Wisconsin rowing begins fall racing season this weekend when the women's teams head east to compete in the Milwaukee River Challenge.
Erik Miller, head coach of the lightweight women's team, said the team has been thinking about the upcoming regatta during practice this week but it hasn't been a main focus. He said the first two weeks of practice have mainly been about getting fitness and timing back after being away for the summer.
I know that for the lightweights we probably won't row in the race lineups before we go and race. It'll be sort of a thrown-together boat,"" he said.
Miller also said it's nice for the team to have a local regatta, where athletes' parents can come and watch.
""They've got a nice spectator area with race commentary and stuff like that, so it's a nice regatta and they do a good job of putting it on,"" he said.
Wisconsin expects to race against Purdue, Washington University in St. Louis, Marquette and the Milwaukee School of Engineering at the regatta. However, Miller said Wisconsin's biggest competitor is itself.
In the past, Wisconsin has dominated the Milwaukee River Challenge. Miller said that last year, between the lightweight and openweight teams, Wisconsin fours took the top five places in their race. The Badger eights took four out of the top five places in their race.
Miller said one of the main highlights this weekend will be getting to race the openweight team.
""It's people that we kind of train alongside of, but we don't do exactly the same things, and we don't do a lot of work together. It's fun because we all go out there and represent Wisconsin together,"" he said.
Bebe Bryans, head coach of the women's openweight team, said rowers have come back from Summer Break anticipating this race. The team holds fitness tests at the beginning of the fall season, and only rowers who post fast enough times during the tests qualify to race this weekend.
""It's a pretty big deal to get to go to this and to get to race in it,"" she said.
Bryans said this weekend is very important for the team because it sets the tone for the rest of the season.
""We're trying to go and start out aggressive and race really hard both against the other teams and against each other,"" she said. ""Everybody wants to win, so that's a good thing. We're certainly not taking anything for granted.""
Last season was one of the most successful in the history of Wisconsin rowing. The lightweight women and men won national championships, and the openweight women came in second in the Big Ten Championships. Bryans said the success of last year has definitely carried over to this season.
""We were much more competitive and much closer to the top [last season] than we've ever been before. All of the rowers that were there feel that, and we lost very few people to graduation, so there was a marked improvement in the fitness level of everybody coming back on the openweight team,"" she said.
Bryans said the team wants this weekend to be the start of another successful year for Wisconsin rowing.
""We know that national champions can be created in this boathouse on a year-to-year basis, and that is our intent,"" she said.
