Trailer Monkeys

Surely it looks like I could up my game when it comes to posting. I supposed I haven't been feeling that inspired to write. I have been moving apartments and offices, and can tell you when my physical space isn't in order, I can't expect my head to be in the right place either.

I am a huge proponent of keeping equipment organized. I give Coach Jim some serious praise for the order he has kept our shed in. Not only does he know where things are, but it isn't difficult for any team member to find something that they need.

Susquehanna also has the tradition of having a leader to load the trailer. The position goes by many names, but is a nod to the art of learning just how everything can fit onto the trailer. I like to think of this position as being an apprenticeship of sorts, passed down from one Varsity rower to the next. It takes a lot of stress off of coaches and puts more of the responsibility onto the rowers for their own equipment.

Spring Break 2005 - Sarasota, Florida at the Osprey Oars Rowing Club

I think it is funny how people tend to naturally fall into several categories on derigging days:

• Organizers - they are the ones that know if the bow numbers are packed, where the electrical tape is, which oars still need to be loaded, which riggers belong to which boat, and where the tarp gets strapped. They are the ones others look to in order to keep the loading going. They are the question answer-ers and the ones usually able to keep others in line.

Rachel Fetrow, Tim Barnes, Rachael Gebely, Ashley McConnaughhay, and Andrew Addison - March 2005

• Trailer monkeys - the first ones to climb the trailer when the boats are being loaded. The ability to stay balanced while holding expensive equipment, dangling from a metal frame is most desired. Usually eager and good spirited, but the ability to crack jokes is optional.

Andrew Addison, Tim Barnes, Brian Nalls, and Brendon Wirth - March 2005

• Brute force - the first ones people look to in order to get the eights on the highest racks. These are usually the rowers most likely to be seen in the weight room and are some of the most competitive team members.
  
• Worriers - someone who has to double check the shed to make sure everything was loaded, double check the straps to make sure the boats are secured, and reminds everyone what time the bus is coming. Coaches can be both thankful for and worried by such behavior.
  
• Go with the flow'ers - always willing to lend a hand, grab a wrench, or carry a boat. Often these are your novice rowers, who are interested to learn, but aren't yet able to discern the priorities of what needs to be done first.

Katie Messler and Nick Fritz loading oars - Spring 2009

• "I'm trying to look busy, but I'm not really doing anything" - these are the team mates who skillfully avoid work and dirtiness of any kind. If a motor needs to be carried, suddenly their shoelace is untied. They conveniently have to go to the bathroom when boats are being loaded, or have to review some paperwork or go talk with the coach during an informal boat meeting.

Joe Klass, Chris Chizeck, and Christine Magee (Boat Mastress) - Spring 2009

Personality Traits in an Eight

A piece of writing by Mike Sullivan that has stood the test of time...

Sully's Personality Traits in an Eight - Feb. 1976

"Here's my long awaited theory on personality traits of the different seats of an eight. This assumes a straight port-stroked stern coxed eight.

I would guess that a straight starboard stroked boat would be fairly similar, but that ports and starboards are as different from each other as men are from women - I know from personal experience being bi myself (sided not sexual). I've long noted differences in personality from port to starboard in myself. This for another day and perhaps when under the influence.

Therefore, a bucket rigged port stroked bow coxed eight is not included in this theory.

From the stern:
Cox: It's pretty obvious what traits a cox must adopt and tries to learn to do a good job in this most unique position in the athletic world. I'll pass on the leadership stuff, napoleon complex garbage, and point out a secondary characteristic or two that coxes unintentionally inherit after riding in the box for a while.
They can't drive a car anymore. They take 10 miles to change a lane, oversteer, can't find the brakes, and yell to the car a lot. This has nothing to do with the coxes' former driving ability. Stick Richard Petty in a cox seat for awhile, they'll take his driver's license away. Coxes also begin to squint a lot, no loss in vision, they just squint.

