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All in the Family
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| Amanda, left, and Brenda Graham work out on Lake Euwana recently. The mother-daughter tandem overcame a host of problems and finished second in a national competition. |
Published October 13, 2003
Mother, daughter team wins national honors
By RYAN BROWN
A local mother-daughter rowing duo recently finished second in their class at the US Rowing Masters National Championships - but that's not the entire story.
The fact that the pair actually made it to the San Francisco Bay area in one piece, ready to race, is the amazing part.
With any story, it is important to start at the beginning.
Brenda Graham had always been crazy about rowing. She joined the local Lake Euwana Rowing Club several years ago and jumped at the chance to enter an event where her partner would be her 19-year-old daughter, Amanda.
"I thought it would be fun," Amanda said of the prospects of learning to row with her mom. "I like to compete and thought it could bring us closer."
Maybe too close.
"Once we got out on the water practicing, we found out that there are some things that you wouldn't say to your teammate, that you aren't afraid to say to a family member," Amanda said.
"We had a rough time at first, with all the early hours and cold mornings," Brenda added. "But, I can honestly say there were a lot of fun times, too."
The Grahams knew that they needed practice, so a local rowing legend agreed to help them improve.
Enter Alfred Czerner.
Czerner has won a handful of metals at rowing events around the world, including the Olympics.
He agreed to help the Graham's free of charge, only Brenda and Amanda would have to work around his schedule and to say that Czerner is an early riser would be an understatement.
"We were on the water (at Lake Euwana) at 6 a.m. six days a week," Brenda said. "We would row for at least an hour, and on Saturday mornings we would row until 9 a.m."
Every weekday, Brenda and Amanda would finish their morning workout and quickly shower before hurrying off to work and school. Brenda as an accountant at Cell Tech and Amanda is a software engineering student at Oregon Tech.
Over the training period, the duo improved dramatically with the Masters National Championships approaching fast.
"We drove down there with an arrangement to use someone else's boat," Brenda said. "We brought only our personal oars, then found out that they didn't fit the boat."
The Grahams had to purchase different oars the day before the big race, which is equal to Lance Armstrong being given a bike he is not familiar with the first day of the Tour De France.
"We got into the new boat with our new oars to practice, only to discover that the boat had rudders, which we were not familiar with either," Brenda said.
Tournament rules allow each rowing team to practice for about 20 minutes the day before a race, but the Graham's nearly got disqualified for going over the time limit - not that they meant to break any rules.
"We couldn't figure out how to steer the thing," Amanda said. "We were going all over the place and the officials were yelling at us from shore. It was not fun."
But, the Grahams made it to shore and tried to get a good night's sleep before the big race.
The next morning, Brenda and Amanda got up early, well rested and ready to compete. They hopped into the car and set out toward Lake Natoma, only to be forced off the road with a flat tire.
"It was horrible," Amanda said. "It was the wrong time to have car trouble."
After the short delay, the Grahams made it to the lake and the race began.
The pair finished second out of the five boats in the race.
Their time of 4:42:79 was only five hundredths of a second better than Community Rowing, the boat that finished third.
"We were nearing the finish line and I could tell that we were neck and neck," Amanda said. "I just kept yelling at my mom not to give up."
Following the race, the Grahams returned to Klamath Falls satisfied with their their finish.
Amanda hopes to help get a collegiate rowing program started at Oregon Tech before graduation.
"Some of the local high schools have rowing teams, why not OIT?" Amanda said. "People have been talking about doing it forever, so maybe this will be the year."
Since the race concluded nearly a month ago, the pair has only been on the water once.
"We're taking a break," Brenda said. "We're looking at a few mother-daughter races next year, but, for now, we're keeping things simple."
Mother, daughter team wins national honors
By RYAN BROWN
A local mother-daughter rowing duo recently finished second in their class at the US Rowing Masters National Championships - but that's not the entire story.
The fact that the pair actually made it to the San Francisco Bay area in one piece, ready to race, is the amazing part.
With any story, it is important to start at the beginning.
Brenda Graham had always been crazy about rowing. She joined the local Lake Euwana Rowing Club several years ago and jumped at the chance to enter an event where her partner would be her 19-year-old daughter, Amanda.
"I thought it would be fun," Amanda said of the prospects of learning to row with her mom. "I like to compete and thought it could bring us closer."
Maybe too close.
"Once we got out on the water practicing, we found out that there are some things that you wouldn't say to your teammate, that you aren't afraid to say to a family member," Amanda said.
"We had a rough time at first, with all the early hours and cold mornings," Brenda added. "But, I can honestly say there were a lot of fun times, too."
The Grahams knew that they needed practice, so a local rowing legend agreed to help them improve.
Enter Alfred Czerner.
Czerner has won a handful of metals at rowing events around the world, including the Olympics.
He agreed to help the Graham's free of charge, only Brenda and Amanda would have to work around his schedule and to say that Czerner is an early riser would be an understatement.
"We were on the water (at Lake Euwana) at 6 a.m. six days a week," Brenda said. "We would row for at least an hour, and on Saturday mornings we would row until 9 a.m."
Every weekday, Brenda and Amanda would finish their morning workout and quickly shower before hurrying off to work and school. Brenda as an accountant at Cell Tech and Amanda is a software engineering student at Oregon Tech.
Over the training period, the duo improved dramatically with the Masters National Championships approaching fast.
"We drove down there with an arrangement to use someone else's boat," Brenda said. "We brought only our personal oars, then found out that they didn't fit the boat."
The Grahams had to purchase different oars the day before the big race, which is equal to Lance Armstrong being given a bike he is not familiar with the first day of the Tour De France.
"We got into the new boat with our new oars to practice, only to discover that the boat had rudders, which we were not familiar with either," Brenda said.
Tournament rules allow each rowing team to practice for about 20 minutes the day before a race, but the Graham's nearly got disqualified for going over the time limit - not that they meant to break any rules.
"We couldn't figure out how to steer the thing," Amanda said. "We were going all over the place and the officials were yelling at us from shore. It was not fun."
But, the Grahams made it to shore and tried to get a good night's sleep before the big race.
The next morning, Brenda and Amanda got up early, well rested and ready to compete. They hopped into the car and set out toward Lake Natoma, only to be forced off the road with a flat tire.
"It was horrible," Amanda said. "It was the wrong time to have car trouble."
After the short delay, the Grahams made it to the lake and the race began.
The pair finished second out of the five boats in the race.
Their time of 4:42:79 was only five hundredths of a second better than Community Rowing, the boat that finished third.
"We were nearing the finish line and I could tell that we were neck and neck," Amanda said. "I just kept yelling at my mom not to give up."
Following the race, the Grahams returned to Klamath Falls satisfied with their their finish.
Amanda hopes to help get a collegiate rowing program started at Oregon Tech before graduation.
"Some of the local high schools have rowing teams, why not OIT?" Amanda said. "People have been talking about doing it forever, so maybe this will be the year."
Since the race concluded nearly a month ago, the pair has only been on the water once.
"We're taking a break," Brenda said. "We're looking at a few mother-daughter races next year, but, for now, we're keeping things simple."
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| Mazama kicks Henley, 3-0 |
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