babes in the bow

i am now part of a very exclusive club, though my membership was bestowed on me only after much pleading -- perhaps not the best strategy when one is trying to climb the social (boat) ladder, but hey, whatever works. this weekend, a 4+, comprised of mla, jane, me and michele (an ex-Kingston rower who now lives in ottawa) met up at the Head of the Rideau regatta, held annually at the rideau canoe club. deferring to michele's many more years of rowing and racing experience, i found myself sitting in 2 seat in front of jane. as we sat waiting at the start i had one of those moments of realization, akin to something one might feel in elementary school when, out of the blue, you are asked to eat lunch with the cool kids. i was sitting in the bow, and not only was i sitting in the bow (as i've done before when i've been in 4 seat) but i was closer than i'd ever been to being a bow babe.

there's something about the first two seats in a boat that gives them a special sort of magic. the rowers that occupy those seats are often very proud of being in the bow, for just as with stroke (and really, any other seat in the boat), 2 and 1 seat come with a cluster of special responsibilities.jane and her usual bow partner, diana (pictured on the right from right to left) share a special bond, built over many mornings of testing the balance and helping to guide the boat. they've knowingly formed a little, exclusive club of two and often refer to themselves as the "bow babes". as we sat at the start of HoR, i wanted nothing more than to be a bow babe, if only for this one race.

as we sat trying to huddle for warmth against the cold autumn wind that was turning our bare legs into pimply gooseflesh, i leaned back against jane's legs to keep them warm and she vigourously rubbed my arms which were starting to tremble with the cold. i chose that moment to ask, pehaps a little too pleadingly, if i could be a bow babe too. at first jane was reticent, and rightly so; when making up a boat, the coach will often put the smaller folks in bow, and i am by no means small, as jane was quick to point out. i think she sensed the pain of the rejection and immediately altered her response. she supposed i could be an honorary member. though i didn't go about it in the smoothest way, i was now one of the cool kids.

i don't know that i rocked the bow with jane as much as she and diana do during a race, but we certainly worked hard and though there were no other boats in our class racing we managed to pass three boats that had headed up in the flight before us -- 2 of which were 8+s full of varsity development girls from Queen's. our time, made less spectacular by rowing into a wind and through some very rough water, isn't so much a testament to our speed as it is to our gutsy determination to finish the race, even under some adverse weather conditions. i'll remember it as the first head race of this season, but also as a race in which i tried on a new identity in the boat, thanks to the tolerance of others, and really liked it. below is a picture of our HoR 4+ before the race.