RR Interview: Harvard's Mike DiSanto in New Zealand for the Gallagher Great Race, 2014

Harvard Crew at Hamilton Boys' School Reception (Photo courtesy Mike DiSanto)

As we noted yesterday, Harvard Crew will be represented at the 2014 running of the Gallagher Great Race on the Waikato River, New Zealand. Among the Crimson athletes competing is U.S. national teamer and Oxford Blue Mike DiSanto, who is teaming up with a few current students and fellow graduates to take on Waikato University over the 3.8km, upstream course. Here, we catch up with Mike on a few of the particulars so far.

RR: Heading to New Zealand for an athletic event is no small order, even before you get to the starting line. How are you and the rest of the Harvard crew going about coping with the travel? Is that made easier by your prior international racing experience (being that South Korea is a pretty long haul as well)?

Mike DiSanto: The travel portion has been tough. I left from Heathrow at 4pm on Friday and arrived in Auckland on 5am Sunday. With the jet lag, the days start at 4 or 5, not an ideal sleeping pattern for racing, but surprisingly handy for watching the first weekend of the NFL. And even though 24 consecutive hours of flying isn't at the top of my list of things to do, it's been absolutely worth it. The HUBC classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 were incredibly close, so to be back together with these guys is a real privilege. Luckily, three of the crew have been in the Southern Hemisphere (Matt Edstein studying law and rowing in Sydney, James O'Connor who's been coaching rowing in Christchurch and Sam O'Connor who was back home for a week before the trip) so they aren't too far off a normal sleeping pattern. The rest of the guys seem to be adapting well to the time difference. Ben Lynton lived in Hamilton for a few years when he was rowing for the NZ junior team, so he's been showing us around, keeping us from napping.

RR: From what you've seen so far, has training on the Charles and the Thames—both moody at times—served you well in preparing for the Waikato? We're hearing rumors about very strong currents.

MD: The Waikato River reminds me a fair bit of the Thames, so far as the strength of the current. That being said, this river is a whole lot cleaner than the Charles or Thames. Unfortunately, where the Harvard-Yale Race is done at slack tide and the Boat Race is done with the stream, we'll be rowing the 3.8 kilometers of the Gallagher Great Race against the current. There aren't any stake boats for this race but a "starting area," where the bow pair paddles continuously and the stern six add in once the umpire starts the race. Tactics are quite important and we've been talking them over as a boat. The general idea is to get in front early so that you can stay out of the current as much as possible.

RR: In addition to the racing, will you get the chance to get to know New Zealand a little better while you're there?

MD: As I mentioned, three of the crew are originally from New Zealand and have all spent time in the area (the senior team trains just south of Hamilton, in Cambridge). Ben, Sam and James have been excellent tour guides. Yesterday we went into Auckland and checked out the Viaduct then went up the Coromandel peninsula to Thames for dinner. Today we stopped by Hamilton Boys' School to speak to some of their students about the opportunities Harvard has to offer. Tomorrow we're off to a Powhiri, which is a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony. The Great Race committee has been incredibly friendly and good to our crew. We're hoping to make our way to Rotorua and take a dip in some of the hot springs before the week is up.

--

Also worthy of note: Six of this boat come from two different high schools. Peter Scholle, Andrew Reed, and DiSanto all went to Belmont Hill School. Sam O'Connor, James O'Connor, and Ben Lynton all went to Christ's College. And, James O'Connor will be joining brother Sam and DiSanto at Oxford after this race.

We'll be checking in with Mike following the main event this weekend as well—more to come from the Waikato River!

Title photo L to R: Andrew Reed (3 seat), James O'Connor (stroke), Sam O'Connor (7 seat), Mike DiSanto (6 seat), Peter Scholle (2 seat), Alex Sopko (coxswain), Ben Lynton (5 seat), Pat Lapage (bow/coach).

Photo courtesy of Mike DiSanto
-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

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

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