Episode 15: Regattas

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Before we start the episode, we have an exciting announcement. The gather is hitting the road and we'll be doing some live shows from the dadvale regatta on May 8th and 9th. More details will be forthcoming, but we will have guest interviews, trivia and all the excitement that being at a regatta provides. If you happen to be going to Dadvale, we hope you will stop by our tent and say hi. Now on with the podcast. [00:00:32] Speaker B: Close your eyes and picture this. It's just after dawn, the sun low in the sky, its warmth just barely starting to fight to banish that crisp morning air that's currently biting at you. The birds are chirping and you sense the faint smell of fresh cut grass on the barest breath of breeze. As you walk along the riverbank, you see lane buoys peeking out from the mist just starting to emerge as the sun burns away the morning fog, the water holding still as glass as if holding its breath and bracing for the onslaught that's headed its way. All around you, the hum of potential energy is starting to build. A small group of rowers passes you at a light jog, warming up before their first race. Parent volunteers, decked in team spirit are scooting around, setting up tents and firing up grills. Regatta volunteers are getting vested up and just beginning their assigned shifts, hitching a ride on a launch to the start, testing timing systems, rolling out electronics and handing out bow numbers. Crews are pulling boats off of trailers, checking on rigging, stretching, erging in warm up tents and huddling up for team meetings. Officials are starting to get in their places. Coaches are making last minute checks and adjustments. And finally that first shell gets hoisted overhead and heads to the dock to row out to the start line so racing can begin. That's my most favorite time the morning just before racing begins. The magical anticipation of what might happen on the water, the adrenaline of the teams and the spectators buzzing with the energy for what may come. Whatever happens on the water later in the day, for some reason just can never erase that magic and hope of a regatta morning. [00:02:15] Speaker C: Racing season has begun. And if you're anything like I was, my first regatta as a rowing mom [00:02:20] Speaker B: was almost like walking onto another planet. Wait, which direction is the start? [00:02:26] Speaker C: Wait, is lane one the far lane or the close lane? Are the geese gonna get out of the way? Um, can you help me translate this heat sheet? What in the world does M1V 4X mean? Have they started? I think that's them. Is that them? [00:02:43] Speaker B: What color's their boat? [00:02:44] Speaker C: That's definitely them. Is it? No, that's not them. Oh, wait, yes, it is. It can be pretty confusing. So we thought we'd dedicate today's episode [00:02:54] Speaker B: to giving all of you new spectators out there some of the tricks we've learned throughout the years to help you navigate those waters so you can experience a little less confusion and a lot more of that regatta magic. [00:03:06] Speaker C: Welcome back. I'm Alisha Kushman and this is the Gather. Regatta season is just my absolute favorite. It's so special to me, but it can be super confusing for new parents and new spectators. What are a couple things you guys remember learning as a first time parent that you think would be helpful to share? [00:03:21] Speaker D: Well, I loved your intro because I thought you captured the magic of arriving at a regatta site early. But if you don't arrive at a regatta site early and say your kiddo is racing late in the day and you show up, it's like you said, planet crew. It can feel so overwhelming. The excitement is so fun once you understand what it's happening, but when you're just first entering it, it just is overwhelming. [00:03:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:45] Speaker A: My first terrible mistake at a regatta was I was walking up a hill. So they are taking all the boats down to the water. I'm in my phone, walking straight up. [00:03:54] Speaker D: We all know it's like he doesn't [00:03:56] Speaker E: even guess the story, but we already know what's happening. [00:03:59] Speaker A: And all of a sudden, oh, no. Oh, yeah. I was, I was inches from the edge of, from the front of a boat just clocking me and taking me out and, and all those rowers were like, well, the inertia is with us. [00:04:11] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Or not. So heads up. That's number one advice. Heads up. There are going to be boats coming by and they will run you over. [00:04:21] Speaker D: You wouldn't be here if that had, if that had been two inches in another direction, you might not