Blisters.

First a few caveats regarding blisters:

1. Never wear gloves (unless you want to get laughed at).
2. Don't bandage your hands with white medical tape like you are an Egyptian mummy. This will only promote more (possibly even more painful) blisters in the millimeters between tape.
3. Never pour shampoo, soap, or other cleaning product directly on your blisters. Wash carefully or suffer the consequences.

Here is some handy information from SU Crew Team Captain Katie Messler:

I heard a few novices asking what to do about hot spots, blisters and open sores on your poor hands. Here's a quick fix for those pesky ailments:

1. Lose the lotion! The softer the skin, the more frequent the blisters. Stop applying lotion to your hands to build callouses.

2. Soak 'em!- fill a bucket with warm water, add 2 tablespoons of Epsom salt (Found near the Advil in Walmart), stir until the salt dissolves and let your hands soak for 20 minutes. This will dry out your blisters and sores, and keep it clean.

3. Wash your hands! More washing means less bacteria, which means happier hands. Use spray disinfectant or hand sanitizer to keep your hands clean and to dry out the blisters when you're not near a sink. It will sting for a second, but will help overall. This will also help toughen your hands.

4. Use protection! Use nu skin (liquid bandage) or athletic tape to ward off blisters during long rows. Don't use too much tape because this will constrict your hand movement and it will be harder to get those beloved early roll-ups. Gloves won't help, so don't bother.

Number 5 comes from SU Rower Rob Pennaherarra:

5. Popping blisters -- When new blisters form on our hands we always get the urge to tear them right off! Now, although it may be a fun and entertaining thing to do during class to keep you awake, it is not a good thing to do; it can allow for infection in your hands. The proper way to take care of blisters is to poke a hole through the center of the blister, drain it, and then wash it. This will make sure that the skin hardens and helps you to form callouses but will also make sure that your blister is nice and clean!

As a new rower (or even a returning rower), here are my personal tips for a rowing first aid kit:

• Needles
• Wooden Matches
• Neosporin
• Fabric Band-aids
  
• Small Pair of Scissors
• Nail clippers
  
• Epsom Salts

A blister is fluid that accumulates between two layers of skin. For simplicity's sake, blisters boil down to three categories. The first is the type of blister that fills with a clear serum or plasma. The second is a blister filled with blood and the third is a blister filled with pus. Blisters are created from friction -- in rowing it is the oar handle rubbing against the palms and fingers of a rower. In the case of a pus filled blister, I suggest finding the nearest medical professional, as sometimes antibiotics are needed to treat those types of blisters.

Blisters can be painful, especially if they tear. Take care in examining your hands each day. For large blisters, I suggest draining the liquid by gently pushing a needle (use the match to disinfect the needle first) into the blister at the edge, perpendicular to the movement of the skin. Make the smallest hole possible and use a cotton ball or paper towel to absorb the liquid. Leave the excess skin, as in time this can build up to form a callus. In the case of a ragged blister, sometimes you need to use a small pair of scissors or nailclippers to prevent further tearing of the skin. Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap or hydrogen peroxide. This will hurt, but it is important that the wound is free from bacteria. Apply a small amount of Neosporin and cover with a bandaid.

Most rowers have their own preferences when it comes to blister care and bandaids. I prefer the fabric bandaids, as they seem to hold up better during a rowing practice. I also like the elastic medical tape (it is beige colored, with rouching and used in many athletic training offices). The elastic tape isn't as gummy as white medical tape, holds up better in practice, and creates less friction. I've never found a good use for pre-wrap, except maybe to tie back a pony tail.

Whatever your choices, just use a little tape and as few band-aids as possible.

Extreme Cross Country Rowing

I often describe the difference between fall head racing and spring sprint racing to the difference between fall cross country and spring track. Red Bull has managed to improve upon this metaphor by actually combining the sports. Below is a video of what can only be described as "extreme cross country rowing." The event begins with a men's eight competition on the water in Switzerland, transitioning to land where the rowers carry their boat and oars through a challenging trail run, get back on the water and row back to the other dock, and then run their boat to the finish line. Check it out!

Crew Couples

One of the interesting things about SU Crew is how closely the men's and women's teams work together. At many schools the teams may be separate, or could be in totally different classification systems (club versus varsity). There are some schools where the lightweights travel to completely different races than their heavyweight counterparts (such is the case with the Wisconsin Badgers and the Radcliffe [Harvard] women). But at SU, we practice, travel, and spend time together regardless of gender. This means: Rowing relationships. They happen.

As a team member from 2001-2005, I saw my fair share of rowing relationships or "crew couples." I was not left out of the trend either, as I was in a rowing relationship for close to three years. I thought that I would write a quick update on couples of the past.

Pete Haberkost '04 (starboard) and Erin Toeneboehn '04 (starboard) met on the crew team and dated through out college. Coach Jim managed to snap this cute picture of the two of them rowing a mixed double during their senior year.


In 2006, Pete and Erin got married. Jess Hibbard '05 served as the maid of honor and had previously been stroke seat of Erin's Lite 8. Pete and Erin currently live in Woodbridge, Virginia where they are teachers. Pete also coaches with the Prince William Rowing Club. They are expecting their first little crew baby this fall/winter.

Pat Johnson '03 and Laura Lindberg '04 also met on the SU Crew team. They were both lightweights on the team. They married in 2009 and live and work near Philadelphia. Laura is a registered nurse and Pat works as a recruiting consultant for Comcast Cable. They are expecting their first baby this fall.

Ashley McConnaughhay '08 and Andrew Addison '08 also met on the team. Ashley rowed in high school and coached during her college summers on the Hudson River in New York. Ashley and Andrew were married during this past summer and currently reside in Reading, PA. Ashley works for a bank and Andrew works for the Army and is also a volunteer firefighter.

I found this funny blog posting called "All's Fair in Love and Rowing" which posits that rowing relationships are actually "crewcest."

Upping My Game

I very clearly need to up my game. To be honest, there is not a day that goes by that I don't remind myself I haven't posted on this blog for quite sometime. I had a whole list of excuses, but then I remembered that real rowers, "Row hard. No Excuses."

I thought that I would share a video that I came across this summer. I'm kind of in love with the Canadian Men's Heavyweight Eight national team from the 2008 Beijing Olympics who won the gold medal. I'm particularly infatuated by their coach, Mike Spracklen and his coaching demeanor. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so in a news story for the Toronto Star, the rowers were asked to impersonate their coach.

Adam Kreek (with more world gold medals than I can count) says in his Spracklen impression, "Well you may look tired Adam. You can go into the dark, that's fine. Not everyone can be a champion. Not everyone can be an Olympic gold medalist." The impersonation is so nonchalant it is almost insane that someone can talk about something so important in such a calm manner. However, it comes down to a set of choices that a rower can make. You can have excuses, or you can commit and find glory.

As a college rower, it is easy to let a lot of other things in life get in the way of rowing. IF you want to be good, IF you want to row on a strong team, you have to make the commitment. That means making every practice (regardless of your other campus involvement), working out at the gym outside of practice, and making every stroke on the water count.

"Success in rowing is based on the time that you put in." -Adam Kreek