The Rain That Almost Melted Us....

Practice 8: Can our team survive the rain?????

Despite a forboding weather prediction, we all started practice 8 in good spirits and eager to row! Cynthia even stepped in when another teammate had to leave unexpectedly! Above, see Kyle helping her with the basics while everyone else loads in the oars and hams it up for the camera!

Today, we refreshed our skills and practiced turning the boat around by having starboard side backing and port side rowing (or vice versa depending on the situation...) Everyone did an awesome job and we were really rowing together! Kyle sat in the coxswain seat and I watched from the dock as the girls cruised back and forth. When we came to the dock to take a quick break, Kyle had to lay down to stretch out his long legs!
Neysha opted to hang in the boat during break. Neysha tends to sit toward the back of the boat, which often requires her to do some extra strokes to get us out of tough situations or to straighten the boat out.

About to go out for round 2- look at all those smiles! From front to back we have Tatiana, Cynthia, Meling, Gena, Neysha, Bianca, and Sarah. Cyntha was really getting the hang of rowing- she did an awesome job for her first time in the boat! Thanks for stepping in Cynthia!

Kyle was super impressed by the back 4- Gena, Neysha, Bianca, and Sarah. They did a great job staying in synch with eachother- maybe because Sarah developed a helpful method of chanting the positions!

Gena's 10 month old son, Dominik, napped the whole practice in his stroller! Doesn't he look so peaceful? He had the right idea.

Despite doing an awesome job for the majority of practice, the rain started sprinkling down on the Mystic River and a few of us decided to duck out. This prevented the rest of us from continuing our rowing practice, and caused a little divide between the team. However, like the young adults we are, we were later able to come together, work out our differences, and consider what is best for the team....which is being a team. Next time, we'll bring ponchos :)

Our Crew Member of the Day today goes to Javiera! Javiera was the only team member today who came prepare with a poncho and was ready to row in any condition! Javiera always keeps up a great attitude and is eager to try different positions in the boat- she's been in the front and in the back and everywhere in between! Javiera is 19 years old and is finishing up her classes to graduate this month from high school!!! Great job Javiera! Her son, Jordan, is 20 months old and is definitely a spitting image of his mom. For now, Javiera is helping her mom run their family daycare and going to the mall with friends in her spare time. She's always a pleasure at practice and is picking up the sport beautifully! You're the riggin' best Javiera!

A 4 is a Tippy Boat!

Practice 7: 4 is harder than we thought....

We started our 7th practice with a smaller group, which allowed us to take out a 4 boat. We initially thought this would be easier than the 8 boat, but we were quickly proved wrong! Although the boat was lighter to carry down, the boat itself is much tippier without the extra people, and mistakes are much more noticeable without our other teammates to help cover them up!

We are planning on having an 8 boat as well as a 4 boat for the final regatta, so this was great practice for Tatiana, Rosemary, Jackie, and Javiera. Every movement on the boat makes the boat tip back and forth and made us grab on harder and gasp as we swayed dangerously close to the murky water....

Above, Tatiana and Rosemary sat solid in the middle of the boat. We worked really hard today on matching up our strokes and following the person in front of us...

We actually got to row all 4 together in synchrony- which is an incredibly beautiful and graceful sight to the observer!

Javiera set the pace in the front with strong, even paced strokes. Way to go Javiera!


Caiti and I each got to sit in the coxswain seat and practice steering the boat. Caiti was a little better at hiding her fear of falling into the water than I was!


Our crew member of the day is Jackie! She did an awesome job setting the boat and really improved her stroke! The best part was, she stuck with it and tried harder even when she was getting frustrated. Jackie is one of our youngest team members at 16. Her son, Daniel, is 5 months old and super cute! Jackie is going to be a sophomore in high school in the fall and loves hanging out with her friends and taking her son out for walks in her free time. She's an awesome addition to the team and we are so lucky to have her! Jackie, you're the riggin' best!

BACK IT AND FEATHER IT

Practice #6: Gettin' the hang of things!

What a beautiful Monday for practice! After a late start, we began our 6th practice in the water! Everyone was energetic and feeling well rested after the weekend. After getting the boat into the water, Kyle taught us some new techniques: backing and feathering.
Backing basically requires you to do the reverse of a rowing stroke. This stroke is really important for turning the boat around and for getting us out of tight spots (see below picture!)

We backed our way out of the shore...It's difficult to do a reverse stroke when we have been working so hard on perfecting our normal stroke. After a couple tries, however, we got the hang of it and were able to get successfully turn the boat around without Kyle's assistance! Yay!

