Age, Rage Good Enough for Third at 2012 San Diego Crew Classic

The Little Knights returned to the swirling waters of Mission Bay for the 2012 San Diego Crew Classic, this time charged with a mission more difficult than ever before–that being to defend the Joan Ward Memorial Trophy for the Men's Open VIII, which the Knights took in convincing fashion last year. The crew assembled on the beach roughly an hour before the race (plenty of lead time), and some of the old guard welcomed new members of the round table before walking the boat down to the water (maybe should have had some more lead time). In a tough turn of events, the Knights drew Lane 7 for the heat, and found the competition quite fierce on the way to the final, with quality entries from Union Boat Club and the Boston College men's program battling all the way to the line. When the dust settled (possibly not the best metaphor for a water-based sport), the Knights had taken first place in the heat by roughly one second, while Boston College edged UBC by just 0.04 seconds to earn a place in the Grand, sending UBC to the Petite Final later that afternoon.

Knights in 7, again (Photo: N. D'Antoni)

The following day saw the Knights matched up against the second frosh eight from Cal, as well as a CRC entry made up of athletes who, until recently, were vying for seats in the U.S. men's eight that will attempt to qualify for London–needless to say, these athletes were (and presumably still are) very fast. Boston College was also a force to be reckoned with in Lane 6. The LKs had a decent start, and battled well with Cal for the first 1,000m, though CRC was long gone, rowing away to a dominant victory. Cal and the Little Knights continued to battle through to the line, but in the end Cal took a seven seat advantage through the finish, and the Knights had to be satisfied with third place overall.

For full results, please visit the official website of the San Diego Crew Classic.

-The LK Scrivener

LK 'King' D'Antoni Rages at World Indoor Rowing Championships

D'Antoni (7) lines up next to Greg Ruckman (8), Photo: B. Kitch

Self-styled King of the Little Knights, Nick D'Antoni, proved himself stranger yet earlier this year, flying across the country to compete in the 2012 C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints in Boston, MA in the Masters Lightweight category. Having prepared nearly all his life to be 30 years old, D'Antoni was more than ready to take on the challenges that faced him in Beantown, not least of which was a 2,000m erg test in a massive indoor rowing dungeon known as Agganis Arena.

King Nick raced very well, placing fourth overall in the event, despite staunchly refusing to row higher than a 29 (we suspect it was an age thing–whatever you do, don't bring it up if you see him), and what he termed his 'preparations' for the contest, which included the consumption of what must have been unhealthy amounts of coffee, coupled with gummi bears (he refused to eat any but the green and yellow ones, and lashed out at a staffer who accidentally allowed a rogue red gummi bear to be presented to him).

All hail the King!

-The LK Scrivener

For a link to the full results, please visit the official website of the C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints.

Knights Post Best-Ever Finish at 2011 NARF

The LK 'A' entry (Photo credit: Pam Fisher)

The Little Knights showed both the growth of their program, as well as the increasing nature of their top-end speed over the weekend in Newport Beach, CA, as they took on the top collegiate programs in California in an all-out battle for fall bragging rights. The largest-ever LK contingent, consisting of two eights, was entered in the Men's Open Eight event, up against Cal, Stanford, Orange Coast College, and a host of other crews, bashing it out in 'The Harbor' in less-than-ideal conditions. When the dust settled, the top LK entry (Little Knights A) had accomplished a never-before-seen feat for the Knights at NARF–a second place finish behind Cal, ahead of the Stanford varsity eight.

LK 'A' powers through the PCH bridge (Photo credit: Pam Fisher)

The race began like so many other LK endeavors–last-minute kit changes, yelling, and frenetic building toward the start line where LK stroke, Peter Graves, just did manage to don his Yellow and Green before entering the 4.5 kilometer course. The crew hunted down the Cal frosh eight in the process, forcing overlap with the Bears as they crossed the finish line despite not having a functioning cox box throughout the race. Following the race, LK King, Nick D'Antoni, filled us in on just what exactly happened out there on the water. "We didn't so much have a race plan as not have one," D'Antoni said, "but we feel like we executed, er, something today. I mean, we rowed the race and all, right?" When asked to elaborate, King D'Antoni became frustrated, and resorted to head-butting, declining further verbal comment.

