Nov 1, 2008
The Head of the Hooch rowing regatta took place in Chattanooga, TN.  This was my first experience racing a rowing event. 

"...look good and don't come in last." - Dr. Linda Georges, our coxswain


Backup a minute
Growing up I was always fond of the rowing machine at the gym.  A favorite was one that had an electronic display of two boats racing, and I represented one of the boats racing against the machine.
My dad even bought a hydraulic resistance rowing machine for him to use at the house, but I used it more than he did.  But I never had the chance to row a real boat growing up in a small town where most people probably had no idea what 'crew' meant.  Only after learning my girlfriend rowed in college did I ask myself, "I wonder if there is a crew club I could join?"

Finding my place
Sure enough after a little searching on the internet I found what I was looking for - The Carolina Masters Crew Club.  As part of the club initiation, I was required to sign up for a one month practice where we learned some of the basics of rowing in an 8 person sweep boat.  After the initiation practice it was a waiting game to see if I was accepted into the club.  Two weeks later I was offered a spot in the club.  I couldn't have been happier.

Jumping right in
I began rowing with the Carolina Masters Crew Club beginning in September of 2008 and joined the men's 4+ rowing team the following month.  We raced our first 5k event at the Head of the Hooch on Nov. 1st (one month later) and finished in good form with a 19:39 raw finish time.  Although we were just out of reach of a top ten finish in our division, we did not finish last (and we looked good wearing our custom team crew shirts provided by our wonderful coxswain).

Here are  the full results from our race.

Here are some PROFESSIONAL photos from the race provided by Greg Georges

• Set 1
• Set 2

Thanks to everyone who supported us, including the UNC crew teams and parents, the women's masters teams, and Nas.  :)