Sometimes, no matter how much you practice or simulate the experience, nothing will prepare you for the adrenaline rush you will experience on race day. Last Saturday, my novice team and I competed in our first sprint race, Capital Sprints Regatta. 1000 meters. 130 strokes (ish) strokes from start to finish.
Having coxed 1000 meters for my team’s competitive team, I thought I was prepared. I’d seen the course, even been down it 3 times prior that day. But coxing a race and rowing a race are drastically different.
Our race, the Women’s Novice 8, was at 3:33, which means we launched at 3. I was hot seating from coxing the comp team’s Men’s Master’s 8. We’d come in second. All of us, or so it seemed, were disheartened. But I tried to suck it up and shake off the loss as best as I could, jump on with my boat, and head back out with a positive attitude. After all, we weren’t out to win, though a medal would have been nice. Our goal was to finish, to prove to ourselves what we were capable of.
Down the warm-up lane we took off just like we did during practice, pick drill, power 10, and then a paddle ten. Under the 11th St. Bridge and then circled back to the starting line. Deep breaths. We could do this. Stay calm.
During our practices, from the start I’d popped the stroke rating up to 26 or 28, yet our race pace was 24. As the flag went up I told myself– 24, 24, 24. “Attention! Row!” We were off. Our starting five, but by stroke six we were already up to a 28. No matter how much I told myself to slow my slide, to lengthen out, we stayed at a 28 for the first 300 meters.
Around 400 meters, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t reached the halfway point, a large tree off to our starboard side. But novice teams row slower than the comp team and it would make sense that we hadn’t reached it. However, my body was already screaming for the finish line. (It should be noted, if we’d/I’d maintained a 24 stroke rating, then we wouldn’t have been as tired so early into the course.) But just like running, the voice inside of me that said kept going overtook the one that said, you can’t go any further. I never gave up. With every power 10 our coxswain called, I willed myself to put everything I had into each stroke.
At the 750 meter mark, I new we were closing in on the finish line. From the shore, I could hear our teammates screaming, “Go Strokes!” This and our coxswain willed me and the rest of the boat across the finish line. Tired and spent at the end, I collapsed in my seat, gasping for breath. I couldn’t feel my legs. Everything I had went on to the course. And while I could have done it better, I also know I didn’t hold anything back. We finished 4th out of 5 boats and were happy with the results.
There are many takeaways for me from this race.

• If you screw up, keep going. I caught many crabs and made some bad calls, but the important thing is to pick yourself up, brush it off, and continue down the course.
  
• It’s difficult to transition from coxswain to rower. For the past six months, I’ve become accustomed to making the calls for the rowers to follow, which means I have to at least act like I know the right solution and execute it. As a rower/stroke seat, my job is instead to offer occasional feedback, but let the coxswain do their job.
  
• The first race is always the hardest. While you’ve practiced it, race day feels different. There’s adrenaline, other boats, and the desire/pressure to do well. Crossing the finish line that first time will forever be a reminder that no matter how difficult it gets, it’s possible to go the distance.

As one of our coaches said, rowing is a sport where it takes years to perfect the skill sets required to do well on the water. There’s so much to think about, from handle heights, pushing with your legs first, feathering the oar with your inside hand, lean into the rigger, slow your slide for that 2 to 4 beat ratio, follow the person in front of you, keep your head in the boat, etc.
Overtime, this will get easier for all of us. We have head season to look forward to, 5000 meter courses. Though it will be longer, we will have trained and we will again have the confidence to go the distance. And while I could spend my time beating myself up for the bad calls I made, catching a few crabs, or any other number of mistakes, instead, I’m going to focus on my successes and use those as my foundation.
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