LK 'B' entry (Photo credit: Pam Fisher)

The other first of the day was a Little Knights B Boat, which featured a number of self-proclaimed semi-retired has-beens with just enough rage left in the tank to cross the line–and cross the line they did, in style. The LK 'B Boat' established a new benchmark for the program, finishing 13th overall in a field of 32, and opening a new chapter in LK history.

For a video of the LK 'A' entry making the turn around Lido Island, click here, or see our 'Videos' page.

-The LK Scrivener

Knights Kick Off Fall 2011 with Unobtrusive Win in Sacramento

'Victory Chalices,' as D'Antoni insisted they be called

The Little Knights were back in action for the first event of the Fall 2011 campaign over the weekend, at the Head of the Port Regatta in West Sacramento (read: industrial dockyards). Early morning fog cleared up just in time for LK members Kitch and D'Antoni, rowing this time as River City with Toby Johnson and Erik Brakebill of the Capital Crew coaching staff, to race up to the start line, missing their event, only to be generously granted the opportunity to race with the Masters fours and have their time taken nonetheless.

When asked by the LK scrivener about the race, D'Antoni said, "We brought down the hammer of righteousness upon the anvil of competition with sufficient ferocity today, pounding out the rhythm of dominance." He later continued, "Despite issues with course obnubilation at break of day, we thrust our paddles mightily through the wine-dark waters and battled down the proud, thusly [dramatic hand gestures demonstrating said paddling]." Kitch declined to comment.

When the dust had cleared and the frothy waters, whipped into a fury by the extreme backsplash and washing out taking place (mostly in the stroke seat), once again settled to a glassy calm, the Knights cautiously approached the results board, where they discovered that they had accomplished their goal.

More to come as the Knights build toward NARF 2011: The Wettening.

San Diego Crew Classic, 2011

LKs hoist the Men's Open Trophy (Photo: © M. Stiffey)

In typically disorganized fashion, the Little Knights managed nary a practice prior to their 2pm heat on Saturday, April 2nd, in which they were to face Union Boat Club, as well as Stanford's Frosh (albeit without Austin Hack, one of the best freshmen in the US, who was in the Cardinal V8 over the weekend). After some major rigging adjustments that needed to be made, as well as some last minute adjustments to the footplates, the Little Knights quickly found their stride, and won the first heat of the Men's Open VIII in convincing fashion. Predictably, 'Blades of Glory' (an entry with a great deal of experience and, admittedly, a pretty funny name) won the second heat, and Cal (the Bears' 3V) won the third and final heat on Saturday afternoon. The times were in the LKs favor, as they came across the line in 6:07, with Blades of Glory (BoG) finishing in 6:26, and the Bears winning their heat in 6:15. However, all were hesitant to read too deeply into times, and the Knights prepared for what would likely be a dogfight the following day.

The Grand Final of the Men's Open VIII was held at 1130am on Sunday, and saw the Little Knights draw lane 3, with BoG in lane 1, and Cal in lane 2. Union BC also made the final, having taken second in the heat ahead of Stanford. Santa Clara and Notre Dame Alumni rounded out the final. The race was perhaps not the smoothest of events -- in fact, there was a restart. The first start was cut short when the ND Alumni crew called for breakage in the first 100m, and all crews were recalled to the line. The second time around, the race officials went to a countdown start, due to the cross wind pushing each of the crews slightly to starboard.