be sitting here right now. [00:04:26] Speaker C: The boats always have the right of way. They're much bigger than you. And also they usually yell heads up. Heads up is the call. [00:04:31] Speaker A: Oh, they were, but I was right. [00:04:32] Speaker E: But if you don't know what heads [00:04:34] Speaker C: up means, you're like, okay, so if you hear heads up and you're at a regatta, immediately duck. Don't look around, don't pause, just duck. Just hit the ground. [00:04:41] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, very true. I think being overwhelmed is just part of it. As a first timer, you know, you just have to kind of embrace that uncertainty and feel okay with not knowing because it's daunting. I, and I think high school obviously is very different and got a big crowd of parents that you might not know because your kid's new to rowing. And so you've got this big crowd and you've got students, senior parents there too, but they really know each other and they feel like, you know, you're walking into this pot of people that you don't. And you don't want to ask questions because everybody else seems to know, you know, what they're doing. But it's okay that you don't know. And you'll figure it out and you'll listen to this podcast and you'll hear more about what it is that you're walking yourself into. [00:05:18] Speaker C: And don't let yourself fall into the myth that everybody knows what's going on. Everybody's pretending to know what's going on. I promise you, you're not the only one that doesn't know what's going on. [00:05:27] Speaker D: Yeah, people are asking each other questions all dang day. Like all day long. What race is this? [00:05:32] Speaker E: Where are we? [00:05:32] Speaker D: What just happen. Use that like all day long. So it's really normalized to just constantly be asking what's going on. [00:05:39] Speaker E: So what are some of the things that you were confused about during your first regattas? [00:05:43] Speaker D: The lane assignment thing is a little bit confusing to me. Like, it varies depending on the river. Right. Like, but normally, I guess on the Occoquan river where our kiddos raced when they were in high school, I already forgot, like, lane one, I think was on the far end. Is that right? Yeah, lane one was farther away. I don't even remember which felt counterintuitive to me. Cause I assumed that like, the lane one would be the one that goes right by the grandstand, but actually it was the one farthest away. And so when you have your binoculars and trying to see the start of the race, like, you don't. At first I didn't even know which boat, like, what, what side is the lane? I didn't even know. So that was confusing for me at first. [00:06:16] Speaker A: When you don't even know, as a first time parent, what do your boats look like? [00:06:20] Speaker D: Right? Yeah. [00:06:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:21] Speaker A: And so knowing like what the oars are, what are their, what the unis colors are that they're wearing and. But they'll often have different colored boats depending on kind of how well funded your team is, I suppose. [00:06:35] Speaker C: Or not well funded. [00:06:36] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:06:37] Speaker A: In our case, we had a lot of a whole hodgepodge, a rainbow of boat colors. [00:06:41] Speaker D: We literally had boats that had duct tape holding them together. But I'm very proud of that fact, actually. And I say We, I'm referring to Wakefield High School crew of course, which is how we all met. [00:06:50] Speaker C: I actually believe the duck tape boat is the one that won. [00:06:53] Speaker D: So Stoatsberry, I think you're right actually you are correct. [00:06:56] Speaker A: Is it the one that hit a duck too? [00:06:58] Speaker C: I don't think it had duct tape then. [00:07:00] Speaker E: But I think one of the things that's really helpful going into a race is talking to your kid first before it. You know, if you're new to the regatta, you know, make sure you know what their boat is. Are they in a 1V, a 2V, a novice, an 8, a 4? So that you have at least a sense of what you're going to be looking for. [00:07:17] Speaker A: Better to ask them what boat they're than to ask them what time they're racing. That's a good point because we were always trying to time when are we supposed, supposed to get there. And so we would be pestering Will like when are you actually rowing? And he would often not necessarily know because they're going out on the water a lot earlier. The regatta gets delayed, all kinds of things happen. So it's better to know what actually their boat they're in, what rates they're going to. [00:07:41] Speaker C: I think that was the most confusing thing for me is the uncertainty