(This is a sample chapter from Water Ready: The Ultimate Handbook on Getting and Keeping Your Rowing Equipment in Its Prime, co-authored by Mike and Margot Zalkind Mayor. Due out in December 2020) There are so many challenges to overcome in rowing. Whether you row on your own small lake or are part of a […]
Rowing Splash Guard: Your Super-Simple Secret Weapon
The year was 1995. The US team was racing at Lake Kaukajarvi, in Tampere, Finland. It was the FISA World Championships. The word on the dock was the water could get wicked rough. I was the boatman for the US team, and the coaches, rowers and I knew that we would have to do something special […]
Rowing Shell Preparation: A simple roadmap to get your shell ready to row
It was a blazing-hot Florida day. I was busy, elbow-deep in boat work. I had to leave a boat outside in slings—in the sun. That boat, named after the President of our University, “Jerome P. Keuper” was a single-skin fiberglass eight. It was older but still in decent shape. Around mid-day, with the sun at […]
Coaching Launch Maintenance: Set Up Your Rowing Launch For Success
You just launched for practice. On your clipboard is the perfect practice plan. Healthy lineups sit in a fleet of singles before you. Gorgeous rowing weather is all around. Then…your engine stops. It won’t start. You try and try to get the motor going. You curse. You pray. But it refuses to start. Now what? […]
Rowing Electronics: 6 Steps To Maximize Your Investment
I had everything in my launch. Stroke-watch, GPS, cell phone, walkie talkie, power megaphone—I was all set for success. Instead, we had a terrible practice. Here’s why: The batteries in my stroke watch died I had GPS connection issues My cell phone rang numerous times, and I almost dropped (threw) it overboard The walkie talkie […]
Rowing Spare Parts: Little Pieces—Big Difference
I just finished checking the rigging on our eight—putting the last tweaks on it for the qualifying heat—when a fellow coach ran up, coming to a screeching halt in front of me. Between gasps for air he said, “Mike…Vespoli rigger…need two top bolts…fell off in the trailer….can’t find them…” I had a few extra bolts—gave […]
Transporting Rowing Equipment: Over-invest Today To Do It Safely Tomorrow
First, I heard the sound. It was sickening. Then, looking in my rear-view mirror I saw the shell just as it came off the trailer, snapped in two, and crashed to the road. It’d been a heck-of-a-day and it just got worse. Much worse. I left the boathouse at 4 am and drove through pouring […]
Rowing Life Jackets: A Critical Coaching Tool
The morning I should have drowned was a chilly Fall day. It was wicked early. I was in my launch. Checking buoys for a race. By myself. Flat water. The launch wet with dew. I grabbed for a misplaced buoy. I reached. I slipped. I fell overboard. Cold water. Full dressed. Pockets loaded with tools. […]
Boathouse Safety: 11 things to remove from your boathouse today
There are things in your boathouse that don’t belong. Items that will cause you in the future to slap palm-on-forehead and say, “Ugh, why did I leave that there?” It is all about boathouse safety Three times that has happened to me. Once I let an old strap sneak back in from the BAD PILE and […]
Boathouse organization: How having a two-pile system can help you avoid disaster
What’s the state of your boathouse organization? Often our rowing equipment will wear out, break, or just become usable. With budgets tight, and equipment getting pushed to the limit, it happens more and more. The tough thing is you may not know when that happens to your equipment. That’s why I recommend a twice-per-season inspection […]
