Henley on Thames, United Kingdom June 30, 2011
Henley is a coxswain’s regatta.
I write that despite the fact that as a coxswain I have never in my long career (if you haven’t heard of me, just ask Mike Teti) taken personal credit for my crews’ victories. I know who is pulling and who is talking, and I know which of those it really takes to cross a finish line first. As a coxswain, I have long seen my role as that of a catalyst: my presence allows rowers to individually and collectively perform their best.
But two things make Henley a special event for coxswains. The first is the undivided, two-lane, current-and-wake-filled course that puts good—and tactical—steering at a premium. The second is the single-elimination format that has crews competing side by side yet rewards crews that can win without going all-out until the final day.
After today’s races, I chatted with Allie Plettner, who is coxing the University of Virginia’s eight in the Temple Challenge Cup (full journalist’s disclosure: my son Ethan rows for UVa, but he is not competing at this year’s Henley). In yesterday’s race, against the University of East Anglia, UVa had barely had to go hard. By the end of the first 600 meters they were ratcheting down, and when they passed the Steward’s Enclosure they were rowing about 28 strokes a minute and could easily have taken one hand off their oars to wave to the applause.
Today was a trickier challenge, Plettner said. Racing Oxford Brookes University, UVa eased out to about a ¾ length lead, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable. A gusty crosswind and a lot of lumpy wake had Allie steering more than she would have preferred to and made the crew’s customary smooth rhythm somewhat rocky. On the other hand, with the close quarters and one-on-one format, she could hear every time the Oxford Brookes coxswain tried to spur a move, and countering was no problem. “I don’t know if he knew how loud and clear we could hear him,” she said, but he was effectively helping her crew as much as his own. By halfway, she knew that her crew’s tougher challenges lay in the races of the next few days. And then it was up to her: How much to save? How close should she let it be? Should she try adjustments that might let her crew find its rhythm or would that just be a frustrating distraction on this day in these conditions?
That’s what I mean by a coxswain’s regatta. So, it probably wasn’t the Cal freshman coxswain who had somehow caused his crew to set Temple Cup records to the Barrier and Fawley earlier in the day. I’m pretty sure that the oarsmen had something to do with the Yale lightweight varsity’s victory over a much bigger crew from F.I.T. (The Temple Cup is definitely the race to follow this year.) But I also know that there is no regatta that asks so much of a coxswain, because no regatta requires so much improvisation or so many strategic decisions.
Allie Plettner’s crew will be racing the University of London tomorrow morning at 10:30. Tune in then to see what they’ve got left.
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