of a regatta. It is, it's a water sport, anything can happen. Races get delayed and show up early because things could go early. Be prepared to stay late because things could go late. I think that was what was really confusing to me is how you really gotta be able to roll with things when you're at a regatta. Cause you really don't know what's gonna happen. [00:08:02] Speaker D: That's what I was gonna say too about the timing. It's a really good point because if there are parents out there that are used to their kids playing field sports where they roll up to the high school, park in the parking lot, walk to the bleachers, like that's really easy at a regatta you might be parking miles away, you might have to hike through the woods to get to the grandstand. And of course these races are happening on rivers so like your team's tent could be spread out anywhere on this multi mile long stretch and then you have to walk to get there if you wann, you know, with your other parents or anything like that. So we always left so much earlier than even the predicted start time of our kids race because we just wanted to make sure we were there. And also we always had nervous energy on regatta morning so It'd be like 5am and my kid wouldn't be racing till 10. And I'd be like, come on, we gotta go. And of course, where our kids race on the Occoquan, you had to hike for 20 minutes before you even got to the grandstand. But that's not uncommon because they're rivers, they're in the woods, you know, and [00:08:52] Speaker C: the course is over a mile long. [00:08:54] Speaker D: Right, exactly right. [00:08:55] Speaker A: But what's so great about it is you won't regret getting there early because. Because of. Of the activity. What sort of Alicia was describing in the beginning and all that. There's just nothing more beautiful than watching those boats constantly go by. And as they head down the river, you know, you get a sense of, you know, okay, so that's where they're racing. But then they also have to go to the other side. So you'll see them rowing up the river to the start line and then they all have to turn around and all this kind of. So there's a lot of activity to take in as you're trying to figure it out. So it's never boring? No, I just think there's always something to watch. [00:09:30] Speaker E: Except if you're one of those people who doesn't like downtime, who's used to field sports where things are going on all the time. [00:09:36] Speaker D: Well, that's true. [00:09:36] Speaker E: And there are those parents. So I would say that. That would. And I would. [00:09:40] Speaker A: And your cell phone probably won't work. [00:09:42] Speaker E: And your cell phone won't work. But, you know, I think that's where the volunteer parents come in. And, you know, if you are one of those parents who doesn't want to be sitting around for four hours for the seven minutes that you're going to see your child, there's always the opportunity to volunteer. And all of the regattas across the board rely on volunteers. High school, college, Canadian, Henley. You know, there's always a list somewhere that you can find a volunteer opportunity. So I'm encouraging anybody who feels that, you know, five hours of their day sitting around waiting for seven minutes is not valuable. There are valuable things that you can do to really help out and make that regatta go. [00:10:16] Speaker D: Such a good point. [00:10:17] Speaker A: So that was my revelation that I really have nothing to do on Saturday. [00:10:21] Speaker C: Yeah, you spend all day in a regatta for sure. And also, I think one of the things I didn't know is a lot of regattas will do, like, heats and then finals. And so I would get from the boys. Hey, my. I have to be there at 8 because my race is at like 10:30. Or whatever. I mean, great. I'll be home by 1pm Nope. Because they'll, like, have a final later in the day, potentially. You don't know. [00:10:43] Speaker E: I think one of the things, and I learned it from you, Alicia, was preparing for a regatta. And in the beginning, like when I. When we first started, I just went like, okay, I'm here. I didn't have anything to sit on. I didn't have any water to drink. I didn't have my binoculars. And Alicia here had a to go bag, a regatta to go bag, and she taught me that. And so after I learned of Alicia's regatta to go bag, that was packed always. Right? [00:11:09] Speaker C: Always packed. [00:11:10] Speaker E: It was always in my back. Yeah, that's. That was a very good idea. That is a very good idea. [00:11:14] Speaker C: We highly recommend a regatta bag. [00:11:16] Speaker D: I always think about how, like they say you should have that for disasters, but, like, you know, have the bag that's by the front door. So I always