The Imp and "her" Girls Varsity 8 team went to State competition this weekend. They'd practiced almost everyday during their Spring Break (some days 2 practices) and had been having morning (6:45 am) practices when school was in session 2 days per week (in addition to their 4-6 pm daily practices after school). They were all set. They were expecting to finish mid-pack. There were 2 7-boat heats and they were hoping to finish in the top 6 but felt confident they'd finish in the top 12. That was not to be.
After getting up at 4:15 am to leave the house at 5 to get to Sarasota by 6:30 to help rig the boat before the coxswain meeting at 7, the Imp's race was to start at 8:07. They were in lane 7. If you've never seen a crew regatta, it takes time for the boats to get into position for a start. They start with the boat in lane one getting into position, and go forward, so lane 7 is last. The boats are 17 meters long (that's almost 58 feet) so maneuvering the boats isn't simple. There are different types of starts based on weather conditions. They'd been told at the meeting they were having one kind of start unless/until conditions changed. They were the 2nd heat of the day. Well, they had a terrible start. The start had changed to a countdown start (the other start has the official asking each boat if they are ready...the countdown start does not). The Imp's boat was not in position, and in fact had girls with their oars out of the water. The start happened before the Imp realized it was going to. In her and her team's panic, they crossed into lane 6, which caused more panic/frustration. They finished last in their heat (boats 1-6 all went on to some other race, boat 7 was totally eliminated). To their credit they finished only 2 seconds behind boat 6 and only 30 seconds behind boat 1 (that's a fairly close heat when all 7 boats finish within 30 seconds). The girls were crushed. It broke my heart to see them carrying their boat out of the water with tears streaming down their faces.
But I have to say now, that it was probably a great learning experience for the Imp. I also have to say that I'm proud of her response to the event. When the coach called the team around, she immediately said "It's my fault, I didn't get them ready for a good start" Not "The officials are idiots" or "It's unfair" or anything like that. She saw her role as coxswain to captain her boat and the poor start in her eyes, was a result of poor direction to her team. She felt even more responsible when she found out that had she simply sat at the start line and not had her team row, she could have gotten a second start. No one has ever told her that, but she felt responsible. I gotta be proud of that. She said her first task today at their team meeting is to get the official rule book so she knows all the rules for the future (that means next year...their season is over). Like I said, I am proud of her leadership.
Saturday was excruciatingly long. Their race was over by 8:15 (and their boat out of the water and stowed by 9am) the boys races weren't until 2 and 3 pm. So the girls had to be supportive of the boys team throughout the day and couldn't even go home and lick their wounds.
As her mom, I wish they'd advanced to the next round, and as her mom, it breaks my heart to see her struggle, suffer, etc. But as her mom, I'm also glad for this experience. It's made her stronger and prepared her for lots of other "unfair starts" she'll face in her life that have nothing to do with crew. And her attitude of "what can I do differently to make this better?" is going to serve her well. I so understood her sentiment of just wanting to be able to row the race again, even without it meaning anything, just to row it well to finish on a positive note.
The venue in Sarasota is awesome with plans for it becoming better. Here's a few links about the venue.
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