S.I.R.A.
“Break a Hand”
The College of Charleston Rowing Club ventured to Oak Ridge, Tennessee last weekend and were welcomed by yet another regatta plagued by wind and rain. Logs and winds caused the first day of racing to be delayed and abridged as several boats sat on the water for hours and all C and D finals were cancelled. For the second year in a row the Crew enjoyed the hospitality of the Vodila family at their nearby farm. Charleston Crew brought more boats than last year and achieved some successes and some tough lessons.
The most notable event for the team happened before the regatta began. Sam Dickey, senior and stroke of the light four, broke his right hand Thursday night. He got a cast, some pain medication and came to Oak Ridge not knowing whether he could row. The Men’s Lightweight Varsity 4+ (Dickey, Hill, Zoellner, Perrin, and Davis) were hoping to follow up on their previous victory at the regatta but were then unsure if they would be able to compete. In the end, Dickey decided to stroke the four, cast and all. In the heat, he and 3-seat Matt Hill rowed the entire two thousand meters on the square and somehow managed a second place and an advancement to the final despite excruciating pain and several crabs. The next morning, Dickey cut off the majority of his cast with the idea he may be able to partially feather with his broken hand. The four, generally quick off the start, sat in fifth for the first half of the race as Dickey pushed against instinct and kept up the rating. Coming in to the last stretch they valiantly pulled through two boats and secured a bronze medal. Epic.
Sam's Broken Hand
The Men’s Varsity 4+ (Wells, Hays, Farkas, Berger, and Schreiber) took fourth in one of the tougher heats and failed to advance with a time of 7:02 behind Purdue, St. Joes, and Virginia who finished only seconds before them. The Men’s Novice 4+ (Candea, Neely, Edgar, Tipling, and Schreiber) took second in their heat behind Emory following a run in with Murray State and a restart that put them in a bad position. Their fifth place finish in the semifinal placed them in the B final wherein they achieved third place.
The Women’s Varsity 4+ (Weber, Haney, Kilgore, Schumacher, and Gooding) took third place in both their heat and final by slight margins and thereby advanced to the A final. This was the first time that CofC’s women advanced to the A final in several years. In the final the four showed some promise as they rode into the last five hundred meters in second place in a tight field. To the despair of all, they fell to fourth place just a few strokes before the finish. Luckily, all members of the 4+ will be returning next year for another shot.
The Women’s Novice 4+ (Markert, Criddle, VonAncken, Kratchman, and Tucker) took fourth in their heat. The Women’s Novice 8+ (Bieger, John, Jensch, Anderson, Frosh, Sutherland, Drews, Schaeffer, and Davis) moved through the heat after waiting for well over an hour by the start to the semifinal wherein they advanced to the B final. In the B final they were in good position and moving well into the last few hundred where a game-ending crab ended their chances. The Women’s Novice squad will be represented by a four at Dad Vails and Coach Cammi is excited to see how many of the thirty strong group of novice women move up to Varsity next fall.
The Oarsman will now turn their sights to their final exams and then the big show, the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. Charleston hopes to build on last years momentum and show even more strength at the Regatta.
CofC Crew, Spring 2011
-F. Joseph Berger IV