Episode 6: Sculling vs. Sweeping

[00:00:06] Speaker A: If you were to close your eyes for just a moment and picture rowing in your mind, you'd most likely picture one of two quintessential images. One, a large eight man boat, bodies in sync and oars splashing away rhythmically flying over the water. The other, a lone rower gracefully rowing through the mist at dawn on water so flat you can't tell where the water ends and the sky begins. Isolated, focused, steady, these two quintessential images are actually indicative of the two types of rowing, sweeping and sculling. In sweep rowing, like in the large eight man boat, rowers each hold one oar and will lean into the arc of that oar during their stroke, meaning they lean towards the side of the boat that holds the oar. This makes their stroke asymmetric and requires them to rely heavily on each other to maintain a straight course. There are lots of options for rowers who choose to row sweep. Typical boat sizes for sweep are called an 8, 8 rowers and a cox, a 4, 4 rowers and sometimes a cox and a pair, two rowers. Most collegiate programs focus heavily on the eights, and sweeping tends to be the predominant type of rowing in most programs in the United States. The other is sculling. In sculling, like in that quintessential solo imagery, each rower holds two oars. These oars are smaller than sweep oars and held one on each side of the boat. Therefore, the rower stays centered in the shell as they progress through the stroke. Scullers also have lots of options to choose from. The main types of sculling boats are a quad, four rowers and sometimes a cox, a double, two rowers and a single. Yes, there is also an ocked eight rowers and a cox, but that's very rare. Early on in rowing, you'll be faced with a will you scull or sweep? Some rowers only ever sweep. Some rowers only ever scull. Some sweep rowers switch to sculling later. Some scullers switch to sweep later. Some rowers are fortunate enough to learn both in parallel. But almost every rower will have an opinion about the right way to learn both kinds of rowing. Ultimately, though, it's a false choice. There's no wrong path, it's just different paths and all lead to being on the water with at least one oar in your hands. [00:02:20] Speaker B: And that, my friend, is where the magic happens. Welcome back. I'm Alicia Cushman, and this is the gather. It's another evening sitting in the living room with my favorite people. I'm super curious. We're talking about sculling versus sweep today and I'm really curious about what you think about this because I know everybody has an opinion. What would you guys recommend for a first time rower? Would you recommend they start with sweep or sculling? [00:02:46] Speaker A: And why? [00:02:48] Speaker C: Well, I'll start. I'm heavily biased by the fact that my kid Declan started sculling in the summer of 2020. So that's just all that was available to us when we were in the middle of lockdown and the pandemic. The early days of COVID and Wakefield crew had a program going that summer where they were sending kids out in singles because it was natural social distancing and safe. You know, kids could go out separated. They didn't have to be, you know, clumped together on a football field or a soccer field. I thought, oh perfect. He gets exercise, he gets outside. So that is how he learned to row. And he always said himself after, you know, being in the sport for five plus years because he started the summer before eighth grade that he is so grateful that he started in a single sculling because you have to set the boat by yourself and in eight, that's also very challenging. But you do have all these other people there. You're all kind of working in tandem to make the boat set and go. But he's like, you learn so much about how to use your own body to set a boat and make it sit right in the water and to stay balanced and not flip over because flipping is a thing. Apparently in singles that happens a lot. So I'm very biased just by what he shared with me. That that was a really formative experience experience for him to start out in a sculling boat and whenever he could go back to that, which was rare because once, you know, the pandemic ended, we were back to racing in eights, you know, and Fords and other boats. He really missed the chance to race in that single and to skull. So that's what I would say. How about everybody else? [00:04:26] Speaker B: What do you think? [00:04:27] Speaker D: I was going to touch on your point about learning the nuance of the boat and the set. I think it's. And this is purely from watching Scholars vs. Sweep