Rowing Regattas Coming to Land O' Lakes

Coach Mary Jane Kranendonk is a familiar face around Land O' Lakes High and Land O'Lakes in general. She is the current Gator girls volleyball coach and is going into her third year at the helm of Row for Hospice. Now she's bringing the club rowing experience to Land O' Lakes.

Now, it's not a sanctioned sport at the school. All athletes participate in and are insured though Land O' Lakes Rowing Club and US Rowing. However, there is now an official rowing club at the school. Kranendonk thanks girls basketball coach Phyllis Crain for hosting the meetings and her assistance in organizing the club at the school.

The response has been overwhelming. Sixteen girls, many of them International Bacculaureate students, showed up at the first club meeting and so far, all 16 are practicing twice a month in Kranendonk's backyard on Lake Saxon.

Kranendonk has a modest collection of boats, a four-person sweep (one oar), a single sculling (two oar), and now, courtesy of Plant High's Rowing Club, an eight-person sweep. The eight-person sweep is the primary boat they will practice and compete in. As you might imagine, it takes quite a bit of coordination.

"All eight of them have to work together or the boat doesn't go anywhere," Kranendonk said.

However, Kranendonk is confident with the rowers she has.

"They're all very good listeners," said Kranendonk.

Kranendonk is a qualified teacher. She is currently a certified level two row coach with three years of experience and a yard full of training devices. Aside from the marina of rowboats, there is what's called a dock box, which is basically a rowing seat with one oar, raised off the ground.

"The dock box helps them manipulate the oar on land before they even get in the water," Kranendonk said.

That's a good thing—wouldn't want an athlete to "catch a crab" while on the water. According to Kranendonk, catching a crab is when you get you oar stuck in the water against the movement and it jacks the handle up in your face.

A couple of other quirky rowing terms are the "coxain" and the "stroke." The coxain is the person sitting at the back of the boat yelling, "stroke" through a bull horn. In this case, Kranendonk is the coxain, at least until another athlete decides they would like to do it.

"They have to want to do it, the coxain doesn't row," Kranendonk said.

However, the coxain does steer the boat and is considered one of the more important seats on the boat. The "stroke" is the person sitting in front of the coxain, the person that sets the pace for the rest of the team.

How are the girls taking to it?

"My older sister rowed for Tampa Catholic and I would go to her regattas," sophomore Gillian Mitchell said. "It seemed like a fun, novelty thing to do."

"It's a nice break from IB work," sophomore Rayanna Gopaul said.

"I saw it on the club sheet, thought it would be fun," sophomore Christy Ibrahim said.

Christy's twin sister, May, also rows with the club.

"It's the ultimate team sport," Kranendonk said. "They love it."

The group still has a long way to go before they actually start competing. The plan is to use 2012 to get familiar with the boat and to start competition in 2013. Luckily, Kranendonk has a dedicated—and maybe more importantly—young group of girls to help build Land O' Lakes Rowing for the future.