Dawg Daze: Huskies Dominate at the 2012 IRA National Championship Regatta



If you haven't seen the above video, then consider yourself among the few, but the fact is, it's well worth your attention. The Washington Huskies accomplished a rare feat over the weekend, sweeping the IRA Regatta and further solidifying their position at the top of men's intercollegiate rowing with an unprecedented sixth straight Ten Eyck Trophy as a result. The Huskies did this despite entering the 2012 season without the services of two of their top guns in 2011–Canadian standout Conlin McCabe, and physiological phenom Hans Struzyna, both of whom stoked the fires of the Husky 'engine room' last year. The Huskies also did this despite a late-season illness to one of their best international rowers, Mathis Jessen, who missed both Pac-12s and IRAs, causing head coach Mike Callahan to call up Austin 'AJ' Brooks into two-seat of the varsity eight (at all of 5'10" and 180 lbs, Brooks is a two-time USRowing youth national champion, a Henley winner in the Temple, and a three-time IRA champion, having won the frosh in 2010, the 2V in 2011, and now the varsity eight title), and Alan Meininghaus (6' and 180 lbs, last appearance at the IRA was a gold medal performance in the men's open four as a freshman in 2009) into the 2V to fill spots. Needless to say, they got the job done, further showing the depth, not only of talent, but also of commitment, of the Washington squad.

As if the 2012 season could get any better for the Dawgs, the crew members of the Husky varsity eight were named 'Student-Athletes of the Week' by the University of Washington on Monday. 

While our picks for first in the men's and women's lightweight eights–Harvard and Stanford–got the job done over the weekend, with Harvard closing out a perfect season of its own with a new course record to boot, and Stanford making it three national titles in a row, the Brown heavyweight men exceeded our expectations, and backed up their Sprints victory, pushing further away from a very experienced and talented Harvard crew.

Congratulations to all who competed at the 2012 IRA National Championships!

Still to come this week: 2012 USRowing Youth Nationals Picks and Predictions from the RR Editorial Staff

-RR

Trending posts this month

"I Row Crew" — Rowing in 'The Social Network'

Image
Like many of the rowing faithful, I've been keeping up with the saga penned by Dan Boyne about the filming of the rowing scenes in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network , and I must say I had high hopes going into the film. The first problem I encountered: the phrase, "I row crew." It was uttered so many times before anyone "rowed crew" on the water that I had trouble buying any of it later. It's understandable that the character of Mark Zuckerberg makes that mistake, since he has no idea about the sport. But when the Winklevoss twins themselves utter the phrase several times, one begins to wonder where Boyne was when these lines were not being chopped or changed. Seriously, who says that? As far as the actual rowing goes, the first scene, which has the twins out training in a pair along with the rest of the Harvard squad, is not all bad — it just ends that way. The line, "Those guys are freakin' fast" is certainly every b
Read more

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? At Marin Rowing Association, Culture is Key

Image
Hands in after training  My alarm goes off—it’s 4:22am.  It’s been a while since I did this. Immediately, I think back to a college dorm room, rolling out of bed and running down the steps to carpool caravan to Marina Del Rey.  Not this time, though. It’s a Tuesday in late September, and I’m heading across the Golden Gate Bridge to Greenbrae, California, where I’ll meet with the Marin Rowing Men’s Masters squad. Fortunately, it’s an unusually warm morning—and when I roll in, the boathouse is already buzzing with activity.  Launch time: 5:10. Heading out into the Bay before dawn The Marin Rowing Association program has both men’s and women’s masters boats competing to win at every event they attend. In the fall, that can only mean one thing: The Head Of The Charles .  The boat that Coach Rodrigo Rodrigues and I spend most of our time with is the Grand Masters eight—average age 60+. But that’s just one of five crews that launched with us that morning. Everyone’s up before 4:30am. So, wh
Read more

The 30 Best Rowing Coaches of All Time, Part 3: The Top 10

Image
The top 10 best rowing coaches, including guess who (Photo © Iain Weir / Rowing Photography ) It's time for the third and final part of our 3-part series on the best of the best in the rowing coaching ranks. These coaches not only command respect based on performance, but have also shown the ability to adapt to new circumstances, build dynasties, and ultimately help shape the trajectory of rowing as a sport. Honestly, it would be easy to extend this series into 10 more posts... But we wouldn't do that to you. As we've said before, the hope is that the following may serve to educate and spark discussion, as both an appreciation of history and of the coaching craft. Also note: As we stated in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, there are few women in this list, but that is a reflection of a general underrepresentation of women in the head coaching ranks in our sport—and indeed (as has been well documented ) a growing number of NCAA sports in the United States.
Read more

Video Of The Week: Holland Beker 2013

Image
This week's video comes to us from the Bosbaan, where the 2013 Holland Beker saw truly elite, international competition over the weekend. Perhaps the most outstanding racing came in the women's single, where the A Final closely mirrored a world championship or Olympic final in recent years—the lineup included two-time Olympic champ Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus, Kim Crow of Australia, New Zealand's Emma Twigg , reigning Olympic champion Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic, another two-time Olympic champion (albeit in the women's eight) in Eleanor Logan , and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist (also in the eight) Chantal Achterberg of Holland.  As it turned out, the final was a wire-to-wire victory for Kim Crow, who looks to be on top form and may be the athlete to beat in this event for the foreseeable future, holding off both Karsten and Twigg in the closing stretch, with Knapkova finishing fourth. Elle Logan had another solid race in a great field, finishing just ove
Read more

So, are Naked Rowing Calendars a Thing Now?

Image
Warwick rowers are all in again this year (Photo courtesy of Warwick Boat Club)  The phenomenon started four years ago with the Warwick Rowing men's squad. Then, the following year, the Warwick women's team joined the fray. Now, Newcastle University's men and women are back on the naked calendar train. So, the question is, have rowing and naked calendars become a thing? The above video features the 2014-2015 Warwick women's squad—the third edition of the calendar , and, from the looks of it, the raciest. However, perhaps not so racy as that of the 2014-2015 Warwick men (see below). But raciness aside, all four of these teams have chosen worthy charities and have gone "the full monty" to make sure that those causes have received considerable contributions. The Warwick women contribute to Macmillan Cancer Support —a cause for which Warwick reports it has donated some £5,000. The Warwick men? Sport Allies —a charity that combats homophobia in spor
Read more