If you wish to participate in Mac 2×4, payment must be in my hands by Tuesday morning. $18 per rower. Cash or cheque made out to me. Teams will be made up from those who have paid.

Grimsby has changed the entry format for this regatta. It is no longer on Regatta Central, and therefore seat fees do not apply. YAY!! That’s the good news. The bad news is, we have to collect the entry fees.

Here’s how we’ll do this:
1. Cash or cheque made out to “Westdale Rowing” for $17. (**NOTE** different payee than Mac 2×4)

2. Deadline for $$ to be delivered is the end of practice on Friday Feb 15. NO EXCEPTIONS!

Any questions, please ask.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9: Mac 2×4 Team event. A team of 4 rows a grand total of 8,000 metres. Similar to what we’ve done on our team exercises.
Coaches will put together the teams and also collect the money. Entry fees are $72 per team ($18 per rower). Cash/cheque is fine. Please make cheque out to me for $18 (Tom Beshoff).
**IF YOU AREN’T ABLE TO BE PLACED ON A WESTDALE TEAM DUE TO NUMBERS, WE WILL TRY TO PUT YOU ON A CLUB TEAM WITH ATHLETES FROM OTHER SCHOOLS. IF WE AREN’T ABLE TO PLACE YOU, YOUR $18 WILL BE REFUNDED**
We will be asking you on Friday and Monday. Payment must be handed in by Tuesday morning.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23: Rudenkrieg Indoor Regatta (Grimsby). This is a 2K race, setup similar to Leander Indoors. Registration is open on Regatta Central and like the Leander Indoors, rowers are responsible for entering themselves. Please check with your coach if you aren’t sure what category to go in.

SATURDAY, MARCH 2: Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships. This is a BIG one and all rowers are expected to enter. Again, registration is open on Regatta Central and rowers are responsible to enter themselves. If you have any questions about which category to go in, please ask one of the coaches.

**Note, particularly to novices. Crew selection for on-water will be taking place over the next 4-6 weeks. If you are NOT intending on rowing on the water, please let us know in order to help facilitate our selection process. If you ARE intent on rowing on the water, you should be attending as many of these three indoor races as possible**.

A couple of things:

1. Mike has confirmed that Regatta Central (the BRUTAL regatta entry system), didn’t charge seat fees to some or all competitors at the Leander Indoors. So you may receive an email from them requesting this payment.

2. Please note that, if you plan on rowing on the water in the spring, you need to have a unisuit. If you don’t have one, the deadline to order one was more than two weeks ago. If you are in this situation, please let me know ASAP and I’ll get to work figuring out how we can get this done.

I’m a little late with this–sorry. I was away until last night.

westdale training program cycle 5 jan 21-feb 10

Hi all….

Leander has asked that we distribute this Google Docs survey amongst the athletes/parents. It’s an anonymous survey, so feel free to be as critical (or praiseworthy) as you wish. (i.e., Pete, Mike, nor I won’t ever know who submitted what answers). So be honest. It helps us improve, it helps our Westdale program improve and it helps Leander to know what’s happening outside the spare of the club.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXT5fWNdiS8s2P90nbOF-tuAhIaVhkXnmv5r6M9xO6httmeA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1

I’ve updated the regatta/event schedule. I thought I’d done it earlier in the year, but discovered I hadn’t. Apologies! I put the Canadian Indoors in Mississauga, but again….we aren’t pushing anybody to do it. I’ve also added the Mac 2×4, which has been scheduled for Saturday, February 9th at Mac. As it is a local regatta run by our fellow Leander squad, we would like to put as many entries into this team event as possible. Please let me know if you would like to do it and we’ll put the teams together.
I’ve also added the date for the Chili Cook-Off (Thursday, April 25). Details on that to come out later. You will each be responsible for selling off a block of tickets to the event that you pre-buy from us for $15 per ticket, then sell to your friends/neighbours/family/extended family/work associates for $20 each. (We haven’t determined how many tickets per rower, but I believe it will be 4-5 each this year. Any questions on that, please let me know. To start it off, I will commit to buying two tickets. The first two people who text me the word CHILI, can consider their first ticket SOLD!!!!!

Some of you have asked about rowing hoodies & rowing t-shirts. You may have seen me wearing my hoodie and/or a t-shirt. That’s what they look like. I finally have the link to order these if you want them.

https://www.myschoolstoreonline.com/westdaleteam.aspx

NOTE: Please remember to order a unisuit if you haven’t done so already! That is from a different company and is noted above.

Well done yesterday, all! We took home the men’s title, were second in the women’s category, and won the overall title! Well done to all of you who competed hard and set numerous PBs (Personal Bests). PBs mean you’re getting faster and stronger!

Today, Mike and I found out about the Grimsby Indoor Regatta, which will take place on February 23rd. We would encourage as many of you as possible to do this one as a warm up to the Ontario Championships two weeks after that. Because of where the Canadian Indoor Champs fall on our calendar, (on February 3, just after exams), we would much prefer you do the Grimsby event over the Canadians. More details on that later. You are more than welcome to do the Canadian Indoors if you want to, but we aren’t pushing you to do it. However…..we’re placing a BIG priority on Ontario’s in early March in St. Catharines, so the February 23rd regatta will be a perfect warmup for it.

We will train as normal this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the school this week. Starting Thursday, no school teams are allowed to hold practices at the school, nor are there to be any structured WESTDALE practices, until Friday, February 1. Because we are also members of a non-school club (Leander), you can train as CLUB members at Leander Boat Club over Quiet Week and Exam Week. These are NOT mandatory sessions, but you’re invited to attend. Also, be clear that these sessions are NOT Westdale sessions, they are Leander sessions. We are not trying to skirt around the school board rules, but there are many of you who want to take part in structured training to maintain your fitness levels, and we’re doing our best to provide that. If you can’t make any of the club sessions, please take a study break and go out for a run. Study after study has proven strongly that exercise improves brain function, and that you can benefit greatly from study breaks that include exercise.
Your priority for the next couple of weeks is to study and pass your exams first. The schedule below is tentative and MAY change a bit, but for those who wish to attend club sessions, the schedule will be:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17: 4PM (with Madison)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18: 4PM (with Victoria)
MONDAY, JANUARY 21: 5PM (with Victoria and Madison)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22: 4PM (with Victoria and Madison)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23: 5PM (with Victoria and Madison)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24: 4PM (with Madison and Tom)
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25: 4PM (with Victoria and Tom)
MONDAY, JANUARY 28: 4PM (with Madison and Tom)
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29: 4PM (with Victoria and Tom)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30: 4PM (with Madison and Tom)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31: 9AM **** PA DAY **** (with Victoria and Tom)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1: NORMAL TRAINING RESUMES AT SCHOOL

Also, if you are NOT planning on doing the outdoor season on the water, please tell us now. We are starting to select crews and it would be helpful to know now if you aren’t planning on continuing after March 31.