laugh about that. But we had a regatta go bag also, and we always had our cowbells in there and the binoculars and sunscreen. [00:11:28] Speaker A: And I love the idea that you never know when a regatta is going to pop. [00:11:31] Speaker C: Exact. [00:11:32] Speaker D: Grab your bag and go. [00:11:35] Speaker C: I just got more think of like taking it in and out of my car. Yeah. [00:11:39] Speaker A: But binoculars are a big one. [00:11:41] Speaker D: Yes. [00:11:41] Speaker C: And good binoculars. [00:11:42] Speaker E: Yes. [00:11:43] Speaker C: Because pro tip, the easiest way to spot your child is not the color of the boat. It's not the color of their unis. It's the design of their oars. Because every team has unique oars, but they'll repeat boat colors. They'll repeat uni colors. So the pro tip is learn your team's oars ahead of time and in your binoculars. Get binoculars good enough to actually see them coming in and out of the water. That's the number one way you can spot team. Thank you, Russell, for teaching me that. [00:12:06] Speaker A: The other thing I would just say is that you start at regatta, typically it's early in the morning, you're down in the wilderness, and it's cold. [00:12:13] Speaker D: Yeah. And then hasn't risen above the trees. [00:12:15] Speaker A: And even if it says it's going to be, you know, high of 68, as soon as that sun comes out, you're going to be baking. And so layers was something that always I still didn't get completely down by the end of the whole thing. But that's a big one. [00:12:29] Speaker E: And obviously it depends on where the regatta is. You know, if you have a regatta on the Potomac river down in Georgetown, that's going to be one thing. But, you know, if you have regatta like we did at the Occoquan, that's going to be another, you know, and one of the things that the Occoquan we there's no cell service, so you can't pull up your timesheet. You can't pull up the heat sheet. You're not going to be able to look at the if there's a live stream. So be prepared with a heat sheet too, you know, so that you can follow along with what the races are and check them off. [00:12:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I became that parent with the heat sheet. Like, I would print them out also. Pro tip, put them in those little plastic sleeves that your kids use for school because it rains. And if you have a heat sheet on a piece of paper and it's raining, you're not going to have a heat sheet for very long. But the pro t is to actually, you know, we were talking earlier about only showing up to see your kids race. It's actually a good idea to track the other races. One, to know where you stand in the day and if you're running late or ahead. But two, because if you do have heats in the morning, you can then track which boats your kids are going to be racing against later. So it's good to kind of track and keep note on your heat sheet of kind of who's won what race and then what lane they'll be in later. [00:13:29] Speaker A: So how do you track the results at a regatta? Or where did you get the heat sheet to begin with? [00:13:34] Speaker C: I mean, it's different for every regatta. Usually Regatta Central is a website where Most of the U.S. rowing sanctioned regattas will be. At least the links will be in Regatta Central to the results. The results sometimes show up within Regatta Central itself. It could be on Roadtown. It can be. There's like five or six different timing sites, but usually I always start with Regatta Central to find it. But you definitely want the heat sheets ahead of time because if you don't have cell service, you're tracking it yourself. Sometimes you might hear an announcer, but usually you're a little bit in the dark if you're not paying attention to what's happening to races. [00:14:07] Speaker D: I used to bring multiple copies of the heat sheets because for newbie parents, when I became a more seasoned parent, I would bring like four or five copies of the heat sheets because there are always those poor parents out there trying to get their things up on their phones and couldn't do it. So I was like, here, got the sheets. Pass them out. You know, So I would just say if you have a heat sheet, print two copies and maybe you can hand one to somebody else. [00:14:25] Speaker C: And also, even if you do have cell service, sometimes the results don't post very fast and you're like, just lost. Like, even though you do have cell service, you still aren't getting results because they're just not posting for one reason or another. My regatta bag had a blanket to sit on. It had umbrella. It had my rain jacket and rain pants. I had sunscreen, hand sanitizer. Because a lot of times you're in porta potties at regatta. That's true. Extra toilet