TCYR just returned from a tremendous weekend of competition at Head of the Des Moines in Des Moines, Iowa. This year's event made up for last year (which was cancelled halfway through the day due to heavy storms and flooding of the river) with a vengeance, with a sunny day of moderate temperature and virtually no wind. The racecourse is a very well-marked five kilometers (or about three miles) with the kind of broad, sweeping turns that inspire warm-fuzzy feelings in coxswains. The hosts were gracious, the referees fair with a sense of humor, and the competition, commendable. The total medal count for the day are six golds, four silvers, and a trophy cup for Fastest Junior Crew of the Day. This race is a HUGE milestone in the development of TCYR. Our crews were poised, professional, and deliberate in all of their actions. They put on a beautiful showcase of their technical improvements and fitness gains over the past few weeks.
Women's Club Novice 4- Silver
The Novice Girls rowed a tight race, coming up second behind an adult crew from Minneapolis Rowing Club by 18 seconds. Coxswain Morgan Train had about 20 minutes to learn a new steering system, but was completely unfazed...as shown by the results.
Men's Club Novice 8- Fourth
The NB8 took fourth out of five crews, which can be impressive in itself (yes, it is a big deal for a novice crew to beat another boat, ever.) However, what made this event that much more impressive is that our crew was the only junior crew in the event, going up against four other college teams. Bravo, boys!
Women's Junior 8- Gold, Silver, Fourth
The VG8s came charging down the course, coming up with a 1-2 finish. The coxswains steered a beautiful course, with tight lines around the turns. The 2V8 came in second over MRC by 4 seconds, even with a minor hiccup in the middle of the race. The 3V8 was actually a blend of Novice and Varsity girls, and they did a commendable job of pulling together and moving the boat.
Men's Junior 4- Gold, Silver, Fourth
The junior boys fours was a tight duel between our top two boys fours, with the TCYR-B crew finally emerging victorious, 13 second ahead of TCYR-A. Both crews came in ahead of MRC-A, with TCYR-C rounding out the field.
Men's Club Novice 4- Gold, 9th, 10th
This was another club event, and our boys were the only juniors out of 11 entries. They didn't let that get to them though, and made up for the 8s race by taking gold over teams like University of Minnesota, Wichita Sate, Iowa State, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wheaton College.
Women's Junior 4- Gold, Silver, Fifth
This 4s race was a repeat of the 8s race: a 1-2 finish with a tight technical game from all three boats. The 1V4 looked almost too relaxed as they went by (they were focusing on eliminating check in the boat), but 'fessed up that they were actually racing at the agreed upon 28 strokes per minute (very good news to me....). The 2V4 was first in line through the start chute, and managed to chew their way through a few boats from the race ahead of them, the Women's Club 4.
Mixed Junior 8- Gold
So...they were the only entry in the event, so yes, they won. HOWEVER, their time would have put them second in the Mixed Collegiate 8 event, so I say well deserved!
Men's Open 8- Fifth (or Gold, depending on viewpoint...)
For those of you wondering why there aren't any results for the Men's Junior 8, here's why. There weren't any other junior boys 8s for us to race, so JD decided to enter the boys into the Men's Open 8 for some competition. The registration people raised their eyebrows at the request (their facial expressions conveyed their doubt about a junior crew keeping up varsity college crews,) but complied with our request. The boys started in the middle of the pack and were only passed by ONE college crew the whole way down the course. Their performance was only only good enough to place them fifth out of eleven, it also qualified as the Fastest Junior Crew of the Day, resulting in a silver trophy cup big enough to fit on (acting) Cap'n Patty's on the ride home.
All in all, it was a tremendous day for our crews, and a fun day for our supporters, both there and the home team. A HUGE thank you to our trip chaperones Lea Wright, Karen Ash, and Mary Beth Silbernagel, and Regatta Trip Chair Heidi Brandt for a flawless trip! We would be cold and hungry without you. Todd, don't think we forgot about you, or you get away from this: Todd Wright has logged an incredible number of miles hauling the trailer for TCYR, making sure we get killer parking, and schlepping the coaches/coxes to the ungodly early meetings. He's a good dude, shake his hand when you get a chance.
Next week, Head of the Mississippi!!
-Tina
"Rowing: a competitive sport of boats that are narrow."
-- Great Soviet Encyclopedia
