Episode 5: Boat Orientation

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Everything is backwards. What I mean by that is that the rowers actually sit backwards in the shell when they press with their legs hanging onto the oar. This is what creates the momentum, using leverage on the oar to propel the boat forward in the opposite direction they're facing. This means that the bow of the shell, the front and the direction the boat is moving is actually behind the rowers. The rowers face the stern or the back of the shell. In an eight, this is where the cox will sit, looking towards the rowers in the bow. This means that the cox and the rowers are looking in opposite directions. So right to the cox is actually left to the rowers. To avoid confusion, it's important to have a fixed point of reference. Enter port and starboard. These are fixed points of reference that never change. They're unambiguous and independent of a person's orientation. When looking forward towards the bow of a ship, port is on the left side and starboard is on the right. From a rower's perspective, looking at the stern, it is reversed. Port is on the right and starboard is on the left. According to noaa, in the early days of boating, before ships had rudders on their center lines, boats were controlled using a steering oar. Most sailors were right handed, so the steering oar, of course, was placed over and through the right side of the stern. Sailors began calling the right side the steering side, which soon became starboard by combining two Old English words, store meaning steer, and board, meaning the side of the boat. As the size of the boats grew, so did the steering oar, making it much easier to tie a boat up to a dock on the side opposite of the oar. This side became known as larboard, or the loading side. Over time, larboard, too easily confused with starboard, was replaced with port. After all, this was the side that faced the port, allowing supplies to be ported aboard by porters. In rowing, as in life, perspective is everything. What's right to you with the information you can see might be left to someone else sitting in a different vantage point with different information. Isn't that quite the metaphor for what's going on in the world these days? As social media and AI change the way we digest information, it's becoming easier and easier to only see in the direction we're looking. But as in rowing, if you're a rower only looking at the stern and you're not listening to your cox, who's the only one who can see the bridge you're about to hit, trouble will soon follow. In Life. It's critical that we get a full 360 view of the world around us, and we seek out the perspectives of those who can see what we can't. With that full 360 view, the path under the bridge becomes the common goal. And suddenly, together, we can steer around the dangers in front of us and fly across the water to the finish line as one. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Welcome back. I'm Alicia Gushman, and this is the gathering. So here we are gathered together again in the living room. It's a gorgeous, lazy Sunday with my favorite people. As I think about this concept of seeking out different perspectives to get a more complete view of the world, I'd really love to hear from you all how you think broadening perspectives in the rowing world might actually open up the sport to some of the more underrepresented communities who haven't historically engaged deeply. [00:03:13] Speaker C: So I do political science. That's my sort of thing. And I was thinking a lot about these positions, and I loved your talk about different perspectives and how perspectives give a broader view of the world. And so I was thinking about how, you know, we have. One of the comments that people will make about American society today is that we're really retreating into our own perspectives, right? We have a lot of echo chambers that are feeding us information that kind of tells us what we are, whether that's the social media algorithms, the specific news channels we listen to. And so we tend to have. We become more and more certain about the view that we have of the world. And we're becoming less and less able to talk to each other about our differing views of the world. And it's. It requires some humility to be, you know, a person to, you know, believe that, you know, whatever I think can't be the entire truth. I'm a human. I'm not capable of sort of comprehending all of that. And so it's only through conversation with people who disagree with you that you actually can get a fuller sense of things. And that's really that kind of stroke seat, coxswain relationship where they see completely different things about the boat, their experiences, the information they're bringing in, whether they're feeling the changes in the boat or whether they're seeing the differences in the river ahead. If you just are sort of digging in on what your perspective of the race is and not communicating effectively, then you're not going to do as well. And so I just think about how do we figure out. I mean, for me, it becomes this big metaphor on how do we actually talk to each other and do better collectively by making sure that we aren't too arrogant about our own or dogmatic about our own views, and instead try to figure things out from each other. But that's not necessarily rowing and probably is a very different direction, but. [00:05:08] Speaker B: No, but I think that matters. [00:05:09] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:10] Speaker B: We were talking in the last episode about the roles each individual plays, but we didn't really touch on building teams and building. And by teams, I don't just mean professional teams or sports teams, but like, the teams that you have around