paper is in my. [00:14:52] Speaker D: That's a really smart idea. [00:14:53] Speaker C: Bag. I have the plastic sheets. I have highlighters and pens. I have snacks and water. My binoculars. [00:15:00] Speaker D: Oh, hats. Critical. [00:15:02] Speaker C: My cowbell. [00:15:03] Speaker D: Yeah, definitely. Talk about seeing your rower. Like, if you're a parent, like, what are some opportunities at a regatta to see your rower? Because obviously they're going to be busy. They're going to be getting ready for a race. Like, how do you know when is a good time to come say hi to your rower? [00:15:17] Speaker E: Well, a lot of times the rowers won't see their parents before their races. Yeah, definitely. The coaches keep their rowers kind of focused and geared just on the race. Usually the rower will come to you. It's very. I would dissuade parents from going to the team areas. And it's, it's, as Ed said, there's a lot of activity, there's a lot of movement. And, you know, sometimes coaches frown on that because it distracts the team if there's a team talk or team discussion. You know, the last thing a coach will want is it is the parents coming in and distracting their rower. So I think wait for your rower to come to you, really, and they'll give you the opportunity. You know, your kid wants to see you, you know, so they'll come and see you when they can. [00:15:59] Speaker D: I think that's good advice too, in terms of results, too, because sometimes if the race didn't go well for your kid, they might want space. They might just want to be around their teammates. I know there were times my kid was like, you know, I'll talk to you at home. [00:16:10] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:16:10] Speaker C: I think as a, as a new parent, wait for your kid to come to you is good. Eventually you'll get to know the team and when to show up. It is fun to go over to the trailers and see the activity and see the teams, but when you have too many parents over there, you get in the way it's trailer locations are really tight. There's a lot of boats in a really small amount of space and it's really easy to get in the way. That's probably close to where Ed almost got clocked by. [00:16:35] Speaker E: That's exactly where it was. [00:16:36] Speaker C: They're tr. They, they. Especially with novice boats and novice coxswains trying to navigate a big eight in a really crowded spot. Having parents underfoot can be really challenging. So I think Jess is right. As a novice parent, wait until your kid comes to you and then eventually you'll get to know when to show up somewhere else with them. But I will say one thing about seeing your kid pictures is a big thing, right? You want to get pictures. And one thing I learned as a parent is I incapable of both cheering and taking pictures at the same time. [00:17:03] Speaker D: Oh my gosh. Yes. [00:17:04] Speaker C: And so I. The pictures I took when they were racing were horrible. And so what I learned is the best time to get pictures is usually either when they're rowing out to the start or rowing back to the dock from the finish, not in the race. And so again with getting there early, it's really good to get there early cause they launch about, I don't know, but usually between a half hour and an hour early. Um, so it's really fun to go out there as they're racing to the start and get really good pictures of them. Sometimes you might even get a wave if you're lucky. [00:17:33] Speaker D: And for the big regattas like road2k.com will take pictures of every boat. So you really kind of don't even need to worry about taking race pictures because they do such a good job on taking race pictures and they make sure to get every single boat usually. [00:17:45] Speaker C: And yeah, shout out to row 2k photographers. They're amazing photographers. [00:17:49] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:50] Speaker C: And it's not that expensive either. I think it's like 10 bucks to get an electronic for personal use and then you know, you can spend more and get high res pictures to print out. [00:17:59] Speaker E: But they take great photos. Unless you have a professional level lens, you are not and know the location at the regatta and on the course you're not going to get the shots that row 2k gets. [00:18:11] Speaker C: Yeah. And keep an eye out for the photographers because they are so cool. They'll like get up on like seeing the photographers take their pictures is pretty cool too. Keep an eye out for them. [00:18:19] Speaker A: I'm on ro2k. [00:18:20] Speaker D: Oh you are? Yeah. How so? [00:18:22] Speaker A: Making breakfast. [00:18:23] Speaker C: Yes, you are. [00:18:24] Speaker D: You're famous, right? [00:18:25] Speaker E: Well that's one of the Things parents can