| 2007 Paddling Team |
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February 23, 2007
Over the holidays, the team members for the 2007 paddling team were selected. Congratulations to everyone and thanks for your dedication and hard work thus far! The following individuals will be paddling in the Mid-Pacific Conference Competition this April:
The paddling team has been working hard each week, enduring cold temperatures and learning how to steer our new canoe. The team has been using the practice concrete canoe that was poured on December 16, 2006. This prototype has enabled the paddling team to refine their turning and paddling techniques to accomodate the new hull design of the 2007 canoe, Cerulean. In lieu of the team's complaints about Cerulean's turning ability, they will have to put in extra effort to make the canoe turn in the slalom endurance race.
November 13, 2006
Yesterday was another cold day at the Sparks Marina for canoe practice; luckily the team was well prepared with warm clothes. We are definitely seeing improvement in all of our new paddlers, and our veterans are still improving their techniques. Adam and Kelly cooked breakfast for everyone again, and the menu included eggs, bratwurst, bacon, and potatoes. We will be practicing every Sunday at 9AM on the west side of the Sparks Marina throughout the winter season (precipitation pending), so come join us for breakfast!  This is how we do it in Nevada...
 Captain Maxon
 Welcome to canoe practice
November 5, 2006
It was a chilly day at practice, but the team managed to stay fairly dry (all except those who had encounters with water balloons). Kara brought water balloons, which were intended to be thrown at each other during practice to improve speed and balance in the boats. However, playful misuse of the balloons led to hurt feelings and no one knows if and when the water balloons might return.
Today, the team mainly worked on switches and sprints, training hard before the winter comes. After practice, the team ate breakfast at the marina (sponsored by ASCE). Adam, Stephen, and Kelly cooked sausage, bacon, eggs, and pancakes for everyone. We are hoping to see food at more practices in the future, to motivate everyone to paddle in the snow!  Eating breakfast at the marina
 The girls getting ready for their warm up lap
 Adam, Kelly, and Stephen cooking breakfast for the team
 Barrett with two (not one) water balloon for Bymers
October 22, 2006
Another great day in Reno...the sun was shining and the team had their first Sunday practice. We changed the practice date to accomodate several team members and will now meet on Sundays at 9:00 am on the west side of Sparks Marina. We will continue to meet (despite temperature drops) until rain or snow begins to fall. Practices seem to be going well and the teams are practicing sprinting, turning, and endurance. With the mold for the new canoe on its way. the team members are eager to paddle a fiberglass version of this year's boat and hope to do so before the weather turns bad.
 Amazing weather in October
 Congratulations to Joe for breaking our first paddle!
 Always cheering on the team...
October 15, 2006 The weather was beautiful this weekend at Sparks Marina. The sun was shining and the usual cast came to paddling practice. The main focus this week was placed on turning around buoys and—once again—paddling in sync. The girls paddled with the guys to speed up their rhythm and get more comfortable with speed. Suzanne learned how to steer and we're slowly making our way towards assembling teams.
 The Sierras overlooking Sparks Marina
 Paddling around the marina
October 9, 2006 Last Saturdays practice went quite well. We had Brittany Miller, Suzanne Durrs, and Tarin Strickler out there completing their practices in fine fashion. They are getting pretty comfortable together, it was great to see them out there for the better part of a an hour non-stop. The best news for them is they made it through practice without going in! The men's team worked on sprints with two boats, one with Brian Truce, Matt Savage, and Nick Maxon. The other canoe, headed by Brian Fitzgerald, Dale Keller, and Corbin McFarlane helped keep the other team paced as we completed our 100 meter sprints. The men still need to work on stroke timing and endurance conditioning for the upcoming practices. We will start focusing on endurance training over the next few weeks as this will be our best ttraining tool to prepare for all the races. Plan on having the fisrt hour of practice working on sprints, the second hour will be endurance training. We will have the the three bouy course finished for this upcoming weekend. This will continue to make the practice time all that much more invaluable as we will not be going out and just paddling around. Special thabnks goes out to Kelly Doyle for keeping an eye on things from shore as she helped time the men's sprint lap times and critiqued form. Let's keep up the great work so far as the colder weather sets in, the payoff will arrive when we smoke the competition down at San Jose State University!
October 2, 2006 Last Saturday’s practice went well; Charles Albright and his friend made it down to practice and helped out quite a bit. Brian Fitzgerald and Nick Maxon will have the buoys set out for next weeks practice, so things should get quite a bit more organized. The new fiberglass boat performed well, we may need to make a few adjustments in terms of sanding down any rough spots, and we sure need to get the evil screw out of the boat so anyone does not get cut. Expect the next practice to have everyone having a clear idea of what is expected of them when they go out.Thanks for the continued great turnout everyone, please feel free to ask any questions if you are confused or don’t understand what the coaches are asking of you. As well, if you have any suggestions on how to make the practices better, please speak up!
September 27, 2006 The practices so far have been fantastic in terms of turnout. We have had an abundance of available canoes in the water thanks to the hard work of our trailer transportation chief Brian Fitzgerald. We have gotten all the "newbie" paddlers acquainted with the canoes and paddling. Hopefully, we can get everyone used to the idea of paddling and feeling comfortable soon, we think that the seats may go a long way towards helping that. The next major goal is to get everyone working together as a team in the boats, both by paddling in sync, and by learning to hit the turns hard. It's way to early to see any potential teams, but we only want the best paddlers in the canoe this year, so all the seats are up for grabs. Paddling practices for the fall semester are held on Saturdays at 9:00 at the Sparks Marina. Just to re-iterate, check the weather prior to coming out, you will need to dress appropriately for the weather. Towels, drinks, and snacks will make the practice a much better experience for all paddlers. |