you. [00:05:21] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:22] Speaker B: And so, like, how you choose those people that are going to complement your perspective and give you a more complete view of the world is really critical. I think about that, both in life and the people I surround myself with. [00:05:33] Speaker A: So. [00:05:34] Speaker B: So I think, how do you identify what those gaps are in your own perspective without identifying people who are different than you that you can bring into. [00:05:42] Speaker D: The table with a more complete view? [00:05:44] Speaker B: And that's where the beautiful team dynamic happens. [00:05:47] Speaker C: I think of Jessica's role in our team with fundraising. [00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:52] Speaker E: So you talk about perspective, and I'm thinking here, as I'm listening to you, about the perspective of rowing from an outsider. We're all experienced in some regard, whether it was our kids, ourselves or on the board. But what is it to an outsider and what's their perspective of rowing? You know, as a fundraiser, one of my goals was really to break down that barrier to people who didn't know about rowing and this perspective that it was a very untouchable sport. And so fundraising, to me became about access and really raising those resources to help people bridge that gap on how much it would cost for our. What's the fee? [00:06:31] Speaker A: The dues. [00:06:31] Speaker E: Registration. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Yeah, the dues. [00:06:33] Speaker E: The registration fees. And so fundraising became, you know, a means to provide access rather than for capital. And really, what you had to do in order to even provide those resources is break down that barrier of perception of what rowing is to the outsider. [00:06:49] Speaker B: I think it's also about breaking. So I think we always put the burden on the other person to break down that perception. And this is something I've really struggled with in the sport of rowing, is that, you know, I grew up pretty financially insecure, and I haven't been wealthy as an adult either. [00:07:07] Speaker A: By choice. Right. I work for a nonprofit. [00:07:09] Speaker B: And I think that the thing that a lot of the rowing world, even today, still doesn't understand is that the shame that comes with being financially insecure, that even when you see a comment that says, we have scholarship opportunities, you. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Think, I don't even want to ask. [00:07:27] Speaker B: For that, because that person I have to ask for is my friend, and I'm embarrassed by having to ask for that, or I don't want my kid to be the token scholarship kid that this team wants to show that they're diverse or whatever. And so I think there's a lot of emotions that come into that financial accessibility that I don't think that, generally speaking, I don't think this is true in every circumstance. [00:07:50] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:51] Speaker B: But I think we have a long way to go in this sport to kind of understand how significant of a financial barrier that is. And it's not purely financial. There's so much shame and emotion that goes into that financial component of it that I think is really challenging for a sport that has been historically very elite and wealthy. [00:08:12] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:13] Speaker B: The coaches and the rowers and the family who have been in this sport for generations, it's just a different thing. It's just a different concept. And so as wonderful it is that we are trying to increase that sort of financial support, I think there's also a cultural thing there that it's not just about providing the money for folks and fundraising. It's really about the culture and how you bring those communities in who haven't historically been engaged in ways that are, like, almost equal or there's some sort of balancing effect there. [00:08:48] Speaker A: I don't know if that makes any. [00:08:49] Speaker F: Sense, but being very intentional about it. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:51] Speaker F: You know, you can't just say, oh, we're so great because we have scholarships available. Like, that's not enough work. Like, you have to also build the culture that people feel comfortable to even walk in the door to try it, to have a conversation with you. And I know for our board, we really tried to know families and identify families and maybe anticipate who might need a little financial assistance in a way that preserved integrity but still allowed access. It's so hard to do that. You know, it's so easy just to say, here's the rules, here's the fee, sign up, good luck, we'll see you on the water. It's harder work to get people in the door in the first place and then keep them there in a way that they can afford. And that makes sense for them. And I know around finances, we worked a lot. We also worked a lot on transportation. We wanted to break down barriers to getting people to the boathouse because it isn't like any other high school sport where they can just run out to the field after school. You know, you're getting them on a bus all the way to a boathouse that's miles away in literally another city. So. [00:09:51] Speaker E: Or even going to a regatta. Yes. It's not going to the gymnasium at school. It's driving a car, paying to park the car, paying. Or the shuttle, you know, and getting as a parent spectator to that regatta as well. So I think you're right. It's not just about the financials, but it's about the entire culture of rowing. And I think that's one of the things we're trying to do here, is break that down and make it accessible, not only the culture side, but then follow that through with the