Blog of Bermanism

My rowing team at the Marin Rowing Association is in the process of training very hard for one of the most competitive races in the United States, the San Diego Crew Classic. This regatta is comprised entirely of 8+’s, which are one of the fastest boats that you can row. As the name implies, there are eight people that row together, each with one oar on alternating sides of the boat, so that four people have a oar on one side (starboard) and the other four have one on the other side (port). These boats can be very fast and were featured heavily in the 2004 Olympics in Athens when the US men’s 8+ won the competition, the first time since 1964. Anyway, rowing these boats in competition is a really exciting thing to do, and to win against some of the people we’re competing against in San Diego, takes top notch physical conditioning and superb rowing technique.

In the last six weeks, we’ve been training really hard for the race and I feel more physically fit than I’ve felt since I rowed for UT in college in 1995. I may actually feel better now, I’m still not as light as I was then, but I’m holding at 168, which is the lightest I’ve been since my junior year of undergrad (I plan to lose more weight after San Diego). I’m rowing in the open category at the SDCC, which means that the race is largely made up of college teams and seriously young and fit rowers from all over the US. In fact, we get to row against every University of California Crew out there and we get to hold our own against Trident and Stanford. It will be very interesting. I’m actually really excited about it though. I’m the oldest person in the boat for sure. The four of us in that boat that are at practice all the time, really have phenomenal rows together when we take out a 4+ or 4-. So, I think we’re all really excited about it. Since we’re racing against 17 other crews, and there are seven lanes, there will be three heats to get to our finals. That also means that only the top two boats advance. It will be a tough race, but, no matter what the results are, I’m just glad that these guys are letting me row with them.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this race. It will be an amazing experience and I get to row with some younger whipper-snappers who will definitely keep it real with me. Rach is racing too, in the Club race. She’s also excited since it will be her first time racing there (me too, btw). So, since I’m doing this whole thirty in thirty thing, you’ll probably read a lot about the training for this regatta, since, other than work stuff, there isn’t much else that I have to talk about. Ok, I have to get to work or else I may never get home in time for the festivities tonight. Hope everyone is having a festive St. Patrick’s day. Drink some green beer for the Gipper.

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