Women's Rowing Knows How to "Do Work"
March 28, 2008 | Women's Rowing
March 28, 2008
BOSTON - "Do work" has been the theme for the Boston University women's rowing team this season, and it has set the Terriers in good stead for the upcoming races.
With a solid fall showing and two training camps under its belt, the women's team has never been more ready to take on the spring season. BU's first race is this weekend against Syracuse.
Head coach Holly Hatton, in her 13th year at the helm, is confident that the women are physically and mentally ready. "We are all in this together, we want the same thing and we are going to go for it," said Hatton.
This year there seems to be a sense of positiveness and excitement that surpasses previous years. The women have rowed miles, lifted hundreds of pounds, erged for hours -- all in effort to make this year the best yet.
"The feel this year is different, I think," continued Hatton. "All in all there is a much more positive attitude. Everybody wants essentially the same thing."
This different team dynamic has been felt by every member of the team says sophomore Alaina Krumbach, the stroke of the varsity boat.
"I think the team is more supportive of each other. I think that as a collective unit we are more focused on making the team better as a whole rather than individual achievements."
Hatton has implemented a different training program this year. Last year there was a focus on explosive power, which is needed to come off the start of a race with the rest of the field. This year she has concentrated on taking the women back to basics and improving their base fitness, strength and endurance in an attempt to maintain this explosive power throughout the entire race.
"Heading into the spring season, I think we are in a great place," said co-captain Elene Brett-Evans. "We have had a really good winter training season, making great gains in strength and fitness. We tried a little different training approach incorporating more cross-training off the erg, and I think it has paid off as most of the team had a personal best at Crash Bs".
This has proven effective with substantial improvements all over the team. One in particular is junior Kayla O'Rourke, who has trimmed incredible amounts of time off her erg scores.
It seems this team has overcome this like every other obstacle that they have encountered. They have rowed for miles together, had countless meetings, constant open flows of communication and the girls have melded and developed a strong and consistent rhythm.
"Rowing is a very technical sport and requires trust in one another," says stroke of the junior varsity boat, Marija Petrovic. "I find this year that there is more trust and belief in our ability."
"I stroke the boat, and I have a Serbian background, which is a very different style of rowing. I feel not only have I adapted, but people have adapted to me as well. People trust me and follow what I do with all their heart, which makes our boat move like it has never moved before," said Petrovic.
A motto senior Veronika Karlsson lives by is "strong ones adapt," and this is something she has taken into account coming from a Swedish rowing background and having been taught by the national team coach.
"You come from rowing by yourself in a single scull, into a team and you learn to cope with peoples' differences, the different ways they row, you learn from each other and trust that we are all pushing ourselves as hard as we can," said Karlsson.
In rowing, teamwork is crucial.
"This year I feel we are so committed to doing good work and the unity of our team, and the fact everyone is working towards the same goal, reflecting what our team is about, being the best," said Karlsson.
This team reflects a group of young women who want the same thing. These women have pushed their bodies beyond limits they thought possible, trained in below freezing conditions and come together as a team more than any other year. As their motto says, "do work." If all goes to plan and the hard work pays off, at the end of the season they will be saying "work done."
Cassie Rhodes is a senior at Boston University and a member of the Terrier women's rowing team. She can be reached at crhodes@bu.edu.
