Using a cell phone for the first 10 races and a radio held up to a microphone for the last two, Furtek provided play-by-play from a motor boat as his North Carolina women's rowing team opened its spring season in the Carolina Dash against Duke on Saturday morning.
Although the sound system experienced technical difficulties at times, Furtek's race-calling -- interspersed with color commentary -- made it easier for the onlookers standing on the shore to keep up with the action.
"It's an exciting sport if you can follow it," said the fourth-year coach, who has been with the program since its inception, "but when you're standing on the shore, they go by, and we just give you the times -- oh, they won by 10 seconds -- what does that mean?
"But to see them come by, to get a feel also for what's happening in the race, I think is important."
The Tar Heels provided ample reasons for the team and its supporters to get excited even though no official score for the meet was kept. In the four-event format, North Carolina swept all three heats of the second varsity eight and the novice eight, while the Blue Devils did the same in the novice/varsity four and the varsity eight -- the meet's feature race.
Each race covered a distance of 1,000 meters.
"We never want to come up against Duke and lose, certainly," Furtek said, "but this early in the season, this format, I'm actually very proud of what we did, and I feel good about it. It's a good base from which to start."
The meet featured a display in contrasting styles of rowing: high-and-hard versus long-and-low.
Duke showcased the former technique, using short strokes at a pace of about 37 to 40 strokes per minute. UNC stuck with the latter strategy, keeping a pace of 32 or 33 very long strokes per minute.
