On August 21 last year, the greatest female rower in US sports history (and Team Oarsome member), Joan van Blom, handled down during an erg session. Feeling light-headed, she stood up, looking pale, wiped down the erg next to the one she'd actually been using, and went to the locker room. There she collapsed with a seizure. A second one followed.
Hospital tests revealed something terrifying: glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) - the most common, and also the most malignant brain tumor in humans. Joan had surgery in September to remove every possible trace of the cancer that could be found. This was followed by regular chemotherapy to suppress recurrence.
Joan being Joan, by late Spring this year she was back on the water, doing what she has always loved: rowing.
However GBM is especially cruel in that it's nearly impossible to eradicate. Recent followups with her doctors revealed that a tumor had reappeared. She went into hospital almost immediately -- timely intervention matters -- and had it removed yesterday, Aug. 7. Joan being Joan, I expect she's already making plans to get back into a boat....
Throughout her ordeal, she has remained unbelievably upbeat and feisty. I know from personal experience that Joan never does anything by halves, and that she is doing everything in her power to fight her affliction. In the process she has been an incredible role model for cancer patients in addition to continuing her lifelong role as an ambassador extraordinaire for rowing.
A Team Oarsome member when healthy, Joan has graced a number of British and European erging events over the years. Many of you may have seen (on the podium as well as an erg) as a member of every one of the Concept 2 US Indoor Rowing squads back in the 2000s.
As an erger, she holds the following World Records:
60-69 FLW 10000m 41:49.2
55-59 FLW 2000m 7:30.6
50-54 FLW 2000m 7:22.6
50-59 FLW Half-Marathon 1:27:01.2
60-69 FLW Half-Marathon 1:29:02.7
50-59 FLW 30 Minutes 7518m
60-69 FLW 30 Minutes 7243m
60-69 FLW 5000m 20:20.3
50-59 FLW 60 Minutes 14795m
60-69 FLW 60 Minutes 14200m
50-59 FLW 6000m 23:39.8
That's an amazing eleven standing World records on the erg, more than any other rower.
She's not exactly been bad on the water, either. She won a silver medal for the US in the 1x at the Montreal Olympics in 1976, was on the 1980 team that boycotted the Games over the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and won a second silver in 1984 in the 4x+. Here she is getting her silver:
I should add that she married her coach, multiple Olympic rower John van Blom....
You can add to this a host of victories in FISA events and Masters rowing in the US -- for example, her Long Beach Rowing women's masters' viii has held the course record for the category at the Head of the Charles regatta in Boston since 2001.
To honour her career, her singular contributions to rowing both on the water and on the erg, and to help validate her gallant fight against the terrible scourge of cancer, we have asked that the September 2014 CTC Challenge be named the Joan Van Blom Cancer Awareness Row.
The rules will be simple:
Row 7684m from a standing start and record your time.
The 76 is to honour JVB's silver medal in the 1x; the 84 is to honour her silver in the coxed quad. Stroke rating is up to you; the row should be continuous.
We would also like to take the opportunity to remind everyone of the benefits of regular screening for cancer. It probably would not have helped Joan -- the malignancy came on too quickly, without any other symptoms. But it can potentially be a lifesaver nonetheless. And we would encourage anyone who so desires to consider making a contibution to the cancer-fighting organization of your choice. We want to stress that you don't have to do either of these things to row the September Challenge. We would however like as many of her friends and competitors as possible to join this month in acknowledging her graciousness, her competitiveness, her achievements, her ambassadorial efforts for rowing, and her gallant fight against affliction.
And we would especially like to thank the CTC organizers and the ERG team for allowing us the opportunity to enlist the virtual rowing community in support. Rowers reading this who are not regular CTC team members: we will figure out a way to fit you into virtual CTC boats, most likely as "Friends of Joan Van Blom" or some similar team name.
To participate, see http://www.c2ctc.com in September.