Pre NSR 2 thoughts

After less than two weeks in Vermont, we will be heading back down to Princeton tomorrow for NSR 2 and the first race of the season in the 4x. I don't want to dwell on some of the less than ideal parts of our selection of this 4x over the last 10 days, but I am happy to be feeling like we are leaving Vermont with a boat that has a lot of speed. I feel strongly that everyone in this boat earned their seat and has been pushing it to new speeds every time we've been out. The obvious addition to the crew is older brother Tom and the obvious absence is Steve. I feel very conflicted about this but ultimately cannot afford to spend to much time worrying about it. Steve was such a big part of our journey in the 4x last summer and we have some amazing shared experiences together, most notably winning a bronze medal in Lucerne last summer in the 4x. He is a great athlete, friend, and teammate and I know Peter, Ben, and I feel his absence every time we bring the boat down to the dock. We give Steve a hard time for talking a lot in the boat, being loud at times, and always speaking up, but given the choice between the noise and the quiet feeling I get when he's not around, I would always choose to have Steve around.  He is a guy who is never silent about the things he really cares about. There are those that say we die a little bit anytime we are silent about things that matter to us and in this way, Steve is the youngest of us , unmistakeably full of life and energy. He and I definitely have our moments when we don't see eye to eye but I think it is because we are so similar. He and I are both single scullers at heart, which makes our mindsets indistinguishable yet pitted against each other in most situations, because in the mind of the single sculler, there can only be one. I don't want to make this sound like Steve is gone, because he is not, he will recover and be back better than ever, I expect. Before I know it, we will probably be butting heads in the 1x again. But I do hope that we are pulling together in the same direction soon. Steve took part in our selection for this crew last week, but ultimately pulled himself away because of injury and being less than 100 percent. While I know how much of an asset Steve is to our crew, it would also downplay Tom's contribution to the quad to say that he is just keeping Steve's seat warm.  Tom has brought a lot of speed to the boat and in almost every opportunity left us talking about how that was the fastest split we've ever seen. He has not earned his seat because of his aesthetically pleasing technical style, but he brings a lightness and energy that gives this boat massive top end speed and easy cruising speed. We have plenty of smoothing out to do, but the meat and potatoes are there. I think there will be a lot of people out there who accuse Peter and I of throwing seat races just to get our brother in the boat, but I think anyone who has rowed with me would know, I only care about speed and at times to the detriment of my brothers and my family. If the boat goes faster, I'm sold. If I had been blind folded for the 2k time trials we did, the times would have aligned with how they felt, and I would have chosen the boat with Tom every time. It just so happens three of us are brothers and the other guy looks like he should be a brother.  We did a few pieces with Willy in the boat and while there was a lot of potential and perhaps better looking blade work,  but Tom consistently had faster times. Since my two favorite rowers of all time, Joe Sullivan and Nathan Cohen, would never have won a style contest, I couldn't care less how it looks as long as it is consistently fast. That being said, I think Willy has huge potential and I have really enjoyed rowing with him, hopefully he will have a great week of racing in the single. 

We are feeling excited but nervous about this combination. Excited to see what it can do but nervous that it is not yet race tested and fresh. Similar feelings to going into 4x trials last year, but my sense is that the California boat will be much more prepared than they were last year and we will need to be ready for full experience. The full experience being the type of 2k that you are sure you cannot finish at the 1250m mark, but somehow keep pushing for the next 2 minutes and change. The 2k piece we did last week and other shorter pieces have been very encouraging and puts the sky as the limit, but it doesn't mean a thing until we pull into the stake boat, feel the nerves, blast off between the buoys, and see how we respond. Personally, I am itching to race again.  

Here are a couple of vids from this week. First is me in the single yesterday during an easy evening cruise. The other is the 4x with Willy in two seat after doing max 250s on Thursday afternoon. In my opinion this boat moves really well and I would have been very confident taking it to the international stage, but like I said, Tom made it faster. So here we go. Time trial on Tuesday evening and Final against California Rowing Club on Thursday morning. 

1x

4x with willy in 2.