Saturday. River Regatta Day 1.
Weather was nice. Looked like it might rain a couple of times during the day, but the skies actually held (it rained at the Regatta two years ago and that was not fun; hundreds of people cooped up together in the sheltered plaza was a few wet dogs short of miserable).
We had originally entered six races: 20-crew Mixed, 10-crew Mixed (Team A & B), and 10-crew Men’s (Team A, B & C). But because a lot of the races were scheduled too close to one another, the decision was made to pull out of the 20-crew and one of the Men’s 10-crew.
Also, not everyone would get to row too, and I think Coach was quite apologetic about it (because all this time he’s always pushed for everyone to go for at least one race to get the experience of it). He said “there’s no ‘I’ in team” at least twice, and “we are a team whether you are racing or not” at least five times throughout the day.
Since the 10-crew Mixed races were one after another, Coach was going to cox Team B, while Team A would be coxed by some substitute one of our team managers managed to arrange. I wasn’t in the race line-ups but I’d be the drummer for Team A, and Coach said I’d have to call for the commands. In a split second, I went from “Oh, you mean I’m not rowing?” to “Oh shit, I have to give the commands?!”
This race is a 350m race. Generally, the dragon boats start off with a “hard ten”, then “twenty pick-up” strokes, then “maintenance pull” until the call for “last charge” towards the finish line. In the middle of the “maintenance”, the coxon would call for another “hard ten” for a little boost in the middle of the race. It’s a short race that’s fast and noisy in a narrow river, and tends to be over before you realise it.
If I’m the drummer and I have to give the commands, that meant that I’d have to pay attention to the team’s rowing, the boat’s position in the race, call for the “hard ten” at the right time, and the last charge too. t would be highly embarrassing to call for a last charge too near the finish line. My back’s to the finish line so the only guides I have are the three buoys mark between the start and the chequered buoy.
There was a chance that one of the guys rowing would do it. They could, but it would just be a part of the formula as they would not be able to see the race situation. The other option would be that the guest coxon would call the commands. But really, the guy who said he would cox our boat for us wasn’t very cooperative at all. In fact, he forgot he was supposed to do it. We were out of the holding area into the loading area when we realised he wasn’t there as arranged, and had to send someone to run and locate him. And when he finally came, he coxed our boat but did it very grudgingly. I’m surprised the backpack rowers didn’t give him a whack.
Anyway, our race was a tough one. It was a mixed category, five teams including ours, but all the other dragon boats were strong teams and all men. And, men from organisations like the armed forces, tertiary school alumnis (the tertiary schools are very strong) and such.
During the race, I actually called for two “hard tens”. One of the guys wasn’t paying attention and thought it was the last charge so there was a minor confusion there, but I really had to do it. The first three teams were way ahead, but we were neck and neck with the team right next to us and we had to pull away. Damned if we were going to come in last.
In the end, I thought we came in fourth — I was ahead of their drummer, but it must be parallax error or that the finish line is crooked to the shore — but the results said we came in fifth.
Their time: 1.53.82. Our time: 1.53.97.
Anyway, there was some consolation. 10-crew Mixed Team B came in third in their race, but their time was three seconds slower than us. And Mixed Team A, though we came in last, were a little bit satisfied that we gave the all-man team of the Armed Forces Officers School a run for their money. Haha. They were this close to being beaten by a bunch of some girls.
The third race, the Men’s 10-crew Team B, was a good one. Coach was coxing and I was drumming. After drumming for so many races, I’ve kinda gotten used to Coach’s patterns during the race so that whatever I scream doesn’t interfere with whatever commands he’s screaming (remember, drummer = Anthony Robbins on meth with anger management issues, though my top priority is still to not fall off the boat). Even if we’re both screaming encouragement, it’s in synergy. For this race, everything went like clockwork.