Learners is I think scholars are benefited by having that ownership of the boat to themselves and really understanding how to set the boat and really how sensitive a boat is to their balance. And I think that technical skill in sculling leads to no better sweeping but a better understanding of the breadth of the boat and just how small the movements can be or need to be sometimes to set those larger boats among those eight rowers. So I think sculling leads itself to have rowers who just have a better technical understanding of the craft, meaning the shell, the oars, the rigging, all of it together. [00:05:27] Speaker B: I'm gonna be contrarian. I actually agree with you guys. If you hadn't answered first, I probably would have said the same thing. But I actually think it really depends. [00:05:34] Speaker A: On what you want to get out of rowing. [00:05:36] Speaker B: Right. Because, you know, we're answering from the perspective of our kids, who are the ones who are way more experienced than any of us. Right. But I am really thankful for, you know, Kim, we did this together and you learned again with us. We learned as masters in a sweep program. And I found some of my closest friends in that boat for sweep, which I wouldn't have maybe done if I was sculling. And so that especially my pair, I was stroke seat and she was seven seat. We just got pushed together so often and went through so many practices and so much stuff together. And she was, like, right there behind me, and she was my translation to the rest of the boat. And she would talk to me about stuff. And we just got really close. And she's one of my best friends now. Like, I'm gonna go see her this weekend. She moved to Annapolis and, like, so I wasn't starting out to be a technical rower and progress through high school and college and to the Olympics. [00:06:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:06:34] Speaker B: That wasn't what I was looking for when I started rowing. And so for me, sweep, I think, was the right thing to start with because it gave me, you know, I talked about the healing before, but it gave me a community and connections to other people that I desperately needed at the time that I didn't even know I was missing. So I think it just kind of depends. Like, I think if you're. If you're like in a younger program and you're really wanting to learn the technical aspect and really get something like physical technical. Maybe scholarships, maybe Olympics, you know, whatever it may be. I think it absolutely makes sense going. If you master a single, you can really master anything. I've heard that quite a bit. I have been in a single. I need to master a single. It is on my list of things to do because. Just because I want to do well. But if you're looking for something different, it doesn't necessarily have to be a single. I think sweep is really acceptable, especially if you're looking for that sense of community. Because a single is so low, is isolating true Well, a single. [00:07:33] Speaker D: But you do have the doubles and the quads also for sculling. So, you know, oftentimes you're not learning in a quad, but, you know, one. A single sculler will then advance into. To the doubles and the quads. [00:07:46] Speaker B: So. [00:07:47] Speaker A: Which is awesome. [00:07:47] Speaker B: I have had her. I have heard technically, just the small. It's better to do smaller boats to learn the technical, whether you're sculling or sweeping. The smaller boats just give you a better boat feel, which is why I really want to get into sculling, because it's very tippy. [00:08:02] Speaker E: Well, I don't really know much about what I would recommend, but I know which one I like to look at. [00:08:07] Speaker B: Which one do you like to look at the most? [00:08:09] Speaker E: So my table. So I love watching the quads go down. [00:08:12] Speaker D: Interesting. [00:08:14] Speaker E: That's why, because when they've got the. When both have the. When they're both sculling and you've got all these oars on both sides, when they're really cruising along, they look like. Like insects because it's like you have all these. All these legs hanging out on both sides. And I just think they look kind of. They look fun that way. I just think it adds to sort of the rhythm of the oars is. But I think it's one of the more beautiful things of it. And so if you double the oars, it kind of makes it more beautiful, I think. [00:08:43] Speaker C: Well, I know that one time when Declan was in a boat that wasn't doing very well, Wakefield Cruise head coach Russell said they look like a drunk centipede. [00:08:53] Speaker E: I think that's right. [00:08:56] Speaker D: I love watching in sculling how, you know, your hands have to go over, you know, because you obviously are not. They're not side by side. One hand is over and under the other in a sculling, too. And I find that fascinating how they keep that balance between those two oars. [00:09:13] Speaker B: With their hands pulling into them. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:16] Speaker C: And I know Mira, your daughter, has competed quite a bit in the single, so how does she feel about it? [00:09:23] Speaker D: So Mira's competed a lot in sculling, actually, so she's rode a lot in the quads and she competed ahead of the Charles in a single. And I can't speak for her, but I do know that she loves the solo rowing of a single and the success or defeat, whatever it is, of herself, knowing what she's doing. She gets a lot of strength in the team programs. But I think there's something unique about you having ownership of that one skull and you Using all of your power and energy to push that down the river. So, yeah, she was in the Charles, and she was at head of the school, you know, and it's very dependent on just her. And I do think. And not competing, too. I think she finds great. Just solitude and emotional support or what. I don't know what the right word is, but just that space. Space on the water to reflect to. You know, we talked about it before, how you're out in nature, and I think being in that single sometimes can give individuals that just space they need sometimes and some days to just either reflect on their day or just kind of focus on themselves and push themselves down the water. [00:10:42] Speaker E: Not getting mad at anyone behind you for messing up the soup. [00:10:46] Speaker D: Right. Or even. Or even thinking about the other pieces, people in the boat, you know, you're just kind of in your own space. You're in your own head. You're on the water doing your thing instead of like, you know, and we're always. We're always around people, whether it's in school, whether it's in work. And I think sculling lends. [00:11:02] Speaker A: A single. [00:11:02] Speaker D: Sculling lends itself to having that little bit of solitude sometimes that, you know, whether you're a hiker, want to go out on a hike by yourself, or you're a rower and want to go out in the water by yourself sometimes we all need that little space, you know, that it's. [00:11:14] Speaker E: Well, your intro talked about sort of the beauty of that single sculler and that kind of idealized, you know, vision of them. And, I mean, I think that's very true. It's very. Yeah, it looks very meditative. It looks beautiful when you have a single. Like, is it a single? [00:11:31] Speaker B: It's a single. [00:11:33] Speaker D: I think there was a TV show actually with the guy from the Office, and the opening scene was actually him in a single skull. And the opening scene of the TV show with him taking a single skull out of the boathouse actually down near pbc, and he's rowing along the Potomac in that first shot on the water. Yeah, I'm not gonna. Of course I'm not gonna remember the name of it. The guy in the Office. The guy from the office. Steve Carell. No, the guy. [00:11:59] Speaker E: John Krasinski. [00:12:00] Speaker D: Yes. John Krasinski was in a TV show. [00:12:03] Speaker B: Sorry, we're off topic. [00:12:05] Speaker D: A different TV show. He was in a different. [00:12:07] Speaker E: How'd they put the Potomac and scream? [00:12:11] Speaker D: It was in a TV show where he's like a intel guy, like an intelligence guy. And in the opening Scene he's out there. It's really giving the reflection of. He's got this crazy, busy life of intensity. And he's in the single skull in the opening scene, and that's where he kind of, like, lets it go and, you know, is quiet and reflective. So I think it's used frequently. [00:12:35] Speaker B: I think it was used in Discovery of Witches, too. Anybody watched that show? [00:12:40] Speaker C: No. [00:12:41] Speaker D: I don't know. [00:12:42] Speaker B: The main character. [00:12:43] Speaker E: It sounds like an Alicia show. [00:12:45] Speaker B: It's totally an Alicia show. That's my vibe. [00:12:52] Speaker E: So we picked up that Mira really likes single or single skull. That would be her, like, jam if she. [00:12:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:59] Speaker E: You know, or. So what are. What are the rest of you? Are your kids sculling or sweeping as their preference? [00:13:07] Speaker C: My kid's not rowing right now, but he might again, he has said that when he comes