LKs cross the line in San Diego (Photo: © Pete Biro)

Out of the gates, the Bears were in the lead, and held perhaps a 1 seat advantage on the LKs through the start sequence. BoG was roughly 2 seats down on the LKs, and Union BC the same, as all the crews settled into their base cadence for the heart of the piece. Shortly after the settle, the LKs took a move on Cal, and drew even. The two boats were level through the 500m mark, at which point the Knights began their move through the body of the race. As they crossed 1000m, the Knights had a full 8 seat advantage on Cal, with Cal holding a similar margin over BoG, the rest of the field trailing. The Knights continued to move well at base cadence, and extended their lead through the second half of the race, coming across the line in a time of 6:10 (against the tide). Cal finished second in 6:17, with BoG in third place in a time of 6:20. The race marked the first victory in the Open VIII for the Little Knights at Crew Classic, having come in 2nd behind Cal in 2009, and 3rd behind Cal and Cal 2007 Alumni in 2010.

Little Knights Repeat at Head of the Lagoon

The Little Knights repeated as champs in the Men's Open VIII at the 2010 Head of the Lagoon yesterday in Foster City. The conditions were beautiful, and the course clear for the Knights, who were to start first given last year's results. Making use of a V1 courtesy of Marin RA, the Knights started aggressively -- out of the gates in the 36/37 range, and held a base cadence of 34 throughout the piece. New members of the crew adjusted well, including coxswain Whitney Powell making her debut as a Knight, and the LKs were able to establish an early lead on the next place crew (the men's varsity from Santa Clara). The Knights continued to build on this lead all the way through the finish line, which they crossed in 16:19 (12 second shy of last year's course record, set by the LKs), 1:04 in front of the second place finisher.

The victory marked the end of the Fall 2010 head racing season, which has been the most aggressive and the most successful thus far for the Little Knights. Beginning at the Wine Country Classic, the LKs had only one weekend free of racing through 6 weeks, and managed two first place finishes (WCC, HOTL), as well as a podium finish at the Head of the Charles, with their lowest place finish being 5th place at NARF, behind very strong entries from Cal and Stanford. There is one event remaining on the racing calendar this year -- that being the Christmas Regatta in Long Beach on December 5th. This event is always fun, as it features 850m racing in the Long Beach Marine Stadium -- the proper send off to 2010 and a good chance to get some high strokes in before 2011! Rage!

Knights Take 5th Place at NARF, 2010

The Little Knights RC took to the familiar waters of Newport Harbor on Sunday morning, and, after an "abbreviated" warm-up, took full advantage of their best-ever starting position (4th, based on last year's results) around Lido Island. Making use of the very strong entry from Cal (JV) immediately behind them in the starting queue, the LKs maintained a strong rhythm through the first half of the course, and made a push to try to break away as they crossed the channel. Unfortunately for the Knights, Cal's JV proved very competitive, and the LKs were unable to hold off the Bears as they rounded the final turn toward the finish line. It certainly was not for lack of trying, as all could attest later. Still, having such a competitive boat following on for most of the course helped to push the Knights through the middle of the piece, and served to propel them past the Stanford JV and the Cal 2nd Frosh. When all was said and done, the Knights had to be satisfied with a 5th place finish overall, behind the Cal Varsity, JV, and 1st Frosh, as well as Stanford's Varsity squad.

Following the racing, the mood was somewhat somber, until co-founder of the LKs Peter Graves reminded everyone that we do, in fact, row for a bar. While the Little Knight provides all that is needed in terms of sustenance (that being CL Smooth and tacos), it does not employ a coach (at least, up to this point), nor does it own rowing equipment (again, up to this point). Following this eloquent elucidation, all were prepared to take the necessary next step -- that being to celebrate in appropriate fashion at the Little Knight, in honor of a strong Fall season thus far and a good showing on home waters. This was especially appreciated by LK Tom Graves, who, after racing the VIII, immediately hopped into the 1x. He then rowed up to the start line in order to race in the 2x category, for another trip down the course. He took second, just one second out of first place.

The final event on the Fall racing schedule is the Head of the Lagoon, taking place next weekend in Foster City, where the LKs will look to defend their title from last year in the Men's Open VIII.