do during a regatta. You know, some of the bigger regattas, we definitely have parent cooks to help cook food for the team. [00:18:33] Speaker D: I was going to say, Ed, that I don't know if you remember this, but I think this was pretty early on when we first met. There was some big race coming down. I asked if you would video it for me because our kids were not in the same boat. Like, you're saying, like, it's. You're just can't get good shots and you're nervous and you're screaming, and there's just so much going on. And I was like, how would you feel about doing this for me? And I really appreciated that. [00:18:50] Speaker E: So I was at the Princeton Invitational yesterday, and I said, hey, mira, I got. I got some footage of the. I got some video of your race. And she's looking at it. She's like, mom, I'm not in the [00:19:03] Speaker C: middle of the screen. [00:19:07] Speaker D: You kind of have to hold it steady. [00:19:10] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:19:10] Speaker D: I don't think I'm very good at it either. [00:19:13] Speaker A: Well, it never comes out like you [00:19:15] Speaker C: want it to come out. [00:19:16] Speaker A: I mean, they're always so much further away than it seems like they should be. I don't know. But it's all being in the moment. No, of course. Of course. Yeah, that's all. No, we would do the same. I had this belief that I could run along with them all the way along, videoing the whole thing. But of course, I had to have it way above my head. So I'm not actually looking at what I'm videoing because I'm trying to get over the heads of the people in front of me. And, yeah, it was never good. [00:19:42] Speaker D: So it's so fun, though. [00:19:43] Speaker C: And also, I just want to say, raise your hand if you've taken a picture of the wrong boat. [00:19:47] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. Yes. We're all raising our hands. [00:19:50] Speaker C: We are all guilty of that. They look all the same, so. [00:19:53] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:19:53] Speaker C: Don't feel bad if you. You get the wrong boat. Yeah. [00:19:56] Speaker D: Wakefield cruise colors are like green and black and white, and those are also the colors of a river and trees. And so it's like lots of other [00:20:03] Speaker E: boats, which I have to say, whoever thought of those pink unis for the girls at Wakefield? That was before I started. [00:20:09] Speaker D: Yeah, that was brilliant. And they. [00:20:11] Speaker E: Brilliant because they popped on the water. [00:20:12] Speaker D: They really did pop. [00:20:14] Speaker C: Lasalle has highlighter yellow. So. Yeah, wear that. Highlighter yellow. That's also really. Yeah. Bright colors that pop. Help. [00:20:22] Speaker E: Yes. [00:20:22] Speaker C: But again, look for the oars. Look for the oars. Is like the number one way. Know that or design, because they're all unique and different. [00:20:29] Speaker E: You know, I think, you know, we were talking about high school regattas, but, you know, you. You'll get up to the school for the. In Stokesbury, Right. And it's a fun day, you know, so be prepared for just a long day where you can really take in all of the sights and scenes. If you're new to it and learning, it's great to just walk around and listen and just check things out, because you'll learn a lot as a parent just by kind of going up and down the course. [00:20:55] Speaker A: And there will often be merch there, too. [00:20:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:20:57] Speaker A: So, you know, be prepared for that [00:20:59] Speaker D: for your kids asking you for your credit card. [00:21:03] Speaker E: It's not. It's not cheap. And have a closet full of sweatshirts and T shirts. [00:21:09] Speaker A: Well, there were like jewelry makers that had the blades. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Roubini Jewelry. [00:21:15] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:21:16] Speaker C: Actually Jaime Roubini. Yeah. Shout out. They're in Alexandria. And one of the coaches at Alexandria Community Rowing is actually one of the jewelry jewelers. So Roubini Jewelry, they have ores. Like, you can get your team's ores. I mean, they also have some just really cool. I actually have a ring, an ore ring from them. They have some really cool jewelry. Beautiful. I got Mira ring also. Really good Christmas presents for rowers. [00:21:39] Speaker D: Oh, yes. [00:21:39] Speaker C: Fun fact. I do want to say one thing because I think that I thought this was always really confusing, and I think still I get somewhat confused. But the. The gibberish on a heat sheet. [00:21:49] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Thanks for bringing that up. [00:21:50] Speaker