Stroke:'It's a tough job but only I can do it.' The meekest, most frightened non-rower in the world; when plugged reluctantly in the stroke seat, stays meek up until the first few strokes. The first few paddle strokes, a thought grows in the wimps' sniveling little mind that this job is his/hers for life. Back on the shore, the real personality will percolate back to the surface. 'I hope you guys could follow me ok.' In the boat they're thinking: 'stop rushing, you weenies!' Strokes are born and made to be the most competitive person in the boat by far, and if they stroke long enough, become overly competitive in everything they pursue, or don't pursue. Don't expect to finish a game of Monopoly, Risk, or Golf with a stroke. The only one that can beat him to the chow line is the three man (more later) because the stroke was delayed trying to put more oars away in the rack than anyone else.

Seven: the seat is the Bitch Niche. I don't know if whining, overly bossy, big-mouthed complainers are born, and I can't believe that the cosmic effect of this seat could possibly be so instantaneous, but you could teach Mother Theresa to row in a tank, stick her in an eight at seven for the first time, and as the stern four is rowing away from the dock, she'll turn around and yell at the bow four to 'set the f*cking boat.' The longer one rows at seven, the more sophisticated and complex the bitching becomes, changing from a crude verbal rowing suggestion to the six man in the early stages to long winded level- voiced reasoned treatises after every piece explaining why the crew is slower now than last week. Ever wonder why when a coach drives up shell-side to ask how a piece went he says: 'So how did that go, fellas? -not you seven.' I was a team captain, looked up to leader of my college crew, kept my mouth shut and did my job. I raced one week at seven, my coach told me to 'shut up Sullivan' in a post race meeting. Women who deal with severe PMS mood swings will find those swings totally disappear after some time at seven. Permanent OTR.

Six: If you bred Arnold Swartzeneggar with a Golden Retriever, you get a six. Six is also Seven's yin. The gentle giant, gorilla in the mist. Six absorbs most of Seven's bitching and keeps it from moving through to the rest of the crew. Six nods and agrees a lot. It is a hard thing for a normal person to row Six. It seems like such a great seat, your're in the stern, the boats more stable here, but when you are done with a rowing career at six, you find you have been used. Sixes are characterized by great competence in execution of rowing and life, but poor self confidence and a propensity to self-flagellation. Take your 3 year stroke out of the stroke seat and stick him/her at six for a week. This will be the first time you ever hear him/her say: 'My fault, fellas,' at the end of a poor piece. Sixes meditate. Sixes marry, go to work for, and lend their power tools to sevens. This support system keeps sevens with thriving businesses, mates they can walk all over, and a garage full of power tools at their disposal that they don't have to fix when they break.

Five: God. Yahweh. Allah. Buddha. It's not that the five seat IS those things, its just that's how (s)he gets treated. Five's stool don't stink, the catches don't hang. They're the older brother or sister that gets special treatment, and has no idea. If a photo is taken of the crew, five will look great, everyone else is caught with shirtails out, and snot on the lip. At heart and soul, five forgets to change oil, pay phone bills, and turn in forms to the IRS. Five is an example of what happens to a bum that is treated like a king, they act like one. Five has the greatest delta between image and reality. The fortunate thing is that the unearned unabashed worship lasts only as long as the time on the water. Five's on his own back at home. Five wears aviator glasses.

Four: The Amnesia-seat. Take a genius with a photographic memory. Row said genius at four. Listen to him ask for the third time in the same warmup, 'How many of these 500s are we doing?' Four seat is not stupid, just has immediate and catastrophic memory loss. At a start and 20, four settles at 21 because in the time the cox yelled 'settle in two,' he forgot. In a Novice boat where the seats have been removed and cleaned, it'll be four's that went back in backwards. Four will forget to tell the boatman about his(her) stripped rigger nut - usually from the time he is told by the coach, until he arrives at the boatman's bench wondering what he's doing there. On that first day on the water as the ice is breaking up, who is rummaging around the back of the boathouse looking for a sweatshirt? Four is why racing shirts are handed out on race day.

Three: Late in the water. Late to practice. Late to class. Late to work. Late out of the water. Late to his date. Late to the team bus. Late for everything but chow line. There is no competitiveness involved here, just an uncanny knack to have the first three rowers into the dining hall stopped by friends for a brief discussion while three breezes on by to the tray stack. Three generally gets assigned a sitter.