The next technique we learned was feathering. This involves turning the blade flat when we come up the slide in our stroke before burying the blade in the water. Feathering is helpful because it increases the distance between the blade and the water when we are going up the slide so that the blade doesn't get caught in the water, therefore disrupting the set up of the boat and interfering with out stroke. This is a more difficult technique to get the hang of, so we are working on incorporating this into our strokes gradually.

These were really important techniques to learn, and we felt like Kyle really thinks we're doing a good job so far. Backing is such an important part of the rowing experience to learn- just like in our lives, we have to be able to get ourselves out of tricky situations and turn ourselves around, even if it means reversing exactly what it is that we have learned so far. Feathering reminds us to make clean and intentional strokes in order to get the most effective stroke possible, therefore benefiting the whole team!
Check out Gena and Sarah rowing it out in the back!

Our newest edition to the blog: CREW MEMBER OF THE DAY! From now until the regatta, we are going to nominate a member of our team as the crew member of the day each practice. This team member is going to be someone who has shown excellent leadership, a great attitude, and overall awesomeness. So, for practice 6, our crew member of the day is: MONIQUE!!!!

Monique is 21 and has 2 children, Treasure (2) and Faith (7 mos). Monique is a member of the Young Mom's Corps Americorps program at Roca and is loving every minute of it! She is a natural at rowing and has secured her place in the front of the boat. Monique loves to dance and exercise and proves her strength during practice every day (Kyle often has to tell her to slow down or not row as hard!) Monique's continually positive attitude has held together our team so far and we are so lucky to have her setting the pace up front!!! Monique, you're the riggin' best!


Check back on Wednesday to see who our next crew member of the day will be!!!

We're Rowwwwing in the Rain!

PRACTICE DAY 5: RAIN, RAIN, RAIN YOUR BOAT

Although the rain was coming down this morning, we had a dry ride over to the boathouse and were keeping our fingers crossed for the rest of the predicted downpours to hold off. A smaller group than usual today, we grunted our way down the slippery dock with the boat and managed to get it into the water seamlessly- we're getting good at this! With 2 newbies on board (Caiti and Meling) we were able to remind ourselves about what to do by teaching them! We got in our "set" position and pushed off the dock, all smiles!

In the dry weather, Monique hammed it up for the camera from her trademark position- first seat! Monique has a natural athletic ability and a very powerful rowing stroke, which makes her a great candidate for the front seat- and a challenging one to keep up with!

Below you can see me and Caiti rowing in sync...the pressure was on to see if the coaches were paying attention to all the things the girls had been learning the past couple weeks! We survived and I think we passed the test!

Ahhh, and then the raindrops started to fall...harder...and harder....until we couldn't even hear Kyle from the boat next to us! It was really pouring! We had to row together, keep the boat set, and put our muscles to the test to row to the dock quickly! Kyle even tried to challenge us to ALL row at the same time...I think we were a little too caught up in the rain to truly focus and perform to our best ability, but I don't doubt that we can do it next week!!!!

Once we were safely to shore, we weren't done yet! We still had to bring all the oars up to the boathouse, followed by the boat. Then we peeled off some soaked layers and tried to dry off in the van. Definitely not ideal weather conditions, but we learned that we have to work hard and keep up our best attitudes despite uncontrollable conditions. Kyle even said he's rowed in the snow before!!! No thank you! No one can prevent the rain from falling, but now we know that it won't stop us from rowing strong and rowing together!!!

Set The Boat!!!!

Practice 4: Another week begins....

Our first practice of the week started at 10 this morning, so we all had to get up a little earlier than usual, but it was well worth it!!! We had a beautiful sunny morning and got to the boathouse just in time to do our favorite thing: carry the boat down to the water. It took a tough group effort but we did it with a little more ease than last week- our muscles must be building up (or else Kyle's assistance was much appreciated...)

So, we got into the boat and headed on our merry way down the river. Bianca posed in the coxswain seat, but eventually decided she was happier rowing than being stuck in the tiny seat!

Rosemary took the second shift during practice watching our biggest fans of the day- Edwin and Faith! After the first shift was over, Rosemary took her turn rowing!

Our biggest challenge (and eventual success) was practicing setting the boat. As we talked about in previous posts, setting the boat means making sure everyone's paddles are laying flat and evenly on the water, which balances the boat. This is important because those who are rowing would not be able to row if the boat was tilting to one side! Plus, it makes us feel much more comfortable if we aren't leaning into the water...