back to rowing, he would probably go back into a single if he could, because he loves just exactly that solitude, and he loves. In a single skull, you are so close to the water. The boat is literally not very wide. Like, it's barely the width of your body. And you're so tied in with the water, you know, I mean, you're low in the water in any racing shell, but in a single, somehow the water is just right there at your fingertips. And I think he really likes that. Being in tune with the water is so close. So, you know, I've never been in a single skull, but I would really like that, too. It just sounds super cool. I don't know if I'd be brave enough to try it, but. But the idea of it really appeals. [00:13:56] Speaker E: Do they have trainer single ones? [00:14:00] Speaker B: They do. They do. [00:14:02] Speaker C: They absolutely do. [00:14:03] Speaker D: Alicia, you and I talked about learning this skull, and Mira's like, mom, you know, you have to, like, fall in the water a lot, like, and learn to get yourself out. I'm like, oh, I don't know if I want to do that in the Potomac. [00:14:14] Speaker B: It's actually a lot less scary to get back in a single than you think it is. [00:14:17] Speaker D: Really? [00:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:18] Speaker B: It's not that bad. [00:14:19] Speaker C: Well, I know that a lot of, you know, boathouses and programs require you to do a flip test. You have to do a flip test, be able to, you know, flip out of the boat and get back in and not drown before they'll let you take a single out. So. [00:14:31] Speaker E: And if you do drown, you just. [00:14:33] Speaker C: You're done. That's it. That's over. Yeah. Sorry. [00:14:38] Speaker B: So, my boys, I've been thinking about this, and I don't actually know how to answer this because I, with full certainty, will tell you Derek loves rowing any seat in any boat. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Right. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Like, he just genuinely loves to be rowing. And so. And it's actually been a little bit of a struggle for him to figure out what path he wants to go down. Right. Like, our kids are very, actually really fortunate as sitting in the US to have the sculling experience that they have. [00:15:09] Speaker C: Right. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Because sculling is not a big deal in the US and so our kids have a lot of opportunity on the US Rowing front at the world stage to be really prominent US Rowing scholars. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:24] Speaker B: My child went to Worlds and rode in the singles and alternate Mira went and sculled. Tony went and sculled. And so, you know, they get a lot of attention and opportunity when they focus in and have that sculling skill because of where they are in relation to other kids in the US and so there's something that's really fun about that of being able to like, compete at the very highest level in this sport. [00:15:53] Speaker A: Right. [00:15:53] Speaker B: But also Derek is part of the collegiate program which really focuses on sweep and he's also in one of the top sweep programs. Right. And he really loves being in with the guys. And it's this, like, we've talked about this before, this like, intense team dynamic that you just cannot describe of how close you get with the other. So for, I think I would really struggle to say which one Derek prefers. I think he leans the single, like, like what we've been talking about. There's just something very different. All the pressure is on you, so it's very intense. But also it's just you, right? And so it's this, like, you can't blame anybody and you don't share the rewards with anybody. Right. Like, it's, it's very intense. But I think he would go any boat. I actually know that Danny prefers the single and it's interesting his why? I think, you know, he is similar to Derek now where he loves rowing every seat. But he, I think, and we might talk about this in another episode, but there's a difference between on the water and off the water performance. And my child, my youngest child has really struggled a little bit with off the water performance. Right. He gets sort of testing in his head and he doesn't have the off the water strength. But then when he gets on the water, he beats everybody who off the water, he doesn't. And so I think the single has been an opportunity for him to shine and show how fast he really is where he hasn't been able to do in the traditional erg testing world. [00:17:21] Speaker D: Right. [00:17:22] Speaker B: And so that is his way of