Episode 9: The Split

[00:00:08] Speaker A: You'll often hear rowers talk about their split. You'll hear them say things like, he's two splits faster than me, or I. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Didn'T hit my splits today. But what does that even mean? [00:00:18] Speaker A: In rowing, a split is how much time, in minutes and seconds it takes to row 500 meters. Why 500 meters? She might be thinking. Well, rowing lore holds that 500 meters was chosen because it was both a common distance for a training piece and also exactly 1/4 of a standard 2k race. The concept of a split is fully ingrained in the language and culture of rowing. The 500 meter split is prominent on the erg screen. Coxswains will call splits out throughout races as encouragement or admonishment. Single rowers will see their split on the stroke coach more on that in a later episode. It's really everywhere. It's a measure individuals can use to establish baselines and then track their progress at various distances. Rowers will know what split they need to hold for their target 2K, or they'll gauge training pieces based on what their 2K split is, plus or minus some amount of seconds. If a male rower in high school can hold less than a 135 split over 2k on average, they're likely to be a top college recruit, with elite recruits logging 2K splits faster than 133. For women in high school, top college recruits are usually holding a split of around 150 over 2k, with elite recruits speeding splits of 148. On the surface, the split is a simple measure, the time it takes to row 500 meters. But beneath that simplicity, it's a quiet truth teller. Holding a target split over distance demands a precise balance, endurance and sprint, power and rate, timing and rhythm, along with constant improvisation in the face of unpredictable conditions. In the end, it isn't about the finish or the flash of a single powerful stroke. It's about restraint, rhythm, and what you can sustain when the piece gets long. Chasing a number too early can feel bold, but it rarely ends well. The split rewards patience, discipline and the humility to settle into a pace you can hold stroke after stroke, even as fatigue sets in. It's mental fortitude, the ability to quiet the voice telling you to stop and to trust what you're truly capable of. In rowing, as in life, progress isn't built in heroic moments, but in the steady choices we make when no one's watching. Some days feel effortless, like the world is wide open and everything is within reach. Other days feel heavy, like you're stuck and the world is closing in. It takes deep self awareness, willpower, and resolve to keep moving forward, focusing on what you can control and refusing to let the noise of the world drain your energy or distract you from your purpose. And in those hard, maybe even impossible moments when the split starts to slow and the darkness creeps in, the question becomes, do you know how to push yourself back into the light? The point isn't any single moment the world will keep moving. What matters is learning how to pace yourself, how to stay in it, and how to keep going long enough to reach something that truly matters. [00:03:08] Speaker B: Welcome back. I'm Alicia Cushman, and this is the Gathering. We are here together again, gathered in the living room for brunch. And I'm so happy to be with my favorite people. [00:03:17] Speaker A: I love it. [00:03:18] Speaker B: Our topic today is the split. And in the introduction, I talked a little bit about the difference between a college recruit at the top level versus the elite level. And the difference is only two seconds. I mean, that's. To me, it seems like nothing. But the difference to get 2 seconds over 2k consistently is like a phenomenal difference in effort, which is, what do you guys think about that being, like, the distinction between a top recruit or an elite recruit? Like, it's such a small difference to be what you decide basically someone's life on. [00:03:50] Speaker C: Right? And I think it is. I think that there's a nuance there because two seconds to us is a time measurement, but two seconds on a split, it has a measurement behind it, too, with watts and output. So, I mean, to get that two seconds, like you said, is a big step for a rower. I know, given that my daughter's rowing D1 in college, that having the pressure of that split is very real, because they are. Those college recruits are looking for that number. And sometimes that number doesn't always equate to the abilities on the water, and sometimes their abilities on the water don't actually, you know, relate directly to the split on the erg. So I think it's. It's really a mental game that rowers have to go through in dealing with that split and having that goal there define them. [00:04:39] Speaker D: So is that, I mean, dumb Ed talking for a second? So, like, in the recruiting world and all, I mean, I remember always the talk about splits, you know, that that was what they were pushing for and their 2Ks and all that kind of these. These seem to be standard metrics that. That is really the main thing that is used as the statistic to capture rowers. [00:05:00] Speaker B: Typically, yeah, it is the 2k and the 6k times are really it. Right. When Derek was recruiting, and Danny too, when they were recruiting, they would fill out questionnaires and it's like body ratio. How tall are you, how long are your arms, what's your wingspan, distance from hip to your foot or whatever, and your 2k and 6k times. Because, you know, in the rowing world, we're not