Subject: SFS Rowing News #4
From: "Jennie Feldmann" <[email-masked]>
To: "Richard Herold" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "amena ali" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "raina fishbane" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "jack conde" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "Jane Mayer" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <psbom
Cc: "Ted Bristol" <[email-masked]>, "Brooke Kennedy" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 21:53:52 +0000 (UTC)

A message from Ted and Brooke : 

Dear Rowing Parents, 

Brooke and I just received word that McLean High School had two boats swamp yesterday and the rowers had to be rescued from the river. They were quite far downstream and the conditions were windy and rough. 

As you know, while many teams have begun practicing on the river, we have stayed in the gym this week. We needed to complete our safety training and Brooke and I felt that the team would benefit more indoors than racing out onto the river. We wanted to give another week for conditons to warm up and to get a little lighter when we start practice. 

Brooke stressed last night our commitment to keeping the girls safe and our conservative approach when it comes to whether to go out on the river. When conditions are bad, we've talked with Security and the Athletic Department and they will let us in the gym if we need to move practice indoors. 

To reinforce what Brooke reviewed last night, here is a brief summary of our safety requirments. 

Training 
Both Brooke and I have completed First Aid training, a water safety course from the DC Harbor Police, and a coaching training program from USRowing. 

For the rowers, we require that they all pass a swim test consisting of a 100 yard swim and treading water for 5 minutes. We also have them all watch and discuss the USRowing safety video every year before our first on the water practice. 

Operations 
We always accompany our teams when they are on the water in a motorboat. We make sure that we have no more than 2 eights with each coaching launch. We carry life jackets in the launches for every rower on the water. We require that the coxswains wear life jackets when they are in the boat. Both Brooke and I wear life jackets when we are coaching and we require that any rower who rides with us wear a life jacket. 

Both Brooke and I carry cell phones with us on the water and have key numbers programmed in should there be an emergency. We also carry First Aid kits with us. 

Before going out on the water, we check the weather report and the river conditions which are reported by the US Geologic Service. We can get water temperatures and river flow rate information. If we determine that the conditions are not safe, we will not go out and will move practice up to the gym. 

We're always happy to answer questions on this. 

Brooke and Te