Rowing opens season with high expectations

In rowing’s second year as a CAA-sponsored championship sport, women’s crew coach Laura Slice  expects the Delaware team to emerge as “the hunted” this year.

“Last year we came out of the shadows and into the sunlight and people’s heads were turning,” Slice said.  “This year we’re one of the teams being discussed in locker rooms. We’re now the ones who have the bull’s eye on our backs.”

After placing third in the inaugural CAA championship regatta last April, the team is anticipating the competition that the 2010 spring season will bring. The season opened last Saturday with a scrimmage at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Teams from La Salle University and CAA competitor Drexel were also in attendance. 

Slice plans on using this regatta as a litmus test to assess the training the other teams have done over the winter and how that compares to the work the Hens have put in. 

The team competed in four fall exhibition regattas before moving on to winter training, during which Slice spent a lot of time focusing on the girls’ mental toughness.

“I always say, ‘You think I’m going to kill you but I haven’t killed you yet,’” she said.  “And that’s the type of workout where you walk away and think, ‘You know what, if I can survive that I can survive anything.’”

In the fall, the team’s focus is on endurance, with 5000-meter races, while the spring is comprised of shorter 2000-meter pieces.  By encouraging mental toughness and pushing her athletes through tough workouts, Slice said she hopes to have built up the athletes’ confidence in their potential.

“I think this year that third 500 is really going to have the stamp of the University of Delaware on it,” she said.  “We’re going to be known for our third 500 move.”

Due to the snow and the subsequent flooding once the temperature rose above freezing, the team has only been practicing on their home surf, the Christina River in Wilmington, since the beginning of this month.  Despite this late start, the team goals are still lofty, yet within reach, Slice said.

Slice, now in her seventh season as the women’s crew head coach, is looking towards growth in all boats.  As far as finishes are concerned, Slice hopes to finish top two in the CAA and to have more boats earning points in major regattas like the Dad Vail in Philadelphia.

Slice also stressed the importance of keeping the girls connected out on the water throughout the spring season.  While there are standout athletes in the sport of rowing, individualism is not viewed in a good light.

“If one person decides to take a tea break out on the water it really does affect the entire flow of the boat,” she said.

Junior captain Darra Finnerty agreed that in order to perform strongly, the girls will have to stay united.

Finnerty, like Slice, is expecting a lot of good things to come out of spring season, looking to the fall season’s undefeated novice eight, comprised of seven recruited freshmen, as an example.

While embarking on her final season, senior Avery Griffin has yet to come to terms with leaving the Hens.  Instead, she said she is focusing on the team’s goals for spring, which include improvements from last year’s performance at competitive regattas like the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships, Dad Vail and the CAA championship.

Griffin also said she was excited about the younger girls and what this will mean for the team in the future.

“The younger athletes are bringing a lot of speed which could set the team up for the next few years,” she said.

Times on the rowing machine are unlike anything the athletes have posted in the water.

“We are faster than we have ever been since Slice started,” Finnerty said. 

Slice said that she formulated a workout plan for the year that she introduced in the fall when practice first began.  By coming back in great shape, the girls helped to put that plan into action through their confidence, mental strength and hard work.

“You know, the sport of rowing is a very graceful sport from a distance, but when you get up close you see the sweat, the blood that we leave on the oars every single day,” she said.  “It’s a very violent but controlled sport.”

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out