Nancy Rahnasto Osborne

Inspired by her son, a mom takes up rowing

On a recent Sunday morning at Lake Casitas, a mother and son pushed off from the dock in a recreational sculling boat and headed out for a row in the cool sunshine. “Mom” is new rower Nancy Rahnasto Osborne and her son is Alex Osborne of the United States National Team, who is currently undergoing selection trials for a seat at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

This was Nancy’s first time in a boat with Alex, having only taken up the sport after seeing its impact on her son’s life. Alex had never been in a boat until college, when he walked on to the rowing team at Stanford. From there, he earned a spot on the men’s national team and now competes at the world championship level.

Impressed by his transformation not only as an athlete, but as a person, Nancy realized the sport of rowing had much to offer her as well. Her desire to learn evolved through dinner table conversations with Olympian Elle Logan to meeting senior veteran competitor Barbara Colven of Ojai. Now a year into her own rowing career, Nancy has made rapid progress and races as a Novice Masters rower with Casitas Rowing. She has a dream of not only teaming up with Alex in a parent-child double at Head of the Charles, but of forging her own path into the rowing world from what she considers the advantage of a fresh start in middle age.

And that first row on Lake Casitas with her son? Nancy was ecstatic: “It was like a dream. He is sooooo smooth. No jerking the boat. Just comfortable power. I am sure he was paddling at about 5 percent! He was a great coach there in the 1 seat. He told me to focus on keeping it smooth and straight.”

Read our Q&A with Nancy below.

Q: What was your impression of rowing based on Alex’s experience at Stanford and on the National Team?
A: Rowing is a very competitive sport that requires a whole lot of training. More time on the erg (rowing machine) than the water. You have to be dedicated to it. You train to do one thing– to win races. You aspire to be the strongest member of your team, and work together in the boat to make it the fastest.

Q: At what point did you decide to try rowing?
A: By the middle of Alex’s freshman year, I wished I had rowed at Harvard. At his races I began to think, wouldn’t it be something to row at the Head of the Charles someday. I pulled the trigger on that idea after having dinner with Alex and Elle Logan in Princeton two summers ago. She already had her first Olympic gold medal, a couple of world rowing championships, NCAA gold, etc. The conversation somehow switched from their summer U.S. team experiences to my interest in the sport. I said I was thinking about learning to row because it would be amazing to row in the Head of the Charles before I die. Elle exclaimed “Oh my god, I want to race there when I am in my 90′s too, but you’d beat me. Your body is fresh if you take up the sport right now. Mine will be worn out. Definitely start classes.” Alex said, “Yeah mom, you should do it.”

So with that endorsement, I signed up for 5 sculling lessons at Marina del Rey. I was so spastic. I loved it, but was afraid of everything, especially the boat traffic. Thought I might continue there until I looked at the Head of the Charles results in the 60+ age groups to see how many women competed and where they were from. That’s where I discovered Barbara Colven of Ojai with Casitas Rowing. I immediately went to Casitasrowing.org and signed up for the January 2011 Learn to Row.

Q: Impressions of that first Learn to Row?
A: I hadn’t been to Lake Casitas in about 15 years, so I wasn’t even sure where it was. Drove there and waited in line for the gate to open in the dark, bought my day use ticket. I was amazed at how coaches Eric and Wendy got the 24 of us on ergs, then into eights. I wasn’t terrorized like I had been in the single. And Lake Casitas was just so beautiful. When it was all over, I looked at the lake and said to myself, “this is home.” On the way out, I converted my day-use ticket to an annual pass.

Q: How often do you row?
A: Since last April, I’ve been on the water at Lake Casitas 4 times a week, 3 of those with the team. I continued sculling 4 times a week last summer in Massachussetts with Orleans Sculls and Sweeps, coached by Al Flanders. Both he and his wife Antje won their age categories at the Head of the Charles a couple of years ago. The waterway has a number of zigs and zags with buoys marking the course. It’s a great place to practice for the Head of the Charles. And it is just as scenic as Casitas.

