Week 2 - Task 04. - Rowing Competition

[Aquaria Sandalwood]

Today will be a day at the lake! But no swimming just yet. Today you and your team will be competing in a canoe rowing race! There is a course set up on the lake and it looks exciting…and long! You’re clearly going to be rowing for quite awhile!

There will be different heats of 3-person canoes competing in a race, so everyone will be competing. Each win is worth a point, and the team with the most points at the end wins! Your canoe isn’t up for a little while, so you decide to come up with a song that you and your teammates can use to keep a steady rhythm while you’re rowing, and to pass the time while you’re waiting for your turn!

Task: Write a song for your canoe to help keep the rowing rhythm. Your song should be at least 75 words, and should be camp themed.

Alternatively, do a bit of research into cadence songs for rowing and their history and write about it in 100 words or more.

This task is worth 10 beans, with 10 additional beans available if all Week Two activities are completed. Everything is due by 11:59 pm HOL time on August 31st.

[River Fenwick]

Here at Camp Hogwarts, we aim to win.
We glide with ease across the water, like a shark's fin,
Rowing in the morning sun, with teams of three.
What an activity! Who will the winner be?

Team Bowtruckle is reporting for duty!
Rowing to win, taking the lake in for all of its beauty.
We'll be crowned the winners soon; that's a guarantee!
What an activity! Who will the winner be?

Even if the race is close, we don't accept defeat.
We'll never give up at Camp Hogwarts, especially with this beat.
We'll excel, then gloat by the campfire and trees.
What an activity! Who will the winner be?

[Janne Halla]

Tried to do it in the Row Row Row Your Boat rhythm, hope I've nailed it. It's been a while since I 'heard' the song.


Paddle, paddle, through the stream,
In the cool moonbeam,
Over waves and under trees,
The night is like a dream.

Row, row, row along,
Hear the crickets’ song,
Campfires glow, and embers spark,
As we glide along.

Paddle, paddle, side by side,
With the current’s flow,
Stars above, the night our guide,
As we softly go.

Row, row, row along,
Feel the river strong,
Echoes of the woods at night,
Where we all belong.

Paddle, paddle, don’t you tire,
The camp is just ahead,
Where stories shared by firelight,
Will fill our dreams in bed.

Row, row, row along,
Till the break of dawn,
Underneath the whispering trees,
Our spirits carry on.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

Paddle and row, make steady strokes,
The campfire’s warmth, and our spirits awoke.
The rowing rhythm, strong and deep,
Across the lake, our canoe will sweep.

We're paddlin' partners, sittin’ side by side,
The nature's beauty, and our guiding tide.
The sunlight shines on our faces, and the wind is in our hair,
Victory's waiting, we shall not be scared.

So let's pull together, with might and rage,
Let’s conquer the waters, even in the rain.
With the team spirit soaring, we’re a winning crew,
We'll cross the finish line, strong and true!

[Emily Spencer]

Rowing, rowing, merrily along
Listen as we sing our song.
We aim to win, and win we will.
Nothing you say can prove us wrong.

Lift up those oars and one more time!
Steady now, and watch us climb!
One wave, up, and down again.
A steady stroke wins every time!

Turn it steady, keep it true!
As victory, we do pursue.
Camp Hogwarts deserves our best.
Together, teamwork, me and you.

The win's in sight, we cannot lag
Raise on high the victory flag!
The winner will take all the spoils.
We won! We've earned the right to brag!

GO CAMP HOGWARTS!

[Evelin Stockom]

I'm not a poem person at all so here's what I could gather for the research bit.

While rowing, rowers sing songs/chants which help them gain momentum, control their breathing pattern and thus synchronize their movements. Sea chants are a bit different from cadence calls as such the later were used in the military in the US as a call and response work song sung by military personnel. This was done as one member of the group calling a line, and other soldiers complete it, thus making a rhythmic march. This kept the marches in form and the soldiers proceeded as a unit maintaining the beat. Cadence has now become a work time song used for the same discipline but in a wider context.

[Galena May]

This morning, the wind is in my hair.
The sun shines on my lips,
With me paddling away on my canoe fair,
Are my friends swaying their hips.

Together we are rowing hard,
After yesterday night's bonfire,
We are tired but we do not stop,
Because our spirits are on fire.

Healthy and happy, and full of amusement,
Team Niffler rows on.
Between campfire songs and amid jolly moments together,
Our differences are long gone.

As one, we row, with body, heart, and mind.
Tired after the whole night's dance, we still don't mind the grind.
We paddle for each other, we paddle for the team,
We paddle for ourselves, we paddle into the sunbeam.

We are happy today, we go ho-ho-ho,
One is great, but a team is greater,
Divided we lose, united we row,
Towards victory, we propel together.

We know each other now, we've become friends.
Stories and sing - alongs over the campfires made us closer.
The barbeques brought a team spirit,
Camp Hogwarts made us nimbler and did our unity bolster.

Whether or not we win the Canoe race,
The camp days passed by in a daze.
Living in tents by blazing fires,
These memories with students from all over the world will be in my mind forever.

[Ellie Vernez]

Row row row the boat
Across this lovely river
We'll do our best
To beat the rest
Oh how much fun We'll have

Team Niffler is who we are
Working together
We'll do our part
Camp Hogwarts is the best

Once we're finished, hopefully first
We'll sit around the camp fire
Sing some songs
Roast some marshmallows
And maybe tell some stories

Here at Camp hogwarts
It's so much fun
We're making friends
And making memories
Good luck everyone
May the best team win

[Lex Green]

We're all at camp to have fun
But also, to try and win
We'll work as a team until it's done
And make new friends herein

We'll row our canoes as a team
Row, row, rowing along
But not so gently down the stream
As we sing our rowing song

The first to cross the finish line
Will be the ones in glory
So we'll do our best to be the ones to shine
The victors in this story

[Adeline Morior]

Here at our camp,
Our jolly Hogwarts camp
We row row through,
The challenges we’re due

Hey hey, Woe woe
Hippogriffs we go
Hey hey, Woe woe
Hippogriffs we row

Here as a team,
We paddle down the stream
We keep our rhythm nicely
We work hard as a team

Hey hey, Woe woe
Hippogriffs we go
Hey hey, Woe woe
Hippogriffs we row

The other teams may try
There is no time to be shy
Our challenges are due
The teams will all push through

Hey hey, woe woe
Hippogriffs we go
Hey hey, Woe woe
Hippogriffs we row

In our rhythm it will show
To the finish line we go

[Lexa Winslow]

It was difficult for me to find much on the history of cadence songs for rowing purely for recreation, but I discovered a bit about songs called "shanties"- "A shanty is a type of song traceable to the mid-1400s and its rhythm would be used to keep crew-members in sync with each other." Source
In short, sailors would use the beat of shanties to keep themselves rowing together in a certain rhythm. They used shanties as a replacement to just counting because it was obviously more fun to use music than to count numbers while rowing. I'd image that shanties were part of the inspiration for modern recreational rowing cadences.

[Viviana Kingston]

Cadence songs have a stroke rate of 24 and 100 beats per minute. It begun in world war 2 with Private Duckworth of the US army who was a descendant of the free slaves. Using the call-and-respond style, he wrote the tune “Sound Off”, which he became famous for. A cadence is usually used keep groups of people moving in step as a unit or in a particular formation while keeping to the correct beat or cadence. In rowing, cadence is used to keep the rowers in synchronisation and boost their performance by boosting morale. Cadence has psychological and physiological effects, for example, giving one more energy.