Today was a tough day of racing: the first day is when we meet our competition (from across the continent!) and determine conditions for our heats. The changes in wind direction (from tail to cross to head) definitely tested our crews, but everyone pushed despite the weather.
We have two crews from today’s races that have proceeded to Saturday’s Semifinals: the Sr. Men’s 1x and the Sr. Men’s 4x. We had some close calls as well, with a few boats missing the semis by just 0.6 seconds or 2.6 seconds, but we pushed hard and we’ll now look forward to doing our best tomorrow and cheering hard for other crews that are just starting their competitions.
Without further ado, here are Saturday’s Racing Times:
Sr. Women 63kg 8+ – Heat 1 @9:52am
Jr. Men 1x – Heat 1 @10:55am
Jr. Women 63kg 8+ – Heat 2 @11:44am
Sr. Men’s 1x Semifinal – 12:40pm OR 12:47pm (TBD by draw)
Sr. Men’s 4x Semifinal – 2:04pm OR 2:11pm (TBD by draw)
Jr. Women’s 4x – Heat 1 @3:42pm
Sr. Women’s 8+ – Heat 2 @5:27pm
Women’s Arrival Times:
Mike has already spoken with crews about your arrival times. Coxswains and Midweight crews must arrive earlier to weigh-in with Mike. Women’s crews that race later in the day should either arrive in time for the first race (9:52am) or at least 3 hours before your race if you’re racing at the end of the day (Sr. Women’s 8+).
Our hard-working parent reps (Dina & Brock) have been coordinating the food signup & provision for the regatta, but we are still very short of meeting the requirements to offer all athletes (and families) meals, which means we’re still looking for people to sign up today by 7pm at the latest to assist in contributing food for the regatta (You can click here to sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19QGcBLPnAkXrf_mbyEYnfRKv3XYEnkdfTfHKK-9JvIA/edit?pli=1#gid=585143953)
We are particularly short on contributions for tomorrow (Friday) morning.If there’s any chance you can assist, we would greatly appreciate it! Thank you in advance!
Are you missing your favourite yellow-capped water bottle? (Featuring: water! included! FREE!)
How about your beautiful blue water bottle? (Featuring: humid precipitation droplets! included! ALSO FREE!)
Or even your lovely green Thinsulate Woods “Lite-Loft” insulation bag to carry your crucial camping gear? (Featuring: NOTHING ELSE, JUST THE GEAR! what a win! TOTALLY FREE!) BECAUSE THEY ARE MISSING YOU SO MUCH.
They want to go home. Please, give them a home. They don’t like living with me. Seriously. I’m cruel and leave them alone in the den gathering dust. This is no life for a water bottle or air-mattress carrier.
So, if these are your items OR if you think you know the items’ owners (even if they’re from another school), please contact me so I can return these sad, lonely items to your possession.
It’s been a while since our last post, so we’re happy to say that we’ve got all sorts of fun info for you in this one!
INFORMATION!!! YAY!!!
Info for Mom!
First off, THANK YOU to all athletes for being so patient while we addressed equipment changes/availability and boating changes these past two weeks, including changes to race entries. We appreciate that you’ve all been very understanding.
Next here’s everything you need to know for the next two days:
Saturday, May 9th – Practice & Trailer Loading @5:45am at LBC
All athletes should arrive at 5:45am for a final practice before trailer loading. Practice will run from 5:45am-7:30am. Trailer loading will begin at 7:30am, and ALL boats must be fully derigged and loaded by 8:45am. The trailer will leave the LBC compound at 9am.
Sunday, May 10th – Mother’s Day Regatta (THANK YOUR MOM’S)
The Mother’s Day Regatta will be held on Henley Island in St. Catharine’s, Ontario (close to the Port Dalhousie area). Full information about event times and directions can be found here at Regatta Central.
Directions can also be found here on the Westdale Rowing blog, or here on Google Maps. *Directions say 45 min (approx.), but plan for 60-75min just in case you get lost or encounter traffic. This has happened to at least one athlete every year that we’ve coached.*
The Final Race Draw hasn’t been posted yet, but will likely be made available tomorrow on Regatta Central. Based on the Regatta Central preliminary schedule, these are the race times:
Event 6 – Sr. Women’s 63kg 1x – 9:10am (finals at 2:25pm) Event 7 – Jr. Men’s 72kg 4+ – 9:24am (finals at 2:32pm) Event 14 – Jr. Women 63kg 8+ – 10:20am (finals at 3:21pm) Event 15 – Sr. Men’s 72kg 2x – 10:34am (finals at 3:28pm) Event 18 – Sr. Men’s 1x – 11:09am (finals at 3:49pm *HOTSEAT REQUIRED) Event 19 – Sr. Women’s 4+ – 11:30am (finals at 3:56pm) Event 23 – Sr. Men’s 4x – 12:12pm (finals at 4:24pm) Event 24 – Sr. Women’s 1x – 12:19pm (finals at 4:31pm) Event 29 – Jr. Women’s 4x – 1:15pm (finals at 5:06pm) Event 12 – Jr. Men’s 1x – 3:07pm (straight final *QUICK CHANGE REQUIRED) Event 35 – Sr. Women’s 8+ – 5:48pm (straight final)
“Hotseating” is when an athlete goes straight from one race into the next race, and the boating change is made on the dock. “Quick change” is when an athlete has a tight turnaround time after their first race, but still has enough time to return the boat before launching in their next race.
