win, but at the end of the day, just like her, they truly represent the best of our club and the best of our sport … win or lose.

Steve, we are unbelievably proud of all of our athletes, and yes, we are proud of you and Willy.  Some have said your race was the best race they had ever seen.  Ever.

And yes, when you chose to row with Willy, you chose us, too, and like it or not you’re part of the PBC family now.  This means yet another young nubile energetic person will allow us to sit back here in DC, whether at home or in our offices, and live vicariously through you and your relentless pursuit of excellence in the sport we all love.

For that, we thank you.  The best is yet to come.

* * *

Dear PBC Board,

My name is Stephen Whelpley, and I spent the majority of the majority of this rowing year as Willy Cowles doubles partner.  Considering my current situation in quad camp out in Chula Vista, I ask you not to judge the magnitude of my message by the brevity of its delivery.

There are a lot of things that could be said and a back story that could be illustrated.  I will simply say that I have been training full-time for over 7 years now since graduating from college, primarily for Penn AC in Philadelphia.  This very well could be the culmination of my “serious” rowing career.  Rather than accept my original invitation to go to quad camp, I knew pursuing the Men’s Heavyweight double was what I wanted to do for numerous reasons.  After some back and forth emailing, Willy and I came to an agreement to pursue it together.  To some degree, I knew that in choosing Willy, I was also choosing PBC.  And at the time, due to various logistical reasons, it made more sense for me to do that than for Willy to choose Penn AC.  What I did not know at the time, though, was the degree to which this would shape and ultimately help me in my pursuit of my Olympic goal.

I first want to thank Potomac Boat Club for its impeccable support of us and our pursuit to represent the U.S. in the Men’s Heavyweight double.  The rowing community is small, and there are countless stories of its “brotherhood.” Nonetheless, for a club to support such an effort that so closely benefited a non-club member as much as its own member was extremely benevolent and generous.  I also admired the way that the club and its athletes (both those with whom I trained with in the sculling group, as well as all those I came across from other groups, as well) carried themselves on a day-to-day basis.  There is a familial quality to everything you do that is quite welcoming and healthy. Considering the amount of resources that are required to compete at an international level in this day and age, it is not an easy thing to stay competitive.  However, I feel that PBC helped make it possible through both actual resources and the intangibles of the institution.

I also wanted to take a moment to give what is certain to be insufficient praise of Coach Reilly Dampeer.  I have rowed for a total of 14 years now.  During that time, I have come into contact with countless coaches and have been coached directly by over a dozen coaches.  Some of them were already considered legends of rowing – Ted Nash, Kris Korzeniowski, McLaren, and so on – and others will be soon.  I think Reilly’s efforts this year would have been up there with any of them.

Despite the outcome, I have absolutely no regrets about this year.  We trained hard.  We executed our race.  We went fast.  If I could do it all over again, I would select Reilly as my coach every time.  Sure, she is a relatively young coach, but she makes up for this tenfold with her dedication, willingness to learn, and intense work ethic.  Aside from her direct coaching of our boat, she successfully managed an entire training group in a foreign location, managed the psyches of many different athletes, and flawlessly prepped both young and older athletes for an extremely important race.  It is easy to see the physical resources we need like boats, video review equipment, ergs, and facilities, and clubs obviously need to maintain those resources as well as they can.  However, the importance of a good coach should never be underestimated as a resource, and I feel that Reilly proved to be an invaluable resource to us.

I really saw myself going to the Olympics this year in the Men’s Heavyweight Double.  I have gone to trials and national selection regattas for plenty of years now, and even when I thought I was good enough, I never could picture outcomes as vividly and confidently as I could this year.  I’m sure you know what a respectable time and race we rowed by now and how competitive our event turned out to be when you look at our final’s times against the World Record.

While I wish we could have brought pride to PBC, my family, myself, Reilly, Willy, and many others with a trip to the Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne and ultimately a formidable club-made boat in the 2012 Olympics, I am still extremely proud of our endeavor and hope that PBC is as well.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Steve

 

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