C: This is. Can be really confusing. So, like, you'll see first is like an M1V or a1V. And what those mean are men M and W, obviously men and women. And then you'll have one V, which means the first varsity boat. So it's sort of the top varsity boat. You'll see things like jv. Right. Junior varsity. You'll see fr, I think is what they use for freshmen. [00:22:11] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:22:11] Speaker C: So that's what that sort of first piece of the heat sheet is. It's like men's or women. And then is it a 1, 2 or 3V, which is the first, second and third sort of boat in that category can be varsity, can be jv, can be freshmen. It could be novice. It might say N on there. And then the next series is the super confusing part. That's where you really kind of have to know a lot about rowing. And that's the boat category. And so you'll see an 8A 4A 2 or a 1. [00:22:37] Speaker E: Right. [00:22:37] Speaker C: And that'll tell you basically how many people are in the boat. The next thing will either be an X or nothing. If there's an X there, it means it's a sculling event. If there's nothing there, it means it's a sweep event. And then you'll see a plus or a minus. And that plus or minus indicates whether or not there's a Cox. So M1V 4X plus would be a men's first varsity quad with a cox. So it's a language thing on the heat sheet that it can be very, very confusing. But that's kind of the breakdown of what each letter on the heat sheet means. [00:23:11] Speaker D: I'm so glad you brought that up because when you're printing your heat sheets, it's good to maybe highlight or circle your kids boat or your friend's boat, whatever you're cheering for, you know, so you have that. Because on race day, when boats are going by, you're kind of scanning up and down. It can be really confusing. So I would circle or highlight my kiddos boat all the time ahead of. So I knew which line to look for. [00:23:29] Speaker A: But knowing that helps you then also know what race you're looking or try to figure out where you are on [00:23:33] Speaker D: the sheet for sure. [00:23:35] Speaker A: But there will be multiple heats oftentimes early on. So you'll see it and then it'll happen twice or three times and you think, what's going on? [00:23:43] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:23:44] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:23:45] Speaker A: So. [00:23:45] Speaker E: Or maybe you weren't paying attention and so you go, oh, wait, is this theirs? Are we on the next one yet? Wait, did I miss it? So you do have to be aware. [00:23:54] Speaker C: That's why it's really good to track the races. I think tracking mostly to know like. Like how many races left until my kid shows up. So it's good to know. Hey, that looks like. [00:24:01] Speaker B: That looks like a riverside boat in this race. So what race is it on? [00:24:05] Speaker D: It's true. [00:24:05] Speaker E: It's very helpful. And never be shy to ask. I mean, honestly, it's. You know, other people might be paying attention when you were having a conversation with someone else. So somebody's gotta know. [00:24:14] Speaker C: Yeah. And I'm pretty sure that's how you and I started becoming friends, because we were like, what is happening? You kind of bond with. Especially when you're. You'll bond mo probably the most with the people in the novice boat that your kids are in. [00:24:25] Speaker D: Yes. [00:24:26] Speaker C: Because you guys are all lost together. [00:24:28] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:24:28] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:28] Speaker D: But. And you have a lot of time to sit there at the bleachers and start talking with each other. So you make great friends. I remember when Declan was a novice and my friend Dorothy and I, whose kid was also a novice, at the same time, we're sitting there, we're like, oh, my gosh, these people are so nice. Like, crew people are the best people. And it's like we knew that we had found, like, people that we would enjoy talking with and spending a whole day with. So it really is worth spending the whole day there because you learn so much, but you get to make great friends, too. [00:24:54] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:24:54] Speaker E: I think that's one of the things I saw this weekend, too. As you know, Mira has advanced into the collegiate rowing space. She has friends who row now at different colleges. And so we have met over the years, whether it. Whatever program it was at, whether it was a PBC or Wakefield or ready, set, row or the US Rowing team. You know, you. You know, this community, it's not so big that you're not at a. You know, you'll be at a regatta and you'll see those other people that