In-Depth with Coach Crain

March 31, 2010 --I've been asked before what it takes for a team to be successful. Is it talent, chemistry, training? What is the secret to winning? The answer is quite simple. It's all of the above and more. There are the tangible things - athletes, equipment, staff, facilities, training program, etc. But more important are the intangibles - trust, respect, pride, accountability, and a willingness to take risks when the odds are not in your favor.

We lost a tough one in San Diego this past weekend. We raced well in the heat on Saturday, posting the fastest time of the day which gave us a number one lane draw in the grand final on Sunday. The V8 raced solidly in the heat, but didn't have to do anything too special to win it. We led start to finish and the second place crew was open water back. On Sunday, we knew it would be a different story. We launched that morning knowing we'd have to have a better race to win the Cal Cup title.

We got off the line quickly and within the first 500 meters had established a 3-4 seat lead on the field. We settled into our base cadence of 34 strokes per minute and continued to hold our ground. By the 1000 meter mark, we had separated from the bottom of the pack, but the University of San Diego wasn't letting us get away easily. At 1500 meters, three-quarters of the way through the race, we maintained a 3-4 seat lead. To the thousands of spectators on the shore, it appeared that we had clinched the victory. Winning the Cal Cup in only our second year as a varsity team was almost a reality. But the race wasn't over. We entered the last 500 still leading the pack. As we approached the last 250, we shifted gears and took the stroke rating up. The boat increased in speed, but we started getting walked through. USD had an incredible sprint and surged right through us in the final 10 strokes. My heart sank. Not so much due to personal pride, but because I knew I'd have to face those kids when they came off the water. Losing is tough, even for the most seasoned of us. As coaches, when things go well, we give credit to the athletes. They are, after all, the ones doing the work. When things don't go well, we blame ourselves. What could I have done better to prepare them? That's the first question you ask yourself.

For those of you new to rowing, this type of thing happens all the time. Leading crews get passed in the final stretch and sometimes races are won or lost by hundredths of seconds. It's a matter of momentum. As an athlete, there's nothing more empowering and exhilarating than walking through an opponent. The momentum can shift in a matter of a few strokes and if you're on the winning side, you are filled with emotions so extreme that sometimes between the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles and state of oxygen debt experienced by the lungs, you have an out of body experience. You're body literally goes on auto pilot. Despite the pain you're in, you cannot physically feel a thing. You just go. If you're on the losing side, the experience is notably different. It's as if all the energy in the boat is sucked away in a vacuum and all you feel is pain. If you give up a lead in the final strokes, you cross the line feeling a sense of total failure. That's exactly what our first varsity eight experienced this weekend. There was probably a moment where every athlete in the lineup wanted to row out to the Pacific Ocean never to return. It's tough to come back to the dock (or beach in this instance) after losing a close one.

We lost this weekend, fair and square. The Toreros out- performed us and deserved the victory on Sunday. We could have countered their move but we didn't. A big part of the loss falls on me and I take full responsibility. At this point in the season, we haven't spent a great deal of time working on sprints. We've been focusing on technique and fundamentals, because without those we wouldn't have gotten to the final to begin with. Still, I could have done a better job to prepare them for the race that was likely to unfold. As I walked to collect them from the shore I felt like I'd failed them.

But here's where perspective comes into play. These young women came off the water dejected but still carried themselves like champions. Shoulders back, heads held high. They were not looking for someone to blame. The responsibility for the loss was on their shoulders. They knew they had allowed a team to pull through them in the final 30 seconds of the race after leading for six and a half minutes. It would have been easy for them to make excuses. But they didn't. In our post-race meeting Coach Traub made a good point. If we're ever going to lose a race in the last 250 again, we better be good and sure that we've given everything we had in first 1750. I don't think we have to worry about that again with this group. The varsity eight learned an important lesson this weekend that won't be soon forgotten. I did too. I'm beginning to see the "intangibles". We may not be a championship program yet, but we've certainly got some champions on our roster.

Leeanne Crain Bio | Schedule | 2010 Results | Roster | Coaching Staff

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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