Spring season kicks into high gear this weekend for Wisconsin rowing, as all three teams hit the road to compete in regattas around the country. The Badger men will head to Blue Isle, Ill. to take on Minnesota. The women's openweight team heads to Charlottesville, Va., for a race against Central Florida and Virginia, while the women's lightweight team heads to Camden, N.J., to compete in the Knecht Cup.
Erik Miller, coach of the women's varsity lightweight team, said his team is excited for opportunities to get on the water. After a long winter packed with intense indoor training and frigid weather, the Wisconsin women have had less time to adjust to rowing on the water than their competitors.
It's a pretty steep learning curve. That just means you have to make the most of the time that we spend down in Florida and Texas and places like that,"" Miller said.
Making the most of time has not been a problem for Wisconsin. The Badger lightweight women had their first taste of spring rowing in late March during the Longhorn Invitational in Austin, Texas. They swept all six of their races.
Miller is encouraged by the team's performance so far. The lightweights return every rower but two from last year's undefeated regular season. The two freshmen who moved up are even stronger than the two rowers who graduated, Miller said.
One specific rower who has impressed both her coaches and her teammates is senior Kristin Hedstrom, who represented the United States at the Under 23 World Championships last summer.
""She's really sort of bared down on it and done an awesome job all year, just really pushed herself and has continued to improve,"" Miller said.
The men's team is also excited for their first extended time on the water this season. Chris Clark, coach of the Badger men's rowing team, said in his 14 years at Wisconsin this is the longest the team has been confined to indoor training because of weather. Although many teams might view the extensive time indoors as a disadvantage, Clark said the Badgers get ""explosive enthusiasm and push after being [inside], like you're let out to run free.""
""It's a psychological thing. I've never seen a season where everybody's tired and they wish it was over, which can happen when you row a lot,"" Clark said.
According to Clark, the team this year is serious, with the right attitude and mentality for a successful season. However, there are no traditional powerhouse rowers competing this year for the Badgers.
""Ideally we'd have two or three guys that are, you know, 215 with the same mentality and toughness that the guys we have that are 180 pounds have. Then, I would say 'look out.' But we don't. We're going to be the little engine that could compared to some of our competitors,"" Clark said.
One advantage teams like Harvard have over the Badgers is the number of international students on their team. Rowers from outside of the country are often older students who already have racing experience on the international circuit.
The Wisconsin team is mostly walk-ons who try out during their freshman year. Badger rowers are often athletes who played other sports in high school and want to be part of the same competitive atmosphere in college.
Walk-ons who have never rowed are often surprised by how difficult the sport is, both physically and mentally.
However, Clark said, ""the competitive juice, and the wanting to win - all that, the excitement of that, outweighs the discomfort. And when the weather's nice, it is actually pretty cool.""