financial. And that's something we did on the board last year, working with the new grant program from US Rowing. It's United, We Row. [00:10:29] Speaker A: United We Row. [00:10:29] Speaker F: We applied for a grant. We got a grant for Wakefield High School, and that was amazing. And I do applaud them for having that program. [00:10:37] Speaker E: And really what our approach was is breaking down that culture. Like, what is it. What is it that is impeding people and really kind of starting at very baby steps to introduce them to rowing. [00:10:49] Speaker B: So that kind of. [00:10:50] Speaker E: The financial is part of it, too, but obviously the culture is. And why would they even consider this and breaking it down to those baby steps as they start out, you know, in the beginning. [00:11:00] Speaker C: But I think there's bigger structural things too, where, you know, rowing isn't necessarily. It isn't the same. It isn't supported in the same way by the. By the state, you know, sort of sports leagues and things. And so while you can have a football team or whatever, you know, another team that has, you know, where they receive money in order to help support that, rowing's not that. So we were limited in our ability to reduce those dues. Those. Those barriers are always there. And it's really hard to say, oh, yeah, it's actually several hundred dollars in those dues. And trust us, that's really cheap compared to everyone else. And it doesn't. It doesn't knock all of that down. But. But I wish that structurally. And another thing we can think about, we've talked about just the psychological value that comes from being out in. I mean, rowing gets you out in nature in different ways. It gets you out on the water. There's all of these effects that are. That are different than being on the field next to the high school. And I wish that that could be a stronger priority in some ways. [00:12:04] Speaker B: Yeah. And when you talk about structural, there's also the cycle. As I was hearing this talk, we talk about echo Chambers earlier. [00:12:09] Speaker A: Right. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Like just reinforcing your own perspective. And if you think about the structural aspect of the sport of rowing. [00:12:16] Speaker A: Right. [00:12:16] Speaker B: And I'm going to take this from. [00:12:17] Speaker A: A high schooler par perspective, because that's the one I have. [00:12:20] Speaker B: But how do you get really, as a parent connected with the rowing team? You show up at the regatta where you have to pay $30 to park, you travel with the team and you pay for the hotel or the flight or the train or the gas to get there and the meals out and you connect with other people and those are the people that end up being on the board because they're known. Right. And then the board makes decisions based on that perspective. And, and that board might get engaged with US rowing or might get engaged at the college level. And so you just sort of repeat the cycle of that same perspective of somebody who is very financially secure, who has the ability to do the travel regattas, who has the ability to pay the $15,000 for that camp for that summer. And you just reiterate that same perspective of I'm financially secure, I'm financially secure, I'm the person making decisions for this team or this sport or this regatta. And we just continually sort of re. Reiterate that same perspective in the sport because we don't have sort of an off ramp to break down those systemic barriers. Right. And I think that's a really significant challenge for this sport and the accessibility of the sport to other communities. I don't know. I don't have a solution. I wish I did, but I think it's certainly something. [00:13:33] Speaker C: Insight. [00:13:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I think it's certainly something US rowing has like looped into. I mean, it's a huge priority. [00:13:37] Speaker E: They do recognize it. [00:13:38] Speaker B: They definitely recognize it. But it's all these like, day to day. It's US rowing, can't do it alone. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:44] Speaker B: It has to be US rowing and every sort of local team breaking down those perspectives altogether all at the same time. And when you have this sort of historic momentum of this culture and the system, how do you break that down? [00:13:58] Speaker F: Well, I was going to say that this is a very small scale, but when I was president of Wakefield Crew, it was personally very important to me to know other crew presidents in the DMV DC area. I developed relationships with the president's past and present of every other crew team in Arlington, for starters. Also the president of the Alexandria City crew team and another. A couple other crew teams in Maryland. And we just kind of began talking with each other and we would joke because we Were almost all women saying, we should start like a Panhellenic council of crew presidents, kind of like the sorority system. But even though where we were, it wasn't necessarily barrier breaking because we're all kind of in a similar area geographically, socioeconomically. So it weren't like, vast differences in our experiences from team to team. With these people I'm talking about, I still found it vastly comforting and edifying to talk with people who had their own set of particular circumstances on their team, and especially with a friend of mine who was crew president of a team in Maryland that was struggling financially, who cobbled together boats and who was always looking for coaches and just never had the same resources that, you know, Wakefield or other Arlington teams had. And I just wouldn't have known that. But that took, like, a goal that I set to meet these people and intentionally reach them out. And not saying that, like that was any groundbreaking decision, but I feel like we need that, like, writ large, like, times a million. You know, just like an effort for teams to be competitors on the water, but allies and collaborators are off the water, and kind of that's where we can start to affect some change and understand each other a little bit better. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, we've talked a lot about us rowing here or the sport of rowing here, but, I mean, just like in every one of our podcasts, rowing is a metaphor for life. [00:15:49] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:50] Speaker B: And so perspective matters. And I think we really kind of started out on. On this point. And so I'm curious when you guys have had the. Those times where you've had to break down those barriers of different perceptive perceptions in order to build something more complete. [00:16:05] Speaker A: In the real world. [00:16:07] Speaker F: Well, I'll say that my day job is I am a journalist, and that what you just described is basically the work of a journalist, if they're doing it right, which is a journalist should not just be taking one point of view and writing an article. You can, but it's called an op ed if you do that. But if you're truly trying to write an article that tells multiple perspectives, you have to go out of your way to find your sources, get the quotes, get the information you need, and it should ideally represent different points of view, and then you synthesize that into something readable and understandable. That is the basic work of a journalist. It doesn't necessarily mean, however, that you have to equally balance both sides. Like, you're still making decisions about what is ultimately important, what your ultimate angle is, and even what is truth. There's a Lot of talk now about false equivalency, about, like, kind of giving equal time to people who would, like, deny truth altogether. And so we don't necessarily need to give equal sides when one side is clearly like, not operating in facts, for instance. But generally you are supposed to synthesize multiple perspectives to find kind of the. The thread of truth that goes through a story. So that's how I would quit it to my life, like something I do every day. And I actually love that challenge. I. I love, you know, getting different voices in a piece and having to balance them out, you know, because I think it kind of gives you a well rounded mosaic. [00:17:29] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:17:29] Speaker B: And that kind of makes me think about my work too. I work for a nonprofit, but this has actually been a sort of trend in sort of all the roles I've had, actually. And that's where there's this concept of design thinking, where you. And I think, at least that's how I've learned it, where you basically go out and you search, sort of do journey mapping and client Personas. And so, you know me, where I sit in my role, I have an opinion about what I think our clients might need. But in actuality, I'm serving the entire American population. And so basically, when we have a really sort of critical tool or program we need to build, we'll do these Personas and journey mapping to really sort of deeply interview some of our clients and really build out all of these unique Personas so that we're not missing a perspective that us sitting in the organization wouldn't have otherwise. And so we end up with, you know, eight to 12 different Personas that then lead us to sort of change the program or the design of the program, really with that sort of client or customer in mind. So, I mean, I don't know how we would do what we do if we didn't have those perspectives. Right. We would basically create a tool that fits for us and isn't helpful for anybody on the outside. [00:18:41] Speaker F: Right, right. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:42] Speaker C: But I'd never encountered that before. But you hear mentioning that we, we were trying to do some fundraising and the idea of, you know, building these Personas of like, who are you trying to both serve, but also who are the people that you're trying to speak to? I hadn't. I hadn't thought of building those, but that it was a fun thing to kind of think through and to. I like, I love that whole approach, just this humanizing these different perspectives and these different ways of thinking about it. I mean, in teaching, I find Myself having to do that all the time, where it's just, you know, how do you come up with the different. In your mind, you're thinking of, okay, these are. This is. We would talk about them as sort of these ideological perspectives, but then you create this, you know, Persona of someone who has a view about the world. And how do you get those things to talk to each other? And then in any conversation, if that's not being represented in the classroom, you know, it's my job to be the ideologue that's arguing that side of it, to push things forward. But it's a. Putting yourself. That ability to put yourself in other people's shoes or to imagine a different reality is really a key skill and. [00:19:54] Speaker B: What makes someone a really good professor, too, hopefully. [00:19:59] Speaker E: So I think bringing it. Listening to all of you, too. I'm thinking about rowing and as a fundraiser, thinking about what is. What is it that we are trying to appeal to in those individuals who. [00:20:12] Speaker D: Wouldn'T traditionally look at rowing? [00:20:14] Speaker E: And it is creating that perception for them. And we need to. I mean, this is something I always thought about, like, what is it that we're presenting? What is it that we're presenting in our material? What is it that we're presenting on Instagram? [00:20:27] Speaker D: What is it, you