Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Resolutions: Row 365k?

Jan 3rd, 11 / Comments Off

The New Year is always a good time for making sports-related resolutions. In this post, I offer up the example of Peter O’Brien. In a Globe and Mail article, O’Brien wrote about spending a year rowing, biking, and running.  His goal was to do a kilometer for each day and for each exercise. In the article, O’Brien wrote:

As I reach the end of 2010, I am pleased to say that I met my goal: I have biked 365 km this year, I have rowed 365 km this year and I have run 365 km this year. Not bad, if you don’t mind me saying, for a 53-year-old guy more comfortable in front of a screen or sitting with a book than hanging out in the locker room.

In the end, a rather non-athletic writer was able to meet his goal by being consistent, but not over-strenuous, and by keeping a careful tally of his ongoing achievement. So why not set a goal for yourself for the 2011 rowing season? All you have to do is take O’Brien’s advice:  “Don’t think about all the reasons why you don’t want to do this. Just get moving.”

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Boathouse Row Legend Returns

Dec 29th, 10 / Comments Off

If it’s almost New Year’s Day and there’s snow on the ground, then it must be time for rowers to start talking about spring racing season. A big story in the news this week was the revival of the Philadelphia Challenge Cup, set for May 14 on the Schuylkill. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, eight single scullers (four men and four women) will vie for the gold trophy (or at least a nice replica) and a prize purse of anywhere from $2,500 to $10,000.

The story of how the original Philadelphia Challenge Cup trophy went missing — it disappeared after the 1966 win by world champion Don Spero, was rediscovered by U.S. rowing judge Joan Scholl in an antique store,  and eventually purchased by businessman Herb Lotman (who is planning a first-class inner-city rowing program) — is a Hollywood-worthy tale. The Philadelphia Daily News has the details, plus a photo of the cup.

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Santa Rows and Boat Dedications

Dec 15th, 10 / Comments Off

With the holidays approaching, a Delaware rowing club took to the chilly waters to raise money for local nonprofits.  The Wilmington Rowing Club held a Santa Row on December 11 on the Christina River, according to Delaware Online. The traditional row is judged by members of the Ministry of Caring, one of nonprofit beneficiaries of the row. The annual row begs the question: do Grinch masks make for faster catches?

Just down the street, UMass was celebrating the holidays by honoring former student-athletes and US National Champions Michelle Whitcomb-Borkhuis and Wendy Wilbur during a boat dedication ceremony in December. A press release from the university explained that “both women were instrumental in providing the building blocks for what makes the Massachusetts Rowing team successful today.”

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Of Chance Meetings on the Water

Jul 19th, 10 / Comments Off

Some of the best days on the water can be the ones when you take time to enjoy the river.  Head to the boat house with no agenda at all, pick a boat you like and take a slow, long spin. Then make some time to sit on the dock with your feet in the water.

It was during just such a day that I met Karen Becker of www.vermont-weddingphotogrphy.com. While I went on a short jaunt in the Curtis, she took pictures of the sunset over the water. After my row, we sat on the dock and talked. The next day Karen sent me these two photographs:

Just goes to show you that, if you spend enough time on the river, you never know who you’ll meet (or what wonderful sights you’ll see).

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