Rowing pair capsize
When we put this picture on our Facebook page it got a load of reactions, including a note from the athletes in the boat.
Vineta moaned
I wonder if this photo will keep popping up on Facebook for all my life?
And so this prompted us to ask thp what their side of the story was. The girls have both rowed for Latvia in a pair for the Junior and U23 World Rowing Championships in the past (the photo was not from these regattas).
Vineta Moca and Anete Risa told us the “real story” behind the image.
It was right after the medal cerpony (we won gold by the way). I tried to push us off the dock with my oar but it slipped under the dock. The water wasn’t very deep and my oar rested on the bottom of the lake. Somehow Anete Risa and me managed to get back onto the dock without flipping the boat! But the shell was filled with water!
And yes, if you look closely you can see they are indeed wearing medals!
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Love it! Just goes to show that it can happen to those who have loads of experience. I wonder how quickly the nerves would have settled down the very next time they pushed off another pontoon. I feel the same embarrassment when I assume nothing is in front of me for miles when I suddenly row straight into a houseboat at 6am.
Rick – that’s quite an “alarm call” for the houseboat occupants!
Rick, So true! My bow seems to have a knack for locating the smallest obstacle in the water, such as the ONLY channel marker or “No Wake Zone” bouy.
Magnetic attraction, Dawn?
Well funny things happen when you get into the “Zone”. I recall one time we where out in the coxless quad one evening and the boat was really singing. Now our home club waters are not very long (800m in a straight line or 1900m in a circular route). Unfortunately our stroke (and the rest of the crew) were so in the zone we forgot to watch our course and beached ourselves on the slipway. Keith
Keith – that’s SO true. I rowed with Suzannah for years and we had a saying…. “When we think we’re rowing like goddesses…. check your course!” Because we were usually in the zone and heading for the bank!