Cheering On My Rowing Husband: Des Moines Regatta, 2008

My husband took up rowing after our daughter joined the crew team at Georgetown University. Her team was really good, and they took the silver medal for lightweight women rowers at the 2006 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship regatta her junior year. Her success at rowing spurred him on, and he took a “learn to row” class in Kansas City, then joined the club.

My husband’s crew—the Kansas City Rowing Club—was not quite as illustrious as the Georgetown rowers, but they did participate in several regattas in the Midwest.

One of my husband’s early races was at the Head of the Des Moines Regatta in September 2008. As I recall, he competed in two races at that regatta—a mixed quad (four rowers, two men and two women, no coxswain) and a men’s quad (four rowers, all men, no coxswain). The Kansas City Rowing Club was not large enough to field a boat of eight rowers, though an eight (eight rowers plus a coxswain) is often considered the premier rowing event.

Some regattas are great races for spectators to watch. For example, the Head of the Charles race on the Charles River in Boston allows spectators to cheer their teams from the shore all along the route as well as from bridges across the river. In a head race, each boat launches at a different time, and it’s fun to watch one boat pass another that launched ahead of it.

Des Moines is not as exciting as Boston—in many ways, including the watching of rowing regattas. Spectators can sit on the banks of the Des Moines River in certain locations where the rowers are visible, but the viewing areas are spotty. And muddy. And there are no bridges.

Still, I went to the Des Moines regatta in 2008 to show my support of my spouse. He won a medal in one of the races, so I guess my support counted for something.

Fourteen years later, my husband is no longer racing. His single (a one-man rowing shell) hangs in the storage area in our basement. He hasn’t been in a rowing shell of any size this year.

But I heard him say the other day, “Maybe next year.” We shall see.

When have you supported your significant other’s activities?