A Win's a Win

One of my favorite gold medal stories comes from the 2013 Lindamood Invitational Regatta in Marietta, Ohio. It’s held on the head of the Marietta River in early spring, so the river flows very, very fast. It's great because it takes almost 2 minutes off a 5 minute race, but it also adds a big element of chaos. At those speeds a lot can go wrong. One of the lineups I was in that day was a JV4+. That morning we advanced to the finals and by mid-afternoon we were off to claim a medal. All members of the crew had at least 3 races under their belts and we were up against some very good boats. It was going to be a tough one.

We rowed to the start and took our place. The starter’s flag dropped and the boats took off. Two crews immediately got half a boatlength up on us and the rest started falling way back. The boats ahead were strong crews and started pulling away. With 500m to go we were solidly in 3rd place. The medals seemed decided when suddenly the coxswain started yelling, “There’s a crab! No it’s a collision! Power 10, Let’s Go!” Disbelief and adrenaline defined the next 75 seconds as our boat was gifted a chance to attack the leaders. Unfortunately, both of them had built up a big enough lead to hold us off. We still ended up in 3rd.

During the team medal ceremony later our coach announced our boat and went up to receive our bronze. But fate had other plans, our coach draped gold medals on each of our necks. As we started jumping around and hugging each other, our coach explained that both the leading crews had filed a protest against the other. One for the other impeding on their lane, the second for the other colliding with them. The referees determined that each was at fault and disqualified them both. That made us the defacto winners! Was it a hollow victory? Maybe, but we didn’t care. Rowing is such a demanding sport that the desire to win is overwhelming. We all want that gold so badly that technicality or not, a win's a win.