U.S. Championship

[Jamie Pfeffer]

Over the weekend, I wrote to C2 to suggest that they create a "United States Indoor Rowing Championship." Lisa Washburn thanked me for the idea and replied that she has "passed on the idea to others on the indoor racing team for discussion."

It seems strange to me that Boston, a U.S. city, hosts the "World Championship," but that we do not have a national championship. This makes us different from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and (at least) France -- all of whom host a national championship. Great Britain, also hosts a "British" championship. I believe that Holland also has a championship, though, I think that country presented gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top three Dutch finishers at the EIRC when Holland hosted that event.

Because C2 is an American company, the lack of a national forum for U.S. rowers is particularly strange.

Perhaps if we continue to raise this issue with C2, the company may come to view it as a wonderful opportunity for the firm to grow the sport and reward American rowers. Both of those results could only benefit the company.

I look forward to reading your comments.

Best,
Jamie

[PaulS]

... This makes us different from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and (at least) France

Among so many other things!

Perhaps you should read a bit regarding the History of the CRASH-B indoor rowing competition.

Short version - It was something to do to break up the monotony of winter training, perhaps even to simply put a shorter term goal out there for it all.

That it is now called "The World Indoor Rowing Championships", most likely has the founders laughing a bit more than a little. That people take it so seriously, more likely has them laughing a lot.

[Jamie Pfeffer]

I rowed for a school in the Boston area. So I understand how the "Charles River Association of Sculling Has Beens" evolved into the "World Championships."

But just because we have a World Championship, doesn't mean we can't have national championships. For example, despite the CRASH-B on the calendar, (at least, if not more) Canada, England, Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Malta, and Switzerland all have their own national championships.

The U.S. Championship would complement the CRASH-B. Just as the above 12 examples show, indoor rowing is not a zero-sum game. The more events that we have, the more we can grow our sport. For C2, the more races, the more the company can sell its great machines. And the fact is, when C2 thrives, we all win.

And for you, Paul, the more people that become hooked on racing, the more people will turn to invaluable training aids, such as your great Erg Monitor.

Best,
Jamie

[Citroen]

I rowed for a school in the Boston area. So I understand how the "Charles River Association of Sculling Has Beens" evolved into the "World Championships."

Errr.

Charles River All Star Has-Beens

[PaulS]

I rowed for a school in the Boston area. So I understand how the "Charles River Association of Sculling Has Beens" evolved into the "World Championships."

Errr.

Charles River All Star Has-Beens

Sorry Dougie, you are not respecting the historical roots, correctly acknowleged by Jamie.

And for Jamie,
Your desire is understood, and there are a lot of organised IR competitions all across the country each year (I think my local Ergomania is the second oldest, preceeded only by the CRASH-B's), so if you are not happy with the WIRC being the defacto USIRC, then perhaps the folks to lobby would be the USRA, they really do need to do something in the middle of winter to support their membership other than make decisions to do away with a discounted 3 year memberships or to increase the annual dues.

[Nosmo]

In cycling the US pro national championships allows foreigners to compete. The first Citizen becomes the national champion.

[Bob S.]

Erging is a sport??!

I thought that it was designed by rowing coaches as a punishment for under-achieving rowers.

Bob S.

[Jamie Pfeffer]

Nosmo: That could also work -- unless US Rowing has already scuppered the idea. But we do have precedent supporting us. I believe that when Holland hosted the EIRC, the Dutch federation presented the top three Dutch finishers with medals.

Paul: That seems a very good idea. US Rowing would be the perfect sponsor. They and Concept2 can -- and should -- make the USIRC happen.

I believe it would a fun, exciting event.

Bob: My own case proves that the answer is, "yes" -- to your putatively contrasting points. And that's why the latter drove the former.