Q: What goals have you set for your rowing?
A: Because I’m 58, I will never be the strongest woman on any team with younger rowers. But, I aspire to be at the top of my age group and to beat women younger than me. I have barely raced yet, so I don’t know how successful I can be. I’m going to reset my goals year by year as I progress and test myself. Right now, I’m just operating with the premise: if I train right, I will succeed.

Q: How has rowing changed your life?
A: At five months into rowing, my weight had dropped about 15lbs without me trying. I have lost another 8. Rowing has changed how I view my body. I respect my body more, eat better and drink less because I know that alcohol impedes muscle recovery. I reached the height of 5’10″ at the start of the 7th grade. And I was pretty much my current weight. This was 1967. The era of Twiggy. So most of my life I have felt like I was just too big. So when I was introduced to women rowers at Stanford and on the national team, I thought to myself, wow… if only I had done athletics when I was younger. But I am glad that I saved it for now. As other friends my age bemoan birthdays, I look forward to them because each year gives me a more favorable age handicap. I am in this for the long haul because I see how I am getting muscle back that aging had taken away. Rowing will help keep me healthy and strong.

I still want to be racing when they have to create the supreme veteran category for 90 year olds so it will be waiting for Elle when she gets there.

Q: Impressions of the Casitas club now that you’ve rowed awhile?
A: Casitas Rowing is a wonderful supportive and encouraging group of rowers. I like the fact that when I show up for practice, I never know if I will be in an 8, quad, double, who I’ll be rowing with, or if I’ll be out there in a single racing everyone else. Or, even be assigned coxswain duty for the day! I love that unknown. It keeps me fresh. Good practice for life. You never know what can happen, you just have to do the best with it. I am appreciative that Casitas has a decent fleet of training and racing boats. They do get a lot of use. I am pleased that I was able to find a gently used Fluidesign mid-weight Elite to call my own.

Nancy at Alex at Lake Casitas

Q: What’s it like to watch Alex’s career now that you are a rower yourself?
A: Now that I’m a novice masters rower, I am all the more amazed at my son’s rowing accomplishments. My husband and I are incredibly proud of everything about Alex–academic achievements, jobs and who he is. Rowing was just another sport he tried, but this one he was really good at. He told me about the erg training and tests, and I thought, well this is what he does. Now I know how extraordinary his investment in his success and his rowing accomplishments are. He’s one of the best in the U.S., trying to be one of the best in the world. It humbles me and makes me appreciate how hard I need to work and wonder if I am capable of that commitment.

Q: What does Alex think of mom following him into the sport?
A: He thinks it is great because he sees how I have gotten fitter. He gave my husband Al and I heart rate monitor watches for Christmas 14 months ago. He has agreed that at some point way in the future, he will be willing to do the parent/child double at the Head of the Charles with me! Imagine that?

Q: Any chance Al will take it up?
A: Al supports what I do. He does 30 min pieces on the erg. Little chance we will get him out at the cold, crack of dawn to lug boats and oars to a frosty dock, and get on the water. Al was born and raised in hot steamy Panama!

By Barbara Hoyt for Casitas Rowing

See also:

Learn to Row
Adult Masters Rowing at Lake Casitas

Casitas Rowing Enters Bo’s Man Cave  

What do Superbowl Champ Kurt Warner and coach Wendy Gillett of Casitas Rowing have in common?

Both have recently been featured on local sports radio program Bo’s Man Cave, airing on 1450am ESPN Ventura. Host Bo Jaxon covers all things sports and wanted to know a few things about the rowing club at Lake Casitas.  In the interview below, Bo and Wendy cover questions like:

• What is a coxswain… and can I get that put on my business card?
• What is the season for rowing?
• How long is a race?
• Do they jump in the boat as part of the race?
• Rowing seems like an ‘East Coast thing’ — is it catching on here and does it appeal to a lot of people?
• Is it different than going to a gym and jumping on a rowing machine?
• Do you burn so many calories you can eat whatever you want?
• Is all the training at the lake? Or do you train in big pools?
• If you get kids to Nationals in Tennessee, will it be a problem that the barbecue is so good?