you've met years past. [00:25:21] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:25:22] Speaker E: And there's just a camaraderie in it because we're all in that same boat, you know, cheering on our family member who's. Who's rowing. So it's nice. [00:25:30] Speaker B: It's. [00:25:30] Speaker E: It continues. So it's not just in high school, but if you continue through that sport, you really develop those friendships that last. And you see people on the side of the river, you know, still in that space, watching the regattas. It's wonderful. [00:25:41] Speaker C: College regattas are very different than high school regattas. Um, you know, at that point, I remember going to Derek's first college regatta, which I think happened to be IRAs, maybe. I think I'd only gone to a scrimmage before IRAs. And you walk around IRAs, and everyone in at that regatta, those kids are really looking at it like a job. Right. It's a very different environment. And it's so different because to Jess's point, you know, kids in other boats from the same high school are growing up in the same area, and you find yourself cheering for almost every boat on the water. And it is okay in rowing to cheer for other boats. [00:26:14] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:26:14] Speaker C: Like, as a parent, I'm really excited to see other kids from that we know be successful. And so even in high school, I remember, like, you'll get a parent every now and again. That's kind of like, meh. You can't use a drum. Like, what are you doing? But generally, generally speaking, be cool people because, like, it's a really hard sport. So, like, cheer for the other boats on the water, especially if, you know, it's somebody that's struggling. Every kid out there deserves to be on that water. They've worked really hard to be on the water. And so cheering and supporting other boats, I think is a cool rowing community thing that, I don't know, you see in other sports. [00:26:51] Speaker D: I think that's true because I had a kid that tried a bunch of different sports before he landed on crew. And so I've been around a lot of. Of sideline parent communities, and I would say the crew community is really supportive on the whole. [00:27:04] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:27:05] Speaker A: One, when things go wrong or when, you know, boats, you know, taking longer to get across that finish line, you know, there's always that cheering at the end, which is a nice, supportive environment to feel that way. [00:27:16] Speaker C: Yeah, they've worked hard to get there. [00:27:18] Speaker A: Yeah, of course they have, for sure. Well, on that note, you know, we've talked a lot about regattas, which is good. We're going to have more about regattas in the future. Yes, we will, but we're gonna transition over to trivialand. And the problem for us today is that Kim has the trivia question. [00:27:36] Speaker C: Oh, no. [00:27:37] Speaker E: And Kim is the one that always gets the answer. [00:27:40] Speaker A: So the three of us are going to be exposed as. [00:27:44] Speaker D: I think you'll get this one. All right. [00:27:46] Speaker E: Okay. [00:27:46] Speaker D: In this classic children's fantasy book, the female protagonist is rowing in a boat where a sheep is acting as the coxswain while knitting with 14 pairs of needles. At once, the sheep hands the protagonist a pair of needles which magically turn into oars. And so the protagonist starts rowing. The sheep then yells, feather, feather. You'll be catching a crab directly. Who is the protagonist? [00:28:10] Speaker E: Oh, my God, I have no idea. [00:28:15] Speaker A: She's like, you guys are gonna get this. Wait, wait. [00:28:18] Speaker D: Okay, let's recap what's happening. A sheep. A sheep is a coxswain and knitting with 14 needles at once, and the two of them magically turn into ores. So this is a children's fantasy where wacky things happen and there are wacky wrinkle in time. Alice in Wonderland. It is Alice in Wonderland. I don't remember that. So technically, this is in the sequel to the book Alice in Wonderland, which is called through the Looking Glass. What I find really, really funny is that the sheep is a very skilled rower and knows all these rowing terms. And Alice is completely clueless. She's clearly a novice. And so at one point, Alice says, why do you say feather so often? I'm not a bird. And she says, yes, you are. You're a little goose. [00:29:07] Speaker C: Well, thanks for joining, everybody. I hope that helps demystify your first regatta experience. [00:29:12] Speaker E: Enjoy it out there. Enjoy it out there. Have fun. [00:29:14] Speaker C: Enjoy the magic. [00:29:15] Speaker E: Don't hit pause. [00:29:16] Speaker A: See you on the other side of the splash.