know, how are. [00:20:29] Speaker E: We selling this so that it doesn't seem like what it's traditionally been? And that's incredibly tough. I mean, and you think about algorithms and what the feeds are, and then just what traditionally, whether it's us rowing or collegiate teams or what is that message that's always being sent versus who's. [00:20:49] Speaker D: The audience that you're really trying to bring in? [00:20:52] Speaker E: And no matter how much you do. [00:20:55] Speaker D: There'S that historical perspective. [00:20:57] Speaker E: So how do you break that? [00:20:57] Speaker D: You know, and. [00:20:58] Speaker E: And we have all had these experiences. [00:21:01] Speaker D: In our life, whether it's in our jobs, but, like, it's very tough to. [00:21:05] Speaker E: Really transition that and pull in new. [00:21:07] Speaker D: People when there's just such a feed that supports that traditional perception. [00:21:14] Speaker C: It's like, how do you fundraise for the team you want, not the team you have? [00:21:18] Speaker F: Exactly. Yes. [00:21:19] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. [00:21:21] Speaker F: That's tough. [00:21:22] Speaker A: And it does go back to what. [00:21:23] Speaker D: You were talking about in the beginning, the shame factor, you know, and we were very fortunate to have a couple of private donations that didn't want to know where the money was going to, and they just said, use it for what you need it for. And, you know, as a board, we made the decision to allocate those resources even to people who didn't Ask. Because we. We just knew because of what our goals were and, you know, what the situation was, but because I don't think we've gotten to that place where we have broken down that perception, and it's a difficult feat. It's a difficult thing to break. [00:21:57] Speaker E: Yeah, for sure. [00:22:00] Speaker B: All right, well, I think that we've reached the point where I don't think we're gonna solve all of the world's problems of shifting perspectives and bringing them all in. Although it would be really cool. [00:22:10] Speaker C: Although this room could be like a museum someday. This is where it was solved. It's the room where it happened. [00:22:17] Speaker B: Like the friend's couch. [00:22:19] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:22:20] Speaker A: It's the gather room. I love it. [00:22:24] Speaker B: But I do think it's time for some fun with trivia. Okay, so I. [00:22:30] Speaker C: You are up today, right? [00:22:31] Speaker B: I am up for trivia. This is according to Google, in my deep research. According to Google, the first Olympic rowing competition was held during the 1900 Games. On which waterway was the course laid out? Oh, you got it. [00:22:47] Speaker F: Do you really go for it, Ed? [00:22:49] Speaker C: But I feel like I. No, I think we should struggle. [00:22:54] Speaker B: Well, I think. [00:22:55] Speaker A: I know. [00:22:56] Speaker C: I mean, it's. It's Germany, right? [00:22:58] Speaker B: No. [00:23:01] Speaker F: Okay. [00:23:01] Speaker A: Okay. [00:23:02] Speaker F: All right, so can you read the question one more time, please? [00:23:05] Speaker B: The first Olympic rowing competition was held during the 1900 Games. [00:23:09] Speaker A: Which waterway was the course laid out? [00:23:11] Speaker C: You said the 19. Which Olympic Games? 1900 Olympic Games. [00:23:18] Speaker F: Give us a little hint. [00:23:20] Speaker B: If I gave you a hint, we would know. You were. You were actually not sure. [00:23:25] Speaker C: Is it Europe? [00:23:26] Speaker B: It is Europe. [00:23:27] Speaker C: It's Europe. [00:23:29] Speaker F: The SE River. [00:23:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I was gonna say the Seine, too. [00:23:33] Speaker C: All right, let's go with the Seine. [00:23:34] Speaker B: Why do you guys think I was so excited? [00:23:35] Speaker F: To. [00:23:40] Speaker B: Paris? For those of you who don't know, I have the Eiffel Tower tattooed on my legs. [00:23:44] Speaker A: I do. [00:23:45] Speaker B: Special place in my heart. [00:23:46] Speaker F: Hey, we got there. [00:23:48] Speaker B: So the bonus two point is how long is the course? [00:23:51] Speaker E: Oh, it was in meters. [00:23:54] Speaker C: 2000 meters. [00:23:55] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:23:55] Speaker B: Anyone have another guess? It is 1500. [00:24:00] Speaker F: I can say 6000 meters. [00:24:02] Speaker A: 6K. [00:24:03] Speaker B: Yes. [00:24:04] Speaker F: Brutal. [00:24:05] Speaker B: It was actually 1750. [00:24:07] Speaker F: Okay. [00:24:07] Speaker B: I've never seen that horse length before. [00:24:09] Speaker A: Wow. [00:24:09] Speaker C: 1750. [00:24:10] Speaker F: Something specific about the course. I wonder. [00:24:13] Speaker C: Was it through Paris, like through downtown? [00:24:15] Speaker B: Yes, in the Northwest. Northwest of the center of Paris. [00:24:18] Speaker F: Okay, that's awesome. [00:24:20] Speaker B: The first Olympic rowing competition should have been held at the 1896 Athens Olympics. But the event, which had been scheduled. [00:24:26] Speaker A: To be held on the open water. [00:24:27] Speaker B: Of the Mediterranean, had to be canceled due to bad weather. [00:24:32] Speaker C: I can't imagine water on the Mediterranean. [00:24:34] Speaker F: Growing on the Mediterranean. That's probably pretty tough. Yeah, that was a great question. [00:24:38] Speaker C: All right, well, good one. [00:24:40] Speaker F: Well, we'll see you next time, I guess. [00:24:42] Speaker C: Yeah, that's right. [00:24:43] Speaker A: You had a new transition. [00:24:44] Speaker B: Don't hit pause. [00:24:45] Speaker C: Don't hit pause. We'll see you on the other side of the splash. [00:24:50] Speaker B: Bye, guys.