The ice has melted, the sun has come out and the lakes in Madison are finally ready to race. All day Saturday the Wisconsin men's and No. 14 women's crew teams will test the waters of Lake Wingra as they participate in the 33rd annual Midwest Rowing Championships.
As any student on this campus knows, the weather was not kind this past winter. Both teams have been on the water for about a week and a half because the lakes were frozen for so long, but they have been fortunate enough to utilize the brand new facilities in the Porter Boathouse which just opened this spring.
\The beauty of this facility is that we have fabulous training capability indoors, where we do spend quite a bit of time,"" women's crew head coach BeBe Bryans said. ""So I feel that the quality of our training and the goals that we set for ourselves weren't really hampered too much by the fact that it was a long freeze on Lake Mendota.""
Despite limited practice time, both teams have found success thus far this season. The women competed against Big Ten powerhouses No. 2 Michigan and No. 6 Michigan State last weekend and Bryans liked what she saw from all of her boats. Her top boat, the varsity eight, was unable to pull off a victory but her second varsity eight and varsity four came up victorious.
This weekend, Bryans is hoping that her top boat can come up with similar results. She commented that some changes could be made in the boats to make all three boats go as fast as they can.
""I'm not going to say it's more important than any other boat, but our varsity eight has to be elite,"" Bryans said. ""It's got to be premier. All of the boats are important ... We just need a little bit more time. It takes a little bit more time to get that top boat up to speed. And we know that. We have to be patient. We have to take every single day.""
Despite a four-race sweep of Minnesota last weekend, men's head coach Chris Clark is also striving to find some consistency in his boats. He commented that he has experimented with a number of lineups that look good in practice but once racing time comes along, the results sometimes are not what he expected. Ultimately, Clark is hoping that someone will step up to lead his team in the right direction.
""We're always looking for the best athletes and putting them in the right combination and then they win a lot,"" Clark said. ""But we have some nice depth ... That's the good news. The bad news is you want depth but you also want a peak as well, a big wide base with a big peak, and I don't know that we have that yet. But I'm waiting. A coach loves to be convinced. I just sit back, cross my arms, sit on the launch, and say show me. That's what I like.""
Before the two teams get to compete Saturday, they will first get to officially celebrate the new Porter Boathouse Friday in an invitation-only open house. There will be another open house Saturday following the races, and the public can view the tank room, which simulates the lake for indoor practices or training, the training room with numerous rowing machines, and the multiple other amenities inside the $8.5 million facility.
""I would put this up against any other boathouse in the country and any other boathouse in the world really,"" Bryans said. ""For us, for Wisconsin, there is nothing that I would do improve upon this facility. It's really as close to perfect as you're ever going to get.\