Weigh-Ins: There are NO weigh-ins at this regatta. Instead, the regatta runs on an honour system.
A Message for Moms: If your athlete’s crew makes their final and finishes top three, then moms are invited to give the medals to their athletes. Please stick around if you can 🙂
Arrival Times: Athletes in the Sr. Women’s 63kg 1x & Jr. Men’s 72kg 4+ should arrive by 6:30am. All other athletes should arrive AT LEAST 3 hours before your race (or in time for the first Westdale race of the day, which is at 9:10am).
Supervising Coaches: Alessandra will coordinating/supervising the Men’s Team, Eben Prevec & Anise Truman will be supervising the Women’s Eights/Singles/Fours, and Peter DeNew will be supervising the Jr. Women’s Quads. Tom Beshoff will be assisting in the morning.
Rigging Post-Regatta: Please plan to rig boats on Sunday evening when we return to Hamilton. There MIGHT be an option to rig on Monday morning, but this will be dictated by the Club Manager (Steffan Wagner). We’ll let you know as soon as we have information.
What to Bring:
-Unisuit
-Long-sleeve top to race in UNDER your unisuit (often requested by race officials if weather is cold, windy, or rainy *the forecast is thunderstorms, so please bring this just in case!)
-Change of clothes (and extra socks – trust me!)
-Student ID
-Water (lots of water)
-Healthy snacks (trail mix, nuts, apples, granola bars, cliff bars, etc.)
-Lunch (and breakfast if needed)
-Rain gear/weather appropriate clothing (*BOOTS ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
-Sunscreen (*HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) *CHECK THE WEATHER – BRING BOOTS FOR THUNDERSTORMS*
What We Expect of You: You are expected to rig your boat, bring your blades down (when required), and ensure your crew is together. You should also know your race plan & be prepared with water/race-gear/food. Please be & remain with your crew once there’s 1.5h left to go until your race. If you have any questions, please find me (Alessandra), Eben, or Peter and we can assist you. Generally speaking, you should go to your primary coach if you have a question.
Resources for Parents: Our lovely parent reps, Dina & Brock Gadsdon, have kindly put together some informational material for parents planning to attend their athletes (what to expect, how to get there, Henley Island rules, how to avoid heat stroke, etc.). Please see the following documents for useful parent information:
1) Mothers Day Parent Information
2) Heat Stress Awareness Guide
With our biggest international regatta fast approaching, we are now preparing details for the June 6th/7th/8th weekend (including Friday!) with respect to food & a parent’s tent.
Dina Gadsdon, a member of the WSS Rowing Parents Committee, has prepared a Google Document so that families can sign-up to contribute to the food at the parents’ tent. The instructions and a full overview of the CSSRA food/parents tent can be found here: WSS Rowing 2014 – CSSRA food
Any questions concerning food & the parents’ tent should be directed to Dina Gadsdon (contact info available in the informational document posted above “WSS Rowing 2014 – CSSRA food”), so please do not ask questions about food/parents’ tent via the blog OR by asking me/Mike – we won’t know anything about it. Dina’s the person to contact.
Information concerning a practice in St. Kitt’s (St. Catharine’s) on Thursday will be discussed later this week. Students will be released early from school on Thursday, June 5th, and will take a school bus to Henley Island in order to practice on the course. Full details will be provided once Mike Roche has returned.
I have some good news: Steffan has officially announced the date & (generic) start time for the Summer Rowing Info Meeting. This meeting is for any & all athletes keen to row with Leander Boat Club this summer. Given my newly discovered graphic-design skills, I’ve decided to convey this information through a most detailed PC-Paint portrayal:
Of course, the quick version is: LBC Summer Rowing Info Meeting for interested athletes is this weekend on Saturday, May 24th, after the City Champs races but BEFORE the medal ceremony at LBC. See you all there!
Westdale Rowing Community 