Coach is probably the only one that can set an accurate pace. During the July race, he coxed the girls’ team and he was yelling the pace, which everyone followed, and we came in first in our heat. Whatever the team, girls’, guys’ or mixed, our strokes tend to be faster, which means each pull isn’t as hard or effective as it should be. Somehow during training, even when Coach is on our boat (our training sessions fill two boats), this doesn’t get rectified. Or maybe we are fast normally, and during races, we rush even more.
Anyhoo, we came in a close second in this heat, pulling away from our closest rival in the last minute, and secured a place in Sunday’s semi-finals.
The Men’s 10-crew Team C race was right after this. Coach didn’t even have to get off the boat, and some of the guys got out but some stayed put as they were in this crew as well. They may have been tired, but it was a really good race still. Men’s Team C didn’t make it to the semis (only first and second places move on, while third place depends on timings compared to other third places) but their race time was less than one second slower than Men’s Team B.
Sunday. River Regatta Day 2.
I came early same as the guys at 0930 hrs. The race was at noon and the girls weren’t racing, so they were allowed to arrive later (in fact, one of them arrived after the guys’ boat had left the dock). I was supposed to be drummer, but there was some mix-up. At least I think it was a mix-up. Apparently Coach mentioned I would be drummer, same as yesterday, during warm-up when he named the line-up, but maybe our captain didn’t hear it.
Our captain wasn’t in this team yesterday as he had to work. And today, Coach was rowing in the team too, so our captain did the mobilising the team. As he was yelling for the guys to line up to proceed to the holding area, he went “Where’s the drummer? Drummer?” And I was right there in front of him already waiting and all ready, and I said “I’m here”, but I was drowned out by his immediate “Bob! Bob, where are you?” And Bob comes running from the back, grabbing a lifevest in a hurry. I generally don’t question whoever’s in charge, though think I must have looked really dejected and crestfallen coz I saw two of the kids looking sadly back at me. Had no choice but to suck it up and put up a good face, and hang out with the team at the holding area.
Anyway, that was a really, really good race. It was so damn close. It was as though all five boats were crossing the finish line with the determination of the Chorus Line. From where we stood on the shore, we couldn’t tell who came in first, but Roy said it was our boat, and Roy’s a dragon boat veteran, so we all believed him.
And as the boys rowed in, Coach was smiling, beaming, so that meant he was happy, which means we must have done really well.
No one knew the results so we had to wait.
When the were finally put up, we were fifth. We were like “No way!” but except for the winner, which had a time of 1.46 seconds, the rest of the four teams were 1.47 with varying milliseconds. I’m wondering if there’s any way to get a more accurate method of timing than people with stopwatches as I’m imagining is the method used here. (Somehow I can’t picture those old fibreglass boats being outfitted with anything more advanced than a lightbulb.)
But it was a good showing by our team, especially since we have been receiving flak from the corporate teams who were giving us and several other teams grief; long story, but basically, we couldn’t race in that category and could only join the open categories. Coach was still satisfied, and we all went for an early lunch.
The River Regatta marks the end of the racing season, but unlike previous years, we’re not taking a break. Training resumes next Saturday, same place same time. Though we’re open to recruiting more rowers again.
It wasn’t until after I got home, showered, cleaned up, got into some clean clothes and sat down for a moment that it finally hit me. The realisation and sinking disappointment that I didn’t get to row in the race. I was really looking forward to the River Regatta coz I already missed last year’s. But I was so anxious about being assigned to call the commands for that first race, not messing up the timing was all I could think of. Then for the second race, I was all focused on what to yell and stuff like that, and then what to yell for today’s semi-finals (I had my choice expletives all lined-up and rehearsed), even though I didn’t get to be drummer in the end. But that’s small disappointment compared to realising that I trained all this time and didn’t get to race (and looking at the ones who did, there’s one I think I’m at least better than). And then shortly after, my mum tells me she spoke to my brother and he’s not sure if he’ll still have a job next week, which means I can’t go visit and crash at his place and go look for a job there myself, so there goes that plan (that, and that my brother would be jobless).
So this weekend turned out really good, but also kinda like crap, sort of.
Tags: dragon boat, river regatta
