Virginia and Notre Dame to Represent the ACC at the NCAA Championship

Today the NCAA announced the contestants for this year's women's Division I Rowing National Championship. Virginia received an automatic berth for winning the ACC, and Notre Dame received an at-large selection. Syracuse did not receive a bid.

All the information, including a video presentation of the selections and heats, can be found on ncaa.com.

Eastern Sprints Race Report, Including IRA Bid

Men's head rowing Coach Dave Reischman has has circulated his post-Eastern Sprints race report, including the mention that Tuesday is the day IRA invitations will be announced.

Results Summary:
V8 = 14th
JV8 = 11th
3V8 = 12th
4V8 = 4th

I am going to take a different approach for this race report and rather than my usual run down on specific crews just make some general comments on our squad as a whole.  I think the results speak for themselves and suffice it to say nobody in our program finds them very satisfying.  We may not have the raw physical talent that we did a few years ago but we have not performed up to our potential in very many races this year.  We haven’t had that race where you can get off the water and say, “that was it…that was the aggressive rhythm we were looking for.”  If there is good news it is the fact that the type of errors we are making on the race course are not due to lack of effort.  The guys are putting it all out there.

Let me try to explain that last comment a little better.  Rowing, and in particular racing, is a study of contrast between the aggression/raw power needed when the blades are in the water with the finesse/subtlety required when the blades are out of the water.  On the drive you are trying to maximize your propulsion and on the recovery you are trying to move in a way that does not slow the boat down and sets up your timing for the next stroke.  If you let the finesse of the recovery carry in to the drive you look slick but don’t have the surge and lift of the boat out of the water that you need to generate boat speed.  If you carry the aggressiveness of the drive into the recovery phase you take some of the “glide” off the boat and usually slightly mistime the change of direction on the front end.  When you get the right balance between the two the boat feels light and lively on the drive and the recovery feels relaxed and easy—like you are literally floating up the slide between strokes.  When you get it wrong….well it feels like a lot of hard work for not much boat speed. 

Our varsity crew was a good example of both of these yesterday.  In the heat we had our best race of the year.  A good start and decent rhythm through the middle of the race.  It wasn’t perfect but as close as we have been this year.  We do not have the raw physical talent of the top crews in our league but if you look at the times from the heats you will see that we were improved relative to margins of crews we raced earlier in the year.  (Note:  I usually never compare times across heats but the conditions were as equal across the heats in the morning as you can get.)  The guys were disappointed to be in the 3rd level final but were in the right frame of mind heading out to the race.  They had an awesome warm up…maybe the best of the year…and then when the flag dropped we tried to be ultra aggressive and didn’t find that balance between aggression and subtlety.  We worked very hard but did not maximize our speed.  The difference is probably about 4 to 5 seconds over a 2000m race but those are a crucial 4 to 5 seconds in our league.  Our other crews were struggling with many of the same issues.

We will find out on Tuesday if we did enough to get invited to the IRA and we are all hopeful.  I learned long ago as a coach that some years you have better talent than others and whether you are fighting for a spot in a grand final or the 3rd level final your job is to maximize your crew’s potential.  We haven’t done that yet and coaches and athletes alike need to accept responsibility for that.  If one of us starts to point fingers instead of focusing on what each of us needs to do we are going to be disappointed. 

If we get the invite for the IRA our goal is simple:  to finish the weekend saying it was our best racing of the year and we maximized every bit of boat speed that we were capable of generating.

I need to give a special thanks to all the parents (those present and those from afar) that helped out with the food tent in Worcester.  In particular, Anneliese and Doug Mund who led the efforts with the very capable of assistance of many others.  I know our coaching staff sure appreciated the ability to wander over for a breakfast burrito (…and burger….and pulled pork…) and drink to keep us going through out the day.  Thanks to you all!

I will keep everyone posted on the IRA.

$20,000 after 1,000 Hours in Annual Endowment Campaign

We are 1,000 hours down (40 days) into our 2,000 hour piece and we have already raised close to $20,000! As we cross the half way mark, this is the gut check time and time to step up. One of the best way to support the team is by contributing to the SARA Crew Endowment. The time is NOW to click below or write a check. It is time for everyone to put their oar in the water.

A special recognition to the class years of 1965 – 1969 who have sprinted ahead in the number of contributors. AWESOME. The class years of 1980 – 1984 still lead in the dollars contributed category. Remember, shirts for the winning class years. We cross the line on June 18, 2014 at 8 a.m. 

We will continue to give update every 10 days via email and the SARA blog. Here is the link to donate to the SARA Men’s Crew Endowment.  All donations are tax deductable. If there are any questions, please contact Joe Kieffer ’88 – 267-228-1341  or jkieffer@email.com. Thank you in advance for your support of Syracuse Rowing.
 

SU Women Wait to Hear about NCAA Bid

The SU women have traded the screens on their ergs, cox boxes and SpeedCoaches for those on their computers, tablets and phones.

The team's third-place finish at the ACC Championship did not earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Championship to be held May 30-June 1 at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.

So coaches, athletes and the rest of the SU Crew family will watch the NCAA Selection Show at 5:00 pm EDT this Tuesday. 

Options for finding the show are:

--The Division I Championships section of NCAA.org.

--The Division I Rowing section of NCAA.com.

Harvard Wins Eastern Sprints

Harvard beat Brown and Princeton to win the Eastern Sprints. SU's 1V finished second in the Third-Level Final, and the 2V finished fifth in the Petite Final. All results are on the EARC's site.

For a glimpse of the West Coast crews aiming for the IRA, check out the results from the Pac-12 1V Grand Final on jamcotimes.com. Click on "Index" to see other results.

SU Women Take Third at ACC Championship

The No. 18 Syracuse women's rowing team finished third overall after claiming a silver medal and two bronzes at its first ACC Rowing Championship on Saturday morning on Lake Hartwell in Clemson, S.C.

"We are really pleased to row with the caliber of crews that are at ACC Championship," said women's head rowing coach Justin Moore. "It was a great statement for the enhanced ACC. This is the first time in my tenure that we have beaten Notre Dame in an eight. The margins show our continued progress."

The Department of Athletics Communications has all the info, including times and line-ups, on cuse.com.

 

Preview of This Weekend's Action

The Department of Athletics Communications has posted the following previews of this weekend's action at the ACC Championship and the Eastern Sprints:

Eastern Sprints Story

Eastern Sprints Video

ACC Championship Story

ACC Championship Video

Video: Time to Get Fired Up

Rower and Orange Oar correspondent Holly Johnston '15 has created a video retrospective of the 2013-14 season as a farewell gesture to the Class of 2014.

When you watch it, be on the lookout for footage that will make GoPro want it for an ad, music that will do the same for iTunes, a workout that gives the "step-up" a new name, coxswains that maintain the tradition of sleeping in overhead compartments on long bus rides, putting the miles in on the water, winning tropies in spring races and Nanook of the North playing with his dog.

Enjoy as the ACC Championship approaches.