The Outlaws @ USRowing Masters Nationals

Ted (2 Silver & 1 Bronze), Pete (1 Silver, 2 Bronze), Iskra (1 Gold, 1 Silver), and Rebecca all attended the 2006 USRowing Masters Nationals Regatta.

Ted started the 3100 mile (320 gallons of gas) trip to the 2006 USRowing Masters Nationals regatta 5 days before the event started. The first leg was to Sacramento where he spent a few hours with his Mother and Grandfather. The second leg was to him home town of Grants Pass, with his mother caravanning with him (Lucky for Mom the H2 requires a lot of gas, otherwise we would not have stopped as often). He spent an extra day in Grants Pass resting up, then off on the last leg to Seattle. That evening he was able to have a great dinner with friends and get a good night sleep.

Wednesday morning he drove to the venue and worked with the local Parking Police to find a good location for our home away from home and find a place to park to efficiently unload our stuff. After a few hours of hard work the boats were unloaded and rigged, the tents were setup, chairs ready for use, and the cooler open for business. Ted took Kathy’s single (Thanks for loaning it to us!) out for a quick spin to verify that everything was in good working order, and just as he returned Iskra and Pete arrived. Then we all took turns in the different boats and configurations to work out any issues. Pete and Ted also took a quick spin with Allan and Dan from Lake Merrit to prepare for our Men’s Lwt D 4x.

This was the biggest USRowing Masters Nationals event ever with 1395 entries, over 1400 competitors from 110 clubs and 3 countries. The size of the event was clearly demonstrated with the huge number of boats stored in every possible location, and the amount of rowing with racing starting at 7:00 AM and ending at 7:00 PM with races on 7 minute centers. The race was held at Green Lake in Seattle with the Space Needle visible from the start line. The weather was not ideal for rowing. Most of the days had a strong crossing tail wind that created large rolling waves over most of the course, only sparing the starting area. The waves were so bad that it was very difficult to do any power in the warm-up area. At least on Saturday and Sunday the wind was accompanied with sunny skies.

Racing on Thursday was good for all the Outlaws, as all of us made it through our heats to finals with minimal difficulty. Friday the group was not as fortunate; both Pete and Rebecca had tough heats in their 1x and did not make it to finals. The Mixed 2x C race was the only race of the event that required both Heats and Semi Finals so Ted & Iskra had two races on Friday with an easy heat and a very tough Semi Final but made it into the finals. Ted also made it into the finals with an easy heat in the Men’s Lwt 1x A.

The first Outlaw medal of the event was Saturday morning with Pete & Ted pulling hard in the last 250 to capture 3rd in the Men’s Lwt C 2x. Iskra won the Women’s 1x C for the 4th straight year with open water. Ted got 4th in the Men’s Lwt B 1x just missing a medal by 0.6 seconds. He stepped directly out of his single into the Men’s Lwt D 4x with Pete, Allan, and Dan and had a great race earning 2nd place.

The final day of racing on Sunday started with me in the Men’s Lwt 1x A. This was earlier enough in the morning to actually have reasonable rowing conditions. Ted got 6th in the race but it was actually one of the fastest times he had posted in competition. I guess that is what happens when you race down an age category. The same theme repeated itself in the Men’s Lwt 2x B with Ted & Pete getting 5th place while rowing a personal best. Pete rowed with Allan of Lake Merrit in the Men’s Lwt. 2x D and had a great race finishing 3rd. The last race for the Outlaws, and nearly the last of the event, was the Mixed 2x C. Iskra and Ted had a great row with stiff competition. They pulled a personal best finishing 3rd but receiving Second place since the first place crew was from Canada.

This was another great regatta.

Summary:

Event 36: Ted and Pete in MLtwt2X C: 1st (by open water), 3rd in Finals by 0.15 seconds
Event 44: Iskra in W1X D: 1st (by open water), First place in Finals
Event 53: Ted in MLtwt1X B: 2nd , 4th in Finals by 0.6 seconds
Event 57: Ted and Pete in a Lake Merritt boat in MLtwt4X D: Second place in Finals
Event 79: Ted in MLtwt1X A: 3rd (by 0.04 seconds!), 6th in Finals (Personal Best Time!)
Event 90: Pete in MLtwt 1X C: 5th
Event 96: Rebecca in W1X A: 4th
Event 101: Ted and Pete in MLtwt2X B: 3rd, 5th in Finals (Personal Best Time!)
Event 138: Ted and Iskra in Mx2X C: 2nd in heats, 3rd in Semifinals, 3rd place, 2nd Place US finisher in the Finals
Official Results can be viewed at Racetrak.

4xD Silver Outlaws & Lake Merrit	Ted & Iskra Silver Mx2x C
Ted & Pete (Bronze) in the Light Weight C 2x	Ted 2 Silver, 1 Bronz
Iskra National Champion 1xC	Space Needle
Ted & Pete Light Weight C&B 2x	Transportation