Air date: March 16, 2012
Listen to the Interview (audio file):  

Dreams Come True on Lake Casitas

Air date: March 14, 2012
Listen to the Interview (audio file):    

When Wendy and Eric Gillett decided to start a non-profit rowing club for kids, they had no earthly idea how to go about it. But with help from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Center for Non-Profit Leadership, they learned the ins and outs of starting and maintaining a non-profit, and four years later the Lake Casitas Rowing Association is a thriving organization. Kids from 13 to 79 are rowing and competing at the highest level, some with Olympic aspirations, and some just for the fun of it.

Quotes from the interview by Karen Pelland:

Wendy Gillett, Junior Team Coach and Co-founder, Lake Casitas Rowing Association:

“Eric and I both realized that we wanted to do something to give back to the community – and rowing was something that he felt really changed his life because he started as a kid and it gave him friends, it gave him purpose, it gave him a focus, gave him things he never had a teenage boy.  And for me I’ve always wanted to work with kids and really give them confidence and help them achieve things they never thought possible.” 

Krysten Menks, Ventura High School Senior

“Rowing has helped me through so much. It helps me focus in school because I know, OK, if I don’t get my work done in school I can’t come rowing.  It’s my incentive to keep going. I’ve made great friends and I’ve had the best coaches ever. Eric and Wendy are so amazing and they’ve helped me go further than I ever would have… maybe see myself in 2016 Rio [Olympics] or wherever 2020 is — I’m going to be doing it the rest of my life so I might as well see how far I can push myself, right?”

Wendy Gillett:

“I don’t think there is anything more fulfilling than working with kids and helping them achieve their dreams and it makes me giddy with excitement every day that I get to come and see these kids and make them faster and happier and better.”

About KDB93.7fm  

KDB93.7fm Classical Music Station is owned and operated by the Santa Barbara Foundation and is Santa Barbara County’s only local classical music station. KDB is listener, donor and advertiser supported.

Also see:

Find out about Rowing Programs at Lake Casitas
Visit the VCCF’s Center for Non-Profit Leadership  
Visit KDB93.7fm: www.kdb.com

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Cover image of Casitas Rowing Junior Girls © 2012 by Chien-ei Yu 

Meet Terri Laine: Rower and Photographer

Two years ago, Terri Laine signed up for a Lake Casitas learn-to-row with the encouragement of a friend and her husband, Alex. She discovered a sport that challenged her on a physical and intellectual level—and a place that inspires her artistic vision. Terri began photographing mornings at Lake Casitas and posting her pictures to the club’s Facebook page. Over the past 18 months, a stunning portfolio of images has emerged.

View a gallery of Terri’s favorite photos here. Below, read her comments on photography, the lake and her newfound love of rowing.

Click FS to enter/exit Full-Screen mode ↑………..

Q&A with Photographer Terri Laine

Q. How long have you photographed Lake Casitas?
A. I started photographing it about 1 1/2 years ago and now it’s an obsession. LOL!

Even though most of my photos are taken from the same vantage point, I love the challenge of showing another aspect of it. Each sunrise is unique and shows me another face of Casitas. My challenge is to capture the uniqueness of the day. I also look forward to inclement weather as that affords me the elements of a great photo. A nice day is boring photographically.

Q. How long have you been into photography?
A. I started working for my dad when I was 10 and processed film for him and printed photographs for his business. I received my degree in photography from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Q. What camera do you use? And do you edit your photos?
A. I use a waterproof point and shoot Lumix. Since I also row I’m not really supposed to be taking photos so need to keep it a bit discreet. I keep the editing to a minimum. The lake is beautiful just the way it is.

Q. Do you have tips for other photographers?
A. Lakes, sunrises, sunsets are pretty by their nature and you can always get a nice photo, but the difference between a nice and great photo is composition, having a specific point of interest, and use of color and depth. You don’t need a fancy camera; you don’t need a big lens but you need to understand your tool (your camera) and how to make it work for you.

