Head of the Willamette

Just got home from the WIRA fall meeting; five hours spent on a Sunday in the fall working on making a championship regatta with a highly diverse association of schools a little better. Collegiate rowing in the west takes many forms and there were several issues to work through. Overall I think we did a good job trying to maintain the cohesion of the membership while addressing individual schools needs.

Head of the Willamette was yesterday; thanks go to Willamette University for hosting. The home team put up a good show; the extra week they've spent on the water showed and they were faster across the board. I was very happy with our crews regardless of results: we stuck to our focus, rowed the target rates (low, long, powerful is the focus) and for the most part had good rows. Much like the debates at the WIRA meeting, this was two schools on different tracks coming together very early in the season for a race: we both have confidence that our preparations will pay of later in the year. It will be interesting to see who's right.

A really excellent part of our regatta was the quality of our travel arrangements; for three weeks into the season we traveled very efficiently. The team worked very well together loading, rigging, and supporting each other on the beach. This may seem a minor point but I'm a big believer that being professional about the details helps set a mood that translates to better results and a sense of pride.

Despite my promise I didn't get any pictures. I know our athletes took a bunch and I'll try to get access to some to post.