basketball and football, where you have, you know, scouts everywhere, right. You have a limited amount of people who can recruit. And so you fill out these questionnaires and you really are reduced somewhat to your 2k time. Right. They submit videos, but when, when they do visits, they're not allowed to row with the team. Like NCAA rule rules don't allow them to row with the team. Cause it's not a tryout. [00:05:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:44] Speaker B: Um, and so you're sort of relegated to the best videos you can provide and your 2k and 6k scores, which, as we know, ergs don't float. We talked about that in the last episode and it doesn't fully reflect who you are as a rower. I think it makes it really challenging for college coaches to sort of assess who's going to be the top rower versus not. And I think it's a really complicated environment. [00:06:07] Speaker D: Do they just trust the. Like, how do they know that you have that split time and all that? [00:06:13] Speaker C: They have to be. They have to be certified by a coach. You know, they'll take a picture of the ERG monitor and then it's certified by a coach. I would add. It's not just the time, obviously. Alicia spoke about the videos, but recruiters do go out to practices. They do see the rowers on the water. They. They do look at the team dynamic, how you are playing with your team, you know, in the boat. But really when it's about the power of the rower, you know, all of that is very important. And how do you do that? You know, you do that by putting a numeric value on that strength and power of that rower. [00:06:51] Speaker D: So, yeah, it reminds. I mean, one of the things I keep thinking about is the, you know, both the power of a single number as a metric to help you gauge progress. You know, so there is something valuable about being able to look back over six months, over a year, over whatever amount of time, and say, wow, that used to be my split time and I worked hard for that and now it's this and, you know, three cheers for me. Or it could go the other way, I suppose. [00:07:16] Speaker C: Well, so I'm going to divulge a little bit, but when Alicia and I were in row house. If she were next to me, her split is a monster. And you know, I would always be trying to match her split. And there were a couple of times where I did. If I got on an ERG now and I tried to do it, there's no way. So I still know that I've got a split in my past that was good. But you know, and so you do you kind of keep that in your mind that you can get there or have been there or are striving to be there at least as one of those measurements of your ability. So. [00:07:52] Speaker D: And that, but that's what you're hinting at is sort of then this, this other side of that notion of the single metric or the, this thing, thing that you're using to gain progress or gauge progress is that it's easy to become so focused on that as, as the sport of rowing. Right. That is your value as a rower when there's so much more, you know, like you can't capture in one number the totality of someone's abilities and skills. And you know, we were talking last episode about winter conditioning and that kind of thing and how it's, it's occurring to me as we're talking now how winter conditioning kind of puts those rowers into this like single number defines me world. And then once you get back out on the water then all the other stuff starts coming into play. And there can be a bit of a disconnect between those things. But I think that can be hard for rowers in the. Certain rowers in the winter. Not everyone, I mean, maybe everyone responds this way, but I just think about that potentially dehumanizing aspect of being reduced to a single number rather than being thought of as the whole complex kind of package. [00:08:57] Speaker E: Well, I have known of a high school coach that basically uses 2k times to fill seats in a boat and it was not very successful. We had Russell Topp as a guest a couple episodes ago. And one great thing that Russell did is that he did take those numbers, but they were not far from the whole picture. He was very good about seeing the whole person and the whole rower. He did look at 2k times and split times and all that stuff, but it wasn't the only metric and that was very important. And, and it was particularly important for my kid cuz he didn't do as well on the erg as he did out on the water. So. But I know that that number is really essential in the minds of even some coaches. And they make big Decisions based on that. [00:09:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't. I don't envy coaches in rowing, honestly. Um, I say that, but I would actually love to be a rowing coach. [00:09:40] Speaker E: They'd be really cool. [00:09:41] Speaker D: You'd be good. [00:09:42] Speaker B: But I do think it would be. I. I think it's a really complicated sport to coach because of what we're talking about. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Right. [00:09:49] Speaker B: Until you get into the Peach System and telemetrics, like, you can only see what's visible to your eye. And I'm not r. Russell has this, like, I don't know, superhuman ability to see things. You know, he. He said, like, he's so humble. Weirdly enough, Russell, you're humble about this aspect of what you do, but you see things that really nobody else does, even other rowing coaches. But to try and. And navigate the management of a team and a boat with just these metrics that are kind of pointing at whether or not someone can really put the power down in the boat that they need to, but don't necessarily measure it directly is. It's incredible, right? Because, you know, and I think there's a debate between coaches of, like, there are coaches at US Rowing in college and high school that really, like, they know before you ever step foot in the boathouse what your 2k is and what seat you're going to be in because of it. [00:10:38] Speaker A: Right. [00:10:39] Speaker B: And there are other coaches who look more holistically, both ways, have had success in different. In different aspects. And I can't say which is or isn't right, but what I can say is that the individual motivation is very different between rowers. My two kids are very different when it comes to the split. Derek is incredibly motivated by the split. He sees the numbers. He has this superhuman ability to, like, shut down his brain, sometimes to the detriment of him actually staying conscious when he's erging in order to hit. In order to hit splits. And then you have Danny, who is incredibly. An incredibly powerful rower. He's the strongest of all five brothers, including Derek. But for whatever reason, when he sees that sort of split on the screen, it's. It's almost demotivating for him. Right. So their brains just work in very different ways and they're motivated in very different ways. And so to reduce yourself as a rower down to just one number, you know, if you're one who's motivated by numbers, then great. But if you're not, what do you do? Like, how do you find success in rowing? How do you find the college and the coach that'll look at. Hey, look at Me on the water, look at my tech, look at what I can do, look at how I actually move a boat on the water versus the coach that's just gonna seat you based on 2k. I think it's really comp. I think it's really complicated. [00:11:55] Speaker D: Yeah, well, and it's important for parents to remember that too, because, I mean, if you're, if we're talking about sort of parents who have kids and rowing programs or just trying this out and they're sending them to winter conditioning, you know, there can be a lot of ups and downs here. And maybe from a parent's perspective, it's helpful to help your kid keep remembering, right. That it's more than just because that's what. That. What seems to be the number that's always happening. And they're doing these two Ks and they're doing. And I don't know, to help them stay motivated or support your rower is to help keep that perspective a little. [00:12:25] Speaker C: Bit, while at the same time they are trying to reach those numbers. Because while we were going through the recruiting process, I don't know how many times I heard or told to me, well, when they get down below 7:30, or when they get down below 7:20, or when they're, you know, closer to 7, and that's, that's tough. I mean, for a rower who's looking to row in college or just a rower in general, to like, always have that pressure of thinking that that's, like we said before, that's what defines them. I think it is very important what you say about parents kind of saying, pulling them back and saying, okay, that's your goal, that's what you want to do. But that's not all of you. And it's incredibly important for us to maintain that stability and sanity for them. [00:13:08] Speaker A: And for them to have the tools. [00:13:09] Speaker B: When they're either on the erg or not. When they get into that. [00:13:13] Speaker A: I can think of. [00:13:13] Speaker B: There's plateaus, right? Derek's at 6 flat right now. It's really a very big wall mentally, to break 6 or to break 20, or to break 6 30, right. [00:13:24] Speaker C: It's. [00:13:25] Speaker B: It's very challenging to break through those walls. And so to give them a way to find their own mechanisms to. When it gets super dark and you're on the erg and you're in the middle 1k and it's like you are literally dying and your, your mind is telling you to stop, how do you shut your mind down if this is what you want? How do you shut your mind down to sort of power through and stay motivated. [00:13:47] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:48] Speaker B: How do you shut your mind down in the middle of. When you're conditioning, when you're doing, you know, like an hour or two hour pieces and like, how do you shut your mind down and say, there's a light at the end of this tunnel. This is what I want. I'm going to keep going. Like, what is that sort of internal motivation? And everyone's got to figure that out for themselves because mine isn't going to be the same as yours. None of us are going to have that same. Like, what keeps us going, whether it's on the erg or not. And how do you figure that out? I haven't figured this out. This is a genuine question. I'm 44 years old and I still haven't figured this out. [00:14:18] Speaker E: Well, I'd like to think about how this is a lesson in mindfulness. And we always hear about staying in the moment and how important that can be. And whenever I've had a test like this and I've done a 2K test also, like, or if I feel like I'm starting to get demotivated, I'm on the erg and it's like, oh, I'm tired and it's not really going. Like, that's where I love to look at the monitor and look at the numbers and just take it like 100 meters at a time almost, you know, like kind of boiling it down. That's how I do it. Like, I think it's different for everybody, but I think for some of these long pieces, you know, it's just taking it one step at a time, maybe one stroke at a time. I know you have to kind of think about how