Carnegie Currents: September/October 1998 Vol. XII, No. 5
Regatta Roundup
King's Head Kick-Off
After a warm-up intramural head race at home on September 13, the inter-club head season began for the Lakers on September 27 with King's Head on the Schuylkill. Held in King of Prussia, the regatta featured 67 separate events that went off in 18 different flights down the 2.5-mile course. CLRA fielded five sweep and five sculling entries and brought home first-place medals in the women's master 8+ event and in the men's veteran single, with Stuyve Pell claiming his customary win over his rivals.
Following are perspectives on the races from some of those who rowed them.
The Men's Masters 4+ placed third out of five in real time and fourth after adjusting for age handicaps. The weather conditions gave us a tailwind for the early part of the course, with a small but easily manageable chop. An early crab cost a few strokes. The boat generally ran well with lots of send during the power strokes. John Ellis's coxing kept us pulling hard the entire time with very effective individual and collective encouragement. The final 1000-meter sprint melded us to our best showing. We could hear the horn blast as the boats down-river crossed the line, which helped us muster the energy for that last push. It was a great relief and thrill to hear the horn toot for us just after we crossed under the last bridge.
— Harold Stone
The head wind and lumpy water made the trip to the starting line seem like an eternity. As a tailwind for the actual race it was probably a boon, although the water was still lumpy until past the island [about one mile to go]. The long banana-shaped course is deceptive, and the inadequacy of the buoys confusing. I kept wanting to begin the turn sooner, which made me zig toward the row-down lane and zag to get back on the race course. When the bridges finally appeared in my rear-view mirror I was able to settle down and apply some power. I finished third, seven-tenths of a second on corrected time behind the second-place finisher and well ahead of the woman in fourth place who had beaten me last year.
— Barbara Johnson
In the Men's Club 8+ we had a wonderful last practice on a cool Friday morning on the smooth waters of Lake Carnegie, which was the best rowing I've been part of in my short career (novice this year). Somehow at King's Head, with a choppier course, we never pulled together anywhere near as well as that last practice.
— David Huse
I rowed in the Women's Club 4+. It was my first CLRA head race ever and I was definitely excited as a '98 novice. We place fifth out of six and were exactly one second out of fourth place. We had a period near the end of the race where we started losing it, but we brought it back together for what felt like a good finish.
I also coxed one of the Women's Master 8+ boats. We got off to a rocky start, thinking that our skeg was broken. When we lifted the boat we found out it wasn't broken, so we put the boat back in the water and deemed it "an emergency equipment repair drill." We did not fare well in the race, finishing third out of three, but since it was a first head race for four members of the crew, including me as coxswain, I'd say we did great. I now have a whole new appreciation of coxing. I also learned that you must be at least a little crazy to love this sport.
— Nichole Wolfgang
Our Women's Masters 8+ race should best be remembered as the first head race for three of our novice rowers, Robin Gittens, Pam Kitty and Marilyn Tremaine. Although the boat could have used some more run, we were able to row it at a solid base of 28 spm and take it up for 10s and a sprint at the finish. Not a bad first effort.
Even if our masters boat could not catch either Wilmington or the CLRA "A" boat, we did catch a novice crew from Lehigh that had just learned to row four weeks before. They were incredibly excited just to have finished the race, and their enthusiasm rubbed off on us. It reminded us that even if you come in DFL, it is really fun just to have made the effort.
— Denise Dwyer