From the Oopsie of the Week above that had "cover photo" written all over it as soon as we saw it in the Dogwood Regatta galleries to coxswains going manual, quads dodging downpours, a 'mostly dead' heat, and Go-Pros aplenty, this week was a winner.

The week featured savage racing and close margins from west to east, including a Pac-12 showdown, record times in the basin for lightweights, tussling at the top of the D1 women's ranks, potential Youth Nationals previews in the eights, and more.

Of course, you can suss through all the times and margins over on the Results page, or just head over to see what the CMax Rankings and the Coaches Polls made of it all -- we're going to get to all the other cool and crazy stuff we saw, like:

Do Banners Make Bad Neighbors...

You know what they say about good fences, and hopefully these neighbors have some, because we do have to wonder how they get along the other 364 days of the year.

Switching to Sweep Mid-Race - A Sighting of the Elusive 3.5x

Some make-it-work-in-the moment thinking by this 3.5x:

Not sure when that bow seat's starboard scull wound up out of action, and in the coxswain's hands, but their fix worked and they made it to the finish line ahead of at least one crew with all 8 oars in play.

Switching to Manual

And some heads-up--and hands-on--steering by this coxswain:

Twins, 'Twins' & a Pair of Twins

That's right, we saw some actual Twins in Annalisa Janss Lafond and Olivia Janss Lafond:

Some not Twins, well, 'twinning':

And a pair--literally--that was all Twin, namely the Renlund Brothers, Lars and Hans from The Baylor School:

This Week's Near-Flip

Another double that nearly went in the drink like last week's duo in the Warhorse, but they, too managed a good save to stay dry.

And Of Course Some Full Flips

Lake Mercer swim call was open during the singles racing this week:

This sculler was not the only one in the water this week:

- We had more Mercer flips, like this one

- And at least one boat turned turtle on Sunday at the Schuylkill.

Getting the Shots

Here's a bit of a peek behind the row2k curtain, at how the photos get made. Click right to see the set-up and then the shot from overhead at the Montlake Cut, and then bankside in Philly.

Wicked Waterfall

And here is what a 50 frame burst looks like when an eight is lifted out of the water:

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A post shared by Erik Dresser (@erikdresser)

How Younger Siblings Survive Regattas

Sure, screentime might be bad if you are racing, as we discussed earlier this week, but might be only way to make it through if you get dragged to big sis's boooooring rowing race.

And How Parents Survive Regattas

Or maybe, this dad is just one of those "I'm too nervous to watch, just tell me if they win" types, and we get it: this dog couldn't bear to watch either.

When 2*1x=2x

Sometimes, things do line up perfectly:

Some killer overlap in this photo too: how many arms does this guy have?

View to a Dead Heat

This was one of our overhead shots of the close Women's 2V race between Cal and UW:

It initially got posted as Dead Heat, which does not pop up much on results pages nowadays, so we took note:

Turns out the heat was just "mostly dead" (if you'll forgive the Princess Bride reference) owing to a close finish and some misadventure with a few local geese, as described later in this tweet, so it was just 'dead' while the refs and coaches talked it over, and then Cal--whose bow was ahead--got the win. Still, the Montlake Cut was a bit of a Bermuda's Triangle for timing this week, apparently:

Please note that the times as reported so far today are not accurate. Once corrections have been made, they will be posted here and on https://t.co/Lei7IDkts0.

— Washington Rowing (@UW_Rowing) April 22, 2023

The Go-Pros Are Out

It is high Go-Pro season, no question:

We also spotted a Vineland eight that had a bevy of Go-Pros on-board, for all-around video of their Flicks Time Trial: check out their set up here.

And, Lastly, to File Under 'Good to Know'

Sometimes, if you make winning sound too simple, it's just, well, #doh in the following tagfest:

Classic line from an @ESPN+ commentator calling the rowing races on Lake Carnegie today: "In order to win, it's really important to be the first one across the finish line." #doh @usrowing @row2k @row360 @WorldRowing @beAshark

— Mary Mazzio (@marymazzio) April 22, 2023