saying, look, ergs don't float. Look how fast I am. And so he's really seeing. Seen much more success when he's able to like shine in the single. So I think Danny will probably say the single. I personally would say the eight, actually. No, that's not true. I love rowing at four. [00:17:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:42] Speaker B: I really like a fours. [00:17:44] Speaker E: Why is it. I mean, what's the difference in feel between a 4 and an 8? [00:17:48] Speaker B: So in an 8, like we've talked about, when you're in an 8, your problems are hidden. Right. Because there's so many people sort of offsetting, so you can't really tell when you're making a mistake. And a four for a sweep rower, master's rower, that's not very good. I feel more of what I'm doing in the boat. So, like if I'm washing out at the finish, I feel it kind of dip a little bit and I can, I can just feel those mistakes more in a four than I can in the eight. But also most of the times when I've had really good rows, it's been in a four. [00:18:21] Speaker C: That's interesting. [00:18:22] Speaker B: And it's just really fun to be in a four as a masters rower and rowing with your eight and you're actually beating the eight in the four. [00:18:30] Speaker E: Wow. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Because you're not supposed to be beating the eight. Right. And it's really fun. So I've. I've just had really fun experiences in a four. So I like the four. [00:18:39] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:18:40] Speaker C: I feel like we should probably mention that Tony that you mentioned is Tony Madigan. [00:18:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:18:44] Speaker C: Who is in South Arlington here where we all are. And it was US Rowing's U19 Athlete of the year this year. And who we had the privilege of watching this kid grow up and become a superstar as a single rower. He rode with Wakefield crew a little bit, but mostly with Potomac Boat Club. And it was really amazing to watch him at Worlds as well as a single scholar. And he still has a lot of future ahead of him. It'll be really interesting to see where he ends up. [00:19:11] Speaker B: Yeah, but it is really different. The single, the sculling and sweep. [00:19:16] Speaker A: Right. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Because you have two wars and so in the single you're really independent. But in sweep, like, like I talked about my pair, like when you're sweeping, you only have one ore, so you need somebody else. Otherwise you're rowing in a circle. [00:19:31] Speaker E: I mean, and it's an interesting thing. I mean, it makes me almost Wonder, you know, all the kids were. You know, they loved their. Because mine the same. You know, getting in that sculling boat and kind of heading out on his own or with his one buddy who they just always were in sync and love to just row together. You know, whether that, you know, it's kind of hitting them at that time in high school where, you know, wanting to break away, having your own identity, solitude, and kind of that individual direction is what they're craving, right? I mean, they're just on the cusp of kind of moving into adulthood and wanting to be that. So I wonder if there's anything about that, like, in the sense of. Because there's part of me that thinks I would like sweeping. I know I have to try it. [00:20:17] Speaker C: You have to try it. [00:20:21] Speaker B: But I. [00:20:21] Speaker E: Love that there's something really also very beautiful in the idea of having these pairs where one person has one or the other person has the other one. And you just have to be so in sync, not just in, like, timing, but in equal amounts of pressure. Like, how much. Is that what you call it? Pressure on the. Or I don't know what you call it. So. But just how many things you have to intuitively know about your partner to keep that boat straight. And I guess that's replicated and maybe hidden the more. More of those pairs that you have in an eight, for example, and maybe the four is kind of that sweet spot. But, you know, I think there's something beautiful about also that sense of dependency on someone else or that need to just kind of find that camaraderie. And I think that's also something that we crave, right? I mean, you know, in adolescence, you're always craving that independence because you want to define yourself. But I think in adulthood, and that's really what we are sort of is wanting. Well, I meant sort of where I was going. [00:21:30] Speaker B: Brilliant. [00:21:32] Speaker E: I don't know about all you. Fair, but thinking, like. [00:21:41] Speaker B: No, no, no. [00:21:42] Speaker E: But just thinking that, you know, when you. When you were sort of at a phase where we. We really crave, you know, connections as well with other people, right? [00:21:50] Speaker C: It's. [00:21:51] Speaker E: I mean, you need your other people, you need your. Your friends that get you through it. You. You realize the importance of relying on other people in life, because life has all kinds of unpredictable ups and downs. And if you don't have that other partner who's there to help you, whether, you know, as a friend or whatever that is, you need that and you need multiple partners to be things. And so I think that, you know, the Podcast in many ways, which brought us together was that sense of, you know, we're at a stage in life where we. Where we need that connection, we want those people. And for me, that's what the sweeping kind of represents. [00:22:33] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:33] Speaker B: And I think there are some people who lean like ultra introverted, only want to be on their own, only want to be independent. And so that sort of single might be their way to go and that might be their lifestyle. [00:22:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:45] Speaker B: And I think about this in relation to life when it comes to work. [00:22:48] Speaker A: Right. [00:22:48] Speaker B: I talk about this a lot, that an individual contributor, like, you don't necessarily have to be a people manager or a team person to be a super successful individual contributor. That's just who you are. [00:23:00] Speaker A: And that can be a path that. [00:23:01] Speaker B: You choose versus someone who might be really craving the teamwork and really feeling how to, like, navigate those dynamics, can be a really powerful leader, a really powerful team person, and both are equally important to the success of an organization. And you may float between those two at different aspects of your life. [00:23:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:23:21] Speaker D: Well, and I think the tying those two together, as an individual rower, you have that opportunity to show yourself or prove yourself or prove it either to someone else. Say if you're in a race and you want to finish in a certain space or even just yourself, you know, you're taking that opportunity to prove it to yourself that you can do it in a, you know, row in the single. And then sometimes they want to row in a double or a quad or sweep in an eight because they're craving that unity or that camaraderie or that teamwork or that. So, you know, it's not rowing. A single might just be an opportunity to prove to oneself, you know, in a workplace where you're an independent contributor and you're doing your job, but you have. Then you get the lead on a project, you know, and you're proving yourself in that team. But I think, you know, the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, but can definitely work together for whomever one is at different levels. [00:24:18] Speaker B: And it's not a hierarchy either. It's not like one is better than the other, or you, like, naturally, like, oh, if you do this, you can do that. Right. Like, they're totally independent of each other. It's just a matter of where you fit and where you are in your life and what you want and do. [00:24:32] Speaker E: You happen to know. So with sweeping, are you able to physically put more into that one oar? I mean, is that. Why do sweeping boats go faster than sculling boats? I Guess is the question. No, no. [00:24:47] Speaker B: Yeah. But what? [00:24:47] Speaker A: Depends. [00:24:48] Speaker B: So, basically, the boat goes as fast as the number of oars in the water. So a quad is similarly as fast as an eight. [00:24:56] Speaker A: Really? Yeah. [00:25:00] Speaker E: I feel like that could have been our trivia question. [00:25:02] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. The one difference is leverage. So the sweep oars are a little longer. [00:25:08] Speaker C: Right. [00:25:09] Speaker B: Which means you have a little more leverage and the blade is a little bigger. And so the sweep oar, if the exact same number of oars are in the water and you have exactly the same power in the boat, the sweet. The eight is going to be faster. [00:25:22] Speaker D: Than the quad, but not by a lot. [00:25:24] Speaker B: And there are some quads that are way faster than some eights. [00:25:27] Speaker C: Yeah. So interesting. [00:25:29] Speaker B: Quads are also my favorite to watch. [00:25:31] Speaker D: They're super cool. [00:25:32] Speaker B: Although it was fun to watch the four, the men's four, win the gold in the Olympics for the US that was pretty cool. [00:25:38] Speaker E: Well, that's good, too. [00:25:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:25:39] Speaker A: Yes. [00:25:39] Speaker B: But, yeah, ultimately, I think when push comes to shove this week. But that's a. That's just me guessing. [00:25:45] Speaker D: I don't know that. I know that for a fact. [00:25:46] Speaker B: I said that with all the confidence in the world. [00:25:48] Speaker D: Yeah, you did. We're the experts on our podcast. [00:25:53] Speaker E: I think we should mark that down as a question. If we have a special guest who knows a lot about rowing in the near future that we could ask him. [00:26:01] Speaker B: Or about that or her. [00:26:03] Speaker E: Or her person I think we have scheduled is a him. [00:26:09] Speaker B: I was like, why does it gotta be him? [00:26:11] Speaker A: It doesn't. [00:26:11] Speaker E: It doesn't. It absolutely doesn't. [00:26:14] Speaker B: Oh, yes. I do think we could ask him. Yeah. We have a. We have a guest planned for a future episode that we're really excited to bring to you guys. [00:26:20] Speaker E: We have to keep listening. [00:26:21] Speaker B: Teaser. [00:26:22] Speaker C: Yes, exactly. [00:26:23] Speaker B: We're not even gonna say who it. [00:26:24] Speaker E: Is, but I think it's time for trivia. [00:26:27] Speaker B: I think it's time for trivia, too. [00:26:28] Speaker D: Hey, trivia. I have Olympic history trivia. [00:26:31] Speaker B: Oh, boy. [00:26:32] Speaker D: Olympic history Trivia. In the 1928Amsterdam Olympics, Australian rower Bobby Pierce paused his quarterfinal race. Why did he pause his quarterfinal race? And what place did he take when he went and continued his race? [00:26:49] Speaker B: Did he catch a crab? [00:26:51] Speaker D: Nope. [00:26:52] Speaker C: He paused in the middle of an Olympic race. [00:26:54] Speaker E: He, like, just said pause. [00:26:55] Speaker D: Yep, he paused. [00:26:57] Speaker E: What do you like? [00:26:58] Speaker A: Time out. Yep. [00:26:59] Speaker D: He paused his quarterfinal race while everyone else was still. Yes, everyone during the race. [00:27:05] Speaker B: Wait, was this a single? Was he a single? [00:27:06] Speaker E: What was he doing? [00:27:08] Speaker D: Why did he pause? [00:27:09] Speaker B: Did he hit a buoy? [00:27:10] Speaker C: No. 1928. [00:27:12] Speaker B: No. [00:27:12] Speaker C: Did you say where the Olympics were? [00:27:14] Speaker D: Amsterdam Olympics. [00:27:16] Speaker C: Okay. [00:27:16] Speaker E: Oh, so he's getting high. [00:27:23] Speaker B: Did he get off? Did he get sideways? [00:27:25] Speaker D: No. It's something that happened. I'll even give you a hint. It's something that. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Did he bark in. [00:27:30] Speaker D: Happened to one of our boats in a race. [00:27:32] Speaker E: He hit a bird. [00:27:36] Speaker C: Close. [00:27:37] Speaker D: He paused to let a family of ducks. [00:27:42] Speaker E: And then what place did he get after he paused for the dog? [00:27:45] Speaker D: First place he did get. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Wow. [00:27:49] Speaker E: I mean, that was a wow. [00:27:51] Speaker B: Yep. [00:27:51] Speaker D: By 30 seconds, too. [00:27:53] Speaker C: A gentleman and an athlete. [00:27:55] Speaker B: Yes. Wow. That's so cool. That's one of the things that's really cool about watching singles is because they're one of the smaller boats. And so, like, relative to watching other races, it looks like there's a lot of space in between singles. But they can make up that space really fast. Yeah. [00:28:11] Speaker D: And they can decide to pause for a minute because it's just. [00:28:15] Speaker E: It just reminds me of. Make way for duckling. [00:28:20] Speaker D: But, like, could you imagine, like, an 8 sweep? [00:28:23] Speaker B: Oat, go. Whoa. [00:28:23] Speaker D: The cox. [00:28:24] Speaker B: And go. [00:28:24] Speaker E: Wait, hold. Now outbreak. [00:28:27] Speaker C: That would be ducks. [00:28:31] Speaker B: Ducks being murdered on the course. Ducklings. [00:28:35] Speaker E: That's a good one. [00:28:36] Speaker B: All the moms on the sideline are going, no. [00:28:42] Speaker D: Don'T press pause. [00:28:43] Speaker B: Don't press pause. [00:28:44] Speaker E: Don't press pause. Keep listening through. [00:28:46] Speaker B: Wait. Like, we'll see you after the splash. [00:28:49] Speaker E: We'll see you after the splash. That's right. [00:28:52] Speaker B: Bye, guys.