Lots of new stuff coming in to Lewis & Clark in the past few days. Last week we took delivery of twelve pairs of sculling blades, and today a local coach dropped off our two 'new to us' pairs that will soon have double riggers as well. When I took over Lewis & Clark Crew three years ago there were no pairs. Today I stood in the boathouse with five pair/doubles.
There is nothing inherently magical about small boat rowing. You can certainly get the same workout or technical achievement in an eight or four. The small boats do, however, promote mindfulness-- a focus and attention to the task at hand that hopefully the athletes realize more benefit from a given workout.
It's also a tremendously FUN way to row. If I need to do 60 minutes of steady state, I'd rather do it in a double or pair than an eight any day.
The geekiest of the new toys is the new FlipVideo camera-- a small, quick, point-n-shoot video camera & underwater case. The goal is to make quick, easy clips from practice to provide immediate feedback just post or pre-row.
It's all very cool.
