A coach's job at a club national championship event becomes twice as big. She becomes a chauffer, stand-in parent, nutritionist and in some cases, even a life coach. A long event with even longer, hotter days can become a breeding ground for sick kids, slow athletes and bad racing.
For Greenwich Crew's Heidi Hunsberger, encompassing all of those roles for her 16 young athletes has been crucial.
"The biggest thing that we instill in our athletes is that the competition is going to be really tough," said Hunsberger. "We have a lot of respect for our competition, so you have to do everything you can do to prepare for your race."
The preparation paid off for the young team in navy blue. Greenwich Crew advanced to the finals on Thursday in four events including the women's intermediate lightweight pair, under 19 eight, under 17 four with coxswain and under 19 pair.
"The girls are definitely happy with the results," she said. "They will all be racing multiple times this weekend, and they know the level that is expected from them."
Rain was kept at bay as racing closed on day two of the 2016 USRowing Club National Championships.
In one of the closest races of the semifinals, the composite crew of Row West Racing and Detroit Boat Club held off Southeast Junior Rowing in the women's under 17 four with coxswain by 0.009 seconds.
While both crews advance to tomorrow's final, Director of Southeast Juniors Allen Eubanks knows that the experience of the race is what matters the most to his crew.
"We started this camp in 2005 to give the kids that are not seen by the national team a chance to do something like this," said Eubanks . "We take the kids that are just underneath the national team standard. We did it because we want to see southeast kids experience this kind of stuff, try to elevate the competition.
"To bring these kids here to get this opportunity is huge. Some would never come here because their home clubs just don't have the depth to do it. We give them a forum to do that. It's exciting for them."
Racing wasn't the only thing heating up the beach of Lake Harsha. In a single day, the athletes and spectators at club nationals logged over 188,253 meters for the Row to Rio Challenge, as 20 days lie between tomorrow's finals and the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
For coxswains Hannah Broadland and Ellie Loving of Row West Racing Camp, the challenge served as another opportunity to compete. "We did a contest to help the Row to Rio," said Broadland. "Ellie beat me by two seconds, but it's all for a good cause."
Friday's racing will start at 8:00 a.m. with finals for 36 finals and will continue with time trials for 12 events beginning at 2:00 p.m.