Q. What do you like about rowing?
A. I love that it’s a sport that engages every part of your body including your mind. It’s a very cerebral sport in many ways and I love the nuances of it. Rowing is surprisingly difficult to master and I love the challenge. I also love the tranquility of the lake and the wildlife. When I’m rowing the rest of the world takes a backseat.

Q. What time do you get up in the morning?
A. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays I’m up at 5:30 and looking forward to the day. I love that by 8:30 a.m. I’ve already done this amazing thing that no one can take away from me no matter how the rest of the day goes.

Q. Favorite quote?
A. You don’t take a good photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams

By Barbara Hoyt for Casitas Rowing 

Also see:

Our Programs
Casitas Rowing on Facebook

Resolute Racing Shells shares a behind-the-scenes look at new boat in progress

From the Resolute Racing shop floor in Rhode Island, a distinctive green Z4 will soon take its place in the boatyard at Casitas Rowing in Oak View, California.

The 40-foot shell, designed to hold four sweep rowers and a coxswain (4+), fills a need for competitive equipment for the junior crews at the club. This season, Casitas more than doubled the size of its junior team, and looks to continue expanding youth programs this fall.

“We’re a new club and a non-profit organization, so it’s only through incredibly generous donors and our fundraising efforts that we can support the kind of interest and growth we are seeing,” said Eric Gillett, director of Casitas Rowing. “This particular Resolute Z4 was the gift of an anonymous donor — we’re so thankful for individuals who understand the lifelong benefits of this sport, for kids and adults alike.”  

After a brief quarantine period required of all boats at Lake Casitas, the new 4+ will take its maiden voyage in the next few weeks.

“You can’t imagine how excited we are to race this boat,” said Wendy Gillett, novice team coach.  

Resolute Racing Preps the Z4 for travel to California

More Information: 
Our Programs  
Upcoming Races 
Resolute Racing Shells on Facebook
Casitas Rowing on Facebook  

Kids from any school in the greater Ventura County area are welcome to visit us to learn more about the High School Team, Girls & Boys squads. High school boys and girls will learn to row competitively.

The Middle School Team (6th-8th grades) learns sculling essentials and confidence in handling a boat, but does not row competitively.

Contact us to schedule time to visit a practice by calling 805-642-2288 or emailing director@casitasrowing.org.

Meet the High School Team… and then come row with us!!

Also see:

High School Team – Boys 
High School Team – Girls
Middle School Team

Our Masters programs cover a wide range of abilities and interests, with an overall goal of promoting fitness and health. 

Adult men and women can pursue rowing at the competitive level, or can simply row to learn a new sport and enjoy its numerous health benefits. Many club members find that rowing helps them achieve their fitness goals such as losing weight, gaining strength, and improving their cardiovascular system.

Interested in improving your fitness while meeting new people and learning a new sport?

Learn more about our programs, join us for a free Learn to Row day!

(Photo by Kyle Sparks © 2011)

Launching at Newport Aquatic Center © 2011 Casitas Rowing

Casitas crews started their 2011-2012 racing season in November at Head of the Marina and the Newport Autumn Rowing Festival.

Between November and December, training moved from long, aerobic pieces to shorter sprints and fast starts. Adults and juniors competed at the Long Beach Christmas Regatta in December, racing in quick sprints of only 850 meters each.

Throughout January and February, rowers trained on the water and on indoor rowing machines (ergometers) for 2000 meter time trials. Rowers had the option to compete in the Erg Sprints in February in Long Beach.

Junior crews traveled to Long Beach for the Presidents’ Day Regatta, also the venue for CalCup Regatta held March 17. In April, newer rowers tested their skills at the Novice Sculling Regatta in San Diego, and the junior team participated in the Long Beach Invitational April 21-22. Junior racing culminates with the USRowing SW Regional Junior Championships in May at Lake Natoma, near Sacramento.

Following the Spring Regatta March 18 in Long Beach, the Masters team traveled to the San Diego Crew Classic, a 2,000-meter event for eights only, March 30-April 1. The adult team continues training throughout June for their own regional championships, the USRowing SW Regional Masters Championships in Oakland July 1.

See Events for more on the 2012 racing season.