The high-lights and low-lights of April's final week...here we go:

COVID Cancellations

This was the story of the week in college rowing, hands down--and by far the most-read bit of news on the site when we looked at all six programs which had to pull the plug on their weekend plans Hopefully, everyone at these programs is recovering and can get back to racing soon.

??Schedule Update??
Alabama rowing will not travel to participate in this weekend's Longhorn Invitational due to COVID-19 protocol within the Crimson Tide program pic.twitter.com/xUhXxZqn4a

— Alabama Rowing (@AlabamaRow) April 28, 2022

Buoys: Still a Menace

More buoy attacks this past weekend that impacted results--pun intended--when Lake MacBride's fixed objects went full-Housatonic on crews racing the Big-Ten-Pac-12 Regatta:

So You Say It Was a Headwind?

Iowa was not the only breezy venue this week; the fans were on full blast down the race course stretch on Carnegie:

But, at least there were no reports of the dreaded cross-cross tailwind.

Crab of the Week, On Video - Full Ejector

Whatever the wind was on Quinsigamond, it may have played a small role in this ejector crab at NERC's, which you can see for yourself here (if you scroll ahead to the 3:27:50 mark).

And this on a lake that is the 4th best natural body of rowing water in the world, according to recent Instagram stories.

We are working to get in touch with the ejectee to see if he wants to describe the experience to the rowing world along these lines; either way, complete legend.

Movember Has Nothing On No-Mow-May

Guess Everything's An 'Invitational' Now

Wrapping up the regular season against a pair of top-10 opponents at the Princeton Invitational!#GBOhttps://t.co/53G7lKFjMX

— Tennessee Rowing (@Vol_Rowing) April 29, 2022

For the record, the name of this race was simply "Penn and Tennessee vs. Princeton," because you can have three or even four crews in a race without getting all fancy.

Trophy Posts Go Up Yet Another Notch

Kansas sees you, Syracuse, and goes up...to shoulders:

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How Many Thousand Truths?

After an internal debate that bid it up as high as 100,000, we have confirmed that this trophy is indeed, "just" the Sword of Thousand Truths...and definitely the coolest 3V trophy ever, going to the winner of the Northeastern-Wisconsin 3rd Eights.

Big weekend of racing both Harvard and Wisconsin to cap off the regular season. Excited to have retained the Congram cup another year and have the sword return back to Henderson! The Huskies will take on final exams and get back to racing at the Eastern Sprints.#HowlinHuskies pic.twitter.com/NyjNWZKceU

— Northeastern Men’s Rowing (@GoNUmrowing) May 1, 2022

Not Quite As Epic, Trophy-Wise?

Sorry, congrats and all to Seattle Pacific, of course, for winning the Women's 2V at WIRA, but this trophy is teeny:

By way of contrast, these were some of the other trophies passed out at WIRA.

Also at WIRA: A Strong Look...

...Gets Noticed...

...and Plays Well!

Guess she likes it!

Getting On The Natoma Stakeboats Can Be Tricky

Apparently:

This was just one of the fours that, unfortunately, learned that the start platform "fingers" are just about a four's length apart, by getting stuck between them. So, some folks might want to brush up on "How To Get On the Stake Boat."

But Being a Natoma Stakeboater Is Easy Living

Forget Yoga Mats and Comfys, Sac State breaks out the inflatables:

And this guy took up the invitation to make it a swimming day seriously:

You can judge the whole cannonball sequence here.

Oh, And Once You Are Locked On?

Might as well put those 2 minutes to good use!

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Senior Spotlight PSA

We get it, 'tis Senior Spotlight time, so here is a friendly PSA from row2k: do it without stealing other folks' work, so a bit more like this:

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A post shared by Ithaca Men's Rowing (@ithacamensrowing)

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A post shared by Rhode Island Crew (@rhodeislandcrew)

Crew Parent Hack of the Spring

You see a lot of whiteboards in parent tents to help folks keep track of who is racing by, and when, but these Whitemarsh BC parents at the Cooper Cup took it next level, with headshots of the athletes:

Well hacked, Crew Moms!

Finally, Will Coaching Glamour Shots Become A Thing?

If so, coaches are going to have to step up their race day grooming game, because, well: "Here Comes, Texas" . . .

All smiles on race day ?? ?? #HookeEm pic.twitter.com/ZZrMd3HK3L

— Texas Rowing (@TexasRowing) April 30, 2022

Rumors ^Hearsay from the Week that Was

• That's a lotta races: we're starting to see lots of crews on women’s side getting to their 10th or even 12th 2k on the season, sometimes racing three times in a single weekend, while others have raced hardly at all--perhaps as little as once a week (as in the "old days"). There are clearly two different approaches at work: one that maximizes race experiences and getting cross-conference results that might bolster an NCAA at-large bid--especially some of the teams we looked at in row2k's "Bubble Watch"--and another being deployed by teams that may not be as worried about selection and take a "less is more" approach.
• Folks are rusty at this regatta thing: at Quinsigamond, none of the coxswains knew where the awards dock was, likely because Women’s Sprints had not happened since 2019. For the first half of finals or so, crews would finish the race, turn around, and row right past the awards dock, where Regatta Director Linda Muri was frantically waving her arms for them to land, then stop, back it down, etc. It figures: 2019-2022 is pretty much a full generation of coxswains, many now doing the medal dock thing for the first time ever.
• and, is there a well-known coach moonlighting as a photog for Yale's LWTs? You tell us:

The row2k Top Results of the Week

• Washington College's Men earned the 1st automatic bid for the new IRA DIII Men's Championship, edging Adrian College in a barnburner for the top DIII finish by 2-tenths at the MARC Championships; Bucknell (ACRA) won the V8
• St. Mary's College of Maryland's Women won their 1st ever MARC Championship (and NCAA bid) at the same regatta.
• Georgetown's LWT Women rowed to a silver medal behind #1 Princeton at Women's Sprints, in a final that featured pretty much all the LW schools except Stanford
• Michigan's Men are rounding into form, topping all the ACRA schools at the MACRA Regatta, including an upset of #3 Notre Dame

Check out these items you may have missed this past week:

• row2k's look at the DI teams on the NCAA Bubble
• the 4/30 edition of row2k’s Best of Instagram.
• and the most read news link this past week? NERC and Women's Sprints Webcast and Covid Protocol Information