Coxie with Moxie Trinity Laurino started this thing on Facebook. Step into the Wayback Machine and fill this out about your first year at LARC! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! Click on Comments and post your answers.
- Susan Lillestol
1. When did you join LARC?
2. Did you do a LTR or are you a returning rower/coxswain?
3. Who was your First Coach (or Boat Captain)?
4. Are you a Port, Starboard, Bi or a Cox?
5. Did you date/marry someone from LARC or force your significant other/ spouse into rowing too?
6. Did you car pool to practice?
7. What’s the earliest practice time?
8. What was your latest?
9. Its 6:30 am, where were you?
10. Have you ever hit a buoy?
11. Have you ever hit a seagull? A Sea Lion?
12. Are you currently active with the Club?
13. Best Day on the water?
14. Worst moment on the water?
15. How did you find LARC?
16. Are you chipper in the morning or grumpy until after your first post-practice coffee?
17. Have you ever caught a crab or for coxswains hit a buoy during a race?
18. Do you have a favorite call, one that makes you sit up and row hard even when you’re exhausted?
19. What is your favorite post-practice breakfast place?
20. Favorite race?
21. Least favorite race?
22. If you could go back what would you tell your novice self that you’ve learned since?
23. Did you go to the LARC banquet?
24. Favorite rowing accessory?
25. Do you remember your first boatmates? Do you still talk to some of them?
26. Any unfulfilled rowing fantasies?
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From Susan:
1. When did you join LARC? 1997. April 12 to be exact. It was a good day.
2. Did you do a LTR or are you a returning rower/coxswain?
LTR… wish I had rowed in college, though!
3. Who was your First Coach (or Boat Captain) Robert Bernal
4. Are you a Port, Starboard, Bi or a Cox?
All of the above
5. Did you date/marry someone from LARC or force your significant other/ spouse into rowing too?
GAVE (not forced) my boyfriend/future husband Kevin the loving gift of LTR.
6. Did you car pool to practice? With Kevin many times. We used to drive from our house on the corner of Los Feliz and Western all the way down Western to the 10, pointing out hookers at donut shops along the way.
7. What’s the earliest practice time? 4:30am. Jill and/or Sherry came up with that torture. I think that was my novice year… it’s surprising that I stuck with it after that.
8. What was your latest? Not sure… I’m doing a 9:00am now that seems way too late!
9. Its 6:30 am, where were you? Then, heading home after practice. Now, still on the water. Always always awake though, even on non-rowing days.
10. Have you ever hit a buoy? As a rower, several times. The worst was when Jill was coxing and had us doing a final sprint, and she nailed the last buoy before Edie’s channel perfectly. The boat impaled it. It felt like we hit a wall. Shawna Schwartz had to crawl out of bow seat onto the bow of the boat to detach us. Several inches of the bow snapped off and stayed in the buoy, which eventually sank. I haven’t hit a buoy as a cox yet, but as stroke I’ve made a new cox keep looking at a coxbox so frequently that he ran all four starboard oars into a buoy.
11. Have you ever hit a seagull? A Sea Lion? My boat has bumped into a few sea lions. They groan. Fish have jumped into our laps. One time my oar in 2 seat hit a pelican up to stoke’s oar, who hit it back to me, and I hit the poor thing again. Awful!
12. Are you currently active with the Club? Oh yah. Just a rower though, none of those captaining/officering shenanigans this year.
13. Best Day on the water? The first time I raced the Head of the Charles in 1999. Our boat passed 6 others on the course. We had to row a mile beyond the finish line to return the boat, and it felt like we were an inch off the water the whole way because we were so thrilled with our race. We found out later that we took third! I’m getting all choked up writing this. Been chasing that feeling ever since. Gotten close.
14. Worst moment on the water? During the Head of the Marina, the collar fell off my oar, ending the race for us. I cried.
15. How did you find LARC? Mason Funk. I worked with Mason… to make a long story short, he said he was in shape from rowing, and he showed me his abs. Then I wanted to row. He thought I’d enjoy LARC more than his club, the now defunct SoCal. My abs STILL don’t look like Mason Funk’s.
16. Are you chipper in the morning or grumpy until after your first post-practice coffee? Annoyingly chipper. Kevin has told me to shut up numerous times.
17. Have you ever caught a crab or for coxswains hit a buoy during a race?
No. I did almost run a couple of other crews into the rocks in Long Beach though… I was coaching a women’s four (The Sharks) and their cox didn’t show up for the race. I jumped into the boat — a bow loader -– and apparently the official was screaming at me the whole way down the course for pushing other crews over. I had no clue. He was telling me he was going to disqualify us until he saw me get out of the boat and realized I’m not really a cox. We won. (sorry other crews)
18. Do you have a favorite call, one that makes you sit up and row hard even when you’re exhausted? “Don’t you dare back down!”
19. What is your favorite post-practice breakfast place? Buna – except for the acoustics.
20. Favorite race? Head of the Charles.
21. Least favorite race? Waiting til the bitter, windy end of the Long Beach Xmas Regatta to race in a mixed 8, hours after I had competed in other events.
22. If you could go back what would you tell your novice self that you’ve learned since? I had some weird technical issues (like bruising my hip bone on the release), but really what I’d like to do is go WAY back and start rowing as a freshman in college.
