May 10 2016
Piestany Day 0 and 1
Day 0 (Friday)
After lunch we drove to Piestany, which took us nearly three hours, mainly because I wanted to try a different route, which was shorter and more scenic. It took us through the beautiful White Carpathian mountains, some very remote small towns, and a place where they were repairing the road and we had to wait about 15 minutes for a red traffic light.
Anyway, we couldn’t go training because even though our boats had arrived, our wing riggers where in a different minivan which would only arrive in the evening. We were staying in a hotel, but our son Dominik wanted to stay with his double partner in a tent. We let them build it themselves, and they managed! Also the girls double was relaxing.
Day 1 (Saturday)
We stayed in a hotel about 2.5km from the race course and bikes were included in the package. So after a nice breakfast we cycled to the race track. There I realized that one of our juniors had asked if he could use my boat for his singles races. (We couldn’t fit more boats on the trailer.) So I had to cycle back to the hotel to get the sliding seat. All well, he tried out the boat and I took a few shots of the pre-race atmosphere.
Our girls 13/14 was warming up for their race when one of the girls had an accident and somehow dislocated her knee. Ouch! She managed to put her knee back herself but was in great pain. While her trainer was comforting her, I speeded to the first aid station to get assistance. The medic looked at it and advised us to take her to the hospital, just to be sure. I got up to the restaurant to get some ice, then I hopped on the bike again, rode back to the hotel, got my car, and the girl, her trainer and I went to visit the local hospital. The doctor there did a thorough investigation and concluded that there was no damage, and that no immediate treatment was necessary, except cooling and some pain relief.
I am thinking of getting a beacon light to put on my car for these missions.
Because of the hospital episode I completely missed my son’s race in the single. He came in fourth place and was very disturbed that he didn’t come third and get a medal, like a year ago. His friend Stepan rowed in a slower heat and fetched a bronze medal with a time of 2:23.
Then our first Masters team got ready to race. In a big fight they managed to get first place in the coxless four. They didn’t know the result until I went to ask at the finish tower and then went to tell them. This is how they looked when I broke the news:
Then we rigged this boat for a quad and in the mean time I saw my daughter finish first in her heat in the girls 15/16 double. It looked really easy. The girls were leading by several lengths and rowing really well. That looked good for the final on Sunday, even though there were at least two equivalent (or perhaps slightly better) boats in the other heat. Also in the mean time, Dominik and Stepan in the double got swamped by a launch wake when they waited for the start. Their boat basically disappeared under a big wave, then reappeared, and then two 10/11 year old boys frantically tried to remove water from their boat. They rowed to a disappointing fourth place which put them in the B final for Sunday.
Masters Quad
Time for the Masters quad, which I stroked. Our biggest opponent, a composite with 2 fast rowers from Vienna, had withdrawn. The Vienna guys couldn’t be on the races on Saturday and would only participate in the Sunday events. Our only opponent left was a local quad from Piestany. We did our best not to underestimate them but it was hard.
The weather had changed from windstill to a pretty stiff tailwind.
We didn’t have a good start but by the second full stroke we were leading by a length. After 5 strokes we were leading by two lengths. After that I rated down and we finished the race in 60-70% effort.
Hurray! First medal of the weekend.
Masters 8+
This was a tougher one. Our quad was complemented by 2 other guys from our club who had trained less, and two rowers from other clubs. I was rowing bow seat. Still, for a change, I felt quite comfortable in this eight. Technique wise there was nothing to be said. The boat was stable and I was able to pull long strokes.
A year ago we had won this by a bow ball. This year’s race was a repetition of last year’s. Our opponents were the local masters eight from Piestany and a boat from Bratislava.
Our race plan was featured a faster second half, so we weren’t too worried when we were a bit behind Bratislava out of the starting blocks. I was becoming worried when, after 250m, their lead had increased to a length, and by 500m to a length and a half. Piestany was far behind.
Indeed, in the second half of the race we started to decrease the gap but it was not enough. We rated up, and then we rated up some more, but that also made the length disappear from the stroke.
Family Double
Only an hour after that it was time for the “family double”. I competed in the “Father and offspring” category, rowing with my daughter Lenka. In contrast to what the official results say, this was a 500m sprint. I really wanted to win this, but we would have strong competition from Mr Brazda and his daughter.
Lenka made me wear a pink sun shield and she wore a matching one, so we looked really cool. 🙂
Out of the start, the Brazdas were leading but we battled our way back by stroking high rate, very determined first 10 strokes. The reports from the bank say that we were rowing very well technically, that Lenka and I looked very much in sync. And yes, we managed to increase our gap to a length. By half way everything was really hurting. I was rowing these races “unplugged”. No stroke coach, no crewnerd, no Heart rate belt. I think we were rating 35 or 36 spm but we had to.
I was counting strokes now, hoping Lenka and I could manage another 30 of these … From her breathing I could hear she was in trouble too.