[Jamie Pfeffer]

Dougie: In case you haven't seen it yet, read David Halberstam's "The Amateurs." When we were in college, we must have tore through it hundreds of times. To us, Tiff Wood, Brad Lewis, John Biglow, and Joe Bouscaren were gods. I idolized them for years. And then when I got to school in Cambridge, and rowed on the Charles every day, I used to race their ghosts piece after piece. They were so fast, that even in my dreams they still won.
So, of course, the name is deliberately ironic. To us, they'll never be "has beens" -- regardless of what they called their indoor regatta.

Best,
Jamie

[Bob S.]

Bob: My own case proves that the answer is, "yes" -- to your putatively contrasting points. And that's why the latter drove the former.

I was being facetious, of course, but it still strikes me as an odd concept (no pun intended here) for a sport. The fact that it is inherently linked to the machine itself and its electronically generated output is very odd indeed. What other sport is like this? For one thing, it requires a lot of faith in the machines all being identical, but we all seem to have that.

In sailing, the competitors in class races all use the same make of boats and there has to care taken to make sure that there hasn't been some secret technical advantage installed on one of the boats or sabotage (again, no pun intended) to slow a boat down. But there are many outside factors that have an effect on a sailing race so I don't consider that a good comparison — especially in the matter of skill and experience.

For better or for worse, the sport, if it is such, is intimately tied up with the company and any agency that wants to sponsor events using this machine is going to have to work closely with the company. It seems to be working well in the U.K. and in some of the countries on the continent. The CRASH-B and its satellite races, all done with close cooperation with C2, have provided a sort of short winter season for the sport. But the logistics of lengthening and expanding the present program in the U.S. are probably beyond C2’s capacity. The distances are too vast and the concentration of enthusiasts is too small.

Perhaps the answer, at least in big population centers, is in club rowing like Xeno’s Iron Oarsman in Costa Mesa, Rowbics in Long Beach and Santa Monica, and Indorow, which started in SoCal but seems to be on the way to establishing clubs all across the country. It surprises me that this is occurring in SoCal where OTW rowing can be done the year around, but it seems to be thriving.

Perhaps online rowing is another route, but this seems to be very slow in developing and there is not enough personal contact to make it interesting to most.

Just a few random thoughts.

Bob S.

[Jamie Pfeffer]

I understand your concerns. Indoor rowing does differ from other sports because it (1) derives from something that already is a sport (OTW rowing) and (2) is inextricably linked with a manufacturer.
But I don't think that those two issues preclude a U.S. Championship. If we can have a World Championship in this country, and if at least nine or ten other countries have national championships, why can't we?

Paul: I visited the site for the N.W. Championship. It looks like a great race. I even saw my old friend Conal's name in the results.

[Rockin Roland]

For the event to be a true World or USA Indoor Rowing Championship there would need to be more than one manufacturer of rowing machines involved. Although at the moment that may seem distant. However it is indeed possible if all the different manufacturers used the same configuration for their flywheels & monitors.

Then just like in other sports (such as cycling, skiing & OTW rowing where superior equipment makes that few vital seconds of difference) the competitor can choose their own erg brand to race with.

[Jamie Pfeffer]

That's a fair point RR. But in the interim, a C2-erg U.S. Championship would still be great.
Thanks.

[whp4]

For the event to be a true World or USA Indoor Rowing Championship there would need to be more than one manufacturer of rowing machines involved. Although at the moment that may seem distant. However it is indeed possible if all the different manufacturers used the same configuration for their flywheels & monitors.

Then just like in other sports (such as cycling, skiing & OTW rowing where superior equipment makes that few vital seconds of difference) the competitor can choose their own erg brand to race with.

An important difference is that the official timing of those events is not done by the competitor's bicycle, skis, or hull!

[Jamie Pfeffer]

Each year, the event could move to a different part of the country. This would allow rowers far from Boston to get a chance to participate in a big regatta. That could only help the sport. For example, it would be a shame if Greg Cook -- who has a phenomenal time at every distance -- weren't able to compete for a national title.