it. The power goes over the whole test, but that's what keeps me going, is just like, forget about the end point, just think about the next step. And I think that's how I've gotten through some things in life, too, is just kind of boiling it down to what's. What do I need to do right this minute, what I need to do in the next couple minutes and just focus on that and not get too overwhelmed about what the final outcome is going to be. [00:15:13] Speaker D: The splits of life. [00:15:14] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:15:18] Speaker B: What do you guys do? Have you figured it out? [00:15:20] Speaker D: No. [00:15:22] Speaker B: It's so hard, right? Yeah. [00:15:24] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:15:25] Speaker B: I think when I'm. When I'm on an erg, I have one coach in particular who, for whatever reason, his voice, there's something about him that I'm just like, I want to do right by him. Like, I'm not gonna let him down. He's not even my coach anymore. But still, like, when I'm, like, dying on the erg, I hear him in my head and he'll be like, you can do this, or, I want more power, or, low rates don't mean low power. And he just used to say these things where I just, like, replay them in my head as if he's standing right there saying them to me. And that helps me on the erg. I think in life, I haven't figured it out. Like, the. [00:16:00] Speaker A: The splits of life, I haven't quite. [00:16:01] Speaker B: Figured out, but I think if I look back on the times when I've been able to pull myself out of the darkness, I'm not intentional about this, and maybe I should be more. But the times I've been able to pull myself out have been. I have to find hope in something, and it may not even be related to what is causing that sort of heaviness in life, but I have to find some hope in something. Like, I have to find hope somehow. [00:16:25] Speaker D: I don't know if I've had. I haven't had, like, dark times and things. Like, so that's. I'm a lucky person on this. Like, I'm really sorry. [00:16:34] Speaker B: I'm impressed. Even these days. I know with the world as it. [00:16:37] Speaker D: Is, I mean, you know, but I can recognize plateaus. Right. That idea of feeling more aimless, not really sure, like, really wanting the next phase of life or the next phase of a career, or feeling like, oh, this is just. This isn't what I want it to be, and going. Or just these moments where you're going through the motions. Right. Which is just. You're. [00:16:59] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:17:00] Speaker D: You're pulling that erg or whatever. I mean, I don't know. We don't need to stretch that metaphor more. [00:17:05] Speaker B: Yeah, but. [00:17:06] Speaker C: But you kind of nailed my life. [00:17:13] Speaker D: But it's finding those next goals, right? And figuring out what is that. That next thing to get excited about, or what's the next. And it. And I think it's hard when you're an athlete training and you've got a coach that says, oh, you've got this next split that you could get to, or you've got this. If I get to college, then, you know, this is what I'm striving for. College and then. But after college, what do you. I mean, most people are not striving for the US Rowing team. I mean, some maybe, but, you know, that's not the main thing. So how do you? It is converting some of this into finding a motivation or setting a goal or figuring out how to get excited about something. I have a hard time doing that internally. I think it has to be done. And in some ways, this podcast is one of those things, you know, where it's, you know, you're kind of looking for another thing to get excited about or to put your energy into. And maybe that. That's. Maybe that's the splits of life thing for me is always just how. Trying to find the next inspiring thing. [00:18:09] Speaker E: Yeah. And the next challenge, too. Like, I think, you know, we all are curious people. We all want to learn about things, and I'm always thinking, what's the next thing? Like, I can kind of learn about and sink my teeth into and, you know, strive for. It's. It's a great way to be. I think, you know, at this stage of life, when we have grown kids, you know, to think about, you know, what do we do next and how do we challenge ourselves and push to drop that split a little bit and learn something new and. Or even just enter a new race, you know, just trying again. Some things. Those are hard questions, but I think it's kind of exciting, too, to think about, like, we can always keep pushing. [00:18:43] Speaker C: Towards that, but not necessarily define ourselves by that number. [00:18:47] Speaker E: No. Yeah, exactly. [00:18:48] Speaker C: And I think, you know, as you were talking, I'm thinking about how we've seen a transition in health and fitness where you're not defined by just your BMI or you're not defined by just your weight. And they. We've made a very conscious effort over the last decade to say, okay, no, just because you weigh this doesn't mean you're healthy. You know, if you're not eating well or you're eating too much sugar or whatever it is. And I think we're talking about breaking down the split a little bit in what it means to someone in life and in life goals. Because in that same metaphor of, like, you're not your weight, you're not your bmi, you're not your salary, you're not your, you know, address, whatever it is, there are more internal things that you are than what that number is. No matter what that number is, whether it's your split number, whether it's, you know, all these other things. [00:19:40] Speaker B: Right. And underneath those things, like the split, there's so many different levers you can pull as a rower and in life, there's so many different levers you can pull to achieve that goal. Right. Say it's a job Title. