Lorin’s best 2k
Goal-setting before the race
Lorin’s goal at CRASH-Bs was to beat her last 2K time of 6:00.7 split average. Lorin competes once a year with Row New York. This winter, she practiced at NYU Langone Hospital with the Initiative for Women With Disabilities (IWD) on Wednesdays, and sometimes with the competitive team. When I told Lorin and her family that CRASH-B’s would be a 2K this year, Barbara and Mel had concerns about Lorin’s ability and her training. This would be the first CRASH-B’s to be a 2k and align with water standards.
Ultimately, we offer IWD athletes the information to race, we open our adaptive practices to any IWD athlete that wants to train, and they have the choice of representing Row New York, IWD, or both. While Lorin was determined she wanted to do this new distance, I gave them all time to think about it.
Rallying behind Lorin during the race
In this video, someone began the chant “Go, Lorin, Go” during the race and pretty soon, people on the floor picked it up. Then it seemed like everyone was chanting for Lorin to Go and clapping the same 3 claps. When I looked around and saw everyone on the racing floor and on the bleachers chanting and clapping in the same rhythm, it was so special.
We were all backing Lorin, we were all hoping she would not stop or leave her race strategy. Thanks to Coach Lizzie Simons for leading her through it. We were all there united as para-athletes and para-coaches for the common goal to show Lorin our support. It was beautiful.
Discussing inclusion after the race
After her race, as I walked around the event space, I met with several rowers and adaptive coaches who expressed the same thing. Patrick Johnson, Director at DC Sports and Athletes without Limits, and I had a conversation the evening before about what adaptive sports mean to us, along with his amazing veteran team athletes who shared their stories as well.
The word inclusion was everywhere, of course, but how different that inclusion manifests is a conversation all on its own. The next day after her race, he told me how amazing that moment was for him as well.
The fact that every single person was on the same page and seeing Lorin as an athlete first, racing a 2k for the first time to beat her last 2K, and all of us know how difficult it was, was beyond amazing. I definitely teared up with emotion along with other athletes and coaches.
Lorin finished her race with a 5:22.5 split av., shaving off 38.2 seconds!
Adaptive And Veteran Race Results
- Gustavo’s 2K personal record (PR) was 11:51.2. He beat it at CRASH-B’s with a result of 9:24.6! He spent a lot of time on the erg during practice and really dealt with those pacer boats but they paid off!
- Sam’s 2K PR is 9:00.9. His CRASH-B’s result was 9:20.5. He did not break his record, perhaps because of the jitters at his first indoor race and we are still very proud of all the effort.
- Katherine’s result was 12:30.9, beating her previous personal best of 12:48.6. Her CRASH-B’s coaches thought she would PR at Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints but her seat broke and it really affected the numbers she was pulling toward the end.
- Eric’s 2k PR was 17:05.9. He crushed his record time at CRASH-B’s by over 4 minutes with a time of 13:03.7. Eric has changed drastically and something clicked for him. I spoke about this at the programming meeting. His mom and I believe that he has connected something about his numbers and how they should look consistent at practice and during his races. His numbers at practice used to range between 3:30s and 8:00 and it was difficult to learn a way to teach him to be consistent. He’s been erging with pace boats and coxed to stay with the boat instead of trying to beat it.
- William Alvarez’s PR at Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints was 10:59.2. His new PR at CRASH-B’s is 10:01.5!
- William Choe’s PR is 10:19.5. His CRASH-B’s result was 9:46.2. He told his Coach Claudio mid-race, ” I wanna go home!”
- Dominic Romano’s Erg Sprint PR was 10:33. His CRASH-B’s result was 10:23.4.
- Mery finished her 2k at Erg Springs with a total of 9:49.4. At CRASH-B’s, her result was 9:23.5.
- Josh finished at 8:45.7. He’s a former HS rower and returned to the sport only a month ago!
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