Two: Lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down, fight fight fight. Cheerleader. What is amazing, is to sit at four or five after a particular piece - seven is whining about the balance, the spacing, no swing, rushing: two is back there with pom poms saying: ALL RIGHT GUYS! LETS DO THAT AGAIN!... Two calls out names of power 10s. 'Awright guys - OAR CLASH TEN!' If he says something funny, he repeated something the bowman prompted him with.

Bow: Comedian. The bow seat creates a strange fatalism. They know that in a catastrophic collision, they'll be the only one to die or get paralysed. Consequently there is a constant quiet stream of one-liners that two or three could probably hear if two were not cheering loudly. If the bow is joined by a cox in a front-loader, this trait completely disappears, since someone is now likely to hear him joke about three being late, five not pulling hard, or the coxn's course looking like a signature. (S)he can be humorless and witless off the water, but on the water when there is breath to spare, you're sure to catch a chuckle if you listen.

Conclusion:
There is no possible use for this info. You don't necessarily stick your most competitive athlete at stroke. Stick anyone there and they'll get competitive. It takes a long time for some of these seat traits to manifest themselves in personality disorders, but you can usually catch subtle differences the first day.
Just this fall, doing a temp coaching for the first couple weeks of the season, one of the crew was sick one day. I'd laid out a plan of drills to reinforce what we'd spent some intense teaching time on the day before. We were also going to get a couple few hard miles in at a low rate by sixes. I had a sense that I'd do the crew more good by filling out a seat for them than by yammering from the launch. It makes the transitions go smoother in the sixes rotation and I figured I could watch them while not rowing. I told the crew what the work and goals were of the day. Then I told them I'd row four (missing port). I left the clipboard behind knowing what we were going to do. We rowed away from the dock, the cox started us going with what I'd verbally laid out. Halfway through the workout, she asked me 'what's next.' 'What's next what?' says I. 'What's next in the workout, coach?' (I honestly wondered why she called me coach at that moment, and couldn't remember the workout.)

I also suddenly remembered I was supposed to be watching rowers' blade depths while I was out and hadn't been.............. Four. "

I'm a self-professed rowing nerd. Rarely a day goes by that I don't check Row2K, Rowing Illustrated, or some other rowing related site. I enjoy catching up on the Boards at Rowing Illustrated every so often, and like this thread about who goes in what seat.

Filling a boat line up takes strategy. I like to think about both the physical and mental aspects of each rower when determining where they go. There is a lot to be said about technique and power, but sometimes it just takes a certain personality to make things fit. Also, the boat line up needs to end up working all together, so interpersonal relationships tend to influence how I set a boat.

Everyone can argue about who should the boat be built around -- the stroke? six? For me, one of the most pivotal seats to get "right" is seven. It may be the "bitch niche," but I also have come to think of seven as the bouncer of the boat or protector. Seven is in charge of stopping any rush from bow six -- the bodyguard that makes sure nothing gets to stroke. If seven isn't in time, the rest of the boat probably isn't either. It's a good seat for someone who needs to be in control.

In my entire college career, I was never stroke. I fully identify as combination of five and six (where I finished my career). Where do you fit in?

Future Blog Post Topics

Here are some of my thoughts on future posts:

• Hand Care for Rowers - epsom salts, Neosporin, fabric band-aids, New Skin liquid bandage, and taping secrets


• Lightweight rowing


• Susquehanna's travels to Head of the Charles


• Celebrating our graduates


• Personality traits in an eight

Fabulous and Free Workout of the Week

I'm spending the holiday weekend in Connecticut with Phil. On Saturday we got a chance to go hiking together with our friend from college, Dave. While on the hike, I started to think about how hiking can be a great workout, and better yet, it is free!

Our destination? Craig Castle in Meriden, CT. It wasn't a particularly grueling hike, but we kept a good pace and challenged ourselves.

As a rower, it is important to concentrate on how your body feels during every piece and every race. A competetive rowers is all all too familiar with the burn that emanates from their quads or other parts of their body. Running on a treadmill or elliptical bike can be thankless. It is all too easy to not challenge yourself if you fall into a workout rut. Hiking is great exercise that challenges your muscles by demanding precision and balance in your steps, stamina to make it up (or even down) steep inclines, and focus and mental strength to keep going.