With Kyle's patient instruction, we finally got the hang of it! Everyone in the second shift perfected their active non-rowing form and we were able to keep the boat set for most of the morning! Great job girls!!!!

Caiti (our other coach) came back from vacation and was so impressed by how skilled the girls are after just 3 practices! So was Kyle!

All in all, another great practice and a super great start to the week! Check back for updates about tomorrow's practice!

Kyle, you make me nehhhhhvous......

Practice Day 3: In the water, rowing strong, rowing together.

Our 3rd day of practice was MUCH more successful than the second. Despite the hot weather, we were all able to get in the boat and practice our strokes before actually untying from the dock. We worked on 3 people at a time rowing in synchrony. We learned how crucial it is that everyone does the motions at exactly the same time. It's a lot different rowing in the water with an oar than it is on the ergs, so it was really helpful to have Kyle's individual attention to help us get it right!

Once we got out on the water, we really had to work on setting the boat. That means making sure all our oars were flat on the water when we weren't rowing so that the boat is not tipping to one side, making it hard for those who are rowing to do so. Kyle was giving us commands from the motorboat (which is where I was, taking all these pics)...and he was making us a little nehhhvous at times....For instance he was guiding the boat and a couple times we came close to getting our heads taken off by branches or bumping into shore...

Here is Sarah, practicing her rowing technique and keeping a great attitude!

Monique was in the front of the boat today, which meant she had to set the pace that everyone else followed...she's such a natural that sometimes Kyle had to tell her to slow it down!

Here's the whole group at practice #3. Everyone did a great job- even JJ got into the boat and sat as the coxswain, yelling at Kyle to warn him about potential dangers in the river, like alligators and crashing into the dock....

All in all, it was a very successful and exciting practice. We are definitely getting the hang of this and can't wait for next week's practices. The only part we can all agree on that we don't like the most is carrying the boat back up to the boathouse- even with all of us lifting together, it's SO heavy!!!

We had to celebrate a great start to our rowing endeavors with ice cream yesterday. The perfect ending to a great week!!!! Awesome job girls!

Welcome to the Young Mom's Rowing Team!!!

Welcome to Roca's Young Mom's Rowing Team Official Blog Site!!!! Get ready to learn all about our team and read all about our adventures at practice!

I'm writing to you as one of two coaches of the team. Our team has been slowly building since March and is finally a solid team of 13! Besides one veteran rower from previous years, we are all new to the sport and have a lot to learn. Since March we have been trying to get into tip top rowing shape by holding weekly workouts at Roca. We've gotten to know each other through fun events, like movie nights, dinners, zoo trips, and participating in the AIDS walk Boston. And now, the time to get in the boats is finally here!!

We are wrapping up our first week of practices at the boat house in Malden. Our rowing coach, Kyle, is very knowledgeable and patient with us throughout our 2 hour practices. Luckily the weather has been warm and sunny all week! We started our Monday practice on ERGS (rowing machines like you would find at the gym). Kyle showed all of us the correct form and gave us the sequence to repeat over and over again in our heads (finish, arms out, body over, ROW)....We also learned the difference between starboard and port and we got the chance to practice on land with one of the 12 foot oars! All of us left practice excited to get in the water the next day but a little nervous about falling in.....

Tuesday was equally was warm and we were eager to get to Malden and get started! After warming up on the ergs (we totally impressed Kyle with our sharp and witty ability to remember our commands), Kyle thought we were ready to head into the water! He explained how fragile the boats are and showed us how to properly lift the boat all together and gently place it into the water....well, we were a little nervous about falling in and the boat was sooooo heavy...there was a slight mishap...but alas, Kyle came to the rescue and was able to fix the boat after we broke it a little.

Getting into the boat was accompanied by a lot of screaming and fear that the murky river water was going to get on our workout outfits! 8 girls got in after setting up their oars in the riggers. I had the ultimate pleasure of sitting in the position of the coxswain (which means I faced the girls and didn't have to row...much more complicated position in the end, but I was just enjoying the view!) Kyle had his own boat mishap when his motor on his boat that he follows on died and we were left drifting through the river while he tried to salavage his boat! We pulled through and a few of us even got to practice the rowing strokes with the actual oars in the water! Especially Jennifer who was in the fortunate position of the back and had to row us out of the shore!! Thanks Jennifer!!!!

So we wrapped up day 2 feeling a little discouraged but eager to continue and get better! Hopefully today will give us all another chance to really get the feel for the oar in the water and put our commands to work!

Check back later to see how the events of day 3 practice unfolded!