Too cold to row? Go race, skiers!

When the water freezes, rowers turn to alternatives to keep their training alive. Recently two of rowing’s top single scullers, Lassi Karonen of Sweden and Olaf Tufte of Norway, competed in the cross-country ski race “Vasaloppet” in Sweden. 

The 90km ski race is the largest of its kind in the world: about 15,000 skiers line up at the start including the best long-distance skiers in the world. Wearing numbers 154 and 155, Karonen and Tufte started side-by-side. Swedish television had already played up the rowing rivalry of these two friends.

“Lassi is from the area where the race took place and a well-know cross country skier and Olaf – not known as a top skier – is just as half crazy,” described fellow Scandinavian and FISA’s development director Thor Nilsen. Of the 15,000 starters,Tufte finished 82nd and Karonen finished in position 102. “Both of them beat a lot of well-known cross country skiers,” added Nilsen.

Karonen tells World Rowing about the event:

World Rowing: Have you done the race before?
Lassi Karonen: This was the 13th time in the Vasaloppet for me.
 
WR: What made you enter this year?
LK: Since the first year I was allowed to enter (the year you turn 19) I have only missed two times. I knew Olaf had entered.
 
WR: How do you fit this race into your winter rowing training?
LK: I have it as a goal for my winter training. I like to cross-country ski and I think it is a good alternative training for rowers.
 
WR: Did you train specifically for the race?
LK: It is necessary to train specifically for 90km of cross-country ski racing. If not, it wouldn’t be a nice experience.
 
WR: With so many skiers racing, how does the start work?
LK: It is a pretty big field for all the 15,000 starting. It is divided into ten groups. After 800 metres the track starts to go uphill and at that time it almost comes to a stop for the ones that are in the middle of the starting field. It is not unusual for some skies and poles to be broken.
 
In the front it spreads out pretty soon and some smaller groups are formed. A bit further back it can be cramped for a while – up to one to one and a half hours.
 
WR: Were you skiing with Olaf?
LK: We started beside each other and I saw him in front of me the first kilometre but then I lost him.
 
WR: how long did the race take you?
LK: The 90km took 4 hours and 32 minutes for me and 4:28:22 for Olaf, so it was quite a close one. The winner’s time was 4:10:55.
 
WR: How would you compare the race to a 2,000m rowing race?
LK: In a 2,000m rowing race the lactic acid is pumping and the pulse is on max. In Vasaloppet the pulse comes close to max on the uphill, but you can rest in the downhill parts and when skiing behind someone. It is a long race and the energy level goes up and down and up again. At the end the body hurts a lot but not in the same pumped-up way as in a rowing race. 
 
WR: Have you done any other ski races this winter?
LK: I have done two other ski races. They were marathon length and it was mainly for training for Vasaloppet.
 
WR: Does your winter training consist of mainly cross training, or do you go somewhere to row?
LK: This winter I have been at home in Sweden so there has not been much rowing except on the erg 🙂
 
After the race Karonen gave an interview for Swedish television. Nilsen adds, “Olaf had no time. He was on his way to a training camp in Portugal!”

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