I suppose the same can be said about mountain biking, but that means you need a lot of specialized gear (a good bike and gear can be more than 1g). Mountain biking also demands an intense level of coordination. Speaking coordination (or lack thereof), I did take a small spill on the hike. It was toward the end, on flater terrain with a small slope on the side of the road. We were going quickly and my shoes slipped on some loose gravel. I sustained a nasty scrape on my knee, but other than being a little bruised and sore, I should survive. On that note, always hike with others and take proper safety precautions.

Find a local hiking spot today and enjoy the holiday weekend!

What's Been Going on at the River

CPRA (the Central Pennsylvania Rowing Association) is in full swing now, after starting the season strong with a week long intensive coaching program last week. For those of you unfamiliar with CPRA, it is a local rowing club that is geared toward adults in the community. We have three coached rows a week and also have the opportunity to train for races. Some members rowed in college, learned at a camp, or took a course. Each year, CPRA hosts two Learn-to-Row weeks for adults and also two Junior camps for high school students in addition to regular rowing.

Many Susquehanna University students have been involved with CPRA -- just to name a few: Chris Meharg '03, Kathy Wulderk '04, me '05, and Ang Weaver '09. This summer Jill (Sands) Martin '05 is serving as the Head Coxswain and we are also joined by current student Katie Messler '11.

My own CPRA experience began in the winter of 2003 coaching CPRA members on the ergs 2-3 times a week at SU. That is how I believe I met Coach Jim. Every Saturday morning, I would coach an erg workout -- which is also where I met my Chiropractor, Dr. Ed Kryzkwa who showed up every week without fail. After coaching, I could get my own workout in.

In the Summer of 2004, I coxed and rowed with CPRA. Most frequently, I coxed the "Edna M. Sheary." A bow coxed Vespoli DL, it was a heavy weight men's boat, and I coxed Jim Baker, Mike Domzalski, Jim Grose, and Marc. That was the summer that Steve Loaiza blew into town. I use that phrase because no one in CPRA was quite sure how to take him. He was full of gusto and I think he enjoyed ruffling people's feathers. I think that I coxed Steve in that boat too.

That fall (2004), Steve began coaching the Bucknell Men's Crew and Jim began Assistant Coaching at SU. The one memorable time that we all converged was at Head of the Charles. That is certainly a story I will have to share in a future post. I don't hesitate in saying that it was the best weekend ever!

Upon graduating in 2005, I moved to southwestern Ohio to attend gratuate school. My closest involvement to rowing there was supervising a Resident Assistant, Randy Fiedler who served as coxswain on the Miami University crew team. When I moved back to the area to begin work at Bucknell, I was certain that I would be involved in CPRA once more.

After settling in at Bucknell, I began to row again. In 2009, I joined the Board of Directors and became their Social Chair. Last summer I got to train a lot in a sweet Empacher Double with Bucknell grad student Renee Perry and also cox a quad for the Learn-to-Row sessions. I am also the hostess for our infamous "Thursday Night Socials." Every Thursday after rowing, we grill hamburgers and hotdogs (with the occasional veggie burger) and join each other for snacks and fun.

For the first two weeks of the season, I am coaching. I thought that I would be itching to get back into a boat, but I am really enjoying myself. My experience coaching in the past year has really challenged and stretched me. I think that rowing now saddens me a bit because I know that I will never probably train at the same level I did in college. It still gives me immense joy and satisfaction, but at least with coaching I am holding others accountable to reach that level I miss.

In the news lately, CPRA was in the Daily Item, with comments by Coach Steve. Also, Bucknell Assistant Women's/CPRA Youth Coach Dan Wolleben was voted as Mid-Atlantic Assistant Coach of the Year.

Sweet Yoga Moves

It is a proud moment for a coach when an athlete does something totally unexpected, but completely in line with the training that they have been doing and then wants you to know about it. In my case, Devin Thomas and his fellow road-tripping teammates (Rob Pennaherrara, Erika Mall, Amanda Nichols, and Krissy Bohrman) sent me a photo of the "tree pose" that we have incorporated into our crew practices.


