Who’s the Best in the Boathouse?

The water is flat like glass. The only indication of its true form are the ripples caused by our boats propelled by hard strokes. Crews move steadily along the coast, strictly focused on the task ahead of them. Everyone is locked in, looking to impress the Syracuse University scout who will watch this practice.  It is the day of the Best in Boathouse, an event that happens every two weeks. Senior, junior, men, and women’s crews all race for a distance of two kilometers. Many of the crews that are racing today have little to no experience rowing with each other and the results that come out are often unexpected. Boats are staggered at the start, from slowest to fastest. Each boat time is taken and compared to the gold standard from the National Rowing Championships in St. Catharine’s. At the end of the race, the crew closest to their time standard wins—and they receive a much-coveted pin. This time, eight crews reach the 90% standard — “The best results seen in January ever” said Brian Carr — and 14 crews raced, a record-breaking number.  Back on the water, it is time to race. So far this year, training has been focused on long, low rate pieces—very different from a high intensity race—but we are up to the challenge and take the first few strokes in stride. The race is intense and passes by in a blur. We are sure, at the end of the race, that the Syracuse scout is impressed with all of us.  After docking and putting away our equipment, Head Coach Mrs. Debbie Sage greets the female crews. Coach Sage was very happy with the results of the entire girls’ program. The results are as follows: Boys Jr 72kg 8 - 85.8% Boys Sr 72 4+ - 95.6%  Boys Jr 8 – 90.6% Girls Sr 4X 100.2% Girls Sr 8 – 95.0% Girls Jr 8 94.2% Boys Sr 4+ 87.0% Boys Sr 7kg 1X – 79.1% Boys Jr 2X – 103.8% Boys Sr 2X – 93.0% Boys Jr 4X – 75.0% Girls Jr 4X – 80.6% Girls Sr 4X – 87.2% Boys Sr 1X – 98.4% The winner was the Boys’ Junior Double, with Lion T, Privett ’17 and Aidan W, Ellis ‘17. Second was the Senior Girls’ Quad, with Featherdawn F, Alex ’15, Gwyneth Z, Alex ’15, Sydney P, Alex ’15, and Sarah C, Alex ’15. All rowers left the boathouse feeling tired but satisfied and excited that this year will be an extremely successful one for the Brentwood rowing program.  Featherdawn F, Alex ’15; photos by Brian Carr