John Hunter Regatta 2018
Starting Saturday morning off nice and early, the bus left the hotel at 6:30 am. Arriving in time for the coaches and coxswains meeting at 7, the team prepared for the long day of racing. Both the men’s and women’s V1 8+ boats launched before 9 and both made it to the petite finals. The Men’s V1 8+ came in .2 seconds behind Duke, taking 3rd in the Petite Finals. The Women’s V1 8+ took second in their Petite Final, five seconds behind Georgia.The hard work throughout winter training really helped the women’s team at John Hunter. The Women’s Varsity 4+ got 3rd in the Petite finals. The Women’s 2V 8+ took 5th and the 4+ took 2nd, trailing behind Clemson by only 4 seconds and third place followed by over 20 seconds. The Novice Women 8+ made it to the Petite Finals as well. The Women’s Lightweight 4+ took 3rd, behind Florida and University of Tampa. Both the Women’s Lightweight 4+ and the 2V4+ received medals. The men’s team also competed strongly, taking the varsity men’s lead. The Men’s Novice 8+ competed in the Petite Final, finishing behind Clemson. The Men’s Varsity 4+ made it to the petite final as well. The JV 8+ finished after Hamilton and Florida, making it into the finals. Now a word from our resident dog lover, Alex Brown, on her Spring Break experience:While rigging the Odessy, a smol white fluffy dog, Heidi, caught my eye. She was my first dog of Spring Training. Less than an hour later, Saide, a thicc brown woofer, waddled past me looking like she needed some extra love.The next day, a man standing outside of the Guest Lodge stood at the front door eating pizza was accompanied by a medium sized friendly looking doggo. I asked him to pet the dog, not knowing whether or not it belonged to him, and he agreed. I never got an answer when I asked what the dog's name was but he almost followed me back to my room but was held back by the pizza eating man. Later that day, I met Skippy, a teammate’s dog, so naturally, I pet her. The kayakers in the boathouse next door to ours had a super smol multicolored pupper named Pippa who kept appearing during coach's pre-practice speeches. It was very tempting to run over and pet her, but I waited until after practice to indulge. After adding two dogs a day to my list for the first two consecutive days, I expected to write two more names a day for the entire trip, but on that streak abruptly ended with Pippa being my only pet on the third day. Day four, Tuesday, marked my first encounter with Molly. After a sad 2k Tuesday, she wandered around the bays as the womens team began taking down oars. Molly belonged to the proprietor of the boathouse and seemed to roam around at will. She ended up being the only dog who was difficult to pet because whenever Carter was around, she fled :(Wednesday was an exhausting day on the erg with a 20 by 250m with the Craftsbury sculling club in the morning and a messy 2 mile run and a 2 by 20min erg piece. Because of the rain, I didn't make any new doggo friends, but Molly did join us in the erg room in the afternoon during my first 20min piece. she walked by my erg, and I am not embarrassed to say that I was petting her on the recovery. The joyous day that we were back touching boats was a good day for Pippa, because the whole team congregated around her after both rows to pet her fluffy coat of fur.Friday during our lunch break my foot started hurting so I was sitting by the pool with an ice bag when my teammate Amanda brought two pretty thicc dogs to my attention. I hobbled over to a couple who were unpacking their car along with Zoe and Bucky. The woman warned me that Bucky was a bit grouchy but I've never let that get in the way of my dog petting experience before. Saturday was one of the most thrilling dog petting experiences of the week. Regatta dogs, my favorite dogs, wander around just waiting for me to pet them. After the first race in the V8+, Lindsey and I ran towards a long boi named Greg (or so the guy walking him told us his name was). After almost walking away with the name Greg on my list, his true owner laughed at the guy walking the dog and said that his name was actually Milo. While walking to our tent, an abundance of dogs came across my path and I pet every single one. Daisy was first, then Stella, followed by Skeenah and a massive German Shepherd who I nicknamed Big Boi. After a very damp race in the 4+, I ran into Rux, Rusty, Poshie and Finn. With every walk to and from the boats and tent, I pet another dog. Making our way back to the boathouse for the Petite Final in the V8+, we all pet Duke, Dolly and Rudy. I felt really good with the 20 dogs on my list and almost called it a day when Melon and Sparkles greeted me while de-rigging. I am very pleased with the 22 doggos that I had the opportunity to pet over my first Spring Break and I can't wait to beat that number next year.