For those of you who may be looking to incorporate yoga into your workout routine, I tried to find a few basic resources. For SU rowers, if you have a photo of yourself completing one of our yoga moves, send it to me and we can compile our own SU Crew pose post.

iYogaLife.com is a great way to introduce yourself to Yoga and its benefits. They offer a blog entry and then a slideshow with photos depicting the various poses -- making it a simple and understandable to practice new moves. They also have various topics geared specifically toward gender, different types of athletes, and more.

• "The 5 Best Poses for Athletes" highlighted by the iYogaLife Slideshow
• "The Gym Goer's Guide to Yoga" on the iYogaLife Slideshow

eHow also offers a free video series on Yoga Poses & Positions for athletes.

Coach Twins and Other Clothing Info

A funny thing happened on the way to the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Crew Championships -- without planning it, myself (Coach Rachael) and Coach Jim dressed in nearly identical outfits.

Under normal circumstances, Coach Jim, Coach Steve, and I have the same Carhartt rain jacket. We've never gotten a photo though and this was all I could find.

I tend to bundle up before going on the water, so I routinely wear my "snowsuit" which consists of my Carhartt jacket, Under Amour Frosty Tights, rain pants, boots, and a hat. Luckily the weather smiled upon us at MACCCs and I could finally shed my layers.

When we go to races, I like to wear things that show my Susquehanna spirit - such as my SU Crew hat and then a maroon or orange top. That particular day, Jim and I must have been thinking on the same wavelength because we each had orange shirts, dark khaki shorts, sneakers, sunglasses, and our SU Crew hats on. Since it was so hot that day, I changed part way through after dripping with sweat. I did get a little guff suggesting that I merely changed to avoid being Coach Jim's twin.

Later in the season at our crew banquet, team members helped the coaching staff look even more cohesive by presenting Coach Steve and I with fake mustaches. I am just about dying with laughter in this photo.

Many of you have expressed interest in being able to purchase SU Crew apparrel. This fall, I would like to make sure that happens.



Here is what I would like to make available:

• Black and maroon traditional Susquehanna Crew jackets
• Orange and maroon rugby shirts
• SU Crew hats
• A nice polo with an embroidered logo or nice t-shirt for coaches and parents

Is there anything that you would like to see made available? Leave your suggestions on the comments section.

While we are on clothing, let me share a few of my favorite things good for coaching or rowing:

• Under Armour Frosty Tights
• Sew Sporty Racing Shirts
• Eddie Bauer Weather Edge clothes and accessories
• Lands End Performance Sport
• Tretorn Skerry boots

Having a full time job has certainly enabled me to buy a lot of things that I didn't have while in college. Actually, a lot of the clothing that I might wear now didn't even exist when I was in college. So, I mostly rowed in t-shirts and regular gym shorts. That definitely worked, but the nice thing I have found about the new wicking fabrics is that you can just rinse them out in the sink and let them air dry if you can't do laundry all that often. Cotton can also get really cold on the water if you get wet, but a good racing shirt or pair of spandex tights pulls the water or sweat away from your body.

Remember, "it is all about layers." Think it is too hot for pants but too cool for shorts? Try a pair of soccer socks and push them down if you get hot. They can also help with track bites. A cheap way to protect your legs from track bites is to cut the feet out of nice, thick socks -- pull the band up to your calf and bingo, no more track wounds. I still have scars from rowing the Empacher last summer until I got smart and used something a little thicker than just a band-aid. Vests are a great way to regulate body heat, and a lot easier to get out of than a pull-over jacket.

Looking to pick up a few must have for rowing pieces? Try a local outlet shopping center. They often have brand outlets like Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, and more. If you have a Triple A membership, you can often get a discount coupon book and if you shop on a national holiday weekend like Memorial Day or 4th of July, there are often extra deals to be had.

They Say a Picture Says a Thousand Words...

Another part of our banquet was a lovely slide show that senior Sarah Hawk put together. Since I don't have the photos or the slide show, I thought that I would treat you to my own version of the slide show showcasing the many faces of SU Crew...

Sulking Christine and sad Sarah say goodbye to the rowing season, while ecstatic James is just happy that he could row in the final race of the season.