23. Did you go to the LARC banquet? Yah sure, Hubby started the first banquet, and now I drag him with me every year.
24. Favorite rowing accessory? Winter hats with a ponytail hole, whatever you call them. I have three. I am a dork.
25. Do you remember your first boatmates? Do you still talk to some of them? My good friend Melanie Switzer took LTR with me and bailed after a couple of months. But Tony Poland is my dear rowing friend. We met in LTR and became obsessed with rowing together. I still talk with him, not often enough. There was also that Howard guy… always showed up drunk from the night before, stinking up the joint and catching crabs left and right.
26. Any unfulfilled rowing fantasies? National Team. Shoulda Coulda Woulda. More realistic is racing the Charles in a double. That one could actually become fulfilled one day.
From Rudy Marloth:
1. Apr 06
2. LTR, started a little late in life.
3. This is the reason I’m responding to the poll. We were the luckiest LTR class ever. We were coxed/coached regularly by Robert, Miss Becky, Vargastol, VJ, and Casey. I have stories, e.g., flashing Casey before I exchanged my swimming trunks for a proper pair of shorts. (Not really, but too close for comfort.)
4. all
5. No, but I like to tease the girls who could be my grandchildren.
6. no
7. 4:45, but few are on time
8. 9:00, seems odd
9. in the office or at Peet’s
10. Of course. As a rower with Yamin coxing. She apologized so much I told her to knock it off, that she could never match my record. As a cox, many times, the worst with Jason Zimmerman. We were going at full tilt.
11. Don’t think so, but caught a couple of fish in my footwell, one of which might still be there.
12. Yes. I cox and fix stuff just enough to justify rowing at every opportunity.
13. One of them was with Si coxing in Kim L’s boat. We went around twice at a good clip. Also on a Sat went around three times in two rows.
14. Bernal said “#4, get your oar in the oarlock” twice, then stopped the boat and stood up saying “#4, you’ve got to get your oar in the oarlock”. A little more personal attention that I wanted.
15. Teaching a class at LMU. The men’s stroke was in my class. I decided it was time, found the LARC website, saw pictures of a blonde bombshell, decided this was the club for me.
16. Chipper, the downside being bed at 8:00 PM.
17. No, but I coxed a Bay Series race once. The bridges are scary.
18. When I cox, it’s “c’mon, you’re flagging”.
19. Buna. It’s on the way home.
20. Head of the Marina. No commute, no pressure.
21. Crew Classic. Just hearing about the chop makes me glad I don’t go.
22. I would believe Bosch that abs are crucial and start doing situps sooner.
23. Yes, two years ago. Had a great time.
24. My yellow jacket.
25. Ollie Sehulster, Mark Scott, Derrick Mathis in aforementioned Casey 4+.
26. Want to erg 8:00. It doesn’t sound like much, but though the mind is young (not to say immature), the body is old.
From Simon:
1. When did you join LARC?
April 2008
2. Did you do a LTR or are you a returning rower/coxswain?
LTR!
3. Who was your First Coach (or Boat Captain)?
Carey, Gary, Robert, Margaret, Aaron, Riggs, Kim, Darius, Paula
4. Are you a Port, Starboard, Bi or a Cox?
All!
5. Did you date/marry someone from LARC or force your significant other/ spouse into rowing too?
None of your business.
6. Did you car pool to practice?
Haven’t yet, but if anyone wants to give me a lift I’m totally into it.
7. What’s the earliest practice time?
4:45am for Lily’s awesome boat, as well as subbing on the hardcore women’s 8+.
8. What was your latest?
9am on a Sunday with the legendary LTRs (as featured in the video)
9. Its 6:30 am, where were you?
Oh crap! Neither of my alarms went off? I will bring you coffee and bagels and I promise it will never happen again!
10. Have you ever hit a buoy?
Holy crap, last week I almost coxed the women into that one that isn’t lined up. I called a calm, collected ‘Weigh Enough’ and ‘Oars In’. Instead of all pulling their oars in and tipping us over at my incorrect call, they did a perfect ‘oar wave’ around the buoy. It was so impressive. They made us look like complete professionals. We picked it straight back up as if nothing had happened. SICK!!
11. Have you ever hit a seagull? A Sea Lion?
Sea lions many times. I have run over them in 4’s and 8’s. They clunk on the bottom all the way down.
12. Are you currently active with the Club?
A little.
13. Best Day on the water?
Every day is fully sick and amazing. The sunrise is spectacular. I especially love it when it’s crowded on Wednesdays at 5am. Like, 30 people milling about before the row.
14. Worst moment on the water?
Pushing the foot stretchers off the boat, causing the row to stop. THEN- to add insult to injury, catching two crabs in quick succession on the way back. Despite that we still had a great row, right Mimi, Tim, Laura!!??
15. How did you find LARC?
Google
16. Are you chipper in the morning or grumpy until after your first post-practice coffee?
Way too chipper.
17. Have you ever caught a crab or for coxswains hit a buoy during a race?
No but I’m just starting out. give me a chance.
18. Do you have a favorite call, one that makes you sit up and row hard even when you’re exhausted?
C’mon mate! C’mon, CHAMP!! That’s it that’s IT!
19. What is your favorite post-practice breakfast place?
Buna is the old standard, French Market Cafe, depending on the company.
20. Favorite race?
Only ever raced at Long Beach last year.
21. Least favorite race?
See above.
22. If you could go back what would you tell your novice self that you’ve learned since?
Good call with the rowing idea, mate.
23. Did you go to the LARC banquet?
Nope but I surely will this year!
24. Favorite rowing accessory?
My awesome JL Turtle shell vest thing.
25. Do you remember your first boatmates? Do you still talk to some of them?
I remember them but none of them stuck around.
26. Any unfulfilled rowing fantasies?
I want to row to the moon.