Thursday, May 26, 2005

Learn to Row Day!



June 11th, 2005 is NATIONAL LEARN TO ROW DAY!

So, after telling everyone you know how wonderful rowing is, now its your chance to SHOW them! The Atlanta Rowing Club is hosting a clinic on National Learn to Row Day on June 11th. There will be some presence from the GT Crew team, so you will be sure to recognize someone (I'll be there and I'll be coaching, so you'll know me for sure!).

IF your parents or friends want to see what all the fuss is about, this is their opportunity! OR... if you've been dying to get back into rowing and don't know how, this will be YOUR chance. We will be using the ergs and the barge (which is an excellent learning tool... as well as a simple way to get comfortable in the boat again - so have no fear!!)

The event is free and is on Saturday, June 11th from 10-2pm. You have to register online but just your name and how you heard about it and what time you will register (10am or 12pm - I suggest 10am as it will only get warmer as the day goes on).

It should be a fun afternoon and if you're still in town, it'll be nice to be on the river again. It will also give you the opportunity to check out ARC if you're thinking about getting back into it! Feel free to pass the word along and invite more people! Don't forget to register!

Stool Pigeons

Ok. Stay on the marta line. Avoid conflicts with Trivia. The answer is...
STOOL PIGEONS.
June 7th.
5:30pm.
Happy Hour. Stick around for trivia if you want.
Anyone, anyone? Am I alone out here? THERE HAVE BEEN NO RESPONSES.

Monday, May 23, 2005

June 7th?

Tuesday.
June 7th.
5:30pm.
Moes & Joes.
Next happy hour.
Who's in?

if this isn't a good day, leave a comment. it can be changed. it's just a suggestion.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Dad Vail Wrap-up

Hello Alumni,

This year's Dad Vail regatta marked another successful campaign for Georgia Tech Crew but the event was certainly overshadowed by the tragic death of a Boston College oarsman, Scott Laio. If you had not heard, Boston College had just won the men's Light Eight when Scott, sitting in bow, passed out. The 2 man in front of him tried to perform CPR in the boat and life saving efforts were continued on land by Paul Savell (Lehigh Coach and long time friend of Rob and Tech Crew) but the EMTs were unable to revive him. No official cause of death has been released but the early speculation is that he had an undetected heart condition. The rowing community is a close one and I can tell you we've all been effected by the loss. Many of you have had some incredibly close races with Boston College (as recently as last year) and it is no stretch to say that they've always been a program that has showed sportsmanship and helped motivate us to our best. Slim Price pulled this from the BC website:

In lieu of flowers, the Laio family asks that donations be sent to:
Scott Laio Memorial Fund of Boston College Men's Crew
Boston College Rowing
Scott Laio Memorial Fund
140 Commonwealth Ave.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

I plan on making a contribution and would encourage you to do the same on behalf of GT Crew.

On to more pleasant things: For the third time in three years, Georgia Tech left the Dad Vail with a gold medal performance, this time in the Men's light 4+. The boat was 1) Cameron Troxel, 2) Brian Waters 3) Shane Bechler 4) John Kaptyn and c) Theresa Mara. This was Brian
Waters' second gold at the Dad Vail making him the first Tech rower to repeat gold. Tech was behind for only a few strokes, pulling away early in the race after some rough strokes to stay ahead of Fordham who raced to second. The men's champ eight came in with high hopes after racing eventual champ Michigan tough in the heats but was hampered in the semis due to illness. The boat did regroup though and ended up taking home a second place finish in the petite, eighth over all.

In the men's novice light eight, Tech repeated last year's performance taking second to a very strong St. Joseph's crew. This was a 2 boat race but St. Joe's was able to adjust to the windy conditions a bit better than we were allowing them to finish ahead by about a boat. Still a great result for these guys and I can tell you that Rob is looking forward to rolling that talent into a smoking fast light eight next year.

For the first time since 1999, we were able to place two Varsity women's boats in the Dad Vail grand final. In 99' it was the heavy four and pair that made it through (finishing with a silver and bronze respectively); this time it was the light four and pair. In the light four, we raced a hard race but came in fifth with no help from a very messy and windy lane 6. In the pair, some steering problems kept us from getting our rhythm and we were never able to fight back to medal contention, so my two sophomores finished the race in fifth. Still all these girls went through a lot this year and there were 20 or so other schools that would have loved to be where we were. This makes four straight years that I've had a crew in the final at the Dad Vail and I couldn't be more proud to be associated with such an incredible group.

We also raced a Men's pair, Women's novice eight, and Men's novice four. Each of these boats faced eventual medalists early on in their races. For the novice squads in particular, I am excited because there are some extremely strong kids in these boats that are going to keep us a force well into the future.

Keep your eyes open for more news about Tech crew in the alumni magazine - Neil McGahee, a major contributor to this publication (forgive me if I posted an incorrect title) had a photographer at the Dad Vail to capture the event for the Georgia Tech community at large. Not many rowing programs are represented to the general alumni population the way Georgia Tech Crew is to the Yellow Jacket alum so we are quite grateful and flattered that so much interest is shown to our student athletes.

There is quite a bit of activity planned for the boathouse this summer as we work to improve the facility and maintain our fleet. We have some very exciting things in the works for you alumni and as always, for our athletes. So we now transition to a rather active off season but keep your eyes open for news throughout summer. We will again be asking for your help as we continue to update our fleet and give our rowers every chance at success. Thanks as always for all your help and I hope to see many of your at Moes and Joes in a few weeks for the second version of the alumni happy hour.

Ethan

Friday, May 13, 2005

Dad Vail Updates

Nearing the close of the Dad Vail heats today, Georgia Tech so far has 5 boats advancing forward.

Men's Pair advances to semis
Women's Pair advances to semis
Men's Varsity Heavyweight 8+ advances to the repechage
Men's Lightweight 4+ advances to the semis with the fastest time in the heats
Women's Lightweight 4+ advances to the finals to defend their 2004 title

The Women's Novice 8+ has yet to race today, but results can be found at... http://www.dadvail.org/?d=11350095.744

Go Jackets!

Monday, May 09, 2005

Post Alumni Happy Hour


AlumniHappyHour
Originally uploaded by ARichards.
Well, the Happy Hour at Gordon Biersch turned into a happy dinner at Everybody's pizza. Then it was a happy evening at Moes & Joes where Bob dunked his own camera into the pitcher of beer (don't worry - it was waterproof, but we didn't know that at the time) and Sara Wilson hooked us up with some sweet deals from the bar. Good Times...

Here's to the next GT Crew Alumni Happy Hour.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

LET'S GET IT STARTED

Anyone interested in meeting at 5pm at Gordon Biersch? I would LOVE to have an excuse to leave work even earlier... anyone? anyone? comments?