Preparations for Henley

We are into our final week in Worcester, MA and putting together the final preparations of our much anticipated trip.  Even if I didn't have a calendar in front of me, there are plenty of signs that tell me the trip is near.  The athletes have started to taper their workouts after a long season of training and racing.  The coaches are already showing their nervous ticks; Coach Pursell is pacing back and forth, and Coach Noble is losing sleep thinking about everything 'coaching'.  I'm laughing at them, assuring them we'll be fine and taking their smaller tasks to keep them focused on the big tasks.  For example, I'm still figuring out how to blog so we have one less thing to worry about over there.  I'm sure some of us have already started to pack our bags, figuring out how we're going to fit everything into one bag for the two week long trip plus other equipment. (cox-boxes, life jackets, tools, etc..)  A few more preparations and we'll be on our way. 

Although preparations and conversations for this trip started about a year ago.  The athletes have been solely preparing for this trip since the conclusion of ECAC's, which is our usual season finale.  They have been rowing on the water 8-10 times a week and I'm sure they have been doing extra workouts and lifts on top of that.  Many of those practices, they have been able to take advantage of our small boat fleet rowing in singles, pairs, doubles, and fours.  They have put in a lot of strokes and I have seen them improve a lot over a few week's span.  This past Saturday was our last Saturday practice on the lake for the season and the unofficial start of the taper.  The extra workouts were being discontinued and water practices continued just once a day.  The rowers looked good, they rowed stronger, cleaner and more focused than I had seen all season.  I could tell that these rowers were ready for the international challenge at Henley. 


(Photo Courtesy of H. Nyce)

The rowers are ready, the coaches are ready, our boat man is ready so let me introduce you to the boats going to England. 

The Varsity Eight (M8+).  Coxed by Ms. Mitra Marvasti-Sitterly. Competing as entry "Worcester Polytechnic Institute, U.S.A." for the Temple Challenge Cup

(Photo Courtesy of H. Nyce)

 

The Kelsey Four. (M4+) Coxed by Ms. Kelsey Regan. Competing as entry "Worcester Polytechnic Institute 'A', U.S.A." for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup
 

(Photo Courtesy of H. Nyce)

 

The Lomi Four.  (M4+) Coxed by Mr. John Lomi.  Also competing for the Prince Albert Challenge Cup as entry "Worcester Polytechnic Institute 'B', U.S.A".


(Photo Courtesy of H. Nyce)

The WPI Henley 2014 team ready for Henley. 

 

(Photo Courtesy of H. Nyce)

The Start of a Blog

Welcome to the WPI Men's Rowing Henley Trip 2014 Blog; A blog that will cover events and stories from the upcoming Henley Trip.

Before I get started with posts that you would actually want to read, I wanted to start this blog with a little introduction of myself and brief synopsis of what to expect with this blog. I am 'Coach' Cavanaugh, Assistant Coach for the WPI Men's Rowing Team. This is my 5th year volunteering as an assistant coach for this program. Prior to coaching I was a rowing member of WPI team during my student years. I will also point out at this time that I received my Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2008. I reiterate that I am an engineer and that the stereotypes of engineers not being able to write are true. And, unfortunately, the only men's coach on our staff with an Arts degree (Coach Noble) has bigger priorities, so you are stuck with me. But I will try to have guest posts from either other members of the coaching staff, our coxswains, or our rowers. That way you won’t really be stuck with "my" blog and you will be able to get multiple perspectives on our trip.

The main purpose of this blog is to showcase our trip to the world, or at least to the friends and family of WPI Rowing. I want to provide those who could not attend a better picture of what we're experiencing over there. This will be accomplished with written stories, detailed events/results, and plenty of photos. I also want this blog to serve as a historical record of the trip, so that in many years time our family, friends and we can look back on it and reminisce. I am going to attempt to update the blog every day or every other day, but I'm not sure how busy or tired I will be. Although I won’t be the one rowing, so I guess I don’t have an excuse. Also another flaw of being an engineer is that I will be able to document the events and happening fine but I may not be able to "paint the picture" that some of you, the readers, will want. Again I will rely on the rowers to share stories and give a different perspective on the trip. They might even be able to explain how the flowers look and smell over there.

I hope you are as excited about this trip as we all are. So once again, welcome to the WPI Men's Rowing Henley Trip 2014 Blog.

-Coach Cavanaugh