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Right. [00:19:50] Speaker B: You can just get the job title. Right. There's levers you pull as a human to leverage your strengths and to like balance your strengths and weaknesses in order to get to that place. And it's the same in rowing. Like if you're a power rower, you lean into your sort of power and strength. If you're a cardio guy, then you lean into rate. Like you're not the number, you're. Whatever levers you're pulling to get eventually get to the number that you want. And it's way more nuanced than that. And so how do you learn? I guess what I'm trying to say is how do you learn which levers you're actually controlling? And you can push and pull versus what's sort of noise? [00:20:23] Speaker C: Right. [00:20:23] Speaker B: When Russell was talking about it's like 90% connection and timing and the rest is noise or something like that. It's like how do you figure out for yourself what is the noise that you just can't control? It's always going to be that way. So what levers do you pull that are gonna sort of move your own personal split in whatever direction that wants to go? [00:20:39] Speaker D: No. [00:20:40] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, sort of. Like, I like the idea of balancing, like having a number be a motivator, but not so be the only thing that defines you. Like say that it's both things at once. Like, I love what you just said about the BMI thing and you know, just having a more holistic view of who we are as people and understanding ourselves and you know that a number can be helpful, but it isn't the only thing, you know. So I think that's great. [00:21:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:01] Speaker C: Cam, you mentioned something about self motivation too, and happiness and finding your. We were talking earlier about this, but can you touch on that a little bit too? Because I thought that was relevant to finding the motivation and whether it's the number or the goal or whatever it is. [00:21:16] Speaker E: Yeah, no, thanks for bringing that up. So I was talking about a book called the Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, who is well known for writing a book and kind of creating a project called the Happiness Project about sort of choosing things to make you happy. And this is another book of hers that I read probably, I don't know, well over a decade ago. That was very eye opening for me because what Gretchen does in the book is she sort of categorizes people into four categories or four tendencies which are all based on how well you respond to internal and external motivations. And for me, it was very helpful to understand myself in that way, because up to that point, I would set these goals for myself and maybe not make them and then beat myself up over that. You know, I wasn't this weight, or I didn't, you know, kind of the equivalent of I didn't hit this split or whatever. And I didn't realize to the extent to which I respond better to external motivation than internal motivation. And I need to build in scat scaffolding to meet my goals. Which goes back to the idea we talked about in the last episode of Accountability. But her four tendencies are upholders, obligers, questioners, and rebels. And you can kind of just tell from the title. Everyone should go get the book. Upholders kind of have an easy time responding to both internal and external motivations. They're given a task, they do it. Obligers respond better to external. They oblige society. They oblige what people are asking of them. Questioners are more rebellious. They're more likely to do what you want them to do, but they're going to ask a lot of questions and make sure it's a perfect fit for them. And then finally, as you can imagine, the rebels are like, I ain't doing any of it. I'm not doing what you want me to do, and I don't want to do what I want to do. And the vast majority of us are obligers. You know, we respond well to external motivation, maybe less so we struggle more with responding to internal motivation. And Gretchen says that most of the people in the world are obligers, and that's what makes society work, because we respond each other. We want to do right by each other. We want to help each other. Understanding how well we respond to external or internal motivation, I think has a lot to do with meeting our goals. And so, again, it kind of goes back to what we're saying about understanding ourselves. Having coaches and peers and family that understand us and don't just reduce us to one thing or another, I think is really important. [00:23:33] Speaker B: That's so fun. I'm gonna have to read this. [00:23:34] Speaker E: It's a great book. It's a little book, actually. And actually, there's a free online quiz I think you can take to figure out what personality type you are. And maybe Gretchen Rubin can give us a kickback. [00:23:47] Speaker D: Well, what's funny is the whole cultural story that Americans tell themselves. That you're supposed to pull yourself up by your boot. [00:23:53] Speaker E: Exactly. [00:23:53] Speaker D: So it's a story of internal motivation against the world or against all of those messages, but that doesn't necessarily Go along with the majority of human nature. [00:24:05] Speaker