Chris and John Adams ponder the mysteries of the universe and the future of the SU Crew Team,

while Tess shows them some serious attitude.

Stephen and Sarah want to know if Tess is kidding because...

Sarah thinks that attitude comes from new accessories.

Paula is trying her best to be a monster, regardless of accessories.

Krissy, Amanda, and Chris B. are ready to row again because

Rob and Devin have some secret moves planned for the team.

Poor Paula is lost without her teammates,

but Nick F. tells Paula to play it cool and wait for next semester.

Nick C. and Amanda might not look that enthused, but

Megan shows them how to put their game faces on.

Lauren S. decided to give up her dream to be the next pageant queen hoping for world peace, and settled on rowing instead.

Erika, her pageant hairstylist was disappointed, but decided to experiment on Rob.

While a successful hairstylist, Erika fails in the pageant coaching business, as Tomas (her only other hope) took second place in the Little Mr. Gym Time pageant.

Kate is rarely ever not smiling, but she too is disappointed that crew is over.

Jon F. told her that she can still work on her muscles by picking up/throwing large objects.

Christine encourages everyone to eat their fruits and vegetables over the summer and

told Jon Adams to enjoy his delicious desserts in moderation.

Joe and Lauren M.think that you can learn a lesson from wildlife, suggesting that swimming is a great summer time activity that will keep you in shape like the fishies.

James said that you should be careful exercising in the wilderness or you might get bitten.

Devin suggests that working out is easier in a team and there will be plenty of other training tips on the blog this summer.

In the wise words of "Mr. T" the SU Crew girls "pity the fool[s]" who don't stay in shape and continue to train for crew over the summer.

Haley is in shock that the year is over,

Erika just can't believe it either!

Devin said that he is already ready for next year!

Chris C. said, "You are going to be as surprised as the look on my face because..."

"I really plan to bulk up!"

Have a safe and enjoyable summer!

Colleen approves this message.

Tradition, Tradition!

Tuesday, just one week ago marked our end of the year celebration banquet. Our banquet is an event where we get to look back on the year and pass on our traditions. Part of that tradition is giving team awards.

The Brass Oarlock Award

In old wooden shells, the riggers had brass oarlocks. The sleeve of the oar was covered in leather (called oar leathers) which would rub against the inside of the brass oarlock with each stroke. Over time, the outside part of the oarlock would become rough or pitted and develop a patina, but the inside of the oarlock stayed shiny and beautiful. "Brass Oarlock" is given to the man and woman on the team who may not be the most showy, but prove their devotion and commitment to the team through hard work, persistence, and tenacity.
2010 Woman - Samantha Gromek
2010 Man - Devin Thomas

Most Improved Novice Woman Award (MINOW) - Lauren Seamon
Most Improved Novice Man Award (MINOM) - Rob Penneherrara

The Broken Fin Award
The "Broken Fin" is given to an outstanding Susquehanna coxswain each year. This year in particular, it was given also to a rower turned coxswain that actually had a "broken fin" (his elbow).
2010 - James Hendershot

The Shaft
The "Shaft" is a broken old Susquehanna oar which is passed down each year - rower to rower - to someone who "gets the shaft." Essentially through bad luck or circumstance, this person may not have the best year, but who is still commitment to the team and also has an outstanding attitude.
2010 - John Adams

The Green Sweatpants Award
The "green sweatpants" used to be passed down to a rower with an awesome fashion sense and attitude. During my time on the team, a pair of lime green sweatpants actually existed, but most have fallen a part in recent years. In place of the sweat pants, Courtney Jean Lippincott surrendered her famous yellow rain boot (before rain boots ever became so popular).
2010 - Haley Murphy passed down the award to Paula Trinchera, whose funky/bright spandex and outlook always keep us entertained!

The Ergman Award
The "Ergman" was created by Coach Steve's wife Patty. It is passed down from rower to rower and symbolizes someone who attacks the ergs.
2010 - Devin Thomas passed the cape on to Rob Pennaherrara

The Hammer Award
Hammers are given to the members of the team with the best erg performance.
2010 - James Hendershot, Nick Corridoni, and Christine Magee

Race Day Photos

Photos from Knecht Cup - thanks to Sportgraphics.com