In the final 100m, the Brazda double fell a bit further behind so that made it a little easier. First place, hurray!
Two medals out of three races. One a very easy win, not really a race, but the other a very intense 500m sprint.
Happy but tired, we cycled back to our hotel.
May 10 2016
Piestany day 2
Masters Single
Of course all my races are important, but the race I was looking forward to most was the Masters Single, on Sunday morning. They put all the Masters C nicely in one race, keeping that fast Mr Milodanevic in the “A+B” race (he’s B) and letting the older guys fight for their title in a “D+F” race.
I had won this last year, easily. But this time I would have fierce competition from Kazimir “Robocop” Nedoba. A year ago he didn’t compete because he was getting a hip implant. But he’s back in full training now. As a policeman he has a lot more time than I do to spend on the water and in the fitness center. Actually, it’s part of his job description.
On the long distance championships, where he rowed in the heavyweight category and I rowed as a lightweight, I gave him a minute over 6km. But Kazi is a sprinter and my strength is more in the longer distances. So I wasn’t so sure.
My race plan was to start fast and get in front of him. Sometimes that breaks the competition.
Five boats at the start. I was in lane 5, Kazi in lane 4. Got out of the start a little behind him. Did ten strong strokes after the start. In my head, I repeated this mantra: “Got. To. Get. In. Front. Of. Him. Got. To. Get. In. Front. Of. Him.” I managed to get half a length. Then it was time to focus on technique. I know that if I don’t do that, I get sloppy. Then I get sloppy and tired, and that’s enough to lose a race.
Luckily my focus on technique helped. By half way I was length in front of Kazi. This is the part where the trees end and the boat area starts, so I now also had the support of my family and club members from the bank.
The other three boats were far enough behind to not be threatening. At the 500m mark I started to count strokes and I managed to push back Kazi a bit more. With ten strokes to go I knew I wouldn’t lose the race. Still had to keep rowing very fast.
Of course I was extremely happy. On the finish line, after we both just sat there breathing hard for a few minutes, Kazi commented that he now knows he has some work to do. I guess later in the season it may become even harder to beat him. This was very hard work, pretty much the max I can do in a single right now, at the beginning of the sprint season. I did a long cooling down row and then went on to prepare for the Masters 2x, just after lunch time.
I helped prepare the girls quad for their race by telling them that the girl who had won the single didn’t have three other strong girls in her quad and that they could win. Then I just took pictures and cheered while they won their final in a very nice battle.
Here they are landing, happy with their win:
I also cheered for Dominik in their B final in the boys 11/12 year old 2x. They were rowing in fifth place but taking over Lodni Sporty Brno and even had a chance to get the bronze, when the Lodni Sporty boat changed course and the two Brno doubles bumped into each other.
I guess Dominik really wasn’t lucky this weekend.
Masters 2x
We would be rowing against Kral/Milodanevic, so we knew that the best we could do was a second place. That’s not defeatist. That’s just how it is. Milodanevic won his singles race in 3:28, Kral won the “D” category in 3:48. Still, even a second place would be a good result, because my partner Radek hasn’t put in as much training as he’d have liked during the winter, and the other boats looked strong on paper as well.
Our race tactics was to see where we were out of the start and then just race the boat closest to us.
That’s exactly how the race unfolded. We were in 5th position (in a full field of 6 boats) after the start and it took us 250m to get to the fourth position, then another 150m to get to second position. By that time Kral/Milodanevic were somewhere in front, too far a way for my peripheral vision, and we were rowing next to the locals from Piestany. Actually, they were half a length in front of us. I tried a ten stroke push but they managed to defend their position. Then, roughly at 0:50 in the video below, we tried a second push and manage to get in front of them. That gave us enough energy to even push away more and come in second place. Good result.
Mix Double
The final event of our racing weekend was the mix double with Romana. I was confident that we could win. Romana wasn’t so sure. There was a Piestany Masters B boat with a lady who had won the Masters Women’s single, and an athletic looking guy who hadn’t raced for the entire weekend.
This was a 500m sprint, so again a painful affair.
Piestany started on “Ready” while we went on “Go”. So that cost us a length which we had to get back. We managed to do. Romana is a very determined engine in the mix double. We knew it would be very painful two minutes but we put in the work and managed to get back in front. I don’t know how many times this weekend I had to get back from behind or from second position. It’s not a bad experience, actually, when you succeed.
Anyway, in front of the crowd we managed to build out our lead and we won. Fourth medal out of six starts.
After that an hour of packing and trailer loading, then a two hour drive home, and packing my suitcase for a trip to the US.
Spent a very long Monday getting to Phoenix, AZ, where I will spend the rest of the week on a symposium. The symposium program runs from 7:30 in the morning to 9pm in the evening, with just a one hour lunch break, so I am curious where I will find time to put in some exercise.
By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 3 • Tags: double, mix, OTW, racing, rowing, single, sprint