E: Exactly. Right. Exactly. [00:24:06] Speaker B: And how funny is it that we as Americans say, you have to pull yourself up from your bootstrap? Because if you look at the origins of that, you can't actually do it. So we've actually looked. You can't actually pull yourself. [00:24:15] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:24:18] Speaker B: Why did we, like, the origin of. [00:24:21] Speaker D: It actually is flipped. Like, it meant the opposite thing. [00:24:24] Speaker E: It did, but it doesn't. [00:24:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's really funny that we're, like, opposite. But when I was thinking of your book there, what came to mind was, if most of the world are obligers, we probably have a lot of structure and systems and metrics. [00:24:38] Speaker E: Yes. [00:24:38] Speaker B: In order to sort of adhere to the majority of people who think that way, what do the people who don't think that way have? [00:24:45] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:46] Speaker B: How do they navigate through a structure that isn't built for them? And when we get going back to splits. [00:24:51] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:51] Speaker B: When you have a kid who isn't, or when you yourself are not that motivated that way, how do you find a path in a system and structure of measures that aren't set up for you? Right. And it's almost like neurodivergency, too, Right? [00:25:04] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:25:06] Speaker C: Yep. And even be dissuaded. Yeah. By that number that is on the screen. [00:25:11] Speaker B: Right, Right. So is it time for some fun? [00:25:16] Speaker D: Yeah, I think it's good. I'm ready for some trivia. [00:25:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:19] Speaker C: Always. Yay. [00:25:20] Speaker B: All right. [00:25:20] Speaker D: Is this related to Soundgarden? [00:25:22] Speaker B: It is not, so. [00:25:26] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:25:26] Speaker E: Right. [00:25:26] Speaker A: Okay. [00:25:28] Speaker B: Fun personal story. I was in New York last week with my mother, and we went to go see the LEET show, which is a very fun experience. I did. I know. I haven't had a chance to talk to Kathy about it. [00:25:38] Speaker D: I know. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:25:39] Speaker B: I can't wait. You guys weren't at Trivia, and I wanted to talk about. Because I came back that day anyways so excited. We were standing out on Waiting in Line, and I literally bumped into somebody getting out of a taxi. And this person is a famous person who is. [00:25:55] Speaker A: This is the trivia question. [00:25:56] Speaker B: This is the trivia question. The person that I bumped to. [00:25:58] Speaker A: No, nothing to do with the Late Show. [00:26:00] Speaker B: I just happened to be on the street, and this person happened to get out of a taxi, and my back was to him. And it is a him. And I turned around and. And I see him walking away, and I was like, oh, my God. But this person also happened to Cox in college. This person is a news anchor, and he Coxed in college. [00:26:18] Speaker C: A little news anchor. [00:26:19] Speaker B: He Coxed a light. [00:26:21] Speaker D: Oh, Stephanopoulos. No. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Any other guesses? [00:26:24] Speaker D: That's a good guess. [00:26:26] Speaker C: News anchor Anderson Cooper. [00:26:27] Speaker A: It is Anderson Cooper. [00:26:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:32] Speaker E: That's great. [00:26:34] Speaker B: That was very cool. I didn't know that about him. [00:26:35] Speaker E: Did you talk to him when you bumped into him? [00:26:37] Speaker B: No, because my back was. And he, like, took off. I mean, we were in a line of people, so I can't imagine he, like, wanted to stay and get recognized. He got out of a taxi and he was, like, walking away and I was like, that's Anderson Cooper. It's the shock of white hair. That's what made me, like, realize it. So the bonus. The bonus 2 points is. Where do you guys think he coxed? [00:26:55] Speaker C: I don't know where he went to school. [00:26:57] Speaker E: Well, he's related to the Vanderbilt. Exactly. [00:27:00] Speaker D: So that's where he went to school. School. [00:27:02] Speaker E: So he comes from some privilege being in the Vanderbilt family. So I'm assuming maybe in an Ivy League school is my guess. [00:27:11] Speaker C: Harvard. [00:27:12] Speaker B: No, we have somebody who. [00:27:14] Speaker A: From Wakefield who went to this school. [00:27:15] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. Yale. [00:27:18] Speaker B: So Anderson Cooper coxed at Yale while he was an undergrad, which I think is really cool. [00:27:24] Speaker E: That's a good term. Yeah. And we should probably shout out Mighty Mac Fuqua, who was the Wakefield rower who's at Yale right now. So he, Mighty Mac, was one of the fastest rowers that Wakefield crew ever saw. [00:27:35] Speaker B: So many people do not call him Mack. Many people call him Stuart. Yeah, that's right. Only us Wakefield family know the Mac. [00:27:44] Speaker E: That was a great question. [00:27:46] Speaker C: Well, that's great. [00:27:47] Speaker D: Thanks for listening to us this week. We had a good conversation. [00:27:51] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:27:51] Speaker D: Hope that you'll stay tuned. [00:27:53] Speaker B: Don't hit pause. See you after the splash. [00:27:56] Speaker A: Excellent.