Rowing. It's the next big thing.
I have the greatest friends in the world! Over the weekend I participated in a rowing competition downtown. Everyone at the competition could hear my cheering section. It was like I had my own little following. Who knew the sport of rowing could be so exciting?
This is how the race went down…
I bragged and bragged about how good my team was. In my mind, we were going to win the competition and I was going to leave with a gold medal around my neck. Oh how wrong I was.
I completely blame our humiliating loss on whoever was in charge. The night of the race the boathouse was short one CoxBox. The Coxswain is the person who sits at the stern, steers the boat and directs the rowers. The CoxBox is an amplifier they use so that the team can hear the instructions. Without that, we could hear nothing including the “attention, go!” signaling the start of the race. We were all paddling at different rates and our boat was rocking from side to side. Half way through the race, two people on my team caught a crab…meaning their oars dug deep into the water and wouldn’t come out. At this point, the boat rocked dramatically to the right side and I braced myself to be thrown into the nasty, fishy water. As I pulled up on my oar to try and help with balance my seat popped out! That can happen? I had no idea. I couldn’t get my seat back in place and keep a good grip on my oar at the same time and I could hear the girl behind me laughing hysterically. So instead, I left the seat out and sat flat on the bottom of the boat. That’s when our boat turned and started rowing sideways across the lanes instead of heading toward the finish line. I could hear the announcer tell our team to get back in the lane. Duh! Do you think we were rowing the wrong direction just for the fun of it all?? Once we finally got things together and pointed our boat in the right direction we were dead last. It was embarrassing to row across the finish line so far behind the other teams. But I could hear my cheering section yelling, “Go Krista!” So I just waved and hollered back at them.
Well, I promised my friends some entertainment and that is what I provided. The race wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting if my team would have just rowed in a straight line and won the race. Better luck next time…
This is how the race went down…
I bragged and bragged about how good my team was. In my mind, we were going to win the competition and I was going to leave with a gold medal around my neck. Oh how wrong I was.
I completely blame our humiliating loss on whoever was in charge. The night of the race the boathouse was short one CoxBox. The Coxswain is the person who sits at the stern, steers the boat and directs the rowers. The CoxBox is an amplifier they use so that the team can hear the instructions. Without that, we could hear nothing including the “attention, go!” signaling the start of the race. We were all paddling at different rates and our boat was rocking from side to side. Half way through the race, two people on my team caught a crab…meaning their oars dug deep into the water and wouldn’t come out. At this point, the boat rocked dramatically to the right side and I braced myself to be thrown into the nasty, fishy water. As I pulled up on my oar to try and help with balance my seat popped out! That can happen? I had no idea. I couldn’t get my seat back in place and keep a good grip on my oar at the same time and I could hear the girl behind me laughing hysterically. So instead, I left the seat out and sat flat on the bottom of the boat. That’s when our boat turned and started rowing sideways across the lanes instead of heading toward the finish line. I could hear the announcer tell our team to get back in the lane. Duh! Do you think we were rowing the wrong direction just for the fun of it all?? Once we finally got things together and pointed our boat in the right direction we were dead last. It was embarrassing to row across the finish line so far behind the other teams. But I could hear my cheering section yelling, “Go Krista!” So I just waved and hollered back at them.
Well, I promised my friends some entertainment and that is what I provided. The race wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting if my team would have